Customer Reviews

Five O'Clock Shadow

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Less than a week after they married Pauly Caton sees her husband Randy fall to his death in a hot air balloon when the pilot is shot by a sniper. In shock, she can't believe her eyes when she also sees a young boy run from the basket. The questions mount up when she learns that Randy has had a vasectomy, an unpleasant surprise since they had hoped to have children together. Unsure of what to do with herself now that her dreams of having a family are shattered, Pauly retreats to live with her Gram, a five-time married owner of a carnival. There she meets Steve, a tattooed snake handler to whom she feels inappropriate feelings of lust. Soon Pauly discovers that she didn't know Randy at all, as she inherits from him not only his partnership in his hydrolics business but millions in money that he shouldn't have had. The more she learns about him the more she begins to believe that he was deliberately murdered, and the circle of those she can trust tightens. It seems that everyone around her has been keeping secrets, including her own beloved grandmother. Still feeling protective of Randy and not knowing whom she can trust, Pauly chooses not to reveal all of her suspicions to the police or those around her. Eventually Pauly gets herself mixed up in a dispute over water rights, child pornography, and, of course, murder.

In her second standalone mystery (departing from her Ben Pecos series), Slater again creates a beautiful setting in New Mexico. She succeeds in creating characters that are as real as they are unusual, and Pauly is both entertaining to watch and admirable in her courage. At times she's a little too dominated by her hormonal lusts for Steve, but Pauly's feelings of isolation as those around her continue to deceive her are believably played out. Despite the shocking beginning, this is not a morose mystery and the reader can appreciate Pauly's wit and how regains her strength and refuses to let herself be manipulated by others. Slater has created yet another winning mystery.

I really enjoyed the outline of the story as laid out in the book jacket -- it had such potential! But the writing needed editing AND the lead character was so inconsistent I don't think I could keep track! Also, at the very end (no spoiler since this will be vague), I was quite upset that the priest was more upset about this brothers actions than those of children! Disgusting! I don't know who to blame more -- the author or the editor because I think this book could have really been a crazy, wacky story with the right editing!

Pauly McIntyre has been married only one week when she watches her new husband die in a balloon crash. The pilot was killed by a sniper. Was the bullet meant for Randy, the new husband? Or for Pauly herself, whose fear of heights kept her firmly on the ground? And did Pauly just imagine she saw a little boy running away from the balloon, wearing nothing but her dead husbands jacket?

The plot twists and turns on every page as Pauly keeps learning more about her dead husband. Why didn't he tell her about his vasectomy? What are those mysterious papers in his bank safe? What's real and what isn't? Who's on her side and who's against her? And why?

Amazingly, author Slater manages to come up with a consistent explanation. She treads a fine line between legitimate red herrngs that distract the reader and sleight of hand that leads the reader to cry, "Foul!"

This mystery is plot-driven with a heroine who's likeable but not strong enough to carry a series. As she says herself, Pauly held only a few nondescript jobs before marrying the ill-fated Randy. She had been a technical writer but doesn't use this background to solve the mystery. In all fairness, her dead husband's partners are right to question her involvement in their business. All she has going for her is a fierce determination to find out who she really married -- and why he wanted to marry so badly.

But while you're reading, if you're like me, you won't notice the absence of character development. You'll be too busy turning the pages to find out whodunit and why. And you won't be a bit surprised by the romantic subplot.

Between a recent widow lusting after every man she meets, terrible dialogue and absurd characters, I could not get through this book.

The storyline is interesting, but the writing was not as engaging as The Pumkin Seed Massacre. Characters were developed in a sort of choppy way. I felt disappointed, having read a number of her opther books.