Customer Reviews

Five in a Row (MIRA)

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The first incident occurs in Albany, New York followed by Providence, San Diego and Miami. In each case the driver insisted the car drove it self. Insurance companies and car manufacturers are concerned though no one has linked the four incidents. Following the fifth event when a school principal's vehicle reportedly did the same thing, the consortium hires Colter Associates to investigate. Ben Colter heads to the new site in Wickfield, Connecticut while the other two associates split the remaining four locations.

In Wickfield, Ben meets computer guru Emily Doyle who he recently offered a job to, but she declined since she is a single parent raising a ninth grader by herself. They are immediately attracted to one another. However, unbeknownst to either, Lyden Gray, a participant in Emily's on-line chat, thinks she is a goddess who he must protect from evil-doers like principals who take up her time as he can hack into any computer program even those in a car.

With wireless cell phones used to set off explosions, the technology seems frighteningly plausible. Thus readers obtain a powerful scary investigative thriller that grips the reader from the moment we comprehend what Lyden achieved from a remote distance with the principal's car. Colter and Emily are intelligent likable protagonists, but the obsessed Lyden steals the show with his dangerous skills that makes one wonder about the safety of a car with all the computer gizmos inside.

Harriet Klausner

Intriguing plot and personable (if not truly memorable)characters BUT, I found myself racing through so many unneeded words--maybe the publisher asked for a book of so and so many words or pages? I also found the outcome for the 'bad guy' to be totally unbelievable given the final body count and his stated intent. Not a bad beach or pool book by any means, but this husband and wife writing team can and have done so much better with other offerings in the past.

Emily Doyle, a single mother and computer teacher, has acquired a dangerous secret admirer who has the ability to take control of any car remotely and turn it into a weapon to kill the person inside. At first, the rash of deaths seems random, but Ben Colter, chief investigator, realizes Emily is the key. Together, they race time to find out who the madman is, before his "love" flips over to hatred.

*** This is perhaps Ms. Coffey's most suspensefully frightening novel to date. Tightly coherent action that seems all too real will hold your attention from the first page to the end. ***

Reviewed by Amanda Killgore, Freelance Reviewer.