Full Circle [Paperback]

Karen Young (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1998

She was just a child when the yacht carrying Kate, her best friend and their parents sank. For 33 years, she blocked out the whole thing, but now flashbacks are triggering some disturbing memories--including how unlikely the accident had to have been. Her mother won't talk but maybe her friend's father, the other survivor, will--unless the reason he didn't drown that night was because he agreed not to talk about the incident.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The usual cast of dysfunctional characters is present in this rambling, overpopulated tale of family entanglements by the author of Good Girls. Burned out and suspended for making bad judgment calls in the E.R., trauma specialist Dr. Kate Madison returns to her Louisiana hometown for some much-needed R&R. Things aren't much better there: Mama's dying of cancer; her old flame, Sam (with whom she'd had an extramarital affair), has just lost his wife; and her best friend, Amber, is getting back at her abusive husband, Deke, by fooling around with her teenage stepson. No one sheds a tear when Deke is murdered, and nearly everyone is under suspicion?especially Amber and her young lover. The author moves the story along by repeatedly allowing the characters to be caught in compromising sexual situations by family members; after the third such incident, the reader begins to lose interest in who's having sex with whom, as well as in who killed Deke?the only real surprise in this tired melodrama.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 440 pages
• Publisher: Mira (December 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1551664712
• ISBN-13: 978-1551664712
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #893,156 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Although I've written 35 books, I'm convinced that I didn't choose a career as a writer; it chose me. After numerous long distance moves necessitated by my husband's career, I decided to try writing a book out of sheer desperation. When a major publisher bought that book, I knew that I had found a career! Rather, it had found me.

But my world changed when my husband died ten years ago. One of the most joyous changes was that I was drawn back to my childhood faith, which led me to explore the possibility of writing inspirational fiction. Good inspirational fiction is not about adding a religious component to a book. It is so much more. My books have always included the tension between right and wrong, but I mostly avoided adding the spiritual tension-- those hard questions and struggles when characters inevitably dealt with trouble.

In writing romantic suspense, my plots always depict contemporary women in extraordinary circumstances. While solving the mystery, my character(s) deal with the real issues of life - the ups and downs of relationships, of the difficulty in balancing career and marriage and motherhood, with the challenge of blended families. Now I also freely explore the presence of a spiritual dimension in my characters along with the mystery element. I can fully flesh out my characters, adding the physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual. Writing such a message feels satisfying and fulfilling.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good romance with too many distractions, November 27, 1999

By 

Bonnie Gilbert - See all my reviews

This review is from: Full Circle (Paperback)

When Kate's anxiety and nightmares started, she didn't know the cause. When they started to effect her job as an emergency room doctor, she was forced deal with it.

After being fired from her job, Kate returns home to Louisiana and to family problems. Surprised to find her mother ill and her best friend being abused by her husband Kate reluctantly takes a job in the local clinic, although she is dismayed to find she is working with her ex-lover Sam.

After several arguements and fights Kate and Sam finally face their relationship and start anew, although family problems and memories from a long ago boat accident may force the lovers apart.

I found this book to be good, but not enough romance. Also, the other characters, Nick, Amber, Victoria, Leo, Stephen, Pam and especially Deke weren't strong enough. I found the other sideling storylines interfered with the love story between Kate and Sam, almost overshadowing the story.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing..., July 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Full Circle (Paperback)

What a melodramatic soap opera!! Lies, deceit, abuse and murder! Holy mackerel - you could hardly keep up with all the characters and stories. Kate and Sam were supposed to be the central characters but they kept getting dwarfed by Deke (what a despicable idiot!), Amber, Leo, Victoria, the kids, Nick, Pam, etc. etc. Not that you couldn't keep them straight - but I found I couldn't concentrate my powers on liking them or caring for the main ones as much as I should have. There was just too much going on. It was an exciting fast-paced story - lots of suspense and good parts. BUT so much happened, especially at the end, that it left me feeling disjointed and unsatisfied.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book if you are reading it for the mystery, March 8, 2006

By 

Amy Feinberg (Georgia, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Full Circle (Mira) (Audio Cassette)

Many people would say that this is not one of Karen Young's better books. If you are reading it for the love story, then thats probably what you think. however, if you are reading it for the mystery asspect, then its a very good book.

Kate Madison returns home to Bayou Blanc upon a suspension from her job as a trauma specialist in boston. When she arrives, Kate learns that her mother has been fighting a cancer for 10 monthes and is getting worse. Upset and heartsick, Kate accepts a job as a partner in a practice with Leo Castille, the man she has grown up with considering her father in all ways except that of blood relation.

Also at this practice is Sam Delacourt. Sam has harbored a stong resentment of Kate for 5 years, and tries to keep her from entering the practice. Incorrectly believing that she was the one who told his late wife of their affair 5 years ago, Sam had tried to put all of his guilt onto Kate. To his surprise, he finds it easier to get over his resentment then he would have though.

Then Kate discover's the body of Deke Russo, batterer and husband of Amber Russo, daughter of Leo and Kates best friend. For some reason, KAte has been getting flashbacks from a time she doesnt know exsisted. She also is extrememly sensitive to cases involving battered wives and children. Then Amber, seemingly the loving wife who forgave her husband time after time, turns out to be a corrupted witch, and the entire story kinda flips, giving it an interesting ending, leaving the reader with a hatred of Amber for being a sick person who deliberatly uses a youung boy. Then there is Nick Santana, Ambers first ever love intrest and part love intrest in the book, who then "dumps" her after finding out she is a coruppted witch, but the author leaves an open end for whether the woman who loves Nick ends up with him. OVerall, it was a good book, and totally worth my 25cents since I got it at a garage sale, and I probably would have bought it at full price as well. If you are reading it for the sub plot of kates flashbacks and the, murder mystery, its a great book, but as I have said before, the romace falls a little short.