Customer Reviews

Incommunicado

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you love a mystery that includes intrigue, tension, romance & great scenery. This is the book for you. Hill & Mercer have suceeded with their words in providing the reader with a strong mental imagery, starting with the first paragraph describing the feel & landscape of the desert that carries on throughout the book till the very end. Looking forward to the sequel. Please hurry.

The characters are bigger than life which suits the story and the beautiful dangerous locale of the desert. Terrific writing - a thriller with a super romance wrapped around it.. Wonderfully plotted story. The writers give the reader a story rich in details. The fully fleshed characters are provided a detailed background and by the end of the novel you know them better than you know your friends. The writers give us a great plot and super likeable heroes. Readers should beware that there is substantial violence toward one of the main characters.

Don't miss the sequel Threads of Destiny

Mercer and Hill deliver a somewhat enjoyable, but mostly disappointing collaborative effort. Half of this book focuses on the love/hate relationship between attorney Cara Vittore and FBI forensic pathologist Jaquelyn "Jake" Biscayne. The other half focuses on solving the case of several related murders along the US/Mexico border.

To start with the relationship... Cara and Jake seem to hate each other to the core in the first few chapters. Then, miraculously fall into bed together after Cara survives a flash flood. Let's get real. Yes, this COULD happen, but with the strong personalities of these women it doesn't seem real. After that happens, they are inseparable and can't live without each other. It's taking the U-Haul joke a bit too far and a bit too fast (we're talking Porsche style instead of those slugs U-Haul rents by the hour). I couldn't get into the romance, and that's why I usually read these books.

The FBI case... This part was more enjoyable and I found myself intrigued. It had depth and good technical details surrounding the investigation. Funny thing is... I don't usually like this part of a book, but this was well-written.

All in all, this book is good for a lazy afternoon when you're looking for a light read. It's not something you'll enjoy if you're looking for character or story depth. It won't be on my bookshelf for long.

Take one career driven, fiercely independent lawyer; add one career driven, fiercely independent forensic pathologist for the FBI; mix with a series of murders involving a sadistic killer who operates out of the Sonoran Desert and you have an interesting book that is hard to put down until you finish it. Cara Cipriano and Jake Biscayne have a history. A couple of years before the book begins, Cara humiliated Jake as she testified in another case. Neither of them has forgotten it and their dislike for each other is apparent when they are brought together to work on the same case. Both of them want to find the person who is leaving bodies on both sides of the Mexican border. The book features wonderful character development and vivid descriptions of the landscape of the area. Cara and Jake are drawn progressively closer together until a sudden flood catches them unaware in the desert. Cara is seriously hurt helping Jake and Jake feels responsible to help her recover, which becomes a turning point in their relationship. A number of supporting characters assist in fleshing out this book and provide memorable moments. There is violence in the book, but it is appropriate to the story. And there is a terrible betrayal near the end of the story which provides a shock quality. The action is fast paced and the descriptive work in the story makes you feel like you're in the scenes. This book does have a sequel, Threads of Destiny, which elaborates on the character developments and some of the subplots. If you like mystery, adventure, romance and magnetic characters, you definitely want to buy this book.

As an avid reader, I was extremely disappointed in this book. The writing was disjointed, there was not flow to the story, and the background of the people and their stories was practically nonexistant. It does have a good plot and what could be likable characters, but they are not fully explored enough for you to truly get to know them. There was also some violence against one of the main characters that was not pertinent to the story or necessary. While I do not wish to offend the writers, I would not waste my time with this one.