Customer Reviews

No Ordinary Man (Dangerous Men, Book 16) (Harlequin Intrigue Series #365)

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

 

 

What can I say but that Suz has certainly improved her plotting and characterization. This one is from 1996 and though it has its strong points, overall they are canceled out by the TSTL heroine and the bumbling FBI agents.

There is a serial killer on the loose and he's targeting women who look like Jess Baxter. A new tenant has just moved into the apartment above her house and even though he's lived in the neighborhood for over 6 months, Jess knows very little about him. But she does think Rob Carpenter is hot. And he's a great a kisser. Based on that and multiple orgasms, she just *knows* he can't be the killer. Never mind that the FBI does. Never mind that Rob won't tell her anything, and I mean anything, about
his past, present or future. Never mind that he's lied to her and she knows he's concealed his identity. She'll risk her life to help him evade the police and FBI because she's in love.

Oh please. If I had a small daughter and a drunkard ex husband, there is no way I'd be risking her future not to mention my life because some guy is great at locking lips. I don't care if he's cute, I don't care if you feel like screaming the opening lines of the Hallelujah Chorus when your moment of bliss hits you, I'd be wary, watchful and waiting before I'd let him in my house and bed. Jess is just Too Stupid to Live for most of the book.

And the FBI agents? Don't get me started. I just hope and pray that the actual agents would be better at handling a real case then the way they're portrayed in this book.

What I will say for the book is that Jess is a loving mother who seems to be trying to raise her daughter right. And even though the list of suspects is pretty much laid out from the beginning, I was still guessing til almost the last 50 pages of the story who really dunnit. And Jess does (finally) rise to the occasion and kicks some major @$$ when the chips are down. But the woman is in denial for far longer than is healthy with a sicko on the loose who's raped and slit the throats of 15 women.

THERE'S A SERIAL KILLER LOOSE AND ALL OF HIS VICTIMS LOOK A LOT LIKE CLUB SINGER JESS BAXTER. THE FBI'S PROFILE OF THE SERIAL KILLER IS A WHITE MALE IN HIS PRIME, TRAVELS A LOT, NO FAMILY, CARRIES A CONCEALED WEAPON AND WAS ABUSED IN CHILDHOOD.

I ESPECIALLY LIKED THE MYSTERY SURROUNDING ROB CARPENTER AND THE WAY THE FBI WERE PORTRAYED AS REALLY COMPASSIONATE AND DETERMINED IN THE COURSE OF THEIR WORK. THIS ONE KEPT ME GUESSING RIGHT UP TO THE END AND KEEPS YOU AT THE EDGE OF YOUR SEAT!

The female lead in this book really made me shudder. She's a mom and a musician who happens to attract every hetro male's attention in a five mile radius. The hero, the killer the kooky mama's boy from next door the guy pumping gas at the corner station. Yes she's attractive, but she's also nieve and allows her deadbeat ex-husband get away with treating her and their daughter with disdain usually reserved for roadkill.

Brockmann is usually a little better than this and while I was able to finish the book, I put it down shaking my head.

The serial-killer thing is getting kind of old, and I didn't think the initial part of the romance was that convincing--chemistry may well be the answer in real life, but I like something more solid in a romance novel. In fact, for the first half of the book, it was a solid 4 stars.

Then Brockmann ratchets the story up a notch--several notches, and I'm really wondering who the killer is, and even so I know it can't be the hero (I'm not dumb--this is a Harlequin Intrigue--heroes are never serial killers in Harlequin Intrigues), I can feel the heroine's fear & distress at being only 99.9% sure that he's not, which was really well done.

Keep in mind that this book was originally published in 1990. That it still held my interest even though it is 18 years old says something.

A serial killer is on the loose in the city and has murdered 14 women. The women look a lot like single mom Jess Baxter. She's just rented an apartment to Rob Carpenter who has been living in her neighborhood for six months and who appears to have a lot of secrets

I hope the FBI operates better than in this book.
*During their investigation an FBI agent corners Jess's six year daughter and questions her, without her mother, which is extremely illegal, both then and now. His justification that he is doing it to catch a serial killer, ignoring the potential of traumatizing the child, is ludicrous. Frankly, if I were Jess I would have filed charges against him.

*The FBI profile of the killer is "white male, 25 to 45 (that narrows it down to a 20 year span), upper middle class, travels frequently, keeps a low profile, and blends easily into a crowd"; which could describe half the men I know and I'm pretty sure none of them are serial killers. Yet, the FBI narrowed it down to one man, ignoring any other suspects, in a city of 150,000? The killer could have lived anywhere. And since the murders were taking place there why would the killer have to travel anywhere? Made no sense!

I must say that Rob's identity was not what I expected.

Divorced single mom Jess Baxter rents her vacant apartment to mysterious Rob Carpenter. She's attracted to him, but he maintains his space until one night when they both let go and share a night of passion. She feels him distancing himself, but she wants to get closer. When the FBI come visiting with news that they suspect that Rob is a serial killer, she has to make a decision. Does she listen to her heart or the police?

Oh... where to start. The good news is the book was only $4.99 and relatively short; the bad news is that it is so poorly written and constructed that I couldn't believe it was penned by Brockmann. And despite its abbreviated length, it took forever to get through. The dialogue is atrocious. The characters totally clichéd. From the stereotyped FBI psychologist and deadbeat ex-husband to the tortured hero and requisite mama's boy next door, it was just bad, bad, bad. I found myself wanting to toss the book against the wall when the doctor called Jess or agent Elliott "dear" or said "oh my" for the umpteenth time. It's an early effort reprinted for readers wanting her backlist, but pales in comparison to even her worst Troubleshooter novel.

© TJ Vest, August 2008

When the babe from down the road, Rob Carpenter, moves into Jess Baxter's empty apartment, she is sure she is finally going to get to know her mysterious tenant. Having met him a while ago and conversed with him on occasion she knows nothing about him except he is good with her daughter and she's certain he is as attracted to her as she is to him.

But Rob has secrets, ones he's not willing to share. He fights their attraction every step of the way. The closer Jess gets, the farther he moves away, emotionally speaking. With a serial killer on the loose targeting women who fit Jess's description and a nutty ex-husband sniffing around her, things get pretty intense. All her instincts tell Jess that Rob is a good guy, but is that enough?

At 250 pages this is a relatively quick and fun read. I saw the killer coming from a mile away but that by no means ruined the fun of getting to the end. It did, however, drag a little bit for me here and there. The killer gets through, I think, 15 women before they finally catch him, poor girls, Ms. Brockmann could have showed some mercy! :) And I did get a little tired of Rob playing the martyr every other page; he run's from her every chance he gets and say's "I'm Sorry" at least 100 times.

A work originally published in 1990, it doesn't seem 18 years old, at all, and I was happy about that. Despite the few flaws I mentioned, I enjoyed the story and it was a nice way to pass an afternoon. Not Ms. Brockmann's best or deepest book to date, but a good read just the same.

Never read this author before. From the back of the cover it looked like a good mystery. When I began reading it I realized that it was a mystery but it was also a romance book and I do not like these. The writing was not great and it could not hold my interest. I never finished it.

No Ordinary Man by Suzanne Brockmann
Harlequin Intrigue # 365 - April 1996

This book grabs right from the beginning. Immediately you are drawn into the lives of Jess and her daughter Kelsey. Jess rents an appartment to a sexy loner named Rob. No one knows anything about Rob, who strives to be invisible. Jess knows that Rob has some dark secrets but she can't help herself from being drawn to him. Rob knows he's doomed. Everytime he's near Jess, he wants to let go of his past and start a life with her. But he can't, it's not safe.

There's a serial killer on the loose and he's stalking women who look just like Jess. The FBI have Jess wondering why Rob always seems to be some place else when there's a murder.

This is an emotionally charged story, one I'm sure I'll enjoy reading over and over again

This book took my breath away. I could not put it down. I felt like I was holding my breath the whole time. The plot gets frustrating at times but it was a beautiful and very touching love strory overall. The kind of book you read over and over again every few months....