Customer Reviews

The Third Wife

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
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Seventeen-year-old Anna Langtry steals her groom's car on their wedding night, fleeing southwestern Colorado forever. She was Caleb Welks' third wife, in a small town of Alana Springs where members of True Life Later Day saints practice polygamy. The marriage was arranged by her step-father with her mother's approval, and no one in her small community would have supported her flight. With only $420 and a determination to survive she heads toward death or freedom.

Fifteen years later Anna has become a parole officer, maintaining her optimistic nature even while dealing with the dregs of society. On a morning already gone woefully wrong, Joe Mackenzie offends Anna from the moment he enters her office. She suspects his attitude has nothing to do with fear or humiliation, but with learning how to hid every trace of emotion in a bid for survival. He had been paroled after serving four years of his six year sentence for embezzlement. Anna expects the usual story of being misunderstood and innocent. She does not expect to come to believe it. Moreover, she never expects Joe to lead her life full circle, back to the world she left behind.

Author Jasmine Cresswell weaves a stunning tale of betrayal and subterfuge in THE THIRD WIFE. Anna's background will prove fascinating to readers, and Cresswell's explanation for the motivation for women to remain within such a restrictive environment is surprisingly gentle. Anna comes to accept that some women choose that lifestyle, even though her own rebelliousness could never tolerate such a choice. Joe's enigmatic personality teases the readers as we long for the explanation we know is coming. And even as readers become suspicious of the connections that bind Anna and Joe, the marvelous details and subtle plot twists result in a stunning denouncement. Some readers may feel that the pacing is a bit slow initially, but those readers who enjoy the subtle weaving of a master craftsman will savor the building tension. A remarkable read that remain long after the last page is turned, THE THIRD WIFE comes highly recommended.

1 Since you open this book you will be in the plot not knowing whom to believe, Anna or Joe.

2 You'll ask yourself about polygamy, pros and cons (pros if you're a man, cons if you're a woman).

3 You'll think twice before confide your secrets to your very best friend.

4 You'll be torn between ending the book or savoring a little bit more not wanting to end it.

5 You'll have no clue, not even an inkling of who are the bad guys until the last page.

6 You'll have a great time reading this excellent book.

Teen Anna Langtry fled her much older polygamist husband (and step-uncle) Caleb, hoping never to return to the family who betrayed her. Fast forward 15 years, and Anna is now a federal probation officer based in Denver. She has seen it all and yet despite her cynicism and belief that her new charge, confessed embezzler Joe MacKenzie will give her yet another sob story, she finds that she actually believes him and wants to help prove his innocence. But it means returning to the home town she fled, and facing unwanted secrets that'll inevitably come to the surface.

Creswell knows how to weave a good mystery and this one is no exception. Though it initially starts out slow laying the groundwork and setting up the plot, the story is soon running at a breakneck speed, building plenty of tension with a stunning and cathartic ending. Joe is a stunning hero, with Caleb as a stunning (and very scary) nemesis.

Her stepfather stuns seventeen year old Anna Langtry when he chooses her as THE THIRD WIFE of his brother. Though polygamy is outlawed in the country, the remote True Life Latter Day Saints think otherwise leaving Anna with the choice of wedding a much older man to beget his children or fleeing into the night. Anna chooses escape.

Anna works diligently and fifteen years later is a successful Probation Officer in Denver. One of her clients is confessed embezzler Joe Mackenzie just released from prison after a four-year stay. Joe insists he was innocent and confessed as a means of shortening his sentence. He plans to find the true culprit. Though he mistrusts the judicial system, he cannot stop Anna from helping him with his endeavor as she shockingly believes him in spite of his hardened cynicism. However, when Anna agreed to help Joe, she never expected a return to the community she fled as a teenage spouse.

As expected from highly regarded Jasmine Cresswell, THE THIRD WIFE is an exciting romantic suspense tale that once it gets into gear never slows down. The plot simmers slowly at first as the audience meets the lead characters, but once the action begins, the novel moves at a rapid clip until the conclusion. Joe is an interesting individual who reluctantly remains an idealist though his exterior seems harder than a diamond. Anna is a wonderful heroine who makes something of her self in spite of the odds, but readers will question her involvement in Joe's quest. THE THIRD WIFE is a first rate book that sub-genre fans will find pleasurable.

Harriet Klausner

On her wedding night, seventeen-year-old Anna Langtry stole her husband's car and fled into the darkness, racing toward freedom. She felt only desperation to escape the nightmare of her Colorado home - an isolated rural community that condoned her forced polygamous marriage to become one man's third wife.

Fifteen years later, Anna is working as a federal probation officer in Denver. A fighter for the underdog, even she cannot escape the cynicism of her profession. She doesn't expect much from her newest parolee, just the usual sob story about being innocent and misunderstood. But Joe Mackenzie is different.

A white-collar criminal convicted of embezzlement, Joe is tough, quiet, determined . . . and innocent. Now he's looking for justice. And he's about to pull Anna into his world, one that will lead her back to the past she'd left behind - one that will reach out to ensnare them both in its dangerous secrets and deadly schemes, where the passion between them is threatened by the grim reach of murder.

I just bought this book at a library book sale. It's an older book, originally published in 1998, even though it says it's 2006 here. I guess that's the re-release date. It was a quick read and not believable really, far too simplistic a plot. There were some surprises i admit but it could have been far, far better. I'll try one of her recent novels and see if the characters and plot are more well rounded.

I'm a great fan of Jasmine Cresswell. But Third Wife was a book that I almost didn't finish. Her previous was very suspenseful and got to the point right away. Third Wife had a very slow plot development. I know it was about finding out who frame Joe and helping the heroine deal with the past and her feelings for Joe. But it took so long getting there. But the ending was fantastic. So for that reason alone GET THE BOOK.

This was boring and slow moving. I had a hard time getting through it. The most interesting developments were in the last 1/3 of the book so I was glad I stuck it out.