Ace Is Wild (Berkley Sensation) [Paperback]

Penny McCall (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 5, 2008 | Series: Berkley Sensation

When beautiful clairvoyant Vivienne Foster starts having visions of the murder of hotshot U.S. Attorney Daniel ‘Ace’ Pierce, she can’t just sit back and do nothing. Which is how she winds up at a charity bachelor auction where he’s the top attraction, hoping a loaded .38 will make him see the light.

Pierce assumes that the woman holding him at gunpoint is crazy. But when she later saves his life, even a skeptic like Daniel has to take notice—not that he could ever ignore a beauty like her.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Berkley (August 5, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425222985
• ISBN-13: 978-0425222980
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #868,826 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Penny McCall was born and raised in southeastern Michigan, the seventh of nine children, whose claim to fame was reading five books a week in grade school. Needless to say, her obsession with the written word only grew from there ' despite a short, and misguided, foray into the world of computer science (the "sensible" job path).
After earning her associates degree, she enrolled at the University of Michigan, and finally figured out that the reason she got those puzzled looks from the other computer programmers was because she wasn't really one of them. She changed her major to History and English ' and then came detour number two, also known as marriage and childbirth. A son was followed by a daughter in 14 months, and then another son five years later.
At home, with no job and no night school for the first time in her life, she filled the kids' nap times and her evening hours with crafts; ceramics, macram', stained glass and especially crocheting, for which she sold two original patterns for afghans. Ultimately, of course, those other creative pastimes didn't satisfy the need to write ' or to get those voices in her head to quiet down.
With the help and support of one of her sisters, she began to write ' and write and write and write ' and finally sold her first novel in 1997 (as Penny McCusker.) Four more followed, until that line closed down in 2001, and after a little hiatus ' and yet another change of direction ' she began to write humor, if only to satisfy her inner smart aleck. Berkley bought her first story about a sarcastic FBI agent and a librarian with a photographic memory (All Jacked Up), and she's been happily writing for them ever since.
She still lives in Michigan, with her husband, three children and two dogs whose life of leisure she envies but would never be able to pull off. She works as an accountant by day, which feeds the side of her brain that craves order and normalcy. The rest of her time is devoted to writing whatever pops into the creative (and questionably sane) side of her brain. Her children and husband have come to accept this strange preoccupation she has with imaginary people. The dogs don't worry about it, as long as they're fed occasionally and allowed to nap on whatever piece of furniture strikes their fancy.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Drama, suspense, and romance., August 10, 2008

By 

Detra Fitch (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ace Is Wild (Berkley Sensation) (Paperback)

Vivienne "Vivi" Foster is clairvoyant. When she starts having premonitions of U.S. Attorney Daniel "Ace" Pierce being murdered, she tries to let him know at his office, only to have him dismiss her calls and believe she is crazy. Unable to sit back and watch him die, Vivi crashes a charity bachelor auction, holds him at gunpoint, and tries to force the stubborn skeptic to take her seriously. But Ace is a former FBI agent, sidelined due to an injury, and a master at being able to compartmentalize his emotions. Translation, he is stubborn and only believes in proof, even though Vivi's actions save his life.

Unfortunately for Vivi, the federal prosecutor still seems to be in mortal danger. She is still receiving visions of his death, but now in different places. Vivi decides she must worm her way into his trust, save his life, and then get back out of his life again. But more is going on than meets the eye and soon they both seem to have an invisible target painted on their backs. Like it or not, Ace has to keep Vivi close by, if only for her safety. But who is going to save Ace from Vivi's attractions?

***** Author Penny McCall gives readers splendid characterizations with lots of drama, suspense, and romance in this gem of a story. The main characters are proof that opposites attract. Highly recommended reading. *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars amusing paranormal romantic suspense thriller, August 7, 2008

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ace Is Wild (Berkley Sensation) (Paperback)

Federal prosecutor Daniel Pierce feels like an idiot though he knows it is a good cause; he is on stage taking part in a charity bachelor auction. To his shock some nut case tries to abduct him from the stage. Psychic Vivi Foster has seen a vision of two hit men coming to assassinate him. She saves his life, but he refuses to listen to her explanation.

Although she knows he is ungrateful, Vivi intercedes again saving his life for the second time. Instead of gratitude he displays annoyance at the psychic though he accepts the fact that someone wants him dead. He assumes the unknown adversary is involved in one of his prosecutions, but not whom. She cannot answer that, but he soon realizes her sticking her nose in his business has left her in trouble too.

ACE IS WILD is an amusing paranormal romantic suspense thriller that grips the audience from the onset when Vivi and Daniel clash and never slows down as their retorts back and forth make for a fun tale. They drive the story line with their bantering, but that also leaves the danger to the lead couple somewhat downplayed. With homage to the 1930s romantic mystery movies with a touch of the psychic to add spice, fans will enjoy Penny McCall's wacky and very entertaining tale.

Harriet Klausner

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Ace is not-so-wild, August 20, 2008

By 

H. Grove "Errant Dreams Reviews" (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ace Is Wild (Berkley Sensation) (Paperback)

I enjoyed the basic idea of a cop-shy psychic forced to save the life of an attorney. I loved some of the humor, and Vivi is a fun character---in particular I love her truck, Maxine, which seems to have a life of its own. Also, toward the end of the book the romance aspect of the plot starts growing in a much more organic manner, and becomes something enjoyable. That said, the sexual sparks that fly between the leads at the beginning of the book read like forced plot glue needed to hold the characters together.

The male lead is almost entirely unlikable until the end of the book. He's rude, obnoxious, and irritating. Only toward the end of the book does he start feeling like more than a two-dimensional twit, and by then it's really too late to start liking him enough as a lead in a romance.

The author is constantly telling the readers, albeit through the eyes of the leads, how everyone and their dog salivates over the main characters because they're Just. That. Hot. It's eye-roll-inducing.

There just isn't that much suspense in this book, even though this is supposedly a romantic suspense novel. It isn't too hard to figure out who the bad guy is, and the pacing is just all wrong. The moments that should be particularly adrenalizing---whether they're fight scenes or sex scenes---usually get swept through so fast, with so little build-up, that they're kind of 'meh' instead.

Then there's the matter of Vivi's psychic abilities. Although some justification is attempted for when they work and when they don't, really it boils down to plot convenience.

It isn't a bad book, but all in all I'd find something else to read instead.