Close Encounters (Mass Market Paperback)

by Sandra Kitt (Author) "I'm going in ....." (more)
Key Phrases: Carol Taggart, Lee Grafton, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
In Close Encounters, author Sandra Kitt isn't satisfied with simply using the writer's method of developing two opposite characters and giving them a dramatic confrontation. Not only are her characters of different races, they're of different worlds, and "dramatic confrontation" doesn't begin to explain their meeting. Lee Grafton is a white policeman, and Carol Taggert is a black art professor. When Carol is wounded in a police bust--and Lee is the probable shooter--it seems inevitable that they should return to the comforts of what is familiar. But Carol and Lee both find that their lives have changed in ways they can share with no one else.

As in her previous works, including Between Friends, Family Affairs, and Significant Others, Sandra Kitt tackles the complexities of interracial relationships with a sensitivity and realism that acknowledges without simplifying the inherent challenges of such relationships in our culture. That Carol and Lee are joined together by a common trauma is not surprising. That they both carefully approach the relationship with awareness of the potential superficiality of that connection is authentic and true. As both characters begin to see beyond each other's initial appearance, their own sense of identity also evolves beyond their race and profession.

Kitt's writing is strong, her plot dramatic, and her voice refreshing. Close Encounters works equally well as a suspense novel or as a romance novel, but most readers will be able to appreciate the deeper values that Kitt is espousing. --Nancy R.E. O'Brien

From Publishers Weekly
A late-night dog-walking jaunt lands heroine Carol Taggert in the cross fire of an undercover drug bust in Kitt's (Family Affairs) latest African-American romance novel. It seems the bullet wound Carol sustains is not from a criminal but from Lt. Lee Grafton's gun. The divorced police officer and Carol immediately connect over a shared artistic sensibility, and he plays guardian to her as she recovers. Their attraction, however, faces a major roadblock. The heroine, after all, is an innocent black woman, and, by all appearances, was recently shot by a white cop. Carol is urged by friends and family to sue, but she does not want to become part of a media circus. Her musings over whether to file a lawsuit will strike readers as endless and her eventual decision seems an odd, unsupported choice. Kitt enlivens the tale with a dangerous felonAwho was on the scene the night of Carol's injury and fears being framed for the botched incidentAstalking Carol with deadly intentions. The interracial aspect of the love affair is handled very well, and the main characters are a good fit. Still, the novel fails to sustain the energy and interest established early on. (July)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Signet (July 10, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451200489
• ISBN-13: 978-0451200488
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #698,884 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sensuous & Riveting, August 8, 2000

By	"misslove" (Atlanta, Georgia United States) - See all my reviews

Close Encounters is an arduous interracial romance tale sagaciously laced with excitement and suspense. Without omitting societal prejudices and stereotypical presupposes, Sandra blends a poignant love story that embraces more than the common obstacles that many interracial couples endure. Close Encounters over flows with vivid situations that will leave you anxious and intrigued.

Carol Tagart and Lee Grafton are thrust together one night during a heinous situation that changes both of their lives forever. Against all odds, they fight unrelenting adversaries that threaten their relationship, their character, and their existence.

What I like most about this novel is the engrossing and passionate story line that deals with a myriad of delicate subjects, and the graceful and pivoting way that the story is told. The added subplots of suspense were thrilling and riveting. Make sure that you block off plenty of time to read this book because once you start, you won't be able to stop reading until the very last page.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Close Encounter" The Best!, October 22, 2000

By	Vannie Ryanes "Vannie Ryanes/VSR Book Review" (South Orange, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews

I first discovered Sandra Kitt when I read "The Color of Love" and was absolutely blown away by it. With "Close Encounters" Ms. Kitt continues to see and write about the world as it really is. She understands that while the world is Black and White there is no color boundary when it comes to love. As usual her characters are real. They could be the people next door.The herione Carol Taggert gets caught in police crossfire in more ways than one. As a Black women in NYC gunned downed by a stray police bullet, her first thoughts would be to sue the City wouldn't it? Carol's family background and the lessons taught to her by her father and mother keeps her from doing that, but it doesn't stop her from having misgivings about how she feels about the White police officer who may have been the person who shot her. For me, "Close Encounters" was more than a interracial love story, and I don't think that it was meant to be just that. This book is about understanding who you are, how you feel about yourself and how you fit into the scheme of someone else's life and how they fit, whether you like it or not, into yours. And how 10 seconds can change your life forever. After the shooting, Carol starts to think about her past, how she treated her loving adoptive parents and about the husband she had chosen for all the wrong reasons. Police Officer Grafton realizes that outside of his fellow police officers, the only other people he has any real contact with are women that he sees for one reason only and the "scum" of the City. His total tunnel vision focus on "policing" had a negative effect on his broken marriage and is now having the same effect on his daughter. Both characters go through a lot pain and suffering as they reasses their lives and try to fight what they both know is a losing battle. They are bound together by more than the accidental shooting. He realizes it first and together they fight the odds against them. This is the kind of novel that I will read again and again.This is a wonderful book.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Book Has Everything....Action...Suspense...Romance !, September 6, 2000

By	"-renee-" (GA United States) - See all my reviews

Close Encounters is a wonderfully well written story. Sandra Kitt does a great job of pulling the reader into the story. I was positively mesmerized by the story. I read Close Encounters from cover to cover. I could not put this book down.

Carol Taggert happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and is shot during a police undercover operation. Carol is a single African American woman who is struggling with family issues and still sleeping with her ex-husband.

Lee Grafton is the cop who thinks he shot Carol during a drug bust by accident. He may or may not be the shooter but he visits Carol several times and realizes that they have a connection.

Carol's ordeal is explosive because the cop who shot her is white and the NYPD has a horrible reputation in the black community. Carol realizes that the shooting has given her a second chance at life. Lee also struggles with his career choice. Can he continue to be a police officer?

Close Encounters moves at a very fast pace. The supporting characters are involved up to their necks in action and the story proceeds full speed ahead. I can't wait to get my hands on another Sandra Kitt book.