The Cost of Betrayal

Betrayed
By Dee Henderson
Rating: 1 star

This story was hard for me to connect with, because there was very little action and the tone throughout was extremely passive. The entire plot felt too stiff, too controlled, which left no room for the characters to have natural reactions to any of the plot points.

Where was the suspense in this suspense book??? The crime was already done and over. Getting a character pardoned from prison was much too easy with everything falling perfectly into place with no bumps along the way. The governor even granted the pardon without hearing any proof or looking at any new evidence, instead relying solely on a man's word of honor based on his gut instinct and conspiracy theories and one piece of evidence that even he admitted would make the prisoner look guilty rather than innocent. That felt flimsy at best. Were I that governor asked to pardon a convicted murderer, I would want to see ALL the evidence and see if the train of thought through the evidence made sense before signing any paperwork that would pardon someone convicted of murder.

The entire plot felt contrived, orchestrated, toward a specific end. There was no wiggle room for the characters to come alive and make their own choices, so they ended up feeling very flat and one-dimensional. Where was the development? Where was the growth? I wanted to get to know Ann and Paul and Gregory and Janelle along the journey, to feel like they became friends, but that didn't happen at any point in the story. It always felt like they were two counties away from me, that I was viewing them through a spyglass or something rather than walking right beside them. There was a bit of hot emotion in Janelle, but even that felt contrived as no one else showed any emotion whatsoever, even when she blew up a time or two. Contrived melodrama is not my cup of tea.

My favorite parts of this story were the lake-effect snow, the dog, and the fact that an innocent person was set free from prison.

This really was more of an emotion-recovery book, and I'm not sure what genre that fits into, but it definitely did not feel suspenseful at all.

I miss Mrs. Henderson's old style of writing, found in the O'Malley Chronicles, which is still one of my favorite book series.

Deadly Isle
By Dani Pettrey
Rating: 4 stars

Now this is suspense! From the very first page, the action and stakes were high—and they kept rising! The characters were three-dimensional and interesting, and the backstories were inserted in small chunks along the way to help fill in the blanks of the past as we cruised through the present.

The mystery surrounding a murder off the coast of an island during a nor'easter was wonderful. I enjoyed how the weather played a large role in this novella. That was a brilliant touch by the author, and delivered well. The way clues were dropped here and there along the way was great, but I still didn't figure out who was behind it before the big reveal. Well done, Mrs. Pettrey!

Content: one sexual term, a couple of derogatory terms, mention of a one-night stand (with a drug involved)

Code of Ethics
By Lynette Eason
Rating: 5 stars

1/3/19
The first book I read in 2019 landed squarely on my favorites list! I'm so happy about that I could just jump for joy. I needed to start this reading year off right, and this book definitely fit the bill.

Ruthie and Isaac were amazing and relatable. Their adventure was great and intriguing, keeping me riveted and flipping pages. While this story is short, it is tall on action and deep in heart. It's a special little tale that should be on everyone's reading list this year (but catch up on the previous books in the series first!).

I can't wait to read the next story, Code of Valor. My copy is sitting on my desk, just waiting for me. Where is yours?

7/9/20
Again, I adored the suspense vibes of this story. The characters were so amazing and felt realistic and as if they could burst into my living room at any second. Such a vivid and entertaining story deserved a second read. I'm pretty sure it's earned several future readings too.