ROMANTIC
SUSPENSE
|
|
SUSPENSE
|
|
|
|
|
Infectious mono, peripheral smear, low power showing lymphocytosis
|
William Shakespeare
Author of Love's Labour Lost, quoted aat the beginning of the novel:
"Love is a devil, Thre is no evil angwl but Love."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
BOOK
ILLUMINATIONS
From Merrimon Book Reviews
|
|
The Perfect Couple
by Brenda Novak
Chilling
Zoe
Duncan's worst nightmare just came true. Her daughter Samantha
just disappears one day. The police suspect that she has simply
run away. After all, evidence shows that Samantha was unhappy
under the rules of her soon-to-be stepfather's home. Zoe knows in
her heart that her daughter did not run away. She hires Jonathan
Stevens, a private detective who does pro-bono work for The Last Stand,
a charity in Sacramento. Jonathan has virtually no clues.
In order to solve the case, he must peer into the private life of Zoe
Duncan. Even Jonathan can never see how close to home lie the
answers. Behind the perfect veneer of respectability, behind the
facade of the perfect couple lies a twisted villain and accomplice who
will do anything to get what they want.
In THE PERFECT COUPLE, Brenda Novak identifies the culprit in the
spine-tingling first pages. From the very beginning, the reader
knows why Samantha disappears and the kind of terrors she might likely
face. Rather than who, Brenda Novak's suspense focuses on the
motivations, the psychological demeanor of the perpetrators and the
relationship that binds them to one another. Brenda Novak
punctuates encounters with chilling moments, especially in dialogue
where the true meaning is quite literal but unexpected. As Brenda
Novak draws back the veneer so carefully planned, she creates a
terrifying portrait of obsession and love turned corrupt and ever so
twisted, so twisted that little else matters. Perhaps even more
chilling are the similarities between Tiffany and Zoe. Rather
than painting a black and white portrait of the saintly mother and the
evil neighbor, their similarities truly haunt as one comes to see the
extreme degree on the spectrum of a woman driven to do anything for
love. Likewise, Brenda Novak's THE
PERFECT COUPLE is all the more satisfying because she resists
the temptation to juxtapose Jonathan and Anton, making one all good and
one all bad.
Nevertheless, the intricate plot details sometimes take over at the
expense of the excellent characterization as seen in this author's Dead
series (DEAD GIVEAWAY, DEAD SILENCE
and DEAD RIGHT). Quite
simply, many of the details must be glossed over in order to follow the
plot action smoothly but these are exactly the details,especially those
concerning the circumstances of Samantha's birth, that distance a
reader from the characters and make them and the later developments
less believable. Perhaps it can be excused in the sense
that Zoe herself has not faced her past, and yet since this book is
written in third person narration rather than first. A few more
details might clue a reader more into emotional believability of Zoe as
well as Samantha's father. The level of victimization and
degradation described here is so overwhelming that THE PERFECT COUPLE would have more
impact if the emotional dynamics were as finely tuned as is typical
with this author. In addition, the ending lacks the
transformative element, romantic or otherwise, that brings her
characters from the darkness of evil into a redemptive moment at least
as equivalent to the horrors her characters have experienced and seen
in some of the author's earlier romantic suspense. Since THE PERFECT COUPLE is the first
book of The Last Stand Series (followed by THE PERFECT LIAR and THE PERFECT MURDER), yet indirectly
tied to her previous series (TRUST
ME, STOP ME, and WATCH ME) through the Last Stand, it may very
well be that the author is saving this aspect, choosing to develop it
over the course of the series. Despite this, THE PERFECT COUPLE is a
fast-paced enjoyable read that is hard to put down based on the plot
twists and turns.
THE PERFECT COUPLE
is an action-packed chilling work of romantic suspense that looks into
the terrifying dynamics of love, a love twisted by obsession and hiding
in plain sight under a veneer of perfection. Just when a reader
thinks they have seen the worst, Brenda Novak reveals an even more
sinister possibility. From the harrowing beginning to the last
moments, Brenda Novak ramps up the chilling details of the crime as one
deed spirals into more and more consequences for the perpetrators and
the victims. THE PERFECT COUPLE is a good choice for readers
wanting a glimpse into the possible dynamics underlying some of the
headline news of past years and the start to a promising new trilogy
based on The Last Stand.
Publisher: Mira (June
2009)
Author
website
Series: The Last Stand
Other books in the Series: The Perfect Liar, The Perfect Murder
Reviewed by Merrimon,
Merrimon Book Reviews
Review Courtesy of Amazon Vine
|
|
|
