Now You See Her
Grade : C+

These days, whenever I see that a favorite author of mine has a new hardback release, I can’t help but cringe a little; prepare myself to expect less of a romance, and more of an emphasis on mainstream themes. In essence, prepare myself for disappointment. Such is the case with Linda Howard’s Now You See Her.

Paris Samille Sweeny is a 31-year-old artist living in New York. She hasn’t always lived there, but only moved to The Big Apple to avoid seeing the ghosts of people she knew in her home town. Too disturbing. Better to see the ghosts of strangers. That way, she wouldn’t feel compelled to stop and talk to them. Just when did Sweeny begin seeing ghosts? About a year ago, but can find no rational explanation as to why. Oh, yes, suddenly she can answer all the questions on Jeopardy! in advance, and traffic lights all turn green for her, among other benefits.

Sweeny is just coming to terms with all this, when she begins episodes of "sleep-painting." Rising in the dead of night, she paints a murder scene, in graphic detail, of the street-vendor with whom she had had a nodding acquaintance. After the painting episode, she becomes so cold, she finds it almost impossible to get warm.

Richard Worth is the estranged husband of Candra, the owner of the posh, artsy-fartsy gallery where Sweeny hangs and sells her work. Though Richard and Candra have been on the outs for years, they are just now in the process of a messy divorce. Hotly attracted to Sweeny, Richard now wants to expedite the proceedings, so he can get Sweeny into bed as quickly as possible.

One night, Sweeny sleep-paints a pair of shoes, one a man’s, one a woman’s, followed by a nearly killing episode cold chills, and Sweeny realizes she is in the process of painting the murder of someone she knows. But who? And, can she finish the face in time to find out who the victim is, and warn her? Will she be able to identify the murderer in time to tell the police?

Now You See Her is not a bad read - not at all - but I have to admit, I had some real problems with it. Richard and Sweeny are apart for as much as they are together, which breaks the sexual tension on a regular basis. They get along so well, there is really nothing to keep them out of bed from the start. So, while the reason these two keep themselves from consummating their love is admirable, it’s not particularly realistic and felt contrived simply to prolong the (relatively mild) sexual tension. When they finally do get together, the two brief loves scenes seemed somewhat lackluster to me. Also, the groundwork had been laid (no pun intended) to imply Sweeny was still a virgin. So it was a little jolting to discover she was not.

Richard’s self-made millionaire is so different from any hero author Howard has ever created, you just may not recognize him. He’s so understated and reasonable, while being tall, dark, and handsome, for all the world I kept getting him confused in my mind with Roarke, J.D. Robb's hero from the In Death series. There are so many similarities between these two heroes, I almost expected Eve to show up as primary on the case.

Sweeny is feisty and likable, but this is definitely her story; her romance with Richard is relegated pretty much to a supporting role. Also, only Richard and Sweeny are stellar; the very short list of secondary characters are stereotypically slimy, and, in fact, the only really intense moments come from the disgusting interplay between the villains. There was no true mystery here, since we pretty much know who's going to be murdered and who will do the deed, so the suspense wasn’t compelling enough to grab my interest and hold it.

A vague last page, and an epilogue that offered an unsatisfactory explanation to the goings-on, left me feeling like Now You See Her was just a shade or two short of shining. It needed a big dose of oompf. Even the added humor wasn’t enough to get me past the scratch-my-head-in-wonder parts (e.g., Believing Sweeny is capable of sleep-painting a murder scene, no one, not Richard, not the police, seem to feel compelled to go personally, or assign somebody, to sit with Sweeny while she sleeps, and watch her do her thing in the middle of the night. Weren’t any of these people curious? I would have been.)

As I said, Now You See Her is not a bad read, but it’s not a terrific one, either. At $23.00, you might want to wait a bit and See Her, in paperback.

Reviewed by Marianne Stillings
Grade : C+

Sensuality: Warm

Review Date : September 28, 1998

Publication Date: 1999

Review Tags: 

Recent Comments …

Marianne Stillings

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
What's your opinion?x
()
x