Double Life
Grade : C-

Amanda Stevens is an author whose books I used to enjoy very much, but over the years, I've become less and less satisfied; they are now shorter, shallower, and less fulfilling. Double Life is a case in point. It has a classic gothic premise that the Amanda Stevens of old could have done great things with. Unfortunately, it's too shallow to the point of being utterly hollow, letting that great premise go to waste.

Emma Novick returns to Jacobs Pass, Texas, in the aftermath of a terrifying assault. Her father has long been the groundskeeper for the wealthy Corbett family, and Emma takes a job as personal assistant to family matriarch Helen Corbett. Thanks to her position, Emma learns some startling news before most other people in town: Helen's long-lost grandson Ash, who left home twelve years ago without a word, is coming home.

When they were teenagers, Emma and Ash fell in love, but like everyone else, she hasn't heard from him since he left so abruptly without even saying good-bye. She's curious to see what became of the boy she once loved. But when he arrives, Emma immediately suspects something is off about the man who says he's Ash. He seems different somehow, even more so than she would expect after so long. Is this really Ash, or an impostor trying to worm his way into the Corbett family fortune?

There are two intriguing ideas here. In addition to the above, there's also a subplot about a small island off the coast where an isolated religious community once lived. Those people have since moved on, leaving behind an abandoned village on the island. It was there that several victims of a serial killer who was never captured were found. The idea of this deserted town, its buildings still intact, secluded on an island is a creepy one, and Stevens gets some mileage out of it.

These two ideas might have made for two good books. Unfortunately, they've been mashed together into one and neither is developed well enough to do it service. The serial killer/abandoned village aspect feels completely unconnected to the main plot for too long. It's as though the author or her editor didn't have enough confidence in the possible impostor plot and the character-driven mystery inherent in it, so this serial killer bit was tacked on. That's exactly how it felt - tacked-on - and even when it finally collides with the main plot and its significance is explained, it seems superfluous. It could have been removed entirely without hurting the integrity of the story at all.

Without the subplot, there may not have been as much obvious "suspense," but at least the main plot and its characters might have received the attention they needed. Emma and Ash are painfully thin characters, and their romance is half-hearted and unconvincing. The supporting characters make even less of an impression. The Corbett family can be summed up thusly: Matriarch, Nice Son, Nice Son's Mean Wife, Mean Son, Mean Son's Scared Wife, and Daughter. Helen, the matriarch, is the only one to receive the slightest bit of personality; otherwise, those one-note labels are pretty much all there is to them as they each pop in and out briefly in the course of the book. A brief element with Emma's best friend and a local deputy just feels pointless.

The pacing is very slow, heavy in narrative and introspection that does too much telling instead of showing. The book begins with a long narrative section as Emma stares out at the ocean thinking how old she feels, thinks about the Corbetts, thinks about the serial killer, etc. It's just lazy exposition, and the pace never picks up much from there. The plot just sort of drifts along without much happening. This is the kind of book where I never really knew where it was going, not because it was so mysterious, but because it often seems like it's not going anywhere at all.

As usual Stevens delivers some effective atmosphere and there are a few brief moments that capture the sense of long-lost romance between Emma and her could-be Ash. But on the whole, the book was only sporadically interesting and I can't really say I cared about the characters or the story. Much of the time, I was just bored. I probably wouldn't have been so disappointed if I didn't enjoy this premise so much. Unfortunately, it's been done much better than it is here.

Reviewed by Leigh Thomas
Grade : C-
Book Type: Series Romance

Sensuality: Warm

Review Date : December 20, 2006

Publication Date: 2006/11

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