One Scream Away
Grade : B-

I love it when romantic suspense authors write books that not only have me turning pages to see what will happen next, but also asking, "why?" Kate Brady does a fabulous job with this in the first part of One Scream Away. Not only does every chapter seem to bring a new revelation, but as I read, I could not help wondering about the motivations of various characters, particularly the heroine. As the book moves into its second half, the construction of the story turns rougher and things suffer a bit from "kitchen sink syndrome," but the author's voice still shows promise.

A mysterious killer has murdered and mutilated a woman- and he calls Beth Denison from the dead woman's phone. Beth knows who the killer must be and why he would target her, but she dares not tell. When police trace calls to her, she claims to know nothing, but the officers doubt her. A former FBI agent, Neil Sheridan, is working with police on the case because it bears similarities to a complex case he worked as an agent. Neil especially doubts Beth's word, and finds himself determined to get the true story from her.

The interactions between hero and heroine in this story are interesting, primarily because the characters themselves are intriguing. Beth is obviously hiding something not only from Neil and the police, but from the reader. The reader can tell that Beth is a widow, she loves her daughter dearly, and she is both paranoid and extremely determined to be self-sufficient. But what is she so paranoid about? Why does she take so many precautions? And most importantly, what is she hiding and why? Revelations come throughout the book, small ones at first with a gradual leadup to the Big Reveal, and these disclosures definitely catch a reader's interest. The author hooked me in to the point where I really wanted to know why Beth handled things the way she did.

And then there's Neil. His character didn't engage me quite as much as Beth's did, but he certainly has "damaged hero" written all over him. From the beginning, readers know that something happened in his past to make him turn away from his career at the FBI and to a life working private security, livened up by off-hours drinking and sleeping around. I felt more distant from Neil, so I didn't have the same need to know what had happened to him that I had with Beth, but his interactions with Beth were still interesting. Neil is very obviously torn between his deep desire to solve the case and put away the killer, and his own need to protect Beth. These motivations sometimes conflict and the author isn't afraid to show that tension, even if I didn't always agree with Neil's choices.

Throughout the book, the suspense plot dominates. The case contains many twists and turns and each new event or discovery adds a sense of urgency to the story, which can cause one to keep gradually picking up the pace until suddenly the pages are flying. The reader figures out relatively quickly who the villain of the piece is, but he still has many secrets that do not get revealed right away. Normally, I don't care for the supersmart, diabolical serial killer villain, but the one in this book is unusually creepy and the author draws him effectively for the most part.

In the second half of the book, things start to drag a little as the author piles in tragedy after coincidence after squicky dark secret after.... and you get it. Not to mention that her poor hero and heroine have horror after horror visited upon them, and it's just a little too much.

Though the characters are likable, the romance also lacks a certain something. Perhaps the intensity of the suspense plot swamped the romance, but initially things felt a little forced between Beth and Neil. Their chemistry starts to gel better in the second half of the book as they really start working as a team and trusting one another, but the initial stages of their relationship just didn't ring true. They start as two people who are emotionally battered, closed off, and not just unwilling to trust, but specifically unwilling to trust each other. The leap from distrust to attraction to Neil's overwhelming need to protect went a little too quickly.

Still, even with these issues, I see promise in this book. Though she tried to throw too many elements into this book, the author can tell a story and do so vividly. Brady also does a wonderful job of gradually revealing the various secrets of her characters without throwing the entire truth of their world into one giant info dump. While I do hope later books smooth out the rough patches and capitalize on the strengths of One Scream Away, I enjoyed this book overall and am glad I read it.

Reviewed by Lynn Spencer
Grade : B-

Sensuality: Subtle

Review Date : August 1, 2009

Publication Date: 2009/07

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Lynn Spencer

I enjoy spending as much time as I can between the covers of a book, traveling through time and around the world. When I'm not having adventures with fictional characters, I'm an attorney in Virginia and I love just hanging out with my husband, little man, and the cat who rules our house.
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