The Ripple Effect
Grade : B

If you were disappointed in the verdict in the O.J. Simpson case, this novel gives a more satisfying end to a fictional version of a very similar trial while setting off the ripple effect of the title into several lives.

Robbie Childress murdered his wife, Andie Bergen, and got away with the crime. Not only did the sports star turned actor murder his wife, he was abusive toward her when she was alive. His acquittal nearly destroyed Andie's family. It's also made Dan Hadley, the investigator who helped get Childress off, feel guilty. Now Hadley has a chance to redeem himself by helping get Andie's father off the hook for murdering Childress. He must work closely with Andie's sister, Tess Bergen, who hates him, to uncover evidence that will help find another suspect.

Dan has to get close enough to Tess to get her to trust him and cooperate with him. Tess's life was destroyed by the murder of her sister. She lost her medical residency and fiance as well as her beloved sister. Since Dan was the one who dug up the evidence that destroyed Andie's reputation, Tess is understandably more than a little bitter toward him. Just when Tess starts to get her life back together, the arrest of her father starts things all over again. While Tess wasn't involved in killing Childress, she happened to end up with the gun used to kill him. What she did with the gun was a mystery as was who would find it and when. Tess struggles to keep her secret through the trial and to try not to break down on the stand. I don't know if I could stand bottling things up the way she does.

What I found so absorbing about this book wasn't the guilt or innocence of Tess's father, but the individual journeys of Tess and Dan and the answer to the question of where Tess hid the gun. Dan and Tess are both strong people who want their lives back after the trauma of the Childress trial. The secondary characters added color to the story, especially the attorneys. The defense attorney is a good old guy with a mind of steel. The prosecutor is an ambitious woman desperate to achieve fame, fortune and wealth. While the trial drove the story of the characters, there were no long courtroom scenes to distract. There was a television legal show that each attorney and Dan would watch each night that gave a sense of what each side was feeling.

The romance aspect was lacking, though. As Dan and Tess healed, they came closer together, but I just didn't feel like they were falling in love. I felt the affection building, but I couldn't see why these people would end up in love by the end of the trial. They weren't together enough. Dan stayed at Tess' house for a while and they developed a truce, but they were more often on their own looking for information about the case and trying to put their lives back together.

Don't pick up this book looking for a romantic suspense story. Pick up this book expecting to be caught up in the stories of two people whose lives have been seriously damaged and who are trying to heal themselves as they help someone else. Expect to be absorbed as they do that and to wonder where Tess really put that gun. And don't expect to be distracted while you're reading.

Reviewed by Andrea Pool
Grade : B

Sensuality: Warm

Review Date : March 6, 1999

Publication Date: 1999

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