TEST
With this story, I think that author Melinda Leigh was going for a gripping, fast-paced beginning that takes the reader on a non-stop ride. Instead, my experience of reading Midnight Sacrifice was similar to when you are lost and the bus goes roaring past the stop where you think you should have gotten off. From the first page of this book, the reader is literally thrown into the middle of a story and left on their own to make sense of the jumbled pieces of information. I will admit that perhaps if I had read Midnight Exposure, the preceding story, this book may have made a little more sense and I would have enjoyed it more. However, I am doubtful of that, because in addition to this book’s inability to stand on its own, there were several other parts that prevented this book from being a great read.
The story opens with the attempted kidnapping of Mandy Brown, the “beautiful local innkeeper” in a secluded Maine town, by Nathan, the crazed diner-owner. Suddenly, a stranger appears out of nowhere saves Mandy. He manages to chase away Nathan and aids her friend who has been injured. The two barely exchange names before the police and the ambulence workers intercede.
The story reopens four months later with Mandy trying to put the pieces of her life back together after her almost kidnapping. She knows that Nathan is still on the loose (the police in this town appeared to be very incompetent) and lives in constant fear. In addition to this, Mandy is the only person able to keep her family business going since her mother suffered from a heart attack and is unable to do anything (her adult brother is mentally disabled, and her father abandoned the family years before). Seriously, all that was missing was the rain cloud and violin playing a sad song following her around.
She is wary when Danny Sullivan, the stranger who saved her that night comes back to town trying to find Nathan. (I’m guessing they were properly introduced at the hospital; since she knows who he is when he shows up at her door four months later). Danny, meanwhile, has his own beef with Nathan since Nathan tried to kill his sister in Midnight Exposure. For some reason, he felt it was okay to wait four months at his home in Jersey before returning to Maine to look for Nathan. You know, the old “give the killer four months to find a hiding spot in the Maine wilderness” technique. Danny is the black sheep of the Sullivan clan: He was a delinquent teen who was sent away to the army and returned with PTSD. He thinks that in capturing Nathan, he will be able to give his sister some relief and prove to himself that his is capable of doing good.
So far we have the emotionally damaged hero and the damsel in distress. All that was needed was a seriously bad guy. And that role is played by Nathan. Seriously, this guy was a page out of Villians 101 He had a degenerative brain disease, delusions of grandeur, and skills in the art of Celtic ritual sacrifice. He even had an evil side-kick. And yet, I found him to be the most interesting of the lot.
Here’s the thing: Mandy was super annoying. I think that Leigh wanted to portray her as almost saint-like in her devotion to her family and her determination to handle things on her own. Instead, she comes off as a martyr. She consistently works against Danny and the police. Danny, instead of being the sexy bad boy, only came off as bad. He kept referencing his past misdeeds so often that I became concerned that he might steal Mandy’s hubcaps or something.
Overall, this book did not have an issue of its own; it relied solely on the suspense from the first book. There really wasn’t any “mystery” left for this story. It is crucial that a romantic suspense novel contain suspense. From the very first page of this book we know the killer, his motivation, and where he is hiding out. This book smacked of a bad soap opera and it was my sacrifice to read it.
Grade: D
Book Type: Romantic Suspense
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 22/06/13
Publication Date: 2013/04
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Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.