TEST
If your spouse suddenly disappeared one day, only to reappear two years later with no memory of what happened, needle marks in her arm and an Ankh tattoo, how would you feel? I’d feel pretty suspicious, and at first so does Clay LeGrand. In Remember Me, Clay and his wife Francesca (Frankie) have to fight to regain their once idyllic relationship. One day, right after their first anniversary, Clay gets home from work to find his wife missing. She has taken no clothes, no money and there is a broken cup and blood in the bathroom. The police think Clay has gotten rid of his wife and is put through the ringer for the next several months. Two years later he is a shell of a man and has lost hope of ever seeing Frankie again. Imagine his surprise when he walks into his to find Frankie asleep in bed, with no memory of being gone for two years!
Frankie is in rough shape when Clay finds her, and due to needle tracks in her arms, he believes she’s been doing drugs. In truth, nothing about her disappearance is what it seems to be. Clay realizes his first mistake when the only drugs in her system are from sedatives. For her part, Frankie is indignant and hurt that Clay doesn’t believe her, but she’s also frightened. Where was she for so long? She knows she would never have left willingly, even if Clay doubts that. While Clay loves her, he is having a big problem trusting her and is afraid she is going to disappear again. In order to figure this mystery out, she and Clay are going to have to pull together and rebuild their relationship. But the past two years have changed Frankie; she is no longer naive and she refuses to be a victim any longer. She knows she was taken, but by whom? The police have a hard time believing she was kidnaped, and while I understand the sentiment, I felt they really should have taken Frankie’s claims a little more seriously.
Frankie’s childhood – along with some flashbacks – begin to give the couple a good clue as to who took Frankie. There’s a strong chance the kidnapper will try again, which places both Frankie and Clay in danger. The reader pretty much knows all along who the kidnapper is, and to be honest, it would have been more effective if his identity had been revealed just a bit later in the book. While it would have taken the reader out of the narrative had the author focused too much on the two years Frankie was missing, some interaction between Frankie and her kidnapper would have added to the drama of the story.
Frankie and Clay’s love story was enjoyable, but not as believable as it could have been had. Sala did not create in Clay a strong enough feeling of distrust. A little more dissension between the two seemed called for, given the situation. And while I know love conquers all, it should have conquered all with a bit more force than we got here. Additionally, Clay was a more fully-fleshed character than was Frankie. Her nightmare changed her, but the most we ever get to see of it is that she bought a gun to protect she and Clay. And, it did not seem she ever truly came to grips with her ordeal.
Frankly, while Remember Me was a nice read, I expected more from Sala, who could have done more with the suspense portion of the book. For instance, she could have made the villain more menacing. Some of the other secondary characters, like Clay’s parents, just seemed to be there as the voice of reason and common sense and never really seemed fleshed out. All in all, this is definitely more a love story than a suspense novel. If you like your romantic suspense light on real suspense and if are a fan of Sala’s (as I am), you will probably want to add this book to your collection, despite its flaws.
Buy it at Amazon/Apple Books/Barnes and Noble/Kobo
Grade: B-
Book Type: Romantic Suspense
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 20/10/99
Publication Date: 1999
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.