TEST
In her suspense novels Shirley Palmer (who also writes as Nell Brien) often takes on real and disturbing issues and portrays settings that seem true to life. Her latest novel, The Trade, takes readers to Malibu, California in the wake of a wildfire.
As the novel opens, Matt Lowell is racing home through the canyons in the middle of a wildfire desperate to rescue his dog locked inside his home. As he makes his journey, he finds a newborn baby abandoned in the sand. Having no idea who the child’s parents are or how she came to be left there, Matt picks up the baby and continues toward safety. Unfortunately, the child dies before he can get her away from the wildfires and call for help.
Police are initially suspicious when they learn of Matt’s discovery and, when the child’s teenage mother is found dead soon thereafter, the tension begins to build. Despite police suspicion of him, Matt begins to feel a sense of duty to this mother and her child and he sets out to try to learn what happened to them – a journey that will lead him into many dangerous places and cause him to question the people he holds closest.
In addition to trying to solve the mystery of the abandoned child and her mother, Matt feels lost in the stress of his situation, resulting in the temptation to reach out to his ex-girlfriend Ginn Chang for both support and legal expertise. He has never really gotten over Ginn, though she makes it clear that she has no intention of walking back into a relationship with Matt again.
Though this book is interesting in that it is told almost entirely from the hero’s point of view, it’s hard to feel emotionally invested in the story because of the difficulty of really getting inside Matt’s head or developing a sympathetic tie with him. None of the characters, frankly, engender empathy or true understanding. Additionally, the language can at times be rather rough and, while it goes with the setting and the characters to a certain extent, it is still jarring.
The action, however, flows fast and furious throughout the book. Even though the characters did not engage me, the fast-paced story, the harrowing issues addressed, and the lure of wondering how the mystery would be resolved certainly kept me turning pages. It’s also clear that the the author did a great deal of research, especially with regards to some of the issues found at the heart of the mystery. This adds an air of authenticity to what could easily have become a totally over-the-top adventure story.
While this is not the best suspense story to be found out there, fans of the genre may still enjoy it. The action is riveting, but the main characters’ detachment from the reader make it a rather bland read at times. It doesn’t warrant the hardback price in my estimation, and most readers will probably want to wait for it to come out in paperback. For the best example of this author’s work, though, I would stick to A Veiled Journey.
Grade: C
Book Type: Suspense
Sensuality: Subtle
Review Date: 03/03/04
Publication Date: 2004
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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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.