One Deadly Sin by Annie Solomon | Fiction, Romance | DONNE TEMPO
One Deadly Sin by Annie Solomon
By Madeline Muravchik
When asked to review Annie Solomon’s latest work, One Deadly Sin (Forever Hachette Book Group; 0446178446), I was secretly pleased. It gave me a legit reason to indulge in the guilty pleasure of reading a romance novel.
Unfortunately, the book turned out to be anything but pleasurable. It is billed as a romantic thriller. Yet there was very little suspense. How could there be, when much of the story is dedicated to clearing the main character, Edie Swann, of murder charges that readers know from the get-go she did not commit?
Instead
there are endless pages of Edie’s internal,
angst-filled debate over whether to confess her
plan to get revenge on the men in her hometown
who contributed to her father’s death (by sending
each of them a figurine of a black angel) to her
new beau, Holt Drennen.
Holt is conveniently the town’s sheriff.
The dead guys, of course, are exactly the same men she’s targeted, which makes Edie look like she’s out to do more than just shake the men up so they’ll confess what really caused her father’s death. Yet since we know that Edie isn’t responsible for the murders the suspense of the story is supposed to come from wondering if Edie will indeed take the rap anyway or if Holt will be able to trust her after he learns of her plot for payback and clear her name.
But for these questions to hold readers’ interest, we have to care about what happens to the characters. And I just didn’t. They were too broadly drawn.
Edie is a rebel because she has a tattoo and drives a Harley. Holt is a softie at heart because he is a widow raising a daughter on his own.
One character that does hold some intrigue is Sam Fish, the young woman who is Holt’s deputy.
A former soldier, she is drawn to law enforcement because of her need for strict rank and order. Sam believes Holt is being lead astray by Edie and she’s torn between following the orders of a boss who’s been good to her (and who she might be sweet on) and doing what she thinks is right.
Unlike Edie, her internal struggle is actually compelling. Alas, Sam is only a minor player.
Some suspense does develop near the end of the story as Holt’s credibility is called into doubt and none of the suspects likely to exonerate Edie turn out to be responsible for the murders.
Yet it is too little too late as far as a satisfying plot goes, especially when the far-fetched culprit is finally revealed. Instead of being satisfying the surprise ending is more apt to make readers groan, “You got to be kidding me.”
Unfortunately the romantic aspect of the story also leaves much to be desired. It vacillates between being formulaic and being plain silly.
Bottom line: One Deadly Sin is one deadly bore.
When asked to review Annie Solomon’s latest work, One Deadly Sin (Forever Hachette Book Group; 0446178446), I was secretly pleased. It gave me a legit reason to indulge in the guilty pleasure of reading a romance novel.
Unfortunately, the book turned out to be anything but pleasurable. It is billed as a romantic thriller. Yet there was very little suspense. How could there be, when much of the story is dedicated to clearing the main character, Edie Swann, of murder charges that readers know from the get-go she did not commit?
Holt is conveniently the town’s sheriff.
The dead guys, of course, are exactly the same men she’s targeted, which makes Edie look like she’s out to do more than just shake the men up so they’ll confess what really caused her father’s death. Yet since we know that Edie isn’t responsible for the murders the suspense of the story is supposed to come from wondering if Edie will indeed take the rap anyway or if Holt will be able to trust her after he learns of her plot for payback and clear her name.
But for these questions to hold readers’ interest, we have to care about what happens to the characters. And I just didn’t. They were too broadly drawn.
Edie is a rebel because she has a tattoo and drives a Harley. Holt is a softie at heart because he is a widow raising a daughter on his own.
One character that does hold some intrigue is Sam Fish, the young woman who is Holt’s deputy.
A former soldier, she is drawn to law enforcement because of her need for strict rank and order. Sam believes Holt is being lead astray by Edie and she’s torn between following the orders of a boss who’s been good to her (and who she might be sweet on) and doing what she thinks is right.
Unlike Edie, her internal struggle is actually compelling. Alas, Sam is only a minor player.
Some suspense does develop near the end of the story as Holt’s credibility is called into doubt and none of the suspects likely to exonerate Edie turn out to be responsible for the murders.
Yet it is too little too late as far as a satisfying plot goes, especially when the far-fetched culprit is finally revealed. Instead of being satisfying the surprise ending is more apt to make readers groan, “You got to be kidding me.”
Unfortunately the romantic aspect of the story also leaves much to be desired. It vacillates between being formulaic and being plain silly.
Bottom line: One Deadly Sin is one deadly bore.