No Ordinary Man [Mass Market Paperback]

What can I say but that Suz has certainly improved her plotting and characterization. This one is from 1996 and though it has its strong points, overall they are canceled out by the TSTL heroine and the bumbling FBI agents.

There is a serial killer on the loose and he's targeting women who look like Jess Baxter. A new tenant has just moved into the apartment above her house and even though he's lived in the neighborhood for over 6 months, Jess knows very little about him. But she does think Rob Carpenter is hot. And he's a great a kisser. Based on that and multiple orgasms, she just *knows* he can't be the killer. Never mind that the FBI does. Never mind that Rob won't tell her anything, and I mean anything, about

his past, present or future. Never mind that he's lied to her and she knows he's concealed his identity. She'll risk her life to help him evade the police and FBI because she's in love.

Oh please. If I had a small daughter and a drunkard ex husband, there is no way I'd be risking her future not to mention my life because some guy is great at locking lips. I don't care if he's cute, I don't care if you feel like screaming the opening lines of the Hallelujah Chorus when your moment of bliss hits you, I'd be wary, watchful and waiting before I'd let him in my house and bed. Jess is just Too Stupid to Live for most of the book.

And the FBI agents? Don't get me started. I just hope and pray that the actual agents would be better at handling a real case then the way they're portrayed in this book.

What I will say for the book is that Jess is a loving mother who seems to be trying to raise her daughter right. And even though the list of suspects is pretty much laid out from the beginning, I was still guessing til almost the last 50 pages of the story who really dunnit. And Jess does (finally) rise to the occasion and kicks some major @$$ when the chips are down. But the woman is in denial for far longer than is healthy with a sicko on the loose who's raped and slit the throats of 15 women.

THERE'S A SERIAL KILLER LOOSE AND ALL OF HIS VICTIMS LOOK A LOT LIKE CLUB SINGER JESS BAXTER. THE FBI'S PROFILE OF THE SERIAL KILLER IS A WHITE MALE IN HIS PRIME, TRAVELS A LOT, NO FAMILY, CARRIES A CONCEALED WEAPON AND WAS ABUSED IN CHILDHOOD.

I ESPECIALLY LIKED THE MYSTERY SURROUNDING ROB CARPENTER AND THE WAY THE FBI WERE PORTRAYED AS REALLY COMPASSIONATE AND DETERMINED IN THE COURSE OF THEIR WORK. THIS ONE KEPT ME GUESSING RIGHT UP TO THE END AND KEEPS YOU AT THE EDGE OF YOUR SEAT!

The female lead in this book really made me shudder. She's a mom and a musician who happens to attract every hetro male's attention in a five mile radius. The hero, the killer the kooky mama's boy from next door the guy pumping gas at the corner station. Yes she's attractive, but she's also nieve and allows her deadbeat ex-husband get away with treating her and their daughter with disdain usually reserved for roadkill.

Brockmann is usually a little better than this and while I was able to finish the book, I put it down shaking my head.