Tall, Dark and Deadly [Mass Market Paperback]

STORY BRIEF:
Grace was kidnapped at age 18 by Master. He kept her locked in a mansion for 5 years as a sex slave prisoner until she set it on fire, saw him burn, and escaped. While there, she was humiliated, tortured and shared with others. She later became a homicide detective. She moves to Rockville, S. Dakota, to work as a police detective. As soon as she arrives, a serial killer begins raping, torturing and killing women in Rockville, using the same methods used by Master. The FBI sends agent Justin to help Grace solve the killings. Grace and Justin are attracted to each other.

REVIEWER'S OPINION:
I wouldn't say the book kept me awake, but when I did wake during the night the torture scenes were in my mind. The suspense is definitely there. The characters are pretty good. I liked that Grace's character was an excellent detective, and through much of the story she was. But she did two things that bothered me because they were not what a good detective would do, and they hindered the investigation. The first was that Grace kept secrets from Justin. As she noticed similarities between the current killer and Master, she didn't tell him. He was her partner and should have been told. I'm not sure why she didn't tell him, but it was something to do with reliving bad memories. Page 315 sort of answers this as follows. "Going on record, confirming her past that she'd so successfully wiped off her record and kept any employer from ever knowing about, was about to rear its ugly head." "Her testimony might help bust (two bad guys), but it would also destroy her." So she doesn't tell him. I'm shaking my head over this, she's trying to solve a case, yet she hides information. Although she did tell him some things later. The second thing that bothered me is in Spoilers below.

There were also some unexplained events that bothered me (in Spoilers below).

DATA:
Story length: 379 pages. Swearing language: strong. Sexual language: strong. Number of sex scenes: 8. Total number of sex scene pages: 29. Setting: Rockville, S. Dakota. Copyright: 2009. Genre: romantic suspense.

CAUTION SPOILERS:

To escape Master, Grace set the home on fire and claims she watched Master burn. However, Master did not burn, and he escaped. Authorities said no burned bodies were found. Through most of the story Grace is adamant when she tells people she saw Master burn to death, and there is no doubt in her mind that he is dead. But she is wrong. What kind of thinking is this to believe something so false? Her self deception just gave the bad guy freedom to do more bad things. The authorities could have pursued or captured him right after the fire if she'd been honest. I also wish the author would have clarified exactly how both Grace and Master escaped the fire with no burns to either of them. I assume fire fighters broke down a door with an axe, which allowed Grace to get out. (Master had kept all doors key locked to keep her prisoner.)

Someone is a partner with Master who just happens to live in Rockville. Why did Grace move to Rockville, causing her to be around this person? The author never explained this. Was it truly a coincidence or did that person have something to do with getting her hired? The author also doesn't explain why Master waited 10 years before going after Grace, and when he does, why is he or his buddy killing other girls nearby first? In fact, by the end of the book, I wasn't sure who raped, tortured and killed the other girls. Was it one or both of them? I also was confused and wanted more information about the connections, motivations, and activities among the bad guys.

I haven't read any other books by this author and I'm afraid I won't read any others. I was tricked by the sexy cover and "The best book I've read this year!" comment by Lora Leigh. Lora honey, it's a good thing it's only April because you have GOT to read a few more books if this one is the best you could do.

Suffice it to say I was shocked to see the length of titles that came up when I searched her out by name. I've got to believe her other books have been better because based on this book, I have no idea how she's getting published.

I don't want to hurt her feelings, but this was a horrible, sloppy effort. Her forward said something about having struggled when writing this one. Well, it's obvious. And someone - anyone - who proofread it should've done a better job. They should've told her to just give it up.

I can't even finish the book. I want to, I'm trying to, but I'm so busy rewriting it in my head (and trying desperately to follow the plot) that I'm exhausted with it. The concept is good, she just couldn't figure out how to follow through.

It seems like a sixteen year old girl wrote this book. The choice of words, the placement of those words within a sentence...Ugh...I could go on and on. I can suspend belief with the best of them, but when a woman who was horrifically abused wouldn't act the way this woman did. The man she might ultimately be attracted to wouldn't say the things he said.

Plot-wise, I agree with other reviewers. It's a shambles. It's a good thing I don't have the book in front of me because I would end up pulling out quotes only to tear them to shreds. That would be a waste of time and mean-spirited.

I have read Ms. O'Clare's earlier work and it was easy and fun reading. I was intrigued to see her expand her writing into a longer, more complicated story line. However, after page 200 I skipped to the end to confirm who I thought was involved with the crime and promptly came to write my first review for Amazon.
I have a high threshold for accepting different interpretations of characters and plot but I was actually offended by what Ms. O'Clare created in Tall, Dark and Deadly. Simply put her "alpha" male hero was abusive. Lots of romance authors like to develop a hero that is controlling and tough but with redeeming qualities - many push the envelop and make me cringe at how domineering these men can be. However, I not only cringed but got angry wanting Ms. O'Clare to apologize to her readers.
This was a seasoned FBI agent? He comes to town. Knows about the heroine's tragic past. Meets her and within minutes tries to take control of her life and have sex with her. Really? REALLY? To put it plainly, he's creepy.
Ms. O'Clare had the bones of a good suspense novel. The story of the crime could have actually worked if she had a good editor that pointed out some of the flaws in the development of the investigation. However, so much more needed to be done to fix the problem with characterization. Like I said, this book offended me with how much time this FBI agent (Reece) spent trying to force Grace (heroine) to do what he wanted her to do (have sex, move in with him etc.) that I think she would have solved the case sooner if he hadn't shown up to interfere so negatively in her life. He was so unprofessional that I'm sure any real agent would shudder at his deportment. Plus, so many times Agent Reece said how strong and brilliant Grace was but then turned around and in an abusive way coerces her to do something she is really not comfortable doing - treating her like a frail victim. Words without actions to back them are empty and Reece really didn't seem like he truly respected Grace to be an adult who could do her job.
In the beginning, I really got the feeling that Grace had it together and was really strong but by the end she was like a lost girl who is so happy that she is now being "taken care of" by a hot, alpha FBI agent who is now arranging her life. Yuk! (I won't even rant about her "loving" uncle who treats Grace like she's sixteen.)

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 19 reviews  2.9 out of 5 stars