BEACHCOMBER by Karen Robards
Karen Robards has made her living for years now writing sexy, suspense thrillers. Her latest novel, BEACHCOMBER, continues this tradition. It isn't as heavy on the sex as was her last book, but the plot in this one is a little grittier and a little gorier. Her subject matter is a serial killer and that leads to some really tense moments in the book and some horrific occurrences.
The plot centers around Christy Petrino, an attorney who is also involved with the Mob. She comes to North Carolina to perform an errand for them and ends up being the target of a serial killer. And since the Mob has a job for her to do or else, she can't just leave the area to escape the killer.
Luke R and is a man she meets in North Carolina. He is another vacationer who is staying next door to where Christy is. He seems to Christy to be almost too good to be true. And he is. He is in fact an FBI agent who is assigned to keep a watch on Christy in hopes she might lead him to some Mob higher-ups.
Christy and Luke get into one difficult and dire situation after another. The man who is pursuing Christy is determined that she must die. Still when the end of the book comes and all questions are resolved, the reader feels a little cheated. There have been so many close escapes that a quickie resolution doesn't seem fair.
This is the only flaw in Robards's story. She has a great plot going until it peters out at the end. Christy and Luke are certainly an exciting and romantic pair and hold the readers' attention all the way through the book. Plus with the Mob and a killer on the loose the book never lacks for excitement.
Still this is a classic case of a strong book being rendered less than enjoyable by the faulty ending. It is just too quick and too pat. BEACHCOMBER needed more and the readers deserved more.
BEACHCOMBER is published by Atria Books. It contains 343 pages and sells for $25.00.