Review: Fear not: Aroostine won't disappoint you
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 12, 2014
Like all loyal fans of a fictional character, I had my reservations when Melissa F Miller announced a spin-off on her extremely successful Sasha McCandless series to expand on a minor character who had appeared in one of her previous novels. What if a new series spelt the end for Sasha - what if the new protagonist turned out to be unlikable? Or - worse of all - what if Miller stopped writing Sasha altogether?I shouldn’t have worried: Critical Vulnerability, the first novel featuring Aroostine Higgins,  not only didn’t disappoint, but far exceeded my expectations. I didn’t think that it would be possible for Miller to create another strong female character who worked in the same profession as Sasha (albeit working on the public rather than private practice side) without running the risk of the two heroines being suspiciously similar.  But of course, Miller is a brilliant writer and Aroostine is as different as it gets from our old friend Sasha. Unlike Sasha, Aroostine doesn’t like coffee, goes to bed by 9:00 PM and knows how to track wild animals. Like Sasha, however, Aroostine has the ability to attract trouble, and this book is similar in structure to a Sasha McCandless novel: plenty of law, suspense and danger. If you’re a Sasha fan, you won’t be disappointed. If you are not familiar with the series, you can still read CV and it will make sense, because Miller gives you enough background to introduce new readers to the material and to refresh the memory of her existing readers.And whether you are a new reader or one of Sasha’s fans (we like to call ourselves ‘Associates’ though),  this is a really great read, which kept me up way past my bedtime so that I could find out the end. I’m already looking forward to the next one.