Review: Not as good as first book of series
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 07 15, 2012
Peter `Monk' Jessup is a former navy SEAL who works now for Taylor Securities. Having lost in two missions over the last six months two of his closest friends, he is burnt out and ordered by his boss and close friend Vic Andrews to take time off and visit his family. Upon his arrival Vic calls him to ask for a favor: the daughter of one of his friends needs a new security system. Peter agrees and meets Isabelle DeRosa, a very attractive defense lawyer, who seems to be everything Peter is looking for in a woman. Isabelle, on the other hand, feels also a certain attraction to Peter and soon a casual relationship develops between the two of them. However, one night Isabelle is attacked in her home by her cousin Kendrick and calls Peter to help her out. Peter senses immediately that the relationship between the two cousins is "dysfunctional", only to be really shocked when Isabelle reveals her childhood secret to him: she was sexually abused by her cousin, a fact that explains some of Isabelle's behavioral patterns. However, the couple hasn't yet recovered from this blow when fate hits again. Kendrick is killed and while Isabelle isn't yet cleared from the murder investigation, the FBI tries to convince her to infiltrate Kendrick's compound in order to inform them about dubious activities taking place behind high fences.Peter was a very real and warm character, who chose to pursue his own career over the family business and education. He's very devoted to his job, although this takes its toll and of course he's very caring and affectionate towards the people he loves.Isabelle, on the other hand, was a slightly controversial character. Of course her horrible experience with Kendrick allows for a lot of leniency, however, there were some facts I just couldn't relate to. How come she had never professional counseling after being abused? Especially as a defense lawyer she must have connections in this area and even if she wasn't in this line of business surly she could've found adequate professional help. Why does she work at her uncle's law office? Yes, there was a plausible explanation in the book, however, Isabelle is clearly still affected by the abuse, hence how could she work with her uncle, one of the persons who knew what happened and swept the whole incident so effectively under the rug? Anyway, Isabelle succeeded to become a successful professional but through her childhood experience her emotional world is shuttered. She copes with this "emotional defect" by splitting her personality into "Creepy Izzy" and "Fun Izzy", which is fully understandable as a concept, but after a while this back and forth became tiresome, especially because after a while this remained shallow and scetchy. Finally, towards the end of the storyline there was a scene where she tried to extract information in an extreme way that let me doubt her moral integrity - no matter whether she finally executed her intention or not.The plot was interesting and kept me entertained, offering some funny dialogues and moments when I had to laugh out loud. However I have my doubts if sexual abuse and the other issue (won't tell you more, you'll have to read about this) should be dealt with in this "light" and sensation-seeking manner.  In any case a nice read.