Review: a slow building thriller, disguised as a romance novel!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 8, 2013
The author spends the first chapter introducing the main character as a lady that writes about the 'Pseudo persona' that we think another person wants us to be when we first meet them... and then goes straight to work with that concept. This is the second book I've read from this author, and she seems to have a fascination with - and a gift for - defining the characters once, and then redefining them again. It definitely makes for interesting reading.I've said elsewhere that I'm not much of a fan of romance - if I can actually see it - but I'm very happy for it to hold the story together, invisibly (which it probably almost always does in the most captivating books). I could push through the few  times the romance became visibly exposed, waiting for some more technically interesting action (like the potential explosion when a character reverts from their more palatable 'Pseudo persona' back to their normal, less congenial self).It was half-way through the book before the book took a thrilling twist... leaving me exposed to some of the romance aspects a tiny but too long... but, once that kicked in, it was worth the wait. It was like boiling a frog - where the creature doesn't notice the cold water gradually warming. I hadn't noticed the gradual increase of pace until about three quarters through, after which time I read the remainder, without putting it down, with white knuckles!Now I realise this author has another tool in her arsenal - it gradually became the same race against time I experienced in her 'hypnotic journey' series.It turns out this book has well and truly enough thrills for someone as allergic to romance as me!