Review: A Murderous Game--a great read
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 11, 2011
Abby Carpenter commits murder often; sometimes several days in a row. It is how she deals with the people who really annoy her. Sometimes she uses poison, other times she's more creative. But it's a sure way to relieve her stress; exorcising her demons as her lifelong friend, Rachel Gooding, puts it. Rachel insists it is actually a mentally healthy thing to do. Well, it is just a game she plays!And lately she has murdered her soon to be ex-husband on a regular basis. His name is Dick, and he is a true "dick" in the crudest sense of the word. He has cheated on her regularly,humiliated her publicity,lied to her, demanded excessively in the divorce negotiations,and left her with a message loud and clear; she is a total failure in bed. (And he should know because he has had lots of experience.)Abby has a vivid imagination. She thinks outside the box, and those qualities have made her outstanding in her field of Communications and Media. Four years ago when accepted the job with the Norwell Group, she'd had no misconceptions. She'd done her homework, and knew that her boss was a bastard; but he is a brilliant bastard. She plans to stick it out long enough to learn everything she can and then she will go out on her own.One day he bellows for her to come into his office; her and her arch rival, Harold Billings, who is a pompous jerk and a long time friend of her soon-to-be-ex. There is a big new account looming on the horizon. She wants this account, no matter what it is, but she has to convince Norwell to assign her to it. She is prepared to fight for it, but she knows Billings will fight for it too; and he fights dirty.The new account is with GFI.  Norwell tells them that he is putting them both on the file for now; The CEO has agreed to meet with them on Monday of the next week and in the meantime he wants them to dig up everything they can on the company and its CEO, Gage Faraday. He wants Norwell's presentation done up right; power point presentation and all. And it had better be good, because if the Norwell Group fails to get the account heads will roll.Abby feels like she has been sucker punched.  Surely it couldn't be the same Gage Faraday; the young man she had worshiped when she was a gangly 15 year old; the guy her father had humiliated after he had read her diary and believed the explicit, passion filled imaginings she had penned in it to be true. He had publicly accused that Gage Faraday of statuary rape. She'd had to admit to the whole world that none of it was true, that it had been a figment of her imagination. A stunned Gage had listened and his friends had laughed and mocked her.If this is the same man, she is in big trouble! The account will be lost as soon as he sees her.She spills her fears to Rachel, who assures her that he will never recognize her. She was a late bloomer, and that gangly, infatuated teenager has changed beyond recognition. Now she is an intelligent, gorgeous woman, with outstanding poise.Gage Faraday is no fool. When Abby gives her presentation he is impressed by her talent. He is quick to note how Harold Billings inserts himself into every aspect of it, giving the impression that he is the brains behind it, stealing a ride on her hard work.  And he quickly sees that Norwell will do anything to get the account; even trample on his best assistant.Gage Faraday contacts Abby later and tells her that the Norwell Group will get his account, but he wants to work with her. She is ecstatic! He obviously hasn't associated her with that embarrassing child that stalked him all those years ago.  She will never give him any reason to connect the dots. She will do a better job than anyone else ever could. And she will never let him realize that he still makes her knees turn weak and her heart beat crazily.  She never gets involved with clients and she won`t this time.From here on, Abby and Gages world is filled with sensual tension. He is drawn to her and finds himself willing to manipulate, control and defy the law to protect her when her ex-husband is found dead and she becomes the prime suspect for his murder.  There is a witness who has heard her say that she wanted to kill him! And she innocently admits that she has murdered him many times--in her imagination. But not this time, for real.This book kept me captivated from beginning to end and I really, really enjoyed Abby and Gages story. I loved the way they way they related to each other,as they manoeuvred through the hills and valleys and curves along their journey to a happy ending. It worked for me! I`m hooked on Patricia Paris`s writing.