Review: Horrible. Just HORRIBLE
Rating: 1 out of 5
Date: 06 10, 2013
I honestly have no words. I am surprised, disappointed, and thoroughly confused. These confusions not only are about this book, but the countless positive reviews that have been posted about this book. These four and five star reviews can not be about the same book I read! I honestly had incredibly high hopes for this book. Firstly, it took me a while to find it. The pretense of the story seemed different and interesting, and so I assumed it to be a good read, especially considering the amount of positive reviews it received. Now I cannot take reviews seriously.Firstly, in the description, this book talks about two characters -- Cassandra and Granger Mortensen. However, every single passing character has a backstory in this book; and I am not being facetious at all. We learn about the life of every psychologist in this story, everyone in law enforcement that comes into contact with Granger, Cassandra or anyone else, their friends, the maids, housekeepers, dogs, people Granger and Cassandra pass at the creek, doctors that don't like Brett Parker, people who work in pharmaceuticals commissioned by the government, private detectives and investigators, unscrupulous people who are in the business of "making people disappear," etc etc. EVERYONE HAS A STORY! UGH. I could not believe what I was reading. It is nice if you feel as an author that you have enough to create a series, so it would make sense to include friends or individuals who might be parlayed into their own story or book. But that is not what happened here. It was as if every single individual, relevant and (especially) non-relevant had to be explained, and had to dwell on their childhood, or past mistakes, or whatever. I can honestly say that only about fifty percent of this book belongs to Cassandra and Granger -- everything else is about everyone else!This book was painful to get through. I finished this on principal, but it did take me quite some time to do so. I just could not fathom the thinking process or the original storyboard for this book. To create backstories on individuals that do not even last throughout the book is nonsensical. There are some characters that just show up halfway in the book, and then we do not read of them any longer. What was the point?!This book was just incredibly disjointed. Cassandra's friend Cynne was incredibly annoying. Actually, each character that we saw more of (as in they were constants in the lives of Granger or Cassandra), was a contradiction within themselves. Cynne for example was annoyingly crazy with her `movie protocol' statements at the most inappropriate times. She would act fine in one minute, but then be a total witch in another (especially to Raidon). Satin was another story, though very similar. She was unreadable at times, incredibly inappropriate, and incredibly unbelievable as an attorney. Who acts like that? I could not believe some of the things she would say. And then to have detectives spank you in your own office as your `punishment' for inappropriate language? On what universe!Then comes Latasha. She is very minuscule in this story, and we meet her near the end. However, I did not like or appreciate the little `make over' that Cynne, Satin and Cassandra treated her to. They permed her hair at a wedding that she was to work at, did her make-up, basically pampered her. I have never had a perm, but I know it takes a while. Anyway, I just did not like the fact that they permed her hair, and then all of a sudden it transformed her from an ugly duckling to a beautiful swan that no one could take their eyes off of. People can look beautiful in afros too!I just could not believe this. I haven't even gotten to Cassandra and Granger, but that within itself should show the hodge-podge that is this story. It is as if too many hands were writing this while not collaborating, and they just had to put something together. The story was not fluid at all, and would just switch from one person to the next without even an indication. Then people would talk to themselves, or think back to past events on multiple ocassions. This book is horrible! Brett and Martina were not that smart to get away with the load of things they got away with. Plus, the way they would talk to each other was so weird and uncomfortable to read. They were cousins, but were talking to each other (on multiple occasions) as if they were (young and immature) lovers. Cassandra was a wallowing flower for some reason, although her prior personality apparently did not suit that. Granger was weird as his personality changed so often in his decision making, and it did not mesh. It is as if he were not the same person. I have not even gotten to the long run on sentences that are heavy in this book, as well as some choices of grammar. It was just too much, and I am incredibly disappointed. I am also concerned about what some consider as good reading, as this was not it. This is the first I have read from this author, and it will be my last.