Review: Potential, maybe...
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 08 3, 2013
II believe this entire series should have been one longer book, instead of three short ones;  the story is not complete until the end of all.  Also, I am awarding my two stars entirely on plot premise, as it could be suspenseful and gripping in the hands of a competent writer.  As it is, the writing vascillates between sounding like a gradeschool reading primer and a newspaper account of some event.  There are multiple paragraphs describing what a character is thinking or why.  The dialogue sounds unnatural, almost juvenile at times and often wordy: 'Jake seemed to be quite shocked by her reaction which made Ellen feel that maybe she had reacted too quickly without giving him a fair chance.' Editing is lacking, grammar incredibly bad:  'Tom and her left soon after,' and 'Tom and her were returning...'  Weird descriptions: 'He had lost Ellen's trust.  It hurt like a forceful blow' or  'From her position on the floor Ellen sobbed roughly and painfully.'  Frankly, it was boring to read and some things were absurdly improbable.  I skipped long passages just to find out what was going to happen.  I couldn't bring myself to read the sequels, but a friend of mine did.  From her description I am convinced the author has genuine creativity to envision a complicated plot.  She just doesn't have the talent to write it.