Review: Good premise gone goofy
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 09 30, 2012
Cheryl Bolen is a prolific author.  At the end of this tale there were screens and screens of titles and tantalizing plot summaries, along with a plea to write a review and email her so she can put the reviewers' names in for a quarterly drawing for an Amazon (et al) gift certificate. Well Ms. Bolen, I doubt I'll take you up on your offer, but I'm happy to write a review.  At least now I know how you get some of your more enthusiastic reviews.I don't think the novella gives you a big enough canvass.  I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and suppose you do much better in the longer format of a novel.  In this short form the plot sort of skips across a murky pond of a background, with little sense of place, a very cramped sense of time, no impression of character development and a confusing tumble of an ending. As a result, the main characters come are shallow and seem to act without thinking.  The minor characters are more interesting, but they're shadows.  Their story comprises a few sentences. There's a lot of action, but it's repetitive--snatch and rescue, snatch and rescue.  I almost felt a little sorry for the villains, being tied up with sashes and left in the road so often.  If this were a bit more thoughtfully plotted and given added chapters with details about several of the supporting characters, I'd be more willing to suspend my disbelief. It would be a better read. Seems a shame to waste decent writing on sketchy construction.