Review: Good story but could use some work
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 12 2, 2013
All is Lost is the second book in the All Series by Marie Wathen. The story continues where Be All, the first book of the series, left off. The series is a romance mystery that takes place in Willow, a small island off the coast of Alabama. Breesan Maxwell is the heroine and she is in danger from unknown forces. Her boyfriend, Marcus Walker, and his twin brother, Morgan, are part of a team trying to protect Breesan while continuing the job of hunting down the mysterious Dr. A.I enjoyed the different points of view through which the story was portrayed. This is a great way to learn different aspects of the mystery. The mystery is complicated and the solution is not obvious as if often the case with romance mysteries. Wathen provides us with numerous clues and maybe some red herrings along the way. The Walker twins are hot and their rivalry helps keep the story rolling. Also, the large cast of characters and their various idiosyncrasies ensure that the story remains interesting. Although I was less interested in Breesan, I kept reading to find out what was going on with Morgan or Marcus or another of the characters.Unfortunately, there are issues with the book that distracted from the enjoyment of the story. The ebook contains formatting issues whereby the letter size changed frequently. Additionally, there are numerous grammatical errors: spelling errors, change of tense, missing verbs, etc. I also found the scenes jumpy. The author goes into such detail about the character’s feelings but then leaves large gaps in the rest of the story. I found the way the investigation was progressing not to be very believable. In my opinion Breesan’s thought patterns were too advanced for someone of her age that has been living an isolated existence. The dialogue could be tightened to make it more believable as well.Wathen is a great storyteller and it is obvious that there are many aspects to the mystery that the reader is yet to discover. Having read Be All immediately preceding my reading of All is Lost, it is clear that the author has improved her writing tremendously. If she continues this trend, the next two books will be a delight to read.