Review: A thoroughly engaging story!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 16, 2012
I am not usually a fan of murder mysteries but this story was so gripping and emotionally charged that I simply couldn't put it down. I did suspect who the murderer was almost as soon as I met her, but I was always surprised at what she did and how she did it. (I just realized that I wrote that I "met" the killer instead of "read about" her; that's an example of how real the characters seemed to be.)Altogether, this book was exceptionally well-written and the  dialogue, especially the banter between Corbin and Shay, was very authentic and interesting. The imagery in this book was extremely graphic and explicit, especially the descriptions of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. It was obvious that the scenes were drawn from first-hand experience. I got angry all over again when I read the stupidities in Bush's speeches! I was really worried about Shay when she was caught in all the toxic sludge flowing through the streets. In fact, I found myself so totally immersed in the story that I was actually surprised when it ended.The reasons I gave the book four stars instead of five were that I found that the technical language and anagrams in the memos were disruptive to the flow of the story and the Christian proselytizing, even though it was part of the story, made me very uncomfortable.  Nevertheless, I consider HURRICANE LOVER to be a great book and I highly recommend that other people read it too.