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Killer Heat (2010)

by Brenda Novak(Favorite Author)

3.86 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0778328317 (ISBN13: 9780778328315)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Mira

series

Dept 6 Hired Guns

review 1: I wasn't impressed with Francesca PI skillz. I don't think I would ever hire her. She seems a bit incompetent and not in a funny Stephanie Plum kinda way.The book had a curious effect of seeming to hover around both the regular plot of a serial killer and the romance plot where the hero betrayed the heroine in past and they are still dealing with the fall out. I did not feel that the story had a true grasp on each element or that it ever engaged fully in the narrative. It was as if as I was reading I kept waiting for the story to happen.The serial killer story was a bit derailed by all the WTF? moments I had with Francesca, the police and Jonah. The romance story actually had a lot of angsty potential with Jonah having cheated on Francesca very blatantly and with inte... morent. The third party was still in the picture and the three had to interact. But this all fell curiously flat as well.So yeah, not a hit in either to romance or the suspense dept.
review 2: This is my first Brenda Novak. Unfortunately, I didn't realize it was part of a series, which is my own fault, but I didn't have any trouble following along with this one. Francesca is a PI hired by a woman to find her missing sister, April. Francesca's investigation leads her to a salvage yard, owned and operated by a nasty brute named Butch. It also brings her back in contact with her ex, Jonah, who she broke up with back in college. I liked the story - the investigation brought them two different suspects and there were enough clues to make you think it could have been either of them. I liked Jonah, but I really disliked what I heard about him from ten years ago. In fact, Francesca lost a few points with me just for entertaining the notion of getting back together with him. I found her friendship with Adrianna pretty unbelievable, as well. However, as much as I liked this current Jonah, I really, really, didn't like Francesca. She was whiny immature and had absolutely not respect for laws or rules. A PI who actually acted like this wouldn't be in business very long. I get that she really wanted to find April and the killer of the victims, but her methods were astoundingly stupid. I kept waiting for her to stomp her feet and hold her breath until she got her way. No matter how many direct orders she got from the police involved in the case, she defied every one of them, constantly putting herself and others in danger, endangering the investigation, and making an already tense situation even worse. At one point, when the lead detective was reminding her, for the 15th time, that she was off the case and needed to stay away, she actually responded with "Maybe I will and maybe I won't." Seriously. I had no respect for this woman at all. And I didn't love the ending. I don't want to give anything away, but it was entirely too deus ex machina for my taste.I've had another book from this series on my wish list for a while, and I'm going to read it. I really liked Novak's writing style and the story itself, and based on the blurb I've read, I think I'll like it a lot more. less

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