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Book Review of Scream for Me (Daniel Vartanian, Bk 2)

Scream for Me (Daniel Vartanian, Bk 2)
MELNELYNN avatar reviewed on + 669 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1


The beautiful(of course) Alex Fallon is a nurse haunted by the vicious rape and murder of her identical twin sister thirteen years earlier. The trauma of this crime lead to the apparent suicide of her mother and her own apparent suicide attempt. Now divorced and living a sterile but safe existence she returns to the miserable little town where the crime occurred to care for the four year old daughter of her mother's boyfriend's daughter, Bailey. While there she becomes involved with handsome (of course) Special Agent Daniel Vartanian, brother of a notorious serial killer who is linked to the death of Alex's sister. Someone is orchestrating murders that eerily mimic the death of Alex's twin.

Actually you get a number of mysteries: who killed Alex's sister; what really happened to Alex and her mom; who is killing the women now and why; who kidnapped Bailey and why; what connection did Daniel's evil brother have with all this; In the end all the major questions are answered and the unanswered questions segue into the inevitable sequel.

The book is fairly fast paced and quite entertaining despite the cliches and torrid romance novel clinches. The bad guys are quite bad...no moral uncertainty here and the good guys quite good although tortured and troubled. I did think it was a bit overlong and there were way too many characters. Minor characters like assorted agents and officers cluttered the landscape and it was at times difficult to keep the bad guys straight--the sheer volume was overwhelming and in addition to their names there were their code names. Moreover, it did require a substantial suspension of disbelief to buy into the acceptance by Daniel's law enforcement colleagues of his passionate relationship with Alex as well as their inclusion of her in all aspects of the investigation. At one point she asks one of the GBI's staff to verify whether a police officer from Ohio is actually who he says he is. Remarkably, the task is completed without a request from any member of the agency. Amazing.

So that being said, this is not a police procedural but a romantic thriller. Notwithstanding its limitations this book is a fun read.