carlamo - reviewed on 11/30/2009 + 269 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 5

Overall, I enjoyed the book, but it isn't a book I'd highly recommend. The forensic handwriting trivia was certainly interesting, but the plot was a bit convoluted. The characters weren't especially engaging or well-developed. Usually, when I read a book like this, I have a picture in my mind of what the characters look like, but these people never really came alive for me. I'll read more by the author - perhaps her writing will improve with additional books.

I have 2 gripes about the book, 1 major and 1 very minor. The minor: for some reason, it really bugged me every time the detective/love interest called Claudia (the handwriting specialist) - a graphologist - "grapho lady". It just seemed forced - it's not a familiar term and it just doesn't seem plausible that anyone would call her that out of the blue. It seemed more like a cutesy in-joke for all those graphologists out there.

The major gripe: the editor needs to pay a LOT more attention to the continuity in the story. It's like watching a movie and seeing an actor wearing a black shirt in a scene, then suddenly seeing him wearing a blue shirt. More than once, I found myself backtracking to find out what I'd missed - only to discover that I hadn't missed anything... changes had just been skipped over completely. For example: (I'll try not to give anything away here...) a car is damaged (broken glass) and the police are examining it. No mention of getting it fixed or having it towed or getting a rental - the character is just driving it again the next time she needs to drive somewhere. Another example: Claudia is in her home and answers the phone. When she reacts to something the caller says, she's outside on her back porch. Very jarring.

Not great, not bad.

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