Review - Anywhere She Runs

Title: Anywhere She Runs
Author: Debra Webb
Publishing Date: May 2010
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Rating: C
Sensuality: Warm
Book Disclosure: I received a used copy from Paperbackswap.

Adeline Cooper swore to never step foot in the small town of Pascagoula, Mississippi after a drug bust went bad and her cousin was killed on the job. Adeline's Uncle has blamed her for his son's death and because of his power in the town his threats to harm her force her to leave and never come back. Ten years later Adeline finds herself back in Pascagoula when a case of a missing woman leads her there. Now she must work with her former boyfriend now Sherriff Wyatt Henderson to solve the case.

Let me preface this review by saying that in the past I have really enjoyed Debra Webb's novels. This time though, Anywhere She Runs doesn't measure up. While there were aspects to the book that I enjoyed, the negative outweighed the good.

I'll start with the positive. The mystery surrounding the missing woman was done quite nicely. The clues are slowly revealed and the connection to Adeline was very intriguing. The mystery will easily grasp the reader. Where the book falters for me has to do with the characters themselves most especially Adeline. She is so angry and defensive most of the book it is hard to completely connect to her. Some of this is due to the fact that the author continues to hammer into the reader’s head, just how angry Adeline is about her past circumstances. There are a lot of mental diatribes that just slow the pacing of the story down.

Wyatt is okay, but he doesn't really go after Adeline and spent those ten years pining after her. I don't know. He was too passive for my tastes. Plus after all of the baggage between Adeline and Wyatt, things are wrapped up much to quickly. I don't even think a whole chapter is devoted to the major conflict resolution.

I can't really recommend this book. There are better out there. If you want to try Debra Webb I suggest Nameless instead.

Review - Everywhere She Turns

Title: Everywhere She Turns
Author: Debra Webb
Publishing Date: 2009
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Rating: B
Sensuality: Hot
Book Disclosure: Borrowed this book from the local library.

Dr. CJ Patterson learns that her sister Shelley has been murdered. CJ and Shelley grew up in Huntsville, Alabama on the wrong side of the tracks. CJ was able to make something of herself and become a doctor, but her sister Shelley wasn't so lucky. Shelley was a prostitute and drug addict. CJ goes back home to make sure the police are doing what they can to find Shelley's killer. CJ knows that since Shelley wasn't an important citizen that they would be more likely to ignore her murder than make it a priority. She won't stand for that and gets involved with the investigation.

Debra Webb pens excellent suspense. I was engrossed in the story right from the beginning. The suspense portion of the story is very involved. There are a multitude of suspects and angles that the police are investigating. The reader is privy to some of the suspects' points of view, as well as CJ's and the detective Braddock's. CJ and Braddock have a past, which unfolds a little at a time over the first half of the book. The sexual tension between CJ and Braddock is very well done and their first intimate scene together is a scorcher. Whew! I felt that the evolution of their relationship was excellently done and very believable.

The one thing that bothered me with the book was CJ. For an intelligent woman she sure did make some stupid decisions. She had a tendency to put herself in dangerous situations. I think for those readers who are sensitive to this type of heroine will be annoyed with CJ. I could over look it because Webb does pen a good story. The mystery/suspense had plenty of twists and turns where eventually everything culminated in a crashing crescendo. If you can overlook the heroine's bad decision making skills, Everywhere She Turns is definitely an entertaining read.

This book can be purchased in print or kindle format from Amazon.

Review - Nameless

Title: Nameless
Author: Debra Webb
Publishing Date: February 2008
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Rating: B+
Sensuality: Hot

Vivian Grace is a rookie FBI agent on a mission to enlist the help of former FBI agent Ryan McBride. She is currently working a child kidnapping case and the kidnapper has said he will only work with McBride. Vivian has 24 hours in which to convince McBride to help the FBI with the case or the child will die. McBride was at the top of his game three years ago having never lost a child kidnapping case. Then one case went terribly wrong and the child was killed. McBride was blamed and his badge revoked. Since that fateful day McBride has been drowning his sorrows in alcohol and meaningless sex.

Ryan and Vivian make a very interesting couple. They both put up a façade to hide their true selves. Ryan does this through booze and bad language giving off an “I-don’t-give-a-shit” vibe while Vivian portrays just the opposite with her tightly controlled image. This makes for a fun interaction between the two and leaves the reader wondering how they will react to each other. McBride enjoys riddling the cool, zipped up Vivian with blatant sexual innuendos that constantly keep her off balance. Eventually they get wise to each other and realize that there is more than what is being offered on the surface. Both have a lot of baggage that they slowly uncover throughout the story. When McBride and Vivian do finally get together, boy do they sizzle!

The suspense part of the book was very well written. More than once I found myself hovering on the edge of my seat in nail-biting anticipation. The kidnapper, Devoted Fan leaves clues for each kidnapping that Ryan and Vivian have to unravel. The villain was very well developed – one of the best I have read, not only this year but in past years as well. He wasn’t just evil for the sake of being evil. There was a method to his madness the reader could almost relate to (I said almost). I really enjoyed this story and will definitely be looking into more of Debra Webb’s novels.

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