|
Karen Robards's books are heavy on romance, and her ever-expanding bibliography is aimed front and center at women. But I must tell you that 1) a good novel is a good novel, and VANISHED, Robards's latest offering, is a great one; and 2) if you're passing up this book or any of her backlisted titles because of a genre classification, you're missing out.
VANISHED is not a romance story wrapped around a minor mystery as an afterthought. If anything, it's the other way around. It starts off with a terrifying vignette, an excruciating convenience store holdup that goes from bad to worse and is, incidentally, a bit more than it seems to be. Assistant D.A. Sarah Mason happens to be shopping in the store at the time. She quickly finds out that she is all there is between a little girl hiding under a display table and certain death. The entire episode nicely sets off a chain reaction of questions within just a few pages. Why is Mason affected so deeply by the little girl? And why is at least one of the responding police officers so deeply and openly hostile towards Mason? Robards takes her time in answering, or at least in giving full answers.
What we learn in dribs and drabs is that Lexie, Mason's six-year-old
daughter, disappeared several years ago and that Mason has been
going through the motions of life since. It's accordingly a bit
of a jolt when Mason begins receiving what appears to be messages,
subtle and otherwise, from Lexie. Robards spins these out in a miserly
fashion, somehow pulling off the neat trick of building an expectation
of immediate revelation while delivering at a much slower pace,
thus heightening the suspense to an almost excruciating degree.
Yes, there is romance here, involving Mason in the role of sterile cuckoo, and private investigator Jake Hogan as the longtime best buddy who is slowly but surely developing passionate feelings. Hogan is artfully and cleverly drawn --- even I found myself yelling, "Kiss her already, ya big lug!" --- and when the threads of mutual attraction between Hogan and Mason finally begin to tighten, Robards's descriptive talents are fully and wonderfully revealed. She does not, however, lose sight of her story or her mystery --- and quite a mystery it is indeed.
Fans of mystery, suspense or romance who rarely venture into the other respective genres should do so and pick up VANISHED --- and then catch up on Robards's previous titles. Recommended.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
 Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.com.
© Copyright 1996-2008, Bookreporter.com. All rights reserved.
Back to top.
|
