Publisher: Midnight Ink Book
Published: August 2012
Published: August 2012
Cost: $14.95
Pages: 288
How I got it: Netgalley
My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Synopsis
Synopsis
As a senator's daughter and the widow of a congressman who died tragically, Molly Malone was driven from Washington, D.C. by political backstabbing, scandals, and threats - as well as personal heartbreak. But after getting thrown out of her ex's Denver condo and losing everything in the market crash, Molly is starting over in the one place she swore she'd never return to.When the accounting job she was promised falls through, Molly reluctantly agrees to work as a consultant for a senator. Days after learning that her niece, Karen, is intimately involved with a congressional chief of staff - and that Karen had discovered suspicious campaign contributions - Molly finds her niece shot to death. Investigating further puts Molly in the crosshairs of a shadowy group that's orchestrating a political plot . . . and killing anyone who gets in the way.My Review:
******I had the pleasure of meeting the author at BEA, she was an awesome storyteller when sharing about this book and how she got the idea. Her love of DC clearly came through and she shared little antidotes with us as she signed. I had already read and reviewed the book by time I met Mrs.Shefton at BEA, even though I liked her; I felt bad that my review wasn't favorable, so I took the time to re~read the printed galley hoping my feelings would change. They did and they didn't, maybe because I knew what was coming the second time, some of those idiosyncrasies didn't bother me as much, but the glaring ones still did. Even though this isn't my cup of tea, it still might be yours so, take a chance you might love it, to my like it.****
The premise of this book sounded amazing, a political thriller?? I thought "Well this is going to be awesome". I tried really hard to like this book, I mean really tried. I put it down & procrastinated in reading it, reading and finishing three other books before I even went back to this one; I just couldn't get into it; I almost didn't finish reading it. As I have said before I hate starting and not finishing books because then I begin to wonder about them and then I end up going back to read them. Nope not this time, I refused to be haunted by this book
I noticed a trend in the publishing world now that instead of one book they attempt to stretch it as much as possible and this is supposed to be a series, I really wanted more action, more things to happen, and maybe that's why this book felt so hard to read, you felt you were on the verge of something great happening but it didn't happen because it's going to be in the next book. I do have to say that the book did suck me in when i was reading, even if it was me yelling at the book as I read. I was really engaged in reading this one, to the point my sibling told me to put it down because I kept calling Molly names. LOL. While it's fun to read this way i did find that at the end I had mixed feelings. I wish to reread and see if my opinion changes but here it is as it stands right now:
PROS:
- Samantha, Molly's friend, she is a breathe of fresh air, she's witty and she has a great sense of humor, the scenes she is in makes the book a whole lot lighter.
- The story actually flowed pretty well *except where stated in the cons*. The scenes were engaging and you got pulled into the story when reading.
- The author clearly loves Washington and the surrounding areas, as her accurate description makes you feel as if you are there. (My family vacationed in DC and the surrounding area every summer since I was 9, so I know the places she was describing as only a true 'native' would understand,) This just endeared the story to me because it's taking place in one of my favourite cities.
- The intrigue is there, yet the main character doesn't quite see it. It could have been a little more obvious to her which would have made it a little more interesting, as it stands right now she's completely clueless, despite the massive breadcrumbs leading her to the mystery.
- The narrator goes from being Molly to being in the third person so that you can see other scenes unfolding away from Molly to back to Molly with little to no preparation for such transitions. It's choppy and it breaks the flow of the novel.
- Molly really isn't a likable character, she is narrating the novel and we spend most of the time in her head, hearing her views on everything, she's very negative about a lot of things and it makes it hard to read the novel. We have almost no physical description of Molly herself, so there is almost no way to build the character in your head, she barely describes other characters, and throws new ones in with little to no introduction as to who or what they are.
- Molly insists on being self deprecating, doing this in your head is one thing, doing this at a job interview?? No Bueno
- The other characters aren't fleshed out much, even Molly isn't fleshed out at all, she keeps hinting at a past, yet she never really thinks about it or even share any of the information that would really explain her plain hatred of Washington D.C. Yes I understand her husband was taken from her here, but from what she describes compared to what was listed in the premise, they don't mash up. Until she shares the full past in flashback it's just her opinion and it doesn't give us a reason to side with her on her dislike for Washington.
- Molly has a bit of a drinking problem, in just about every scene she's drinking some wine, which is always named, most people won't know or care about the names of the wine, *I was a bartender for years so I know and love most of the wines listed, but not everyone will * just say wine. Giving the name is just useless information.
- Molly truly is dumber than a box of bricks, I'm sorry, if this is supposed to be a woman who was used to political backstabbing and threats, your niece shares her suspicions with you and then you find her dead, despite her having a fight with someone the first thing that you think of is 'some crackhead killed her" really??? Not the person she just broke up with who fought with her, right before this, but some random crackhead?? Not someone who might want her to stop looking into the information she was telling you about, but some random stranger on the street?? Let me tell you why that doesn't wash as a mystery there are several logistical errors in this scene that anyone who has ever watched or read a murder mystery show or novel would spot. Number one being she's still in the car, if they are robbing her, the car is a major payday.
***I received this book as advanced copy in exchange for an honest review***
