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FBI Thriller #3
The Target
In the remote Colorado Rockies, Judge Ramsey Hunt rescues an abused little girl. Alongside FBI agents Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock, can Ramsey track down the vile abductors responsible for the girl’s trauma?
381 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 568 reviews
December 8, 2022
Judge Ramsey Hunt is at his cabin in the woods when he discovers a little girl who’s been abused. But who’s after her and why? Eventually Molly, her mother finds them� but so do the bad guys. This one was a game of cat and mouse as the trio was on the run the majority of the book, escaping one bad situation after the other. Then they have to figure out who is after them, and why. Quite a page-turner! These first few books feature different characters, as opposed to later books in the series, where Savich and Sherlock become the main players, but they still make a brief appearance in this one. An exciting read!
Trigger Warnings:
Trigger Warnings:
April 7, 2022
After some dramatic courtroom heroics Federal Judge Ramsey Hunt - needing a break from the paparazzi - takes time off to relax in an isolated cabin in the mountains of Colorado. While there Ramsey finds a six-year-old child, Emma, who escaped from an abusive abductor.
The child doesn't speak and Ramsey, believing the girl would be further traumatized by police and doctors, contacts no one.
Instead he cares for the child himself. Before long people try to kill both Ramsey and the girl, so their situation is clearly perilous.
Skip ahead a few days and the girl's mother, Molly, shows up. Molly decided the cops and FBI searching for Emma were haughty and useless; thus she set out to find Emma herself.
At first Molly thinks Ramsey is the kidnapper and almost kills him.
Things are soon straightened out though, and Ramsey, Emma, and Molly become a trio - working together to evade the would-be killers and find out what's going on.
It turns out Molly's ex-husband (and Emma's absentee dad) is a famous singer with a huge gambling problem.....
.....and Molly's father is a big-time Chicago mobster.
Could all this be connected to Emma's abduction somehow? A number of deaths follow and Ramsey, Emma, and Molly are apparently in constant danger. To help resolve the situation Ramsey contacts his friends, FBI agents (and married coupled) Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock for assistance.
I'd say this book is roughly half thriller, half romance and has the expected features of those genres. That is, people fall in love super quick, there's a lot of risk, and so on. In the end the motives of the various bad guys' stretch credulity and the resolution of the story isn't totally satisfying. In addition, the idea of a federal judge harboring a kidnapped child without attempting to contact authorities or her parents is beyond belief.
For me this book was just okay but I think readers who are big fans of romantic suspense would probably like this book.
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November 18, 2009
OMG, this was terrible! I can't believe I wasted 10 hours listening to this--luckily, I was in the car, so I was getting *something* accomplished! There are just too many implausible things happening in this for it to be believable. I should have stopped listening after the first disk when Ramsey, a federal judge no less, finds a 6 year old girl in the woods who has been beaten and molested and he not only doesn't take her to the authorities, but cleans her up. Um, evidence?! Of course, they don't need evidence, because this 6 year old, who doesn't know her letters until Ramsey starts teaching them to her, is later able to give a police sketch artist enough detail (after only seeing his face briefly after a 2nd kidnap attempt--he wore a disguise the 1st time she was with him) for the authorities to identify him. Really? And then there is the reason for the kidnap attempt in the 1st place--so her father, a famous singer will go out with a mob boss' daughter. huh? Add to the mix, Molly (the 6 yr old's mother, her father who is another mobster and you have a whole lot of chaos. That doesn't make any sense. Then there is the marriage proposal that happens before they've even kissed each other. And at the end, Molly bam! figures out who is behind the attempts on her father's life and is able to conveniently get a confession (which we don't ever hear, it's just told to us.)
This is definitely not what I expect out of Catherine Coulter--maybe I should go back to her historicals?
This is definitely not what I expect out of Catherine Coulter--maybe I should go back to her historicals?
July 9, 2024
Re-read.
Okay, so I see this is the fourth time I have read this book. It's an early book in the series. I still REALLY like it! :) (Judge Ramsey Hunt, Molly and Emma show up again in "Backfire" and "Reckoning.") As always, our main characters, Savich and Sherlock, shine!
Okay, so I see this is the fourth time I have read this book. It's an early book in the series. I still REALLY like it! :) (Judge Ramsey Hunt, Molly and Emma show up again in "Backfire" and "Reckoning.") As always, our main characters, Savich and Sherlock, shine!
March 16, 2019
could not get past the first bit where the supposed hero finds an apparently lost/abducted/abused little child and does not take her to hospital or contact other authorities ASAP. It was creepy and disturbing to have him appoint himself her saviour and essentially subject her to again being held against her will
January 21, 2008
I found this book in our beach house, left behind by (I imagine) a disgruntled reader who had been renting the house. I have to believe no one in my family would have purchased this book and then left it for others to read. This was terrible. Again, I bitterly read to the end and promptly threw the book in the garbage, so no future tenants would fall into the trap of beginning what looks like an entertaining beach read only to be horrified by the terrible writing and unbelievable plot lines.
September 19, 2009
Federal Judge Ramsey Hunt needed time away, his time in a cabin in the Rockie Mountains was anything but relaxing. After finding a little girl in the woods that had obviously been abused, men show up shooting at them and then the childs mom finally shows up accusing him of kidnapping. Molly Santera had been all over Colorado looking for her precious Emma and after finding her safe with Judge Hunt, the nightmares begin.
This was not much in the way of a romance, it was very easy to fall for the little girl who had been through so much. The action of the book was spaced out, nothing real exciting, just a basic crime thriller. A few unexpected twists in the plot, but mostly very predictale. Happy ending, I would be interested in seeing the Judge in a later book. Overall just a basic read to get your mind of normal everyday boredom, and make yourself feel lucky you don't have a 'godfather' in the family.
This was not much in the way of a romance, it was very easy to fall for the little girl who had been through so much. The action of the book was spaced out, nothing real exciting, just a basic crime thriller. A few unexpected twists in the plot, but mostly very predictale. Happy ending, I would be interested in seeing the Judge in a later book. Overall just a basic read to get your mind of normal everyday boredom, and make yourself feel lucky you don't have a 'godfather' in the family.
October 25, 2011
A Judge who is schooled in martial arts has AK-47 armed invaders attack his court to free defendants but, he leaps into action and kills or subdues the attackers saving numerous innocent parties an foiling the great escape attempt. He becomes an instant celebrity but, life that is constantly interrupted by photographers and others seeking to cash in on his moment of fame. He finds himself constantly angered and in danger of exploding and using some of his martial skills against jerks rather than actual bad guys. He takes a leave of absence and retires to a friends small cabin deep in the Rocky Mountains woods. He is far from population, with no phones, press or other interruptions from civilization. He is slowly living the quiet life and winding down from the tense burning that had become his recent life. Just when he believes things are becoming normal, he hears a small whimper from the forest while out chopping wood. He looks about and finds a young girl barefoot and clothed in a dirty shirt with welts and scratches covering her body. When he tries to pick her up, she shrinks away and whimpers more. By moving slowly, he is able to take her back to the cabin. He slowly tries to draw out a story but the young girl doesn't respond and appears mute. He takes it upon himself to do what he can to settle her, giving her warm food and being gentle with her. He treats her wounds with antiseptic cream and cleans her up as she allows. His gentle manner soothes her until she is able to sleep without nightmares and doesn't shrink into a corner unless he moves suddenly and frightens her. As her self confidence develops he takes her out to fly a kite in a near meadow. She knows how to fly kites and is able to cause it to do tricks but, as it is flying, someone shoots it out of the sky. The judge and girl move back to the cabin where he takes up his pistol and confronts the men. A firefight ensues and the judge wounds one of the men and they run off but, remain a unknown threat. The judge is also wounded in the leg but can still walk with pain. He does what he can to reassure the young girl and does what he can to dress his wound. He secures the cabin as best he can but, doesn't lock the front door. An attractive young woman bursts into the cabin with a very large gun and mistakenly threatens to shoot the judge thinking him a pervert who kidnapped her daughter from a Denver park. The young girl speaks out and tells her mother not to shoot the judge as he had been the one who had befriended her and kept her from further harm. Together they set off for civilization only to be hunted and haunted by a number of bad guys. Together, they fight their way back to their homes but, it seems that someone is taking everything apart just in front of them. Several more attempts are made to abduct the young girl but they are thwarted by either the judge or the girls mother. The story takes many strange twists but leads to a happy solution after severely testing the participants. The suspense, action and obvious affection between characters makes this a great read!
November 18, 2010
I really liked this book, I think a large part of it was due to Emma. What a doll this little girl was!
When the story first starts out we meet this randome man off in the wilds of Colorado and I wasn't sure where exactly this story was going to go. As Ramsey was chopping wood, he heard this god awful sound and goes to check it out. He quickly finds out that this horrible sound was that of a little girl, lying on the ground very obviously beated and sexually abused. He quickly scoops her up, a decision that changes the course of his life. Ramsey is a federal judge and knows how the system works, so to protect this wounded child he decides to take care of her himself.
The next few days are those that will break your heart, reading about this bright girl who was brutalized, but still has some spunk left in her. This gentle man does a great job of drawing her out and starting the healing process. While I hate to read about anything like this happeneing to anyone, much less a child, I will say that I loved this part, watching this little girl start to trust again.
Things change again for this duo when her mother finds them and jumps to the conclusion that all of us would, that Ramsey is the bad guy. In a tense situation where so much could go wrong it is up to the little girl to let her Momma know just what is going on.
It is at this point that the story changes again, from a little girls fight back to life, to a group of people developing into a family, one that none of them saw coming. You can see where both of the adults are going to end up with each other, but that is ok, be cause the journey to get there is the fun as the two are so clueless.
I hope in future books we get to check in with these characters as I want to know how they are doing.
When the story first starts out we meet this randome man off in the wilds of Colorado and I wasn't sure where exactly this story was going to go. As Ramsey was chopping wood, he heard this god awful sound and goes to check it out. He quickly finds out that this horrible sound was that of a little girl, lying on the ground very obviously beated and sexually abused. He quickly scoops her up, a decision that changes the course of his life. Ramsey is a federal judge and knows how the system works, so to protect this wounded child he decides to take care of her himself.
The next few days are those that will break your heart, reading about this bright girl who was brutalized, but still has some spunk left in her. This gentle man does a great job of drawing her out and starting the healing process. While I hate to read about anything like this happeneing to anyone, much less a child, I will say that I loved this part, watching this little girl start to trust again.
Things change again for this duo when her mother finds them and jumps to the conclusion that all of us would, that Ramsey is the bad guy. In a tense situation where so much could go wrong it is up to the little girl to let her Momma know just what is going on.
It is at this point that the story changes again, from a little girls fight back to life, to a group of people developing into a family, one that none of them saw coming. You can see where both of the adults are going to end up with each other, but that is ok, be cause the journey to get there is the fun as the two are so clueless.
I hope in future books we get to check in with these characters as I want to know how they are doing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 13, 2024
The Target by Catherine Coulter is the 3rd book in the FBI Thriller series. Judge Ramsey Hunt is taking a break in a cabin in the remote Colorado Rockies when he comes across an abused little girl. A terrific, fast paced adventure as he becomes involved in the fight between two mob bosses. Although part of the FBI thriller series, they play only a minor role in this book. Ramsey and Molly make a terrific partnership as they focus on helping Emma, and I'm hoping to see them in later books. An enjoyable mystery thriller.
February 26, 2018
I loved it. Every time I would be so curious for what is next
March 11, 2017
3.5/5.0
Very good romantic suspense. I just couldn't jump the believability chasm with a few of the plot devices. That didn't stop me from devouring every page, though!
Very good romantic suspense. I just couldn't jump the believability chasm with a few of the plot devices. That didn't stop me from devouring every page, though!
November 22, 2010
Synopsis: Judge Ramsey Hunt has fled to recuperate after being forced to shoot a man during a melee in his courtroom. But his dream of peace and quiet is shattered when he discovers an unconscious, beaten, and sexually abused little girl who is too traumatized to speak. Reluctant to subject her to any more terror, Ramsey refrains from going to the authorities and cares for her himself. But once again, violence intrudes, first when two gunmen attempt to take the girl, and then when her mother, Molly, appears, ready to kill the man she believes is the kidnapper. Miraculously, Emma regains her voice in the nick of time, so Molly and Ramsey join forces and attempt to solve the mystery of her abduction. Emma is a target for any of a number of reasons--her father is a famous rock star with a gambling problem, and her grandfather is a Chicago Mob boss.
Review** Series favs Savich and Sherlock do make an appearance with Sherlock being pregnant and having an interesting version of morning sickness, but it's a minor role. The story is about Emma, Ramsey and Molly Santera, Emma's mother. Emma's character was probably the most intriguing, and painfully read. Her abuse was just awful. Of course, the romance angle is between Molly and Ramsey.
Review** Series favs Savich and Sherlock do make an appearance with Sherlock being pregnant and having an interesting version of morning sickness, but it's a minor role. The story is about Emma, Ramsey and Molly Santera, Emma's mother. Emma's character was probably the most intriguing, and painfully read. Her abuse was just awful. Of course, the romance angle is between Molly and Ramsey.
August 13, 2016
I started the book and almost stopped after the first 20 pages of so because it was so ridiculous. A federal judge finds an injured and abused girl and doesn't try to let her parents know she is okay at the very least! What he did was highly illegal, and as someone in the justice system, he would have been very well aware of that fact. I saw that people on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ gave this book such high reviews, so I thought I would keep reading to see if it got better. I'm probably 2/3rds the way through, and I just can't take it anymore. I would like to know how it ends so she obviously did a good job peaking my curiosity. So, if anyone wants to write an ending spoiler for me, I would appreciate it. But knowing how it ends isn't worth it anymore. The dialog and behaviors of people in the book feel very old-fashioned. They remind me of a Katherine Hepburn movie in the 60s or something. This oddity just adds to the inauthentic and unrealistic feeling I got through the whole book.
October 26, 2009
I actually picked this up without knowing it was part of a series, so maybe I would have enjoyed some of the characters who popped in from previous books a little more if I'd read the first two prior to this one. I thought it was a reasonable suspense novel, with some good twists, actions, and developments, but it got a little slow at points. It was hard to read at times because the premise began with a girl who is kidnapped and sexually assaulted, and one of the villains of the story is a child molester. Not really something I wanted to ponder in my leisure reading time, but once I started I was hooked and wanted to at least get far enough in to witness the girl's progress towards recovery (if such a thing is possible.) Not bad, not great. I think I'd prefer a Harlan Coben.
May 18, 2011
I fell in love with this story. While Savich and Sherlock didn't have a major presence in this installment, the main characters more than adequately filled that space.
The relationship between Ramsey and the child he discovers is touching and it was written in a way that had you experiencing its development rather naturally. The suspense surrounding her story unfolded at the right pace and I couldn't put the book down.
This story stands on its own but I appreciated having read the previous two. No matter where you come into this series, Target is a must read.
The relationship between Ramsey and the child he discovers is touching and it was written in a way that had you experiencing its development rather naturally. The suspense surrounding her story unfolded at the right pace and I couldn't put the book down.
This story stands on its own but I appreciated having read the previous two. No matter where you come into this series, Target is a must read.
February 14, 2018
Disappointing on several levels. The story line, the romance novel mush, the characters, the situations. I know it's fiction, but fiction should parallel reality a bit more than this one did.
September 7, 2023
The cover blurb and novel description/synopsis does well at saying what this book is about. I think it gives away a few more plot points than it should. I'm certainly not going to add to them in my review here.
This is my sixth Catherine Coulter read and is so far my favorite. She tops her first two suspense novels, and , which I read about twenty years ago because she stretches plausibility less on this outing. I love the way she starts her book with just two characters, the judge and the lost little girl, and keeps the focus on just them for a long time as their relationship builds. Just when it's about to become too long, in comes the next character. Masterful!
It's for a book like this, the potential of which is only foreshadowed by her first two books, that I read Catherine Coulter. She doesn't sustain this. The books later in her series don't have plot ideas as marvelous and trade off on the fact people are content to simply read the latest Sherlock and Savich adventure. But back in 1998, when Coulter still had something to prove, these are the novels to read.
This is my sixth Catherine Coulter read and is so far my favorite. She tops her first two suspense novels, and , which I read about twenty years ago because she stretches plausibility less on this outing. I love the way she starts her book with just two characters, the judge and the lost little girl, and keeps the focus on just them for a long time as their relationship builds. Just when it's about to become too long, in comes the next character. Masterful!
It's for a book like this, the potential of which is only foreshadowed by her first two books, that I read Catherine Coulter. She doesn't sustain this. The books later in her series don't have plot ideas as marvelous and trade off on the fact people are content to simply read the latest Sherlock and Savich adventure. But back in 1998, when Coulter still had something to prove, these are the novels to read.
July 19, 2021
Good Thriller - Not Much FBI
We hardly saw or heard from Savitch or Sherlock, but it was a pretty good story just the same. Unlike a couple of other reviewers, I never thought Judge Ramsey Hunt seemed "creepy." Actually, I liked him right away. And I just fell in love with little Emma. We were more than 40% into the book before we saw Dillon Savitch, and even after that there was very little of him or Sherlock in this novel. But it was well put together and contained the excellent plotting and pacing we have come to expect of this author. There was plenty of suspense and the denouement was very well done as well. I was not terribly surprised by the final reveal at the end, but it did tie things up very nicely. It is not actually a 4-star book, but I am satisfied that it is about a 3.6, rounded up. I enjoyed it.
We hardly saw or heard from Savitch or Sherlock, but it was a pretty good story just the same. Unlike a couple of other reviewers, I never thought Judge Ramsey Hunt seemed "creepy." Actually, I liked him right away. And I just fell in love with little Emma. We were more than 40% into the book before we saw Dillon Savitch, and even after that there was very little of him or Sherlock in this novel. But it was well put together and contained the excellent plotting and pacing we have come to expect of this author. There was plenty of suspense and the denouement was very well done as well. I was not terribly surprised by the final reveal at the end, but it did tie things up very nicely. It is not actually a 4-star book, but I am satisfied that it is about a 3.6, rounded up. I enjoyed it.
December 6, 2018
I haven’t read any Coulter for a while. No reason for not reading but she has moved front and center to my TBR pile again. This book had an adorably precocious child, a butt kicking judge, a talented photographer, a demented rocker, a malicious gangster, a gentleman gangster and some familiar FBI agents. Coulter successfully blended such a wide range of characters into a stupendous souffle of delicious intrigue.
Spoiler Alert:
There were some parts of this book that were very difficult to read, particularly if you are sensitive to the abuse of a child. I found myself incensed on a couple of occasions reading this book.
The story is finely crafted and has some very intricate twists to prevent you from foretelling the conclusion.
An excellent story which I highly recommend.
Spoiler Alert:
There were some parts of this book that were very difficult to read, particularly if you are sensitive to the abuse of a child. I found myself incensed on a couple of occasions reading this book.
The story is finely crafted and has some very intricate twists to prevent you from foretelling the conclusion.
An excellent story which I highly recommend.
October 5, 2020
Love this series and that is why this is a revisit for me this time in audio form. Judge Ramsey Hunt is on vacation in the Colorado Rockies after an event in his courtroom that left him needing to get away for a while. He comes across an abused little girl who is obviously traumatized but he takes her in but when her mother shows up sporting a gun right after they had been shot at and Ramsey hurt. Good thing Emma comes out of her stupor and talks to call off her mother or she may have shot Ramsey. The three of them set off across country while being chased and hunted. So many twists and turns and thrills make up this story. Great narrator!
May 28, 2022
This is an exciting story of a judge who is hiding out from the press in a remote cabin after he became a reluctant hero when he stopped three armed gunmen in his courtroom. One day he hears strange noise and when he investigates he finds a young girl who has obviously been beaten and raped. He takes her under his protection and hides her from her abductor. She will not or cannot talk to him, but communicates through drawing pictures. Eventually he teams up with her mother to protect her and calls in his FBI friends to help search for the kidnapper. It is a good exciting story.
August 28, 2024
It could’ve been better, but the more I got to know the Judge, the more I disliked him. I can’t understand how he was so worshipped. He was almost as creepy as the villain in the book. I just got really bad vibes from the way he treated that little girl that he just met. And very strange that a mother would allow that. I know that he discovered the little girl in a horrible state, but it was very bizarre how quickly he bonded with her. It just felt ick to me. I give it three stars because it kept me mildly entertained but I could have been fine never finishing this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 15, 2018
This is much better than the first in the series for me.
I'm of the belief Coulter male characters are stronger characters than her female characters.
The kid was not annoying. For me, that's special.
The action is easy to follow.
Far from perfect but enjoyable
I'm of the belief Coulter male characters are stronger characters than her female characters.
The kid was not annoying. For me, that's special.
The action is easy to follow.
Far from perfect but enjoyable
March 29, 2021
Two-haiku review:
He finds little girl
Who has escaped kidnapper
Tries to keep her safe
Enjoyable tale
Liked main characters a lot
Danger, excitement
He finds little girl
Who has escaped kidnapper
Tries to keep her safe
Enjoyable tale
Liked main characters a lot
Danger, excitement
April 25, 2022
I really liked the storyline it kept you on your toes. The parts I don’t like are the cussing, I’m not real crazy about that.
July 23, 2021
Good but not as good as #2 in this series.
August 24, 2020
I was hopeful because Coulter's gothics were so much fun, but this novel, even more than the previous one, THE MAZE, had the same issues without the unique crime angle.
Editorial absence: There were so many confusingly vague sentences, plot errors, timeline errors and reality issues that I kept putting on my editor hat and gnashing my teeth. I wondered if Ms. Coulter's editor had developed Jane Auel syndrome, an affliction in which an editor is afraid to actually edit a very popular author. (The author may not even want or be aware of this happening, by the way.)
Fits and starts plotting: More than once, the plot reached a point at which the entire cast was breathing sighs of relief and saying, "It's over, at last." From the reader's POV, it was clearly not over. Bad guys were still on the loose, murderous movers and shakers still had a vendetta going, the main characters were still in danger. These people were mostly seasoned crime-fighters (FBI agents and a judge) and should've known better. Those elements can't be thrust aside just because the writer has a character say, "Oh, Really Awful Criminal wouldn't continue to strike back."
All of the above contributed to an overall sense of Puppet Master Syndrome in which characters do things just because the writer needs them to do them at this point in the plot. As a result it was sometimes hard to get a handle on the personalities of the characters.
Unclear and unrealistic action sequences. Example: at one point the hero has dived into the ocean from a pier and is pursuing a criminal. Criminal shoots hero in the shoulder, yet the hero is able to hold the criminal in a headlock and tread water with one useless arm. He is fully clothed and wearing shoes and his injured arm is described as hanging down, with blood streaking down his arm and his shirt plastered to the wound ... though our hero would have to be up to his neck in sea water in order to maintain the headlock on the criminal. This is not my experience with the way bodies behave in water. This got more complicated when we suddenly realize the hero's family and others are watching from directly above on the pier and then, equally suddenly, "two men were in the water." You realize a sentence or two later that the two men referenced are not the hero and the criminal but two FBI agents who have jumped in to offer assistance.
In any story that relies on action sequences, it's important for the reader to be able to visualize the scene in which action is taking place. In the above sequence and others like it (including sex scenes) I had to keep stopping and going back to revise my take on what was happening because I was supplying all the details.
And finally, the reason I wanted to read the book was because of Savich and Sherlock but they were rarely in it. The main relationship tension was between the new characters Ramsey, Molly and Emma whom, I gather, got their own series. Though they are the focus, left unresolved, after drawing attention to it repeatedly, was Molly's sense that Ramsey married her because he had become attached to her little girl, Emma. I totally get her uncertainty, under the circumstances, but it was disappointing not to have Ramsey set her straight, given how many times it came up.
I probably will try more of Coulter's detective fiction, but not just now. Or I may just go back to enjoying her gothics.
Editorial absence: There were so many confusingly vague sentences, plot errors, timeline errors and reality issues that I kept putting on my editor hat and gnashing my teeth. I wondered if Ms. Coulter's editor had developed Jane Auel syndrome, an affliction in which an editor is afraid to actually edit a very popular author. (The author may not even want or be aware of this happening, by the way.)
Fits and starts plotting: More than once, the plot reached a point at which the entire cast was breathing sighs of relief and saying, "It's over, at last." From the reader's POV, it was clearly not over. Bad guys were still on the loose, murderous movers and shakers still had a vendetta going, the main characters were still in danger. These people were mostly seasoned crime-fighters (FBI agents and a judge) and should've known better. Those elements can't be thrust aside just because the writer has a character say, "Oh, Really Awful Criminal wouldn't continue to strike back."
All of the above contributed to an overall sense of Puppet Master Syndrome in which characters do things just because the writer needs them to do them at this point in the plot. As a result it was sometimes hard to get a handle on the personalities of the characters.
Unclear and unrealistic action sequences. Example: at one point the hero has dived into the ocean from a pier and is pursuing a criminal. Criminal shoots hero in the shoulder, yet the hero is able to hold the criminal in a headlock and tread water with one useless arm. He is fully clothed and wearing shoes and his injured arm is described as hanging down, with blood streaking down his arm and his shirt plastered to the wound ... though our hero would have to be up to his neck in sea water in order to maintain the headlock on the criminal. This is not my experience with the way bodies behave in water. This got more complicated when we suddenly realize the hero's family and others are watching from directly above on the pier and then, equally suddenly, "two men were in the water." You realize a sentence or two later that the two men referenced are not the hero and the criminal but two FBI agents who have jumped in to offer assistance.
In any story that relies on action sequences, it's important for the reader to be able to visualize the scene in which action is taking place. In the above sequence and others like it (including sex scenes) I had to keep stopping and going back to revise my take on what was happening because I was supplying all the details.
And finally, the reason I wanted to read the book was because of Savich and Sherlock but they were rarely in it. The main relationship tension was between the new characters Ramsey, Molly and Emma whom, I gather, got their own series. Though they are the focus, left unresolved, after drawing attention to it repeatedly, was Molly's sense that Ramsey married her because he had become attached to her little girl, Emma. I totally get her uncertainty, under the circumstances, but it was disappointing not to have Ramsey set her straight, given how many times it came up.
I probably will try more of Coulter's detective fiction, but not just now. Or I may just go back to enjoying her gothics.
November 4, 2018
Ramsey Hunt is a federal judge who is trying to get some peace from the papparazzi after kicking some terrorist butt in his court room. So he hies off to the mountains. A few days in, he finds a little girl, clearly sexually and physically abused who can't speak and is in a total state of terror. He decides to hold onto her for a little while until she trusts him. But her mother shows up, introduces herself as Molly after Emma, the little girl, reveals that she can speak and begs her mother not to kill Ramsey. Molly agrees after she learns that Ramsey isn't the monster who kidnapped and abused her little girl. Right on Molly's heels though, are the villains who are apparently still trying to kill either Emma or Ramsey or everyone they can get in their gunsights. So the three head off on the run, trying to evade the people who would kill them while trying to figure out who exactly IS trying to kill them. There's a romance in here between Molly and Ramsey, but it's so out of the blue and unimportant to the story, that it's really not even worth mentioning.
This story was pretty hard to take because of an absolutely crazy decision on the part of the hero in the beginning. He finds Emma, realizes she's been traumatized, sexually abused and all that and he's all alone with her out in the woods. Instead of doing the right thing and contacting authorities, he washes away evidence and keeps the girl in his isolated cabin for a week while she learns to trust him. He also lies to the townspeople and claims that she's his daughter. Meanwhile, her absolutely frantic mother is thinking the worst about her daughter being missing and this guy is just keeping her on hold for a while. And then we learn that this guy has connections in the FBI who would have been able to get him information about this little missing girl and he never bothered to do it. This stretched beyond my limits of ability to suspend disbelief. Not to mention that it's pretty damn creepy the way Ramsey sort of latches on to this girl. He starts thinking of her in terms of "mine" and wanting to keep her, he CONSTANTLY monologues about how sweet and fresh smelling she is and what a beautiful little girl she is. I get that the author was trying to establish that Ramsey loved her like a daughter and make it believable for him to stick with her through all these dangers, but this guy came across as creepy and obsessed to me. And his decision to marry the mother so he could have Emma forever was the lid on his coffin. Yeah, by then he was "attracted" to her and could easily imagine himself spending a life with Molly, but Emma would forever be his, so it was totally worth it. Not the way the author probably intended it, but that's how I was reading it. It didn't help that the "romance" came out of nowhere, with absolutely no chemistry between the H/h and that there was never any resolution about whether Ramsey actually loved Molly - plenty of allusions to it and easy to assume, but he never says he loves her.
So all of this together made for a decidedly strange read. The suspense plot is okay and if that's all you're reading this for and you can get over Ramsey's initial actions, then you will probably enjoy this. I was too weirded out by Ramsey and his obsession with Emma.
This story was pretty hard to take because of an absolutely crazy decision on the part of the hero in the beginning. He finds Emma, realizes she's been traumatized, sexually abused and all that and he's all alone with her out in the woods. Instead of doing the right thing and contacting authorities, he washes away evidence and keeps the girl in his isolated cabin for a week while she learns to trust him. He also lies to the townspeople and claims that she's his daughter. Meanwhile, her absolutely frantic mother is thinking the worst about her daughter being missing and this guy is just keeping her on hold for a while. And then we learn that this guy has connections in the FBI who would have been able to get him information about this little missing girl and he never bothered to do it. This stretched beyond my limits of ability to suspend disbelief. Not to mention that it's pretty damn creepy the way Ramsey sort of latches on to this girl. He starts thinking of her in terms of "mine" and wanting to keep her, he CONSTANTLY monologues about how sweet and fresh smelling she is and what a beautiful little girl she is. I get that the author was trying to establish that Ramsey loved her like a daughter and make it believable for him to stick with her through all these dangers, but this guy came across as creepy and obsessed to me. And his decision to marry the mother so he could have Emma forever was the lid on his coffin. Yeah, by then he was "attracted" to her and could easily imagine himself spending a life with Molly, but Emma would forever be his, so it was totally worth it. Not the way the author probably intended it, but that's how I was reading it. It didn't help that the "romance" came out of nowhere, with absolutely no chemistry between the H/h and that there was never any resolution about whether Ramsey actually loved Molly - plenty of allusions to it and easy to assume, but he never says he loves her.
So all of this together made for a decidedly strange read. The suspense plot is okay and if that's all you're reading this for and you can get over Ramsey's initial actions, then you will probably enjoy this. I was too weirded out by Ramsey and his obsession with Emma.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 25, 2021
So far I have liked all of Coulter's books for the same reasons. Well written, well developed & intriguing. I've also disliked them for the same reasons. The sex is gratuitous & unappealing. Not a prude just tired of seeing it done over and over again.
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