8.14.2008

"Nightfall" by Anne Stuart


I didn't enjoy this book so much as I was captivated by it. With Nightfall Stuart writes a very dark, angsty story -- like a train wreck you can't look away from. Cassidy Roarke, daughter of a famous if controversial writer, Sean O'Rourke. Sean wants to write a book about Richard Tiernan, a man convicted of murdering his family. Richard has his own reasons for agreeing to work with Sean, reasons that have everything to do with Cassie and the truth about what really happened to his family. Richard Tiernan is a complex and interesting character who provides the majority of substance for this novel. Cassidy Roarke, not so much. Her role in the plot is mostly reactionary, as she is manipulated and led around by everyone around her. She runs on shear nerves most of the novel, and I do appreciate the dramatic quality of that, but she was like a tennis ball getting smacked around by various people and, at times, all I wanted was for it to end. Which, I'm sure, was largely the author's intent. I think the plan backfired, though, making Cassie a less-appealing heroine and imbedding a sort of redundancy into the story. So, although I couldn't put this book down, I was relieved when it was done.

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