gd read

2.5 stars. The mystery plot doesn't hang together as well as in most of Krentz's books, and I was never quite able to get past some of the things the hero had done, one before he met the heroine and two (somewhat related) after he met her. Longer review to come.

Jack Fairfax is not having a good year. First, he finds out that the woman that he's seeing (Elizabeth Cabot), not only didn't have a good time with him, she was affected by a vicious takeover that he set up. It ended up with a yelling match in a rather well-known restaurant which end with a pitcher of water over his head. He's still linked to her because her foundation is supporting a business that he's consulting and that business has just had their top-secret, going-to-save-the-company product stolen from the safe. It seems that one of their top scientists has absconded with the product to a small town film-noir festival. Jack and Elizabeth are on the case. Lots of great film references.

Not my favorite JAK. The banter between Jack and Elizabeth was often more caustic than friendly, and their characters weren't developed well enough for me to really care about them. Part of that might have been the focus on the noir elements, which was an interesting stylistic choice but, well ... noir is stylized bleakness, and JAK tends more towards fizzy. The tones didn't really mesh. It did make me start looking for some Bogart/Bacall titles to borrow from the library though, so that's something!

Warning: references to incest/child sexual abuse

A good mystery with an alpha hero and equally strong heroine. Developed as an ice princess character, Elizabeth remained a major player. Jayne Ann Krentz aka Amanda Quick has always been very impressive in romantic suspense genre.