Thursday, December 4, 2008

Dark Pursuit Review

If you've read my blog for any length of time, you know that I am a fan of Brandilyn Collin's books. I discovered her with the Hidden Faces series, wrote a character on the first year of the character blog for Kanner Lake, and just read Dark Pursuits last week. I LOVED it. The premise: what if suspense writer Darell Brooke has lost the ability to write due to an accident. But now, he has to do something because his granddaughter is targeted. Darell had kicked Kaitlan out of his home years earlier, but now she's come to him for help. Can he give it and can he give it in time?

The pacing in this book is intense. It races from page one to the last with a timeframe of about 24 hours. Personally, I love that kind of pacing in the suspense I read. I don't want time to breathe as a reader, and the characters certainly shouldn't have any.

There were times I was convinced Darell would pull it off and other times I knew he'd get everybody killed. The characters did unexpected things that kept me guessing. In a twist, this book sets out from almost the first page with the bad guy revealed, which in many ways intensifies the suspense.

Pride laces the plot together. The pride Darell used to have in his life when he was adored as the King of Suspense. The self-hate that arises from the death of that adulation. Pride twists and turns the motives and actions of the characters. And it's handled with Brandilyn's light touch.
Get this book if you love suspense. You won't regret it!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


Brandilyn Collins is known for her trademark Seatbelt Suspense®. She is currently working on her 20th book. For chances to win free copies of her work, join her Fan Club on Facebook. Here’s what Brandilyn has to say about why she wrote Dark Pursuit:

In John Milton’s Paradise Lost Satan’s followers, kicked out of heaven, boast about storming the gates and reclaiming their territory. Beelzebub scoffs at their boasting as merely “hatching vain empires” and suggests a different revengeful scheme: seduce mankind away from God. So Satan visits the Garden of Eden to teach humans the very thing he and his cohorts have learned to be futile—the dark pursuit of hatching their own vain empires instead of following God. He presented man with this “gift” of death, disguised as life. And man fell for it.

Upon this theme of man’s fall and spiritual blindness, I created the characters and events in Dark P
ursuit. The story clips along at a fast pace, with much symbolism running underneath.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Dark Pursuit—A twisting story of murder, betrayal, and eternal choices

Novelist Darell Brooke lived for his title as King of Suspense—until an auto accident left him unable to concentrate. Two years later, reclusive and bitter, he wants one thing: to plot a new novel and regain his reputation.

Kaitlan Sering, his twenty-two-year-old granddaughter, once lived for drugs. After she stole from Darell, he cut her off. Now she’s rebuilding her life. But in Kaitlan’s town two women have been murdered, and she’s about to discover a third. She’s even more shocked to realize the culprit—her boyfriend, Craig, the police chief’s son.

Desperate, Kaitlan flees to her estranged grandfather. For over forty years, Darell Brooke has lived suspense. Surely he’ll devise a plan to trap the cunning Craig.

But can Darell’s muddled mind do it? And—if he tries—with what motivation? For Kaitlan’s plight may be the stunning answer to the elusive plot he seeks...

Read the first chapter of Dark Pursuit, HERE.

2 comments:

Debby Giusti said...

Cara,
I love Brandilyn's writing as well. I'll get this book. Sounds great. The King of Suspense. Hmmm? Has me guessing . . . a name we all recognize, perhaps?

Thanks for the great reveiw!

Merry said...

I tucked this book into my Christmas Amazon order, I can't wait to read it.
I really enjoyed the Kanner Lake series; Brandilyn's books are exciting!