REVIEWS
»Books
Book reminds you not to get involved with an exby: Zebeen
Like a moth to a flame, nothing good comes from reuniting with an old flame. You get burned. The first few pages of this book read like a sensual Harlequin. Then you realize that the book is anything but romantic, except when Victor thinks of his ex-fiancée, Julie. Victor Carl, the main character in A Killer’s Kiss, gets himself in a little bit of heat when Julie, his past love, comes a knocking on his door in the late hours. Just as the lawyer is getting his groove on, he hears a knock on his door and behind are two police officers. The problem? Dr. Denniston, an urologist, has been murdered. The problem behind the problem? He is Julie’s husband. The plot thickens when Victor becomes a suspect in his ex-love’s husband’s murder; he reluctantly believes that it may be Julie who has set him up to take the fall and he tries to find clues, evidence, anything to prove him wrong in his assumptions. While he desperately searches for evidence that would exonerate him and her, he is unable to investigate and act as defender to the not-so-affluent who make up his client roster. Thus, when he needs some help, he turns to Derek, his very-happy-client-who-got-off to help him out. Derek is a funny, smooth negotiator who manages to get paid an hourly rate private investigating despite having no credentials or prior experience, except for the fact that he has the know-how of the streets and the people who run them. He is a likeable guy and stays true to Victor till the very end and then some. When Julie enters the scene in the first chapter, you want the chemistry and attraction between her and Victor to manifest in some hot and heavy love scenes. You relate to Victor’s pain at being left mid-engagement. But what you want and what you get are two very different things. Lashner’s deliberate hands-off, lips-off and any other body-off approach just adds to the story. She is loyal; not to herself, not to the man who pined for her and not to her husband, but to another character in the story, who was her Romeo in high school and she was his Juliet. Just as the tragedy plagued those two, tragedy again appears for the lovers in this story, but not in the same way; depending on your perception. The character behind the entanglement of Victor, his ex, an inexperienced private eye, two police officers (one not so ethical,) a defense attorney and a thug is the murder victim. Everything revolves around the urologist, who not only treated the male gender’s privates, but dealt in some shady deals. These netted a whole lotta missing money and are the main reason why Victor became a suspect in the first place. William Lashner weaves a story of intrigue, chaos, and humour mixed in with death, destruction and murder. The dialogue between the characters, especially between Victor and Derek and Victor and the police, is crisp and witty. The author introduces many characters throughout the story; some memorable, some subtle, and it is the subtle one, Gwen, who ends up being the real heroine in the story. There are twists and turns that take you down so many different directions. It is done in a way that confuses you at first, but straightens out and then takes a dip in the end. The rhythm of the dialogue, the action, the steady pace, did deflate a bit as the ending of the story was drawing to a conclusion. But don’t let this stop you from picking up the book. This was my first experience with Lashner, but it won’t be my last. |
