Book Review: "Unseen", by Nancy Bush
Unseen
By: Nancy Bush
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Publish Date: April, 2009
Format I Read It In: purchased, commercial ebook in Mobipocket format-it is also now available on Bookshare
From The Back Cover:
She woke up with no memories.....
She wakes up in a hospital room....bruised....bloody....confused. She knows her name is Gemma LaPorte -- but that's all. She doesn't remember smashing her car. She doesn't remember anything from the last three days. But Detective Will Tanninger is waiting for answers and wants to know if she's responsible for a fatal hit and run.
But remembering her past could kill her.....
Hoping to restore her shattered memory, Gemma has no choice but to put her trust in Will. But if it turns out she's guilty of murder, he has no choice but to arrest her. Torn by her growing feelings for Will, and haunted by her shadowy past, Gemma is determined to learn the truth. But, in this case the darkest truths are unknowable -- and the deadliest enemies are UNSEEN.
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Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Comments: I picked this book up because I liked “Wicked Game” by Lisa Jackson and Nancy Bush (who are sisters, BTW); Wicked Game was the first in the Colony series, I liked that book, and it hinted at enough untold details about this colony to make me want to read Unseen to know more about it. I did like the plot of the book-the criminal element is more involved than the back cover suggests (the protagonist must ultimately wrestle with whether she committed more than one crime during the course of the book, and, for those who have read “Wicked Game”, there is a similar type of serial killer here as was featured in that book), and I thought the author did a good job of keeping both scenarios viable with the details she told until she wanted the truth revealed (either the protagonist was dissociating and committed the crimes, or she didn’t). I gave the book a neutral rating for two reasons. First, as it relates to the overall Colony about which is the series, I felt that the details given about the relevant colony members were very fragmented. Lots of untold details, again, and I don’t yet understand how the characters from the two books are connected. This is probably the intended effect of the authors, that the details about this Colony are revealed little by little, so that the loose threads keep readers interested in the series (and I admit, it works for me, I will be reading the next one, *grin*), but I just wish I had a more connected picture after having read the first two books of the series. The second reason is that I felt the characters, especially the two protagonists between whom a romance develops, were not very fully developed. I like good characterization in books-to feel that I know the characters by the time I am finished-and I just did not get that feeling with this book. One minute, the protagonists are enemies/don’t trust one another (Is she lying to him about not remembering? Does he believe her? That kind of thing.), then they barely have a few brief and distrusting conversations, and the next thing you know, they have one interaction that seems a bit more friendly and then are suddenly together. I would have liked to see the transition in stances developed a bit more fully-the romance in this one just didn’t flow very nicely for me. I would still give this somewhat of a recommendation, though, especially for those who read “Wicked Game” and enjoyed it. I will be reading the next one, “Blind Spot”, and posting about it when I do.
By: Nancy Bush
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Publish Date: April, 2009
Format I Read It In: purchased, commercial ebook in Mobipocket format-it is also now available on Bookshare
From The Back Cover:
She woke up with no memories.....
She wakes up in a hospital room....bruised....bloody....confused. She knows her name is Gemma LaPorte -- but that's all. She doesn't remember smashing her car. She doesn't remember anything from the last three days. But Detective Will Tanninger is waiting for answers and wants to know if she's responsible for a fatal hit and run.
But remembering her past could kill her.....
Hoping to restore her shattered memory, Gemma has no choice but to put her trust in Will. But if it turns out she's guilty of murder, he has no choice but to arrest her. Torn by her growing feelings for Will, and haunted by her shadowy past, Gemma is determined to learn the truth. But, in this case the darkest truths are unknowable -- and the deadliest enemies are UNSEEN.
--------------------
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Comments: I picked this book up because I liked “Wicked Game” by Lisa Jackson and Nancy Bush (who are sisters, BTW); Wicked Game was the first in the Colony series, I liked that book, and it hinted at enough untold details about this colony to make me want to read Unseen to know more about it. I did like the plot of the book-the criminal element is more involved than the back cover suggests (the protagonist must ultimately wrestle with whether she committed more than one crime during the course of the book, and, for those who have read “Wicked Game”, there is a similar type of serial killer here as was featured in that book), and I thought the author did a good job of keeping both scenarios viable with the details she told until she wanted the truth revealed (either the protagonist was dissociating and committed the crimes, or she didn’t). I gave the book a neutral rating for two reasons. First, as it relates to the overall Colony about which is the series, I felt that the details given about the relevant colony members were very fragmented. Lots of untold details, again, and I don’t yet understand how the characters from the two books are connected. This is probably the intended effect of the authors, that the details about this Colony are revealed little by little, so that the loose threads keep readers interested in the series (and I admit, it works for me, I will be reading the next one, *grin*), but I just wish I had a more connected picture after having read the first two books of the series. The second reason is that I felt the characters, especially the two protagonists between whom a romance develops, were not very fully developed. I like good characterization in books-to feel that I know the characters by the time I am finished-and I just did not get that feeling with this book. One minute, the protagonists are enemies/don’t trust one another (Is she lying to him about not remembering? Does he believe her? That kind of thing.), then they barely have a few brief and distrusting conversations, and the next thing you know, they have one interaction that seems a bit more friendly and then are suddenly together. I would have liked to see the transition in stances developed a bit more fully-the romance in this one just didn’t flow very nicely for me. I would still give this somewhat of a recommendation, though, especially for those who read “Wicked Game” and enjoyed it. I will be reading the next one, “Blind Spot”, and posting about it when I do.