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Tarfumes.com - Edge of Darkness
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List Price: $15.95
Our Price: $10.85
Your Save: $ 5.10 ( 32% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Bold Strokes Books
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Average Customer Rating:   
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9781602820159
ISBN: 1602820155
Label: Bold Strokes Books
Manufacturer: Bold Strokes Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 241
Publication Date: 2008-05-13
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Studio: Bold Strokes Books
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Editorial Reviews:
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Diana Collins charges at life with an irreverent comment and a right hook, but even her hard-headed attitude may not be enough to protect her heart...or her life.
As a senior investigator for a high-end insurance company, Diana searches for the person responsible for the theft of several rare weapons. Diana struggles to protect her burgeoning relationship with kindergarten teacher, Cami Michaelson, as the investigation leads her into a bitter world of rage and revenge. Diana uncovers one damning piece of evidence after another that challenges everything she knows about right and wrong. She finds her hard-driving work ethic, which demands the thief be held accountable, at odds with the desire to protect her new friend, Ali Sandoval, who is caught in the center of the conflict. As Diana is drawn deeper into a dark subculture of sex, power, and death, Ali must choose between vengeance and peace as she struggles to escape with her sanity intact.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Don't bother
Comment: This is the first book published by Jove Belle and, therefore, I was prepared for at least some minor glitches in "Edge of Darkness". However, I must say that I was quite disappointed by this book and it took me some effort to read it until the end, since nothing in the book managed to really keep me interested.
The fact that I got stuck on the second sentence of the prologue, was not a good sign for what was going to come ahead in terms of prose. Included in the annoying things in the prose of "Edge of Darkness" are, the frequently unfortunate choice of words (e.g. a police car described as a `black and white chariot of justice' with `crimson and cerulean lights'), the overuse of adjectives and similes, the fact that things are continuously being explained to the reader, the abundant infodumps, the frequent inconsistencies and the confusing way time is dealt with.
Setting seems to have been regarded as mostly unimportant. The book is set in Chicago, but the only thing I got from the book regarding the city was that there was a lot of traffic. Most big cities have a lot of traffic so that is certainly not enough for the reader to get a grasp of Chicago. Regarding Diana's work, I suspect the descriptions are not close to reality. It seems from the book that to be an insurance investigator is quite a nice job. As a top insurance investigator all you have to do is drive around a bit in order to do 3 or 4 interviews per week, do some Googling, and one or two phone calls to the police to give you all the information you need. The rest of the time is used to answer personal emails. You get to drive a Mercedes and you probably get well paid since you can even lend temporarily $5000 to the FBI.
Expecting an intrigue (the book is labeled as "Intrigue"), it soon became obvious that the plot is quite poor. Things seem to happen just because it is convenient and, frequently, they do not make sense, namely psychologically. To show how efficient Diana is investigating, the Police are depicted as complete morons although, simultaneously, all the main information is obtained from them. Some things introduced in the plot such as that Diana's investigation would be two weeks ahead of the police (when it was the police that gave all the relevant information for the investigation) as well as the existence of a Police protocol to follow an order in the interviews make no sense at all. At the end of the book the Police conveniently becomes smart to "save" Diana and Cami. There are three subplots that are complete dead ends and I can only conclude that they exist to fill space. Therefore, that leaves as raison d'être for the book, the romance. But even the romance is not well developed. I found it quite unrealistic, with Diana and Cami thinking of living happily ever after only exchanging a dozen words.
A priori, one of the interesting things about the characters was that the person doing the murders does it for a 'good' reason. Not being a black and white situation, this would allow for interesting characterization. Unfortunately, characterization is also a problem, since the characters come as difficult to grasp and, mostly, two-dimensional. We do, however, get a lot of information regarding the clothes they are wearing and Diana and Cami's obsession with having sex with each other. Jove Belle uses extreme physical situations (e.g. Diana's reaction to the website) to portray the characters' emotions to the reader. However, they help alienate the reader from the characters since they are seen as unrealistic situations. A more subtle approach, would probably help make the characters more three-dimensional.
The editing of the book, is not very good, which was a surprise, considering the reputation of the editors for BSB. In summary, in a perfect world, Jove Belle would still be learning the craft and not being published by one of the main lesbian fiction publishers.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Intrigue, romance and you'll think
Comment: Jove Belle has written a book that contains two different stories within one. One story is an intricate suspense tale of revenge and retribution, while the other is a romance. What is different about this book is that the major characters in one story are not the same characters in the other, but the stories twine together to create an extremely good novel.
Diana Collins is an investigator for an insurance company who has been assigned the job of recovering a rare sword that disappeared after it was used to kill its owner. The hunt for the kitana leads Diana into an ever widening circle of clues to horrific crimes, including abused women and gruesome murders. At the center of the vortex is Ali Sandoval, a woman who is haunted by her own violent past, but someone that Diana comes to admire for her work at a shelter trying to protect women from the men who have brutalized them. Coming from a family of police officers, Diana had always thought she had a clear understanding of right and wrong, but the horrible details of these women's lives make her begin to question her own values, especially when she begins to suspect that Ali might somehow be involved in what is happening to some of the men. Meanwhile, Diana finds herself being distracted by a relationship unlike any she has ever experienced. Cami Michaelson was supposed to be another one-night stand, something Diana is familiar and comfortable with. From their first meeting though, Diana feels something is different about this woman and she finds herself being drawn closer to her. As Cami and Diana explore their deepening feelings, Diana can't help but compare their lives to what she is encountering in her case. As she comes closer to finding the kitana, she can sense the danger increasing also and Diana is torn between how she can see justice carried out while protecting Cami and Ali.
Edge of Darkness is not a "who done it." The reader has the answer to that question from the first pages. The tension in the novel comes from wondering when or if the authorities will ever put the pieces together and come after the killer. It also comes from the reader knowing what is happening, but Diana doesn't. As she takes each step, the reader knows she is unwittingly moving closer to real danger. It's similar to watching a movie when the audience wants to yell, "Don't open that door!" but you know the character will anyway and it won't be good. Then, as the tension mounts, stress of a different kind is introduced in the form of the love relationship that is developing. That releases the mood of the mystery, but builds suspense of a different kind. Throw in a straight co-worker who also has Diana confused and the reader will begin to wonder what is going to make her pop first. The character development is especially well done. Diana's struggle to justify her feelings towards the crimes with her strong ethical values reflects the feelings that many people often have to deal with. Her confusion and that of Cami as they try to understand how their relationship could be developing so quickly, yet so deeply, will feel familiar to readers who have felt themselves caught up in such a whirlwind. One of the most simplistic, yet troubling characters, is Ali. Her motivations are easy to understand, but accepting them forces the reader to consider that, sometimes, walking on the dark side might be the right side and that by itself makes the book intriguing.
Reviewers say all the time that they couldn't put a book down or that a book is a "page turner." In this case, Edge of Darkness fits the descriptions.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Comment: Congrats to the Author, If you are thinking of buying this book then go ahead it is fantastic.
Complex charactors and exciting plot.
The author had me convinced that 'killing' for a good cause is commendable.
The ending leaves the story open for a possible sequel, although I hope Ali does not hold a grudge against the two main characters.
Great love scenes.
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