Need to Know (Book Review)

Need to Know

Author:  Christine Merrill, ©2009 Christine Merrill

Price:  $2.99

Genre:  Romantic Thriller

Medium:  Kindle (also available for the Nook)

Rating:  4.0 (5-point system)

Description:  Liz Monahan has a jerk for a boss, a mom who won’t stop asking about her love life, and a boyfriend who just might be married. But since she found that dead body in her hotel room, things are looking up. The new man in Liz Monahan s life is a rogue secret agent who s trying to kill her. But at least he’s single.

Since I’m now self-published, it’s only fitting that my first blog book review should be from a fellow self-published author.  Today, it’s a fun little romantic thriller with a bit of humor thrown in for good measure—Need to Know by fellow self-published author Christine Merrill—and it’s available in e-book form in an Amazon Kindle version and a Barnes & Noble Nook version.  If you do not have one of these great little reading devices, you may obtain free reading apps to turn various devices (PC, Mac, Android, Blackberry, iPod, iPhone, iPad and just about every other iThingy® in existence) into a Kindle or Nook e-reader.  Here are the links for free Kindle and Nook apps.

Liz Monahan is a troubled, sexually active young woman looking for love in all the wrong places . . . and in all the wrong beds.  She’s drifting from one failed relationship to the next, often finding out that the men with whom she’s having trysts are married, or worse.  And what could be worse?  How about a lover who is setting you up for the kill?  Or is he?

Enter boring accountant Robert “Bob” Anderson.  Or, is it Harper?  Is it even “Bob?”  Is he even an accountant?  He’s already tried to kill Liz once, by asphyxiation and while holding a gun to her head.  Or did he?  The dead guy on the floor wrapped in a shower curtain says, “Yes,” but her heart tells her, “Maybe.”  Either way, it’s not a particularly great way to start a first date.  And then there’s Bob’s fiancée.

Liz soon finds herself a pawn in a very deadly game between two equally deadly rivals.  One, both, or neither may want her dead.  One, both, or neither may want her in bed.  Either might be her savior, or her executioner.  Dating is so complicated nowadays.

Need to Know is a lighthearted, fun read with some really witty dialog.  The characters are real and the suspense both enjoyable and believable.  My only real quibble is some formatting miscues, mainly inverted apostrophes and entire paragraphs or dialog exchanges that are improperly indented.  But this is pretty minor stuff, and the writing eventually overcomes these niggling little details.  If you’re looking for a nice at-the-beach read or something to take along on vacation, you could do a lot worse than this.