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Daisy Hubbard is a genetic researcher working on finding a treatment for Steir-Zellars, a rare genetic disease that killed her younger brother. Her research has reached a critical stage and the results look very promising. Unfortunately, Daisy is forced to take a hiatus from her research when her younger sister Anna goes missing. Anna has schizophrenia and frequently disappears or needs rescuing. This time is different as she has not been in contact with family or friends for over five weeks. Daisy flies out to California to see if she can find any evidence of her sister. In California, she works with Detective Jack Makowski. Jack is struggling through a series of missing person reports and fears that Anna is dead. Daisy is unwilling to accept this hypothesis and presses on with her own questions. It quickly becomes apparent that both Daisy and Anna might be pawns in a much bigger game. Daisy must work with Jack and the police if she hopes to find her sister again. LIFE SENTENCES has its strengths and weaknesses as a book. The story moves smoothly and quickly throughout the various chapters. All of the action in the book leads up to a single conclusion -- albeit, the conclusion is actually spend out over several months so it is not necessary cohesive or condensed. This book also contains several scientific ideas that are explained so that a layperson can understand them. As some authors try to show their own intelligence level by using ideas that they do not explain, this is a major plus for any book using genetic research as part of the background. My biggest problem with Alice Blanchard books is that she does not yet have the ability to write people well. Blanchard has her characters go through the motions of everyday life without seeming to be alive. While a book's characters do not exist outside the written page, it is nice when they appear realistic rather than robotic. In addition, her characters lack any sense of chemistry. Their motivations do not seem realistic nor do their interactions make much sense. Part of the problem is that the characters spend a lot of time wrapped up in their own little worlds that they have no time to talk to each other. I am normally not a huge fan of books that spend a lot of time on personal relationships and development; however, this book needs a little more attention paid to those two plot elements. LIFE SENTENCES is Alice Blanchard's latest mystery. She has written several mysteries including the acclaimed book THE BREATHTAKER.
Reviewed by Sarah Dudley, August 2005
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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