|
[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
Libby Fischer Hellmann brings together protagonists from her two series in DOUBLEBACK. Ellie Foreman is a video producer; Georgia Davis is a private investigator. They partner to find a little girl, Molly Messenger, who's been kidnapped but, atypically, there are no ransom demands. She is returned unharmed three days later. There are a series of strange events that follow the kidnapping. A few days after the girl is returned, the brakes on her mother's car fail and she dies. A man at the Chicago bank where Chris Messenger works in IT is killed. Georgia and Ellie both feel that these events are connected, but finding the common thread is devilishly difficult. Georgia is then hired by Chris's ex-husband to investigate her death. The first avenue to pursue is to look at Chris's job. It appears that she has manipulated the system and embezzled three million dollars. The clues lead Georgia to an Arizona border town where she finds an illegal immigrant smuggling operation. Who is behind that operation and how what is happening in Arizona connect to the Chicago deaths is a very complex puzzle to untangle. Most of DOUBLEBACK focuses on Georgia and her investigation, with some help from Ellie as needed. I like the character of Georgia a lot. She is very blunt and direct but also quite prickly, which leads to a question in my mind about her career choice. When a person has irritated or angered her, she is quick to let them know that. I find it hard to believe that either paying clients or cooperative leads would accept this kind of browbeating very well. The narrative moved along nicely for the first two-thirds of the book, but I found that the plot became unnecessarily complex as the resolution played out. However, the characterization was strong enough that I did enjoy the book. One thing that I really like is that the protagonists know their limitations and set boundaries for what they can do. They don't go running off willy nilly but instead involve the police as appropriate. It will be interesting to see if Hellmann continues to partner Davis and Foreman or returns to their individual series. For what it's worth, I find the Georgia Davis series more appealing but do enjoy the way that the two characters play off each other.
Reviewed by Maddy Van Hertbruggen, October 2009
[ Top ]
QUICK SEARCH:
Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]
| 
