I reviewed In the Belly of Jonah by Sandra Branna earlier this year and was really looking forward to reading her second book of the series, Lot’s Return. It was very much a let down and was not as good as the first book in this series. Once again we have Liv Bergen involved in solving the crimes; this time in the area of Sturgis SD
The story line was all over the place and in dire need of editing for cohesiveness. The story did not flow well. There was a particular sexual assault that I think was only thrown in for shock value, but the repeated reference to the act was just unnecessary and tedious.
The characters also have some problems. Although I think the character of Murley was supposed to be a creepy, slimy character, he came off as a sympathetic and almost likeable. The character of Liv witnessed a crime, photographed it and did not tell police even though someone ended up dead! It was just unbelievable.
The Biblical references in both books have nothing to do with the story and these are certainly not books where the characters struggle with issues of faith. I am not sure why they are included. The ending was disappointing and unrealistic. I won’t put a spoiler here, but let me just say that the FBI simply would not have given Liv a gift that took years of expensive development.
The best part of the book was the Dedication when she told her mother that she didn’t have to read the story.
I continue to be on the fence for these books but when I went to Amazon they were free Kindle downloaded, a complete mistake i'm sure but yaaaay me.
ReplyDeleteI will at least read the 1st one. Thanks for your honest opinion.
The first one was very graphic with the violence but the story was pretty good. At least if it is free you can see if it is something you would like - and if not, your haven't spent anything on it.
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