Connie’s review of Revenant by Carolyn Haines
Suspense published September 1, 2007 by MIRA (Harlequin)
I love a good serial killer. Since Dexter I haven’t been able to find a another character that matches likablity with skill. Cunning, clever, creative and personable with a conscience that doesn’t overwhelm you and come across too goodie-goodie. Since Dexter, though, all I need to see is the book is about a serial killer, and I want it. I really liked the summary for Revenant.
Here’s the blurb:
When a decades-old mass grave near a notorious Biloxi nightclub is unearthed, reporter Carson Lynch is among the first on the scene.
The remains of five women lie within, each one buried with a bridal veil—and without her ring finger.
Once an award-winning journalist, Carson knows her career is now hanging by a thread. This story has pulled her out of a pit of alcohol and self-loathing, and with justice and redemption in mind she begins to investigate. Days later two more bodies appear, begging the question—is a copycat murderer terrorizing Biloxi, or has a serial killer awoken from a twenty-five-year slumber?
Read an excerpt.
Revenant is more about the heroine, Carson, and the many men weaving through her life. Carson Lynch is currently living in Mississippi, barely hanging on two years after the death of her daughter in Florida. After a divorce from the man she loves, who still loves her, and becoming good friends with vodka and pills, Carson is on the verge of losing the last thing she cares about – her job.
When decades-old mass graves are unearthed of women missing their ring fingers, and all ‘fingers’ point to a long gone serial killer, Carson sees this as her way back in. A way for her to regain her professional respect and maybe her self respect, as well. After new bodies start turning up and Carson starts wondering if it’s a copy cat killer, or if the old killer has resurfaced.
The title tells it all. This is a pretty read and an interesting plot. Carson was someone I had a hard time liking. In fact the book is full of the ‘walking wounded.’ Carolyn Haines does a good job if this is setting up a series but I am not sure there will be more books. And if this is it, everything isn’t tied up even close to how I like it. I say this as a person who doesn’t even need a ‘romance’ or a HEA. But I dislike open endings with no real direction as to where things may go.
I also felt there were liberties taken about serial killers so this is a difficult book to grade. If you only like romance novels or need a complete romance plot in your suspense – this isn’t your book. For me the writing is well done but the book didn’t live up to the summary.
Grade C-
