Sandy M’s review of Outfox by Sandra Brown
Contemporary Romance published by Grand Central 6 Aug 19
Sandra Brown is one of those authors whose books I highly anticipate. She’s also one who gets better with every book. As it should be. An author, especially one with the years of experience as Ms. Brown and others of her ilk, who doesn’t grow isn’t worth reading, in my opinion. From her different and unusual hero names to the mystery and then the twists and turns in her stories, she is one of my all-time favorites.
Drex has been after a serial killer for years. He and his team are headed to North Carolina, toward the man who they believe is Weston Graham, the original ID of the killer in his early days. The man’s current identity is Jasper Ford – he’s rich, married, and fastidious to a fault. When Drex arrives undercover, he does all he can to confirm suspicions they’re on the right track, all the while fighting the attraction zing he felt when meeting Talia, the killer’s wife – especially because they don’t know if she’s an innocent in the whole scheme of things or if she’s part of the plans to murder wealthy women for their money.
Talia is much younger than her husband and has begun to feel certain things aren’t quite right in her marriage. Now she has to deal with the new next-door neighbor who can be so very charming and then a complete ass when it suits him. She can’t believe her attraction to Drex, so tries to keep her attention on her husband, but the more that happens, the more Jasper seems to be distracted by the same man. It’s when her good friend is killed that her life comes tumbling down in a way she could never have imagined. But she believes every word Drex tells her when he finally decides to come clean with her.
All the characters in this book make this story the mysterious and suspenseful read it is. Drex is as charming as he is devious when it comes to getting his man. And that evil sociopath is just as devious in his pursuits. They try to outfox each other all through the book, each getting a leg up once in a while, only to be let down at the last possible moment. Talia seems to be caught in the middle of it all, but when she realizes the deception she’s unknowingly experienced, she runs hopefully in the right direction. You never know with a mind as demented as her husband’s. And I love Drex’s two-man team, Mike and Gif. They’re loyal to a fault and the three of them work together seamlessly.
The twist at the end, I never saw it coming. Ms. Brown is a master who can work miracles when it seems she’s worked a character into a corner and you wonder how she’ll get them out of it. This time you have to wait until the prologue to get your answers. But there’s plenty of left turns before that that will keep you guessing and on the edge of your seat. As usual, I enjoyed every word of a Sandra Brown book.
Grade: A
Summary:
FBI agent Drex Easton is relentlessly driven by a single goal: to outmaneuver the conman once known as Weston Graham. Over the past thirty years, Weston has assumed many names and countless disguises, enabling him to lure eight wealthy women out of their fortunes before they disappeared without a trace, their families left without answers and the authorities without clues. The only common trait among the victims: a new man in their life who also vanished, leaving behind no evidence of his existence . . . except for one signature custom.
Drex is convinced that these women have been murdered, and that the man he knows as Weston Graham is the sociopath responsible. But each time Drex gets close to catching him, Weston trades one persona for another and disappears again. Now, for the first time in their long game of cat and mouse, Drex has a suspect in sight.
Attractive and charming, Jasper Ford is recently married to a successful businesswoman many years his junior, Talia Shafer. Drex insinuates himself into their lives, posing as a new neighbor and setting up surveillance on their house. The closer he gets to the couple, the more convinced he becomes that Jasper is the clever, merciless predator he’s sought–and that his own attraction to Talia threatens to compromise his purpose and integrity.
This is Drex’s one chance to outfox his cunning nemesis before he murders again and eludes justice forever. But first he must determine if the desirable Talia is a heartless accomplice . . . or the next victim.
Read an excerpt.
