A Serenade to Die For

Janet Fogg,
David Jackson
Genre: 
Mystery

Isbel Vargas and her band are on the cusp of a career of a lifetime when her petty criminal father is kidnapped and the ransom is something only she can provide. Ditching her bandmates in favor of her father, she and her ex-boyfriend, Cane “Hurricane” Mullins race to save her father before the kidnapper kills him. But the kidnapper isn’t the only one who wants something she has. Can she trust the strange guy helping her knowing all he wants is the same thing the kidnapper does? The stakes are high, but Isbel is determined. Her father turned to crime because of her and now she must repay her debt, but will it cost her her life?

Looking for action, adventure, suspense, and a bit of mystery? This second chance romance has all of that! Unfortunately, it’s also filled with clichés, wildly unlikely scenarios, and supremely poor decisions that throw suspension of disbelief right out the window. In addition, characters continually repeat information that has already been given which slows what should be a fast-paced story down to an interminable crawl. There is a secondary storyline that could be dropped and a secondary villain who is introduced and then abandoned. Removing filler, ramping up the suspense, shaping the characters into more realistic or at least believable people, and streamlining the entire plot would make this a tale to die for.

Carol Conley