Pamela Callow

A medico-legal thriller set in the streets of my beloved Halifax. What's not to like? I'm writing a thriller myself so thought I'd explore Callow's style and I liked it. The story runs along swiftly, with complications popping up and danger increasing page by page. Kate Lange is an interesting character, trying to prove herself despite a fairly disastrous childhood. The murders are gruesome, the bad guy suitably creepy, and there's some romantic tension between Kate and pretty well every man she meets. (Wow. Wish I had that power!)
A few troubles - the red herring gets raised and waggled around but is confusing and the smell never really goes away. The police seem unusually stupid. I shall refrain from comment about Halifax police..., but I think these guys might have trouble coping here. People are introduced briefly - minor characters - and there are altogether too many to keep track of. The whore with a heart of gold appears. Kate is completely psychologically wrecked, and yet goes off crime-solving.
That said, I liked the book. It made me wish I had amber eyes. (Though, like violet eyes, I suspect these are rather rare in reality, but common in romance) It also made me want to finish my novel. Pam Callow is an inspiration - this is her first book and it is extremely well plotted and tight. I want mine to read like this. Thanks Pam. I'm off to read #2. I'm sure I'll like it, a lot.… (meer)

Set in Halifax, Nova Scotia, protagonist Kate Lange, a woman with a troubled past, is a newbie at a law firm, trying to make her mark. Kate meets with a woman seeking custody of her granddaughter, but Kate can find no legal path for action. The granddaughter is soon found murdered. Kate, plagued by guilt, gets involved. Her ex-fiancé’, Ethan Drake, a police detective, is also trying to solve the case. When a partner presents Kate with a medical case, she seizes it as an opportunity to move beyond family law. These two cases form the basis of the plot.

This is a combination legal thriller and medical mystery. Is the initial book in a series so the first part of the book sets up Kate’s backstory. I am not a big fan of thrillers, but occasionally a topic will intrigue me, as it did here. It is loosely based on a real legal case in the US, with ramifications in Canada.

I found it engrossing, and liked the unusual premise, but ultimately it is plagued by my usual complaints about thrillers. In this case, there are many coincidences that must occur for everything to come together. It is plot-driven, so the characters, aside from Kate, are not developed in any depth. Regular readers of thrillers will likely enjoy this book as much, or more, than I did.… (meer)

It started off slow for me, but once it picked up, it was riveting. I could hardly put it down. Every time I thought I'd figured out who-dunnit, I realized I was wrong.
My only issue was when the story would jump from one character to another; sometimes it was confusing and took me a minute to figure out who I was dealing with.
I like the ending mostly because it wasn't a cookie-cutter, fairy-tale finish.
I will probably read more by this author if the opportunity arises. My to-read list is full for the immediate future, though.… (meer)

Unreal

The first few chapters of this book we're really dry it was so all over the place I was really having a hard time getting into the book. But the further I read the more it became interesting and I couldn't wait to find out how it ended. The sad part is these young girls were killed unnecessarily. It all boiled down to greed and that's just the way the world seems to work lately. I'm glad that Kate didn't walk away from this even though it almost cost her her life. I do look forward to reading more of the novel with Kate Lange as the character hopefully they won't start off as dry as this one did.… (meer)