Member Review

I’m always up for a Danielle Steel book. I devoured her books when I was in junior high and high school and enjoyed the 1990’s TV movie adaptations. But I stepped away from Steel’s book for years because they had a certain amount of predictability. In the past year or so, I’ve been picking up her new releases. The books are usually easy reads that don’t require a lot of concentration. In short, I read Steel’s books to escape, the perfect beach read.

Suspects is a different kind of Danielle Steel novel. It’s romantic suspense, which is something I’m not used to reading from her. The beautiful affluent people are in the story, but the book starts off with the tragic kidnapping and killing of Theo’s husband and only child. The story picks up a year later, with the trail of the kidnappers cold and Theo’s life is still in danger since the kidnappers did not get the full amount of ransom money they asked for, yet authorities aren’t working too diligently on the case.

The introduction of Mike, the CIA agent, happens quickly, as does the immediate attraction between him and Theo. I had a hard time believing someone as guarded as Theo could open up to someone so quickly. Yes, I know it has been a year since the death of her husband and son, but she was clearly still grieving. I know grief takes many forms, and that it can take people a long time to get over the loss of a loved one, so it didn’t seem genuine that Theo could just fall for this “lawyer” based upon a short conversation.

As for the title itself, there really weren’t suspects, only one that was featured. It wasn’t really suspenseful because we knew who the bad guy was from the outset, it was a matter of finding the henchmen, which only happened when they tried to kidnap Theo late in the book and some of them were caught. Prior to that, all the authorities kept saying there was no information to go on and it was impossible to trace the kidnappers. So not a lot of investigation goes on until the end of the book.

As with all Danielle Steel books, there’s a lot of repetition. It’s as if the author thinks the reader can’t remember key facts as the book goes along and has to repeat them many more times. Sometimes it happens in the next paragraph, sometimes the next page. That’s one thing I don’t like about Steel’s books. I don’t think many other authors could get away with it. I imagine her editors make very few suggestions of edits because it’s “the Danielle Steel.” However, I know that going into any of her books, so it doesn’t bother me as much as it used to.

I won’t say I didn’t like the book, but as with all Danielle Steel books, I found it unbelievable. The characters never have to worry about money because they have tons of it, and they’re always strikingly beautiful and handsome. Everything works out for them in the end. But I suppose that’s why I occasionally pick up a Steel book: for an easy, mindless read that lets me escape reality.