Beachcomber

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Summary: A fun summer read!
Review: Karen Robards is one of those authors I'll actually pay hardcover price for. Beachcomber is a fun summer read -- nothing too heavy or sophisticated. My only complaint is that you don't really get to know the characters very well, as the beginning of the book jumps right into the middle of the plot. There's little history about the alpha male, Luke, or the heroine, Christy. There are actually two plots working here ... the mob storyline revolving around Christy and her ex-fiancee and another about a serial killer. It'll keep you in suspense for a weekend or rainy day.

Rating:
Summary: GREAT BOOK
Review: Karen Robards just keeps getting better. This book has all the ingredients to keep a reader entertained, humor, romance, mystery. The characters are great. Highly recommend.

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Summary: romantic suspense in North Carolina's Outer Banks
Review: Karen Robards newest romantic suspense novel is set in North Carolina's Outer Banks. Christy Petrino is from a family connected to the mob looking to leave that life far behind. She goes to law school with plans to work in a legitimate law firm. She gets a job with a childhood friend's firm, a firm she thought was legitimate. She thought wrong. To untangle herself from the firm and her friend (now fiancée), she must deliver a briefcase to a motel on Oracoke Island. Terror awaits her in the Outer Banks. There is a serial killer loose stalking victims resembling Christy. Enter FBI agent Luke Rand. He has Christy surveillance because of her connection to the DePalma crime family.

As with most novels of this genre, you have to suspend belief to enjoy the book. Most the plot is pretty farfetched. The things that make it enjoyable are the feisty primary characters and their chemistry. The action is fairly fast-paced so the story moves along.

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Summary: Slizzling Romantic Suspense
Review: Ms. Robards is at the top of her game with her latest novel packed with a touch of humor, plenty of steamy romance, and eerie suspense. Philadelphia attorney Christy Petrino is hoping to get some semblance of normality back into her life after she learns that her former fiancé Michael, head of her law firm, is using his business as a front to lauder mob money. With a promise to mobster Uncle Vince to make a delivery of a briefcase at Ocracoke Island, North Carolina, Christy hopes to free herself and her mother and sisters from the mob's undue influence.

Poor Christy soon realizes that not only is the mob after her, but a serial killer wants her dead after she sees his latest victim along the beach shortly before the killer slits the victim's throat. With the help of buff beach neighbor Luke Rand (who is secretly an FBI agent), Christy manages to escape the deadly clutches of the killer in several pulse-pounding episodes. Feeling guilty for using Christy as bait to snare Michael, Luke tries to avoid his attraction to her while attempting to get along with his fellow agent and polar opposite, nerdy Gary.

Christy's assertion that someone is watching her is never ending as she feels that she can't even trust the local sheriff to protect her. Feeling safe only in Luke's arms, the two embark on a sizzling affair that threatens to go bust when she discovers his true identity. Fast-paced thrills and chills with sensual romance will keep readers glued to the pages, despite Luke's endless assertions that he can't understand why other bikini clad women don't attract him as Christy does.

Rating:
Summary: 4-STAR GOOD.
Review: Ms. Robards is one of my favorite authors! Even at her worst, she is better than most. This is certainly not her best book, but I still liked it. Read it in one evening. I have two reasons for holding back on that 5th star. (1) I felt that the author threw in her whole bag of tricks--the FBI, the Mob, AND a serial killer. (2) There was just enough goofiness to take away some of the menace of the serial killer. While some readers may find these to be pluses, I found them to be minuses in this case.
Since this is the first review of this book, I am anxious to see what others think.

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Summary: Gimme a break!
Review: Robards needs to stick with writing strictly romance or go to some sort of school to learn to write a murder mystery. Lesson 1: You cannot take a character who could not possibly have commited a murder (alibi FIRMLY established) and morph that character into the murderer at the end just for the sake of keeping your readers guessing! READ YOUR OWN WRITING!! This is not the only lesson Robards needs to learn (DID ANYONE EDIT THIS BOOK?!!!) but it would be a great start.

Don't waste your time reading this book unless you want to see how NOT to write a murder mystery.

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Summary: Who wears the white hat?
Review: Robards' new romantic suspense, "Beachcomber" is a convoluted narrative that confuses the good guys and the bad guys. Christy Petrino is in trouble. Her fiancé turned out to be a mob kingpin and someone is stalking her. On top of that there is a seriel killer out there and he has set his sites on Christy. Humor is mingled with the intrigue in Karen Robards' top-of-the-charts latest novel. Buying a Karen Robards book is always a sure bet to be a great read.
Beverly J Scott author of Righteous Revenge, Ruth Fever and Jena's Choice.

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Summary: Very Exciting Romantic Thriller
Review: The novel starts with a serial killer stalking his next victim on a North Carolina Outer Banks beach. He takes her at a neighborhood bar. Then, as he's about to make his get away, one of her friends accosts him, so now he's got two unconscious women in his van. A beautiful girl and one he thinks is ugly. He's never captured two before, but he'll make do.

Now we flash forward a couple weeks, we're on the same beach, but now it's dark and the same killer is stalking Christy Petrino, a young lawyer who is staying on the Banks for a couple weeks.

Christy seems to sense she's being stalked, she runs. Back at her rental she discovers a man leaving her beachside home. He says he's looking for his cat, Marvin, but he's not, he's an FBI agent who has rented the house next door. He's just bugged her house, because her ex fiancé is a mafia guy. He thinks she's thick with organized crime, but really she's trying to break free from that life, only her fiancé, son of a mafia capo, isn't ready to let her go.

So there are an awful lot of people after Christy, the FBI, the Mafia and a serial killer in this fun to read romance thriller. Fortunately Christy's lion heart is pure as is that of romantic lead Luke Rand. It just takes about half the book or more before Christy discovers Luke is really on her side and then the book takes off and the ... scenes sizzle.

Sara "Babe" Hackett, Girlfriend from the Darkside

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Summary: Beachcomber Is Not A Beach Read - Very Disappointing!
Review: There was a time when I could pickup a novel by Karen Robards and, without perusing it, know that I could be assured of a terrific read. No more. The penultimate book I read by Ms. Robards, ("Island Flame"), was somewhat disappointing, but I remained a loyal fan. What's one mediocre novel after so many good ones? A friend gave me a copy of "Beachcomber" last week. Well, this novel is so far below the author's considerable talents that I am beginning to wonder if she has hit a major rough spot.

The plot and characters remind me of the satiric comedy film starring Michelle Pfeiffer, "Married To The Mob," (It came out about 10 years ago & is quite good), except this is not supposed to be either satire or comedy. The characters are caricatures. Our heroine, Christy Petrino, has been raised in south Jersey, in a neighborhood inhabited by the mafia...mob...organized bad guys. Her deceased father was a minor mobster. So is her mother's boyfriend, Uncle Vince, and most of their friends and associates. Wanting to get away from all these friendly family criminals, Christy studies law and when she passes the bar, she gets a terrific job with DePalma and Lowery, a top Philadelphia law firm. She and Michael DePalma, (her boss), fall in love, become engaged and then she discovers he is a "made man." Oh, and the firm is also a mob cover. Such a smart girl...what a coincidence! So she quits her job and breaks off with Michael, who she thinks might kill her for "knowing too much." Ahhh, trust and love! This lady is not too on the ball! Anyway, Christy goes off to vacation on Ocracoke Island, the Outer Banks, to get away from it all. The cottage on the island where she stays belongs to, you guessed it, her mobster relatives. And her next door neighbors - more of same. Her Uncle Vince has assured her that she will be safe from DePalma and associates if she only does them one little favor. She is to drop off a briefcase, contents unknown, to an island motel. She agrees, and after doing the deed comes upon a gruesome murder - which appears to be one of many. A serial killer is on the loose and is aware she might be a witness to the crime. By the way, there's a big, hunky surfer dude next door to her cottage, who just happens to be an FBI agent monitoring her every move - so he can catch the recipient of the briefcase and Michale DePalma. He gets to watch her live her life through a hidden camera. What a way to get one's kicks!

This romanric thriller is all too predictable from the start. The characters are one dimensional. The dialogue is too funny, at times, to be taken seriously. I didn't feel any real heat or chemistry between Mr. FBI or Christy...but maybe I was too bored by the time they met.

I don't mean to be harsh. Ms. Robards has supplied me with hours of entertainment and reading pleasure over the years. However, I will be more careful now when buying her books. If anyone wants to read Robards at her best, try "Dark of the Moon," "Tiger's Eye," "Hunter's Moon," etc.. There are so many good ones. This is not one of them.
JANA

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Summary: ** You have to read this !! **
Review: This book is the best that this author has turned out in many years. The characters are fresh, funny and believable and it was so easy to identify with them. The plot is fascinating (how does she think of these things ??) and you will find yourself racing through to the end of the book and then wishing for more. I enjoyed it so much that when the last page had been read, I really thought about starting over at the beginning just for the pleasure of it. This one has it all, steamy romance, mystery and suspense all in one tidy package. Plus, you will not be able to guess who the Beachcomber is.