A Woman Betrayed

Rating:
Summary: Same over and over
Review: The story line was very good except the book was very repeative and draged on and on telling the same thing over and over. I liked the characters and the plot but not reading the same thing over and over.

Rating:
Summary: Spoilers! Spoilers! A bad ending wrecks the whole novel!
Review: The whole premise of this Barbara Delinsky novel, is that the reader wants to find out what happens to Laura Frye's husband. The book opens with central character Laura Frye's husband abandoning her, and as the book closes, Laura's husband is still on the run, (he's running from the Authorities on a Tax Fraud charge, but also wanted out of the marriage) but has simply changed his name.

I'm not saying this woudn't be a worthwhile read for hardcore Delinsky fans. But it seemed like nothing was tied up at the end. There is no real payoff for making it through this rather longer Delinsky novel. I just don't know how wise it is to construct a long novel around a single problem, drag your readers endlessly and repetitively through that problem, right up till the end, and then not even satisfactorily tie things up in a definite manner. I like a definite and absolute happy ending, like in Barbara Delinsky's 1998 novel "Coast Road".

In all fairness, this was an earlier effort of Delinsky's written in 1991, and it was one of those straight-to-paperback novels written before Delinsky was even writing hardbacks.

There are some situations that are hard to believe here, also. For instance, central character, Laura, is not only betrayed by her missing husband, but also by her best friend, Daphne. Delinsky didn't provide enough back-story on, what seemed to me, to be a very together lady-lawyer (Daphne) and how it was that she (Daphne) a smart and educated lawyer, could come to seem so flaky by the end of the novel via her "betrayal" of central character, Laura.

Even Laura's Mother comes across as cold and unfeeling towards her daughter during this tragic time. Does everyone and anyone simply have it in for poor Laura? Well, not everyone. Certainly not Laura's lusty brother-in-law, for whom Laura engages in a steamy affair with. This is a Barbara Delinsky novel, and an early one at that, so you know there are going to be racy sex scenes. Couldn't do without those.

Again, I would say this is not one of the better Delinsky novels, those being: "Three Wishes" "Coast Road" and "Shades of Grace"---all which are much better reads than "A Woman Betrayed".

Rating:
Summary: Spoilers! Spoilers! A bad ending wrecks the whole novel!
Review: The whole premise of this Barbara Delinsky novel, is that the reader wants to find out what happens to Laura Frye's husband. The book opens with central character Laura Frye's husband abandoning her, and as the book closes, Laura's husband is still on the run, (he's running from the Authorities on a Tax Fraud charge, but also wanted out of the marriage) but has simply changed his name.

I'm not saying this woudn't be a worthwhile read for hardcore Delinsky fans. But it seemed like nothing was tied up at the end. There is no real payoff for making it through this rather longer Delinsky novel. I just don't know how wise it is to construct a long novel around a single problem, drag your readers endlessly and repetitively through that problem, right up till the end, and then not even satisfactorily tie things up in a definite manner. I like a definite and absolute happy ending, like in Barbara Delinsky's 1998 novel "Coast Road".

In all fairness, this was an earlier effort of Delinsky's written in 1991, and it was one of those straight-to-paperback novels written before Delinsky was even writing hardbacks.

There are some situations that are hard to believe here, also. For instance, central character, Laura, is not only betrayed by her missing husband, but also by her best friend, Daphne. Delinsky didn't provide enough back-story on, what seemed to me, to be a very together lady-lawyer (Daphne) and how it was that she (Daphne) a smart and educated lawyer, could come to seem so flaky by the end of the novel via her "betrayal" of central character, Laura.

Even Laura's Mother comes across as cold and unfeeling towards her daughter during this tragic time. Does everyone and anyone simply have it in for poor Laura? Well, not everyone. Certainly not Laura's lusty brother-in-law, for whom Laura engages in a steamy affair with. This is a Barbara Delinsky novel, and an early one at that, so you know there are going to be racy sex scenes. Couldn't do without those.

Again, I would say this is not one of the better Delinsky novels, those being: "Three Wishes" "Coast Road" and "Shades of Grace"---all which are much better reads than "A Woman Betrayed".

Rating:
Summary: Not a Great Amount of Suspense or Sizzle...
Review: This is the first book I have read by this author and was not very impressed. I am sure her others are better or maybe I missed something here, whatever the happenings, it lacked sizzle and suspense. Being a suspense/romance it made for a somewhat dull read. The female lead of Laura Frye was a little too whiny and I felt as though she thought people 'owed' her. The missing husband Jeff was weak and we never got to know him very well. I thought she brought in the long lost 'wild' brother Christian a little too late to be interesting.

~A seemingly perfect 20 year marriage falls apart when Laura's devoted husband Jeff mysteriously disapears without a trace. He has left behind two kids and alot of questions. As the days go by Laura finds her 'perfect' life was not perfect by any means. What had Jeff been doing all those years behind her back? Was he really missing? Or did he take off? The pieces begin to come together as information arises from his dirty dealings and Laura's life slowly erodes. She is left with a shocking image of her 'true' husband's persona.
Looking for a way to cope and get her life back, she turns to Jeff's elusive brother Christian Frye. A wild and free spirit. He shows her love and life again. What she thought she had lost so many years ago, she finds once again, but will the past secrets come to tear them apart? Are her friends, truly her friends? Should she be looking more closely?

What started out as a promising mystery, turned out to be a dull look into a jilted woman's life falling apart and her immediate yearning for her husband's brother. It would've been much better had Jeff been in the story longer and there was less of Laura's whining and self-pity. In short, I expected more. It started out great and sort of fizzled as it went on. In my opinion, the side romance between her best friend and the cop was much more interesting.

Tracy Talley~@

Rating:
Summary: Lots of twists and turns.
Review: This is the first novel by Barbara Delinsky that I have read and I must say that I am impressed!

This tale of suspense centers around Laura as she finds her perfect world shattered when her husband disappears. After many years of a marriage that she thought was blissful, she begins to question her life and those around her. For instance, did her husband, Jeff, meet with foul play or could he possibly have orchestrated his own disappearance? Are her friends really loyal? Is Laura, herself, as capable as she once thought?

As the story progresses, the web of intrigue begins to unravel, starting with the whereabouts of her husband, what he has been up to (I will leave that a secret for you to find out) and what role his brother, Christian, plays in Laura's life.

The story is about illusions and that they are just that-illusions.

Rating:
Summary: What happens when your world falls apart how do you go on
Review: When black becomes white and up becomes down. Laura's husband Jeff has come up missing and she fears an act of foul play but there just might be more to this. As the story slowly takes flight unraveling at every turn of her life Laura finds herself not knowing who to trust and how to go on.

Delinsky gives us a good story with likable characters that find themselves in a difficult situation. Will Laura be able to pull this together, and is there love in her future? Only time will tell. I would give this one 3.5 stars. Kelsana 9/11/02