SHARE NO SECRETS

Author: Carlene Thompson ISBN: 031298314X 9/2005 SUSPENSE Publisher: St. Martin's Press

She smiles as her lover walks away. She does not know they'll never meet again. Or that the next hands that touch her will kill her... Adrienne Reynolds knows that bad things can happen anywhere. Even in her hometown of Point Pleasant, West Virginia...even at Point Pleasant's grandest hotel, La Belle Riviere. Known by locals as The Belle, the hotel has been the scene of many tragedies. Some even suspect that it's haunted. But just days before the hotel is to be torn down, Adrienne and her teenage daughter, Skye, learn that The Belle has a final, tragic surprise. For in one of its elegant rooms, Adrienne discovers the body of her best friend, Julianna Brent... The police believe Julianna was killed after an illicit tryst with her lover. While Adrienne struggles to make sense of the murder, she is faced with a series of unexplainable events. The mugging she suffers one rainy night...the strange note warning her to leave town...the other mysterious deaths that no one can explain. As she unravels the mystery, Adrienne learns that everyone in Point Pleasant has their secrets-and everyone has their price. But she may learn it all too late to save herself-or Skye-from the simmering evil that only a small town can hide...

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

The main character of SHARE NO SECRETS is Adrienne Reynolds. She's a widow, mom to 14 year-old Skye, struggling artist teaching at the local college, dating the local sheriff and most likely next on a murderer's to-do list.

Adrienne, Julianna Brent and Kit Kirkwood were inseparable growing up and best friends even after. Much of that growing up happened at a hotel owned by Kit's mother, the grand, century-old La Belle Riviere. It's said to be cursed; haunted. It's where Julianna's dead body was discovered... by Adrienne.

The murderer begins to terrorize Adrienne with threats, physical attack, and mind games as he commits more murders. She doesn't know who to trust. Adrienne sees everyone as a possible suspect in Julianna's murder, all having motive and/or opportunity. Only Skye, her niece Rachel and Brandon the dog are above suspicion.

SHARE NO SECRETS reminds me of afternoon soap operas, even though the characters are interesting and hiding secrets to be revealed in time. I can't seem to shake that impression. Secret pasts. Secret liaisons. Secret motivations. All that can make or break them. Several times I thought, "This is where they'd keep you hanging until next week." Very General Hospital-ish. Who killed Julianna? Is it Kit? Adrienne's sister? Julianna's ex-husband? Adrienne's brother-in-law, the politician? The campaign manager? Could it be Kit's mother? Kit's mother's second husband? Not Julianna's own mother. Could it be? Can you see where I'm going with the soap opera comparison?

This review was harder than most I've written. The book felt slow at the start and the dialogue struck me unrealistic—too correct, too stiff, even a little corny. Perhaps too explanatory or scripted would be a good way to describe it. It was sometimes being used to give the reader information that would've been better relayed out of quotation marks. At least, that's how I felt, not always, but at times.

I kept waiting for Adrienne to really react to Juliana's murder. Finding a dead body in itself would be hard to deal with. Finding my best friend's murdered body would be over the top. Adrienne's reaction didn't come across as much more than really sad.

The book does redeem itself a little more than halfway through as the pace moves up a notch. It's too bad the author didn't switch gears earlier. Adrienne started showing a little spunk and was more natural, somebody I could relate to, more or less. The story had my interest at last. I started trying to guess who killed Julianna; I wanted to know whodunit. Secrets were finally emerging, bringing explanations and speculation. There's nothing left to hide once all of the secrets are brought out into the open. The very dramatic ending was unexpected and a great surprise. It was the best part of the book.

One thing is bugging me that I didn't notice until the book was finished and the killer revealed. Why did he continue to terrorize Adrienne when it only makes sense to a certain point in the book? I don't get it.

SHARE NO SECRETS is perfect for fans of daytime dramas where anything can happen without logical explanation. Plenty of readers will disagree, I'm sure. Overall, this book just wasn't for me.

Sue Cloud