RETREAT TO DANGER

Author: Carol McPhee ISBN: 9781597051179 4/2007 SUSPENSE Publisher: WINGS ePRESS

A reclusive Maine fisherman finds his emotional defenses shattered by a new pistol-packing neighbor intent on protecting her young son. Greg Sanders treasures his privacy. When he sees a half-naked woman on the nearby secluded beach, what can he do but get out his binoculars? He had to be sure his eyes aren’t playing tricks! He just might be forced to sic Mutt on them as was his custom with previous renters of the old cottage who invaded his space.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

RETREAT TO DANGER by Carol McPhee is a novel with a lot of promise. The author has talent and her book has all the pieces of a good story in it. A likeable heroine, a handsome, athletic ready-to-rescue hero and an interesting story line are all elements that should have made this a stellar novel. What, then, happened?

When Maureen Ripley's abusive ex-husband is released from jail, she takes her nine-year-old son, Sam, and moves to a tiny town called Serenity Bay. Naturally, she meets a handsome man named Greg Sanders who has a few issues of his own to resolve. She finds herself growing more attracted to him, despite her determination to keep her own council. Maureen is a romance writer and is busy penning her latest book, which has striking similarities to the events going on her own life.

The best part of this wandering novel is the way the author describes Serenity Bay. The vivid portrayal of the small Maine town pushes through the other issues and just shines. When Greg takes Maureen and Sam out on his boat, the scenes are written with such vividness that sea spray nearly flies from the pages. The descriptions have enticed me to visit Maine in the near future.

I believe that RETREAT TO DANGER could have been better had it been more streamlined. There is a lot going on in this book, and perhaps it should have been two novels rather than one.

I'm not saying that I disliked this book intensely. Not at all. It's just that I think the plot, which had so much promise, was overshadowed by a jumble of flat secondary characters and extraneous information. There's simply too much going on in this story for any one aspect of it to be fully, and satisfactorily, developed. And much of what does happen is very predictable.

Unfortunately, RETREAT TO DANGER is not a keeper.

Kay James