MONSTER IN THE CLOSET

4 stars out of 5

Honestly, I don't think I've ever read a book that encompasses both the mystery/thriller and romance categories, and after finishing this one (which I truly enjoyed, BTW), I probably won't do it again. The thriller part is great - more than a few times I caught myself right on the edge of my usual seat at one end of our living room sofa. The romance part? SMH.

That's not because I'm anti-romance - heck, I've been married for 55 years, although I suppose some might say that's an argument for both sides of the equation - nor is it because I didn't like the characters. In fact, I liked them all a lot (except for the bad guys and gals, of course). But mostly, that sappy stuff tends to leave me cold when it's on paper. Here, my thinking was more like hey, it's the 21st century - any two people your age I know would have booked a room by now, especially when one of you, shall we say, gets aroused every time the other one of you as much as burps.

So, I'll concentrate my review on the thriller part, and it's pretty much all good. A young girl named Jazzie came home to find her mother lying on the floor dead - and the murderer rummaging around in the closet in the room. She hides behind a chair and - to her terror - sees who it is. About a month later Jazzie, who hasn't spoken a word since the day of the murder, and her little sister Janie are sent to an equine therapy facility. There, they meet Taylor Dawson, who's come from California for an internship after graduating college with a degree in psychology. 

At the facility, Taylor meets Ford Elkhart, the hunky son of the facility's owner (almost instantly, they become the two who really, really need to get a room). But Taylor has other issues; as a young child, her mother told her that her absent father was a terrible, mean person who someday would return to do her harm. She's since learned that her mother lied big-time, and she's desperately trying to find her birth father. Meanwhile, Ford's good friend and private-eye Clay Maynard has spent years trying to find the daughter he never knew, stolen by his spiteful ex-wife (hmmm, does two and two make four)?

Much of the tension happens when the murderer - who's been on the loose - begins to suspect that Jazzie could identify him. He finds out where the girl is, and his big question is whether she's shared her secret with anyone else and if so, with whom. How he answers that question threatens the lives of Jazzie, Taylor and several other fine folks.

Throughout if all, a number of other people are "connected" in various ways, with backstories that need to be kept straight (for the most part easy to do). Ultimately, they come together in an all's well that ends well finish.

I should also say that the entire book takes place over the course of a couple of days, making some of what happens a little tough to swallow. I'm pretty much willing to accept love at first glance. Believing that people who are willing to almost instantly forgive those they thought for years had done them wrong is a bit of a stretch. But when Taylor is injured during a squirmish, goes to the emergency room for stitches and the whole thing - from squirimsh to release - takes a total of two hours, it was all she wrote. I've known plenty of folks who had to visit an ER, and not a single one - not ever - got sprung in less than half a day.

My conclusion? Very enjoyable book. My thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Monster in the Closet by Karen Rose (Berkley, August 29, 2017); 508 pp.