A review by omnibozo22
The Beautiful Dead by Belinda Bauer

1.0

It's difficult to imagine a protagonist more stupid that Eve Singer. Of course, that extends to the author. Think for a moment about any cop show where the cops used handcuffs. We're not talking about antique Darbys, but modern Smith and Wesson style swing-through ratcheted cuffs. If one pushes the ratcheted arm through the cuff, it will chatter its way through the body of the cuff and swing all the way through, ready to be swung through again. Now, place one's wrist in the cuff and swing the cuff arm around the top of one's wrist. The ratchets engage to hold the cuff closed. Pushing the arm farther tightens the cuff until it cuts off circulation. Note that there are limited ways to remove the cuff. If one knows about such things (I have years of experience as a magician), one could use a gaffed cuff, or a pick, or a shim, or the original key. Any way you choose, the cuff is not going to release you unless the internal spring is pulled back from the teeth on the arm. Eve plays with an officer's cuffs and steals them. She continually locks the cuffs around her wrist... and magically escapes from them, without ever having a key. Bullshit. The author just doesn't know how they work... and, as is so blatantly telegraphed, the cuffs will play a key (ha, ha) role in the denoument. OK, this is too detailed for a general review, but it gives you an idea of the slipshod manner in which the book is written. I think I got this as a free book from my Amazon account. The offerings there continue to be second class.