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A review by sil_the_lobster
The Red Files by Lee Winter
3.0
Well. This book has been sitting on my must-read list for quite some time and I finally read it. It came highly recommended and I was very much looking forward to it. And now? Phew. Not sure how to say this but it left me feeling a little meh.
It's an exciting story, full of intrigue, witty dialogues, interesting plot twists and a subject that is not all too far-fetched. There's 2 intelligent, strong women with strengths and flaws. There's no man-bashing. There's sexy sex scenes but they don't dominate the story. There's slow burn but not so slow as to get the reader fed up. Lee Winter writes a great style, quick-paced but not hectic--she knows how to tell a story.
So why only three stars?
To be honest, there's only two things I didn't like about this book but they're strong enough to make me take off two stars.
First, I couldn't connect with the MCs. I just couldn't warm up to them. IMO, Catherine is a bit too haughty and too icy, and Lauren is a bit too blue-collar. It's not blatant stereotyping, Lee Winter is too smart a writer for that, and yet, they irked the hell out of me. For some reason I got tired of Catherine being labelled the Caustic Queen, and Lauren just girl-next-doors too much. I'm well aware how silly and probably unjustified and a wee outta there that sounds, but I thought long and hard how to explain my, well not exactly dislike... my indifference towards these two women--and that's the best I can come up with. I just didn't care enough.
Then, the beginning. I know that writing courses and how-to books and probably editors, too, push the point of having a story start in the middle of the action. No intros, please, no scene-building. Throw the reader right into the scene, grab their attention, pull them with you, or else they won't stick around. Well guess what: Beginnings like that have begun to annoy me. Like, really annoy me. Enough to think about stopping right at the beginning, and this one's a classic. The phone rings, MC wakes up, where is she, oh no, she can't remember, oh no, hell broke loose at work or may break loose, oh no, how did that video happen, she nearly falls out of bed to rush to get to work, throws on some clothes, nearly forgets her keys, rushes back, grabs a hat to hide her bedhair, impatiently drums her fingers on the steering wheel... you get my drift. Annoying. I don't want to be grabbed by a story. I want to be introduced--not necessarily by a 30page intro of how the dewdrops clinging to the blades of grass remind MC of careless summers spent with beloved grandparents, but by showing me around rather than grab me and yank me about.
But I liked the story itself enough to finish it and I liked the overall writing style, too, so this will not be the last Lee Winter book I've read. Heard her Requiem for Immortals is pretty good as well and I'm fairly certain I'll check this one out soon.
3 out of 5 stars for this one.
It's an exciting story, full of intrigue, witty dialogues, interesting plot twists and a subject that is not all too far-fetched. There's 2 intelligent, strong women with strengths and flaws. There's no man-bashing. There's sexy sex scenes but they don't dominate the story. There's slow burn but not so slow as to get the reader fed up. Lee Winter writes a great style, quick-paced but not hectic--she knows how to tell a story.
So why only three stars?
To be honest, there's only two things I didn't like about this book but they're strong enough to make me take off two stars.
First, I couldn't connect with the MCs. I just couldn't warm up to them. IMO, Catherine is a bit too haughty and too icy, and Lauren is a bit too blue-collar. It's not blatant stereotyping, Lee Winter is too smart a writer for that, and yet, they irked the hell out of me. For some reason I got tired of Catherine being labelled the Caustic Queen, and Lauren just girl-next-doors too much. I'm well aware how silly and probably unjustified and a wee outta there that sounds, but I thought long and hard how to explain my, well not exactly dislike... my indifference towards these two women--and that's the best I can come up with. I just didn't care enough.
Then, the beginning. I know that writing courses and how-to books and probably editors, too, push the point of having a story start in the middle of the action. No intros, please, no scene-building. Throw the reader right into the scene, grab their attention, pull them with you, or else they won't stick around. Well guess what: Beginnings like that have begun to annoy me. Like, really annoy me. Enough to think about stopping right at the beginning, and this one's a classic. The phone rings, MC wakes up, where is she, oh no, she can't remember, oh no, hell broke loose at work or may break loose, oh no, how did that video happen, she nearly falls out of bed to rush to get to work, throws on some clothes, nearly forgets her keys, rushes back, grabs a hat to hide her bedhair, impatiently drums her fingers on the steering wheel... you get my drift. Annoying. I don't want to be grabbed by a story. I want to be introduced--not necessarily by a 30page intro of how the dewdrops clinging to the blades of grass remind MC of careless summers spent with beloved grandparents, but by showing me around rather than grab me and yank me about.
But I liked the story itself enough to finish it and I liked the overall writing style, too, so this will not be the last Lee Winter book I've read. Heard her Requiem for Immortals is pretty good as well and I'm fairly certain I'll check this one out soon.
3 out of 5 stars for this one.