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A review by lilith_elinor
The Alibi by Sandra Brown
4.0
This is my favourite book by Sandra Brown so far. After about 20% I was utterly hooked, couldn't stop reading, completely emotionally invested and stressed out for these characters. I'd say that's a success for a romantic suspense book! A book that keeps you up at night is a good book...
I found the same soapy, drama-filled world of rich, important and dysfunctional Southern people as in Mirror Image. But this time, without the overwhelming sexism and unsympathetic characters, it was immensely enjoyable. Sandra Brown is excellent at a large, varied, compelling cast of characters with complex history between them. Every time we were given a little bit of backstory it was so juicy it could almost have been a story in and of itself.
Hammond Cross is my favourite Brown hero so far. To my surprise after reading three other books with very alpha heroes, he was a beta hero, and a good one at that. Humble and self-deprecating, but also competent and confident, he was comfortable with who he was and his vulnerabilities. It's always a good surprise to me to have a break from the usual alphas. Even though a well-executed alpha is great to read about, when that's all there is in book after book, it gets tedious after a while. I like variety in personality types! Anyway, rant over. I liked that Hammond was a very ethical person, he had a strong moral code and was unashamed of it, he strove to do what he felt was right to the best of his abilities. It was adorable how Hammond completely fell for Alex, he was so smitten. Their chemistry was palpable and made their lightning fast relationship believable for me.
By necessity for the plot Alex was more reserved and mysterious, but she was also a sympathetic character, independent and determined. She was worthy of Hammond :)
Here we have two interesting secondary characters. Davee had a lot more layers than first appeared, I felt a lot of empathy for her, she was dealt a shitty hand in life butshe was a good friend always to Hammond.
Smilow... I'm still ambiguous about, what a cold fish! Still, he has very well hidden depths and in his own way alsois always trying to be fair. His angst and hidden pain are compelling too.
You really want these two to finally put aside all their fraught,painful history and be happy together, they clearly need to. I wish we had been given more closure for them but there is hope and I choose to imagine them finally giving in to the inevitable. This would have made an awesome couple for a sequel... I'd have read that in a heartbeat, hmmm delicious angst.
I'd guessed the culprit and was quite proud of myself! However it didn't diminish my enjoyment at all, quite the opposite as I was a little less anxious and could watch it unfold with much satisfaction. It was a twisty, complex story with many layers and moving parts that Brown managed with a masterful hand. Thoroughly enjoyable.
Just a detail that amused me : I love how everybody knew or guessed that Hammond and Steffi had been sleeping together. Those two were not at all as discreet as they thought they were XD
I found the same soapy, drama-filled world of rich, important and dysfunctional Southern people as in Mirror Image. But this time, without the overwhelming sexism and unsympathetic characters, it was immensely enjoyable. Sandra Brown is excellent at a large, varied, compelling cast of characters with complex history between them. Every time we were given a little bit of backstory it was so juicy it could almost have been a story in and of itself.
Hammond Cross is my favourite Brown hero so far. To my surprise after reading three other books with very alpha heroes, he was a beta hero, and a good one at that. Humble and self-deprecating, but also competent and confident, he was comfortable with who he was and his vulnerabilities. It's always a good surprise to me to have a break from the usual alphas. Even though a well-executed alpha is great to read about, when that's all there is in book after book, it gets tedious after a while. I like variety in personality types! Anyway, rant over. I liked that Hammond was a very ethical person, he had a strong moral code and was unashamed of it, he strove to do what he felt was right to the best of his abilities. It was adorable how Hammond completely fell for Alex, he was so smitten. Their chemistry was palpable and made their lightning fast relationship believable for me.
By necessity for the plot Alex was more reserved and mysterious, but she was also a sympathetic character, independent and determined. She was worthy of Hammond :)
Here we have two interesting secondary characters. Davee had a lot more layers than first appeared, I felt a lot of empathy for her, she was dealt a shitty hand in life but
Smilow... I'm still ambiguous about, what a cold fish! Still, he has very well hidden depths and in his own way also
I'd guessed the culprit and was quite proud of myself! However it didn't diminish my enjoyment at all, quite the opposite as I was a little less anxious and could watch it unfold with much satisfaction. It was a twisty, complex story with many layers and moving parts that Brown managed with a masterful hand. Thoroughly enjoyable.