Ricochet

By: Sandra Brown

Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris

Length: 12 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times best-selling author Sandra Brown is back with a spine-tingling story of murder and betrayal, and a homicide detective's struggle with his own rules of conduct.

When Detective Sergeant Duncan Hatcher is summoned to the home of Judge Cato Laird in the middle of the night to investigate a fatal shooting, he knows that discretion and kid-glove treatment are the key to staying in the judge's good graces and keeping his job.

At first glance, the case appears open-and-shut: Elise, the judge's trophy wife, interrupted a burglary in progress and killed the intruder in self-defense. But Duncan is immediately suspicious of Elise's innocent act. And further investigation quickly puts Duncan's career in jeopardy because he can't deny his increasing attraction to Elisa Laird, even if she is a married woman, a proven liar, and a murder suspect.

Ricochet's plot twists, as only Sandra Brown can write them, make this a gripping thriller, in which a decent cop's worst enemy may be his own conscience...and trusting the wrong person could mean the difference between life and death.

©2006 Sandra Brown Management, Ltd. All rights reserved (P)2006 Simon & Schuster Inc. All rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"Gripping and absorbing, this is Brown's best thriller in years and a must-read for her many devotees." (Booklist)
"Tight plotting, a hot love story with some nice twists, and a credible ending help make this a stand-out thriller." (Publishers Weekly)

Dumb Detective

The main character is supposed to be a skilled veteran police detective but he is just dumb. The story would have been better if this detective had some skills. This is the first book I've read by this author and I won't go out of my way to look for others.

Horrible narrator and story!!!!!!

I had trouble believing this was a Sandra Brown novel. It was so slow. It finally picked up at the end. The narrator was down right awful. His voice was like nails on a chalkboard. His accent was horrible. I will never listen to another book he narrates. Don't waste a credit. Thank goodness I can return this book.

ricochet

Got about half way through before I gave up. Tried to figure out which was worse, the narration or the book. I decided the narration was worse, but not by much.

2 ½ stars. It was not fun.

I was angry at Elise for more than half the book. She asks Duncan for help and says her husband wants to kill her. When Duncan asks what her husband’s motive is, she won’t tell him. Therefore, he has no reason to believe or help her. Finally at about the 3/4 mark, she tells him “why.” Then Duncan helps her and the story becomes interesting. I would cut a lot of the first 2/3 or so of the book. There was too much hypothesizing, pondering, and wondering. I did enjoy the last part. I enjoyed what happened to the bad guys at the end. There was a happy ending with a little romance. But the first 2/3 or so made it not worth recommending.

A similar thing happened when Duncan asked Elise about her meetings in hotel rooms with Coleman. She said they were “friends” about 20 times. But she never clarified or gave details to Duncan. Duncan did some investigating and got a different opinion, and by the end of the book, I was still unclear. I can assume something, but I wish the author had been clearer. I was annoyed that again Elise never gave details about this to Duncan when she was asking for his trust and help.

The narrator was Dennis Boutsikaris. I did not like his southern accent and tone of voice. He says too many words with a down-tone in the last syllable like: no-oo, ha-rd to sa-ay. I could take a little of it, but after a while it irritated me.

There were about four sex scenes, briefly done. One was very pleasant, passionate, and nicely done.

Genre: mystery suspense with a little romance.

Ricochet

Gripping but not fulfilling. The plot moved right along with many twists and turns. However, there was somewhat of a soap opera element and the romance element never quite clicked.

Pretty darn fun.

Great plot.