2005-04-10 Keep Me Close

The plot idea is dubious to start with and apart from being fairly incredulous has more holes in it than a string vest, but the real problem lies with the characters in the book. They are poorly invented and even more badly developed. For example cheating husband Ben presumably should be something of a loveable rogue who no woman can resist but yet he comes over as a complete idiot with the attitude of a child and I can't for the life of me think why any woman with any sense would be attracted by him. Catherine, the tragic heroine, again is presumably this woman of great depths that hold all men she meets in raptures, but she is almost characterless, muttering and mumbling her way through each scene she appears in without leaving any impression on the storyline at all. And these are just two I picked from a very bad bunch.

The actual thriller element of the book is so bogged down by the pointless ramblings of the dismal and dreary characters that even when it does appear it is so muted it is almost not worth bothering about. Add to this the so called twists and turns are so blatant and obvious when you start to question the reason for reading the book you know you're onto a loser.

It would seem that all in all Ms Francis hoped the name dropping of famous shops and sporting events, the constant reminders of the fantasy upper class life style her characters lead and other such soap opera clichéd hooks would be enough to see the reader through, alas it sadly isn't. I won't give up on her yet but really hope her next book gives me something more.