Author Sophie Hannah enjoys the resorts in the Phoenix metropolitan area, and she's wanted to set a book in Arizona for a long time, but it wasn't until she was given the key to an already-occupied hotel room in the UK that she had the perfect idea for a story. Keep Her Safe does have an intriguing premise that satisfies on many levels, but not all.
The cast of characters isn't the most likable in the world, but I didn't mind because they were all interesting in their own ways. Cara Burrows tends to be a spineless whiner who'd rather dip into the family savings and run thousands of miles away than stay put and have a heart-to-heart with her husband and children. This was Cara's first time in the United States as well as her first time in a five-star resort, and it was often amusing to watch her experience culture shock.
Cara is "befriended" by Tarin Fry, a woman who's as blunt as a lead pipe. Tarin can be funny, but I'd no more want to live with that woman than I'd take up residence in a rattlesnake den. There's also Bonnie Juno, the woman who has her own hit television show, "Justice with Bonnie," and a police officer named Priddey who still cares even though he tries to convince himself that he doesn't.
Keep Her Safe's storyline was compulsive reading, and the characters certainly were entertaining, but in the end, it just felt a bit too contrived, and I think the police officer would agree: "Priddey felt as if he were watching a drama in which everyone loved their own lines a bit too much." The book would have been better if more of the characters had not been waiting impatiently for their close-ups.
The cast of characters isn't the most likable in the world, but I didn't mind because they were all interesting in their own ways. Cara Burrows tends to be a spineless whiner who'd rather dip into the family savings and run thousands of miles away than stay put and have a heart-to-heart with her husband and children. This was Cara's first time in the United States as well as her first time in a five-star resort, and it was often amusing to watch her experience culture shock.
Cara is "befriended" by Tarin Fry, a woman who's as blunt as a lead pipe. Tarin can be funny, but I'd no more want to live with that woman than I'd take up residence in a rattlesnake den. There's also Bonnie Juno, the woman who has her own hit television show, "Justice with Bonnie," and a police officer named Priddey who still cares even though he tries to convince himself that he doesn't.
Keep Her Safe's storyline was compulsive reading, and the characters certainly were entertaining, but in the end, it just felt a bit too contrived, and I think the police officer would agree: "Priddey felt as if he were watching a drama in which everyone loved their own lines a bit too much." The book would have been better if more of the characters had not been waiting impatiently for their close-ups.
