RITA Reader Challenge Review

Fatal Frenzy by Marie Force

This RITA® Reader Challenge 2016 review was written by Crystal Anne with an E. This story was nominated for the RITA® in the Romantic Suspense category.

The summary:

Inauguration day is almost here…

Lieutenant Sam Holland is on leave, recovering from an attack that shook her to the core. With no case to distract her, she’s trying to stay busy—even voluntarily meeting with her new White House staff. But it’s not enough to keep the horrific memories at bay, and her family is worried…especially her husband, Vice President Nick Cappuano.

Nick is dealing with his own demons where his wife’s safety is concerned, losing night after night of sleep as he works to make sure what happened that day will never happen again. The pressure is building inside the Cappuanos’ marriage, and something’s got to give before Nick takes the oath of office.

When two college girls go missing in the midst of inauguration madness, the chief of police needs the one cop he can count on to find them and save the Metro PD from disgrace. In a case full of ugly twists and turns, Sam will have to confront her past and find her strength again…before it’s too late.

Here is Crystal Anne with an E's review:

This one is going to be much harder to write than my previous review, because I didn’t like this book as much. I actually wonder if I would have kept going if I hadn’t signed up to write this review. I’m glad I did, because there were some aspects of the book I greatly enjoyed. There were other aspects that drove me bonkers.

I’ll start with what I did like, since I have the social worker mentality of coming at everything from a strength-based perspective. I thought the book dealt admirably with how people cope with post-traumatic stress disorder and survivor’s guilt. The story beats felt accurate to what I know of both of those issues. There were a few scenes where I teared up a little, since the language was hitting me where I live. I have members of my family that are former military, and I have seen them cope with similar difficulties that Sam experiences in the book. There was one aspect of it that rang very false to me, and we’ll come back to that in a second, but I otherwise felt that that was well done. I also thought that the tragic aspects of the book were written in a way that felt authentic. One scene in particular, where a family is told that their son has been killed in the line of duty, was a destroyer. Not one bit of that scene felt false, and those types of scenes can be very hard to get right.

I also liked the positive depiction in the book of adoption, particularly the adoption of an older child. I’m going to confess something: I actually like plot moppets, as long as they’re written well enough that they feel like a real kid, as opposed to a really cute little plot device. This particular kid was 13, intelligent, and a smartass. I don’t think it is a secret in this country that we need to do a bit better in the area of the adoption of older children. The older these children get, the harder it is for them to find adoptive parents. I thought the depiction of a couple finding a kid that had already been around for a bit and still looking at him and saying, “Oh, okay, there he is, we found our son,” was lovely, and not something that I have seen often.

The third thing that I was fond of were the glimpses (and they were very much glimpses) of the “political animal” duties. There was a scene where Sam goes to meet with her staff, whom she is (somewhat unfairly) surprised to find are intelligent and competent, and ready to help her do her job as she sees fit (and make no mistake, being the First Lady and Second Lady are J-O-B-S), and I loved the hell out of that scene. We also have a few scenes of Nick planning out how he plans to not be completely useless and extraneous as VP (there is a joke about how there is no more useless office, which is funny because it’s kind of true). I would have liked more of these scenes, but that’s mostly because I like political machinations in my entertainment. Honestly, the book needed more of these.

And now we come to aspects I didn’t like as much.

These were not the most original characters that have ever been created, and if you have read the In Death novels by J.D. Robb, they felt like less skillfully done versions of Eve and Roarke. Nick, in particular, came off as a bit of a Manic Pixie Dream Vice President, and was given very little character development outside of “ worried about Sam” and “determined to be a good veep,” which felt weird in a guy that has just ascended to the second highest office in the land. Show me his ambition, show me his competence, show me the charisma people keep talking about. Make me believe it.

Also, while the depiction of PTSD was generally well-done, I felt like it was resolved way too quickly. I do not think that going to one therapy session where you finally cry and get in touch with your feelings magically resolves that issue, and I don’t think any therapist worth their salt is going to go, “Neat, you cried, breakthrough complete! Come back when you feel like it.” That’s the beginning of the work, not the end.

And finally, we’re going to spoiler text, because it’s about to get spoilery and a little ranty.

Spoilery Rant + a Fine Picture of Daveed Diggs
What the bloody hell was that? First off, I highly doubt any Secret Service detail is going to let the Second Lady peel off and tackle a criminal. There are so many ways that could go wrong it’s not even funny. I get that I’m reading fiction, but I didn’t sign up for blatant fantasy here. I could only call it a “deus ex what the crap is WRONG with you?” NO ONE WOULD EVER DO THAT.

Second, really, the master criminal that has been evading capture from the FBI and hiding in plain sight for years on end and is currently the subject of a multiagency manhunt is going to show at the FREAKING INAUGURAL PARADE WHERE ONE OF THE COPS THAT HAS A LOT OF REASON TO WANT HIM SERIOUSLY HURTING is going to be? Nope. No way. Stupidest criminal ever. Someone that stupid doesn’t walk across a street without getting hurt, much less avoid capture for as long as he supposedly did. I just could not with that whole scene. I wasn’t Bradley Cooper flinging a book out the window, because it was midnight and I was reading on my e-reader, but my language got a little salty and my mostly asleep husband got an earful about how asinine that whole thing was.

daveed diggs

In conclusion, I didn’t hate it, but it wasn’t the greatest reading experience of my life either. I have a lot of patience for some WTFery in my reading, but there were a few instances where this one really tried my patience. In what is probably the most damning thing I can say, I don’t feel compelled to track down the others in the series.

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Fatal Frenzy by Marie Force

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  1. DonnaMarie says:

    Excellent review Crystal Anne. I agree, those little details can really pull you out of a book. It’s why I tend to avoid books with characters dealing with mental illness. Have enough real life experience and the false notes can nullify the impact of what you like about a book.

  2. SceneStealer says:

    I think “Fatal Frenzy” killed my interest in the series. The huge plot holes and my inability to get past the similarities of Nick and Sam to Eve and Roarke had already frustrated me, but Sam’s behavior was too much for me. Who does that?

  3. Lara says:

    I’ve been reading this series with a group on GoodReads, and if I wasn’t with the group I doubt I’d have read past the first book. There were just too many moments when I thought, “There is no way that would be allowed.” Someone on GR mentioned that the author has decided to take artistic license with the truth in order to have certain scenes she wants, so I just go along with it now.

    I’m with you on the strengths of this book. I also liked the fact that Sam was finally strong without being a jerk. In earlier books she was supposed to be kick-ass, but I found her abrasive and sometimes abusive. In this book she was kick-ass without the “up yours” attitude.

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