REVIEW: Unforgivable by Laura Griffin
Dear Ms. Griffin,
I got all excited when Jane sent me a copy of your latest book, “Unforgivable.” I’ve come to expect top notch suspense and romance from you and this latest one doesn’t disappoint. Well, not that much.
Dr. Mia Voss is one of the experts in her field of DNA recovery. Working for the private Delphi Center, she is “one with her job” and dedicated to helping law enforcement crack cases and send the guilty to jail. Mia’s seen her share of the horrible aftermath of crime which is why when she’s carjacked – actually jeepjacked – on her way home from a trip to the nearest minimart to get some Ben and Jerry’s restorative ice cream, she’s determined not to die at the hands of the masked man holding a gun on her. Seizing her chance, she escapes the jeep and plunges into the night but the former cop who came to her aid isn’t as lucky.
Ric Santos and his partner Jonah Macon catch the case and, with the weight of the department on them to find the cop killer, buckle down and set to work. Ric and Mia have worked together on cases before and Mia once thought something might come of it. That is before Ric suddenly stopped calling or dropping by. Now he’s got to convince her that he wasn’t just “buttering her up” to get her to prioritize his cases. But with the evidence not adding up and a sadistic killer on the loose, can Ric sort out his feelings for Mia, even as he tries to protect her from someone who’s targeted her for death?
I find the whole idea of the Delphi Center to be fascinating. Experts working with the finest and latest technology to catch criminals and close cases. I think I’ve mentioned that I’m a Cold Case fanatic and love watching the amazing things that can be done these days. So seeing Mia and her colleagues at work is a delight. If only there were about 5,000 more of her to help clear the RL backlog of unprocessed cases in this country.
Anyhow, back to the book. The case is well thought out, makes sense and I can see it happening. The way Mia is manipulated into what she does is chillingly realistic as well. I have to say that even after she works with the FBI and gets immunity, I wonder how it will affect her future cases. Just saying. And though for the most part Mia is intelligent and thinks under pressure to save her life – twice! – she does a few things in the middle of the book which pulled me up short. The scene in which Ric dresses her down for refusing to leave her house had me nodding and saying, “You tell her, Ric!” But the final chase scene is written with your usual emotional punch and, again as usual, had me glued to it until the villain was caught.
The romance works better for me all around. Ric has lost in love before and is understandably wary but the signs of his growing feelings for Mia are all around for everyone to see, despite his grump act. I like that Mia is the one to make the moves and ultimately decides to go for it despite Ric’s aforementioned grumpiness. The last scene, when he finally – and it was down to the last page, I tell ya – declares himself seems realistic too. Not a peep about the L word and then it’s meet my daughter. That alone should tell Mia he’s serious!
There’s a truncated, secondary, kinda romance going on here that I also enjoyed but I’m not sure if this is it or if we’ll see these two get their own starring roles. Guess I need to wait for the finished copy of the book which, hopefully, will have a blurb from your upcoming book to find out.
So a good romance, a good plot set up, a lot about a science I find riveting balanced with Mia acting silly once or twice – though not, thank God silly enough to shift her near to TSTL territory – gives me a final grade of B. Looking forward to the next one!
~Jayne
Book Link | Kindle
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This sounded like just my kind of book, until I saw at Amazon that the Kindle version is the same price as the paper version. Not gunna do it.
@becca: Honestly, I can’t blame you becca. But keep it in mind if you can find a cheaper ebook price somewhere.
This seems very interesting with all the DNA research going on, but Goodreads tells me it’s part of a series. Can it be read standalone or not? Because the others don’t appeal to me as much (I’m not a very avid fan of suspense romance, but I do like the occasional one).
@Jan: Yes, I think it can stand alone. And Griffin even avoids giving away what’s happened in previous books should you ever decide to go back and try them.
Jayne: I work for a book store – I’ll look for it today when I go in, and get it in paper. I try to avoid paper books, but this one sounds worth it.
Thanks for the warning. I can’t believe that the grumpy hero ever really gets over being grumpy. Next thing that doesn’t go his way and the HEA is over.
becca, have you checked the publisher’s web site? Sometimes the ebooks are cheaper on the publisher’s websites. I think, the author gets a bigger royalty from her publisher’s site than from Amazon. I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure I read that on a board.