The MIST by Carla Neggers *

Opened the book. Spies, bombs, gov'ment types. Lets start with names. The writer really likes full names and gives you a lot of them and they all sound European. I think the writer is Irish. I don't have the patience for foreign writers. Me=Bitch.

For the 1st 10 pages memorize these names, don't care if you're trying to relax or fall asleep, tough titty:

Lizzie Rush, Lord Will, Eddie O'Shea, William Arthur Davenport, Kiera Sullivan, Simon Cahill, Norman Estabrook, John March (that's only 3 pages, I shall continue), Peter, Arabella, Harlan Rush, Fiona O'Reilly, Jeremiah. She's not done...there are many more characters following. I don't CARE about one of them yet. Best compliment - she isn't using nick names.. so far. I don't really care for writers who switch all the time from first to last names all over the book. Drives me nuts. This one doesn't do that at least.

The author does flashbacks for each person, their history ad nauseum, don't care. There are references constantly to a serial killer probably from a previous book cuz it has nothing to do with this story line AT ALL. Not only that but every time one character meets another one they discuss other characters' background till you want to scream. Or; till I want to scream just to see some ACTION.

Someone keeps having Afghan flashbacks. Most of the women are stunningly beautiful, they're all billionaires. Last 8 books I read the lead heroine is so pale her veins show (gross?), her hair is blonde and soft as snow or black and shiny, eyes cornflower blue, 90 lbs and can take down FBI agents in a fight BAREHANDED. Copy that for your novel. That is THE lead female...or is it a cliche? This one has so many main characters not one stands out as your heroine. They all have equal time and I don't really care about any of them.

All the men are big tough steroidal clones with the FBI, guarda? or some other secret org. Then author adds fairies, stone circles, harp music and black ghost dogs? The men all want to over-protect their self-sufficient woman. What is it...the men are necessary or extraneous? Please just come out and tell me.

The writing is stilted. Instead of simply saying "It was where her mom died" there's a long drawn out sentence with mommys name (she's dead, not in the story WHO CARES?) who was his wife, her mother, so and so's son blahblah and she died. What?

On page 82 Simon touches a sketch, you get off-loaded to some unnecessary black dog, volunteer rescue mission, deep undercover assignment yrs ago and then a year after that, on and on and THEN he finds another sketch....hel-lo you lost me in the Way Back Machine. When I lose my place in this book I just turn the page forward and start over.

The story doesn't sound a bit cohesive until you get to chapter 10. Far as I care the first 100 pages are trash including the bomb scene that hovers between Ireland and the US and all those people mentioned above and their relatives. Boring bomb. Tres.

NY Times Best selling author!!

Page 120 we interrupt this Fiona interview to burst into song and dance with harp music. A couple times the characters just don't answer a question. This happens IRL all the time- right? What's your name? Person ignores question and ties shoe. Yup. Sure. What planet is this on? Then she walks away. Done. -More than once.

"So Bob, do you like baseball?" "Yes, Frank." "Tell me, Bob, who's your favorite team?" "Well Frank, that would be the Red Sox." Is that how people have conversations, Bob? Using your name in every sentence, Frank? Well on this planet it's very common, Bob.

Who says "beautifully appointed?" Maybe if you have an accent and say "I a-ppointed to that there raccoon, mom" it'd be ok.

Finally done!

Very herky-jerky writing sending me backward and forward in time and let me remind you, anytime Lizzie does something physical like kick someone- her daddy taught her everything she knows. You will be reminded of this anytime she does any defense stuff and really I don't care about hearing 25 times how her mum died hitting her head on the cobblestones.

I don't feel like I read a story. I read background material, biographies, maybe an outline for a story; very little action with maybe one bad guy who hates everyone due to being put in jail for whatever, awhile ago. So what. Like that's a reason to kill everyone? He didn't even seem particularly evil, just what someone with little to no experience would imagine a bad guy to be.

Not a very good romance story either, I've sure read better (Ivanovich for one). I think the author thinks Lizzie is the lead character but it ain't easy digging that out of the muck.