Megan Riley has bigger things to worry about than the fact that her neighbor has just been found dead.
Her engagement has just ended, and she is once again on a quest to find Mr. Right-or at least Mr. Right Now. Tired of emotional ties and ready for a new adventure, Megan and her three best friends make a fateful decision. They hire hunky stripper Michael Harrington as their timeshare boytoy-unaware he is the prime suspect in a series of gruesome murders. Suddenly, they find themselves involved in a complicated murder investigation led by a handsome detective who is focused only on finding the twisted serial killer before he strikes again. But who will be the next to die? Megan, the hardworking real estate agent; newly divorced Kathleen; Alex, married to a wealthy businessman; or Rachel, the spurned wife of a hot Hollywood screenwriter?
Following her own investigation, Megan takes a wild ride through L.A.'s bondage parlors, hidden sex clubs, and the extravagant lifestyles of the rich and famous; soon she discovers that her quest for adventure has abruptly transformed into a dangerous game of life and death.
Disclaimer: I was very hesitant about reading Deadly Pleasures. The title and cover are a little deceiving – I was concerned because I thought it would have tons of sex in it but was told not to worry about it by a friend. She was right, there is one sex scene and truthfully, the YA books I have read are much more detailed than the short non-descript scene Deadly Pleasures has. However, there is sexual talk and descriptive crime scenes that I had a hard time with. I also discovered how naive I am.
Deadly Pleasures is my first adventure in the literary world of Murder Mystery. It starts out with a group of women that are fed up and discouraged by cheating husbands and the different standards for the two genders. They wonder why it seems ok for men to have a little something on the side but women can’t?
When one of the men in this rich circle of friends dies in a very socially awkward way the group of yacht club yuppies are dragged into the middle of a crazy serial killer mystery. Megan is terrified of the murders that seem to be happening close to her home. Through a little detective work she discovers that her group of friends has secrets that she wishes she hadn’t discovered.
The good: Matt Donavon is a rare gem. This character kept me glued to the second half of the book. Megan and Matt’s relationship is the real meat and potatoes of the story. For me Mary Firmin’s writing flows smoothly when these two are together, you cannot help but love these characters and the sincerity they both have.
The Bad: I hated the women, I hated the cat calling, cougar – we give women a bad name – if you pay somebody enough they’ll do you want women. There were too many of them. I really could not keep track of them all or the spouses or who was divorced who slept with whom. I honestly couldn’t figure out how someone like Megan was friends with them, she seemed like the only semi wholesome gal of the group.
The Ugly: Monsters. By looking at my blog design you can tell I like them. But Deadly pleasures had monsters of a different sort in it. Real ones, monsters that exist in our world and make me want to carry a weapon with me at all times. I’m glad that the monster in Deadly Pleasure was one that had a specific type of prey – my complete opposite – or I would have been sleeping with the lights on.
Who would I recommend Deadly Pleasures to? People that love crime, murder mysteries and drama. Deadly Pleasures actually reminded me a lot of a soap opera, a hot mess that you can’t help but get sucked into.
My rating: I remember looking at my kindle and thinking “Oh my goodness I’m only 37% done? I cannot force myself to finish this book.” But it came as a recommendation from someone that I trust and she loved it so I carried on. The reason I had a hard time was because I could not relate to the characters at all. There were to many of them a group of five friends and five cheating dirt bag men that had no humanity. The story also seemed to jump around and I had a hard time keeping track of who was narrating. For the first half of the book I would give Deadly Pleasures a 3 skull review.
For the second half of Deadly Pleasures I would give it a 4 skull rating. It’s intense, the narration is strictly from Megan and Matt and easy to follow. As I said before I think this is where Mary Firmin’s writing truly shines. The second half of the book is mysterious and has a shocking ending.
So I give Deadly Pleasures 3.5 Skulls. This means if you’re a fan of Murder Mystery you would really enjoy this book. If you are just trying out this genre, check it out from the library – like me you’ll be surprised at the ending. And that is always a treat!
1/2
Buy Deadly Pleasures on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
2 comments:
Considering its not your usual genre, I think you gave it a good shot. I am sad that you didn't like it as well as I did, but thanks for being a part of the blog tour! :)
I think it's worth noting that the author of Deadly Pleasures, Mary Firman, is going to rather disgusting lengths to promote this book. She followed me on Twitter, read a blog I wrote about my aunt dying two days earlier, then had the balls to send me a tweet stating
"@TobinElliott God Bless Aunt Hannah. I think she’d have loved my book Deadly Pleasures See reviews..." and gave her site. She tried to hock a book at me based on the death of a loved one. This is the class of this woman. But don't believe me, check out @FirmanMary for yourself.
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