Friday, October 26, 2007

Julie's Review: Daddy's Girl

Summary: The undistinguished academic career of Natalie "Nat" Greco, a mousy and naïve law professor at the University of Pennsylvania, takes an unexpected turn at the start of this less than compelling legal thriller from bestseller Scottoline (Dirty Blonde). When an attractive male colleague, Angus Holt, convinces Nat to accompany him on a teaching assignment at a nearby prison, a sudden riot puts them both in peril. Nat finds herself desperately attempting to save the life of a guard, apparently stabbed by an inmate during the fracas. The dying man asks her to pass on his last words to his wife, but possessing knowledge of this cryptic message proves dangerous. Nat finds herself accused of murder and must evade the law while also tracking down the bad guys.

Review: I've read several of Ms. Scottoline's other books and have always enjoyed them and this one didn't let me down. I found the main character, Natalie aka Nat, endearing and identifiable. She was an everyday girl going along in her everyday life when life throws her a curveball. I liked that Nat turned into a sleuth to try and figure out the truth herself instead of waiting for the police to figure it out. It's not like she isn't intelligent and knows how the law works, she is a law professor.

The friendship and then relationship between her and Angus isn't forced but you can still see it a mile away and I don't think the author was really trying to conceal her intent there. The relationships that I didn't get or see how they pertained to the story was her family. Maybe it was to show why Nat was the way she was but I didn't need the filler of the family subplot to really care about it. Another thing that bugged me about this novel was the title of the book....Daddy's Girl. I just don't think it fit the book very well. I don't have a suggestion for a different title but this one just didn't work for me.

The twists and turns of the story were very well done and I didn't see them coming at all, in fact I pretty much thought the story was done when there was another twist thrown in.

I can't really see Nat coming back for another book on her own but I could see her popping up in Bennie Rosato novel. I have to say I prefer the Bennie novels to this one and maybe it's because I've read several of them and am invested in the characters.

Final Review: 3.75/5

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