Julie's Review: Jericho Point

Summary: When a woman’s body washes up on the shore of California’s Jericho Point, she’s identified as Evan Delaney. Except that Evan is very much alive—apparently the victim of an identity thief who’d been scamming Hollywood elite. The thief may be dead, but the crimes she was murdered for—committed in Evan’s name—are turning Evan’s life into a nightmare. Now it’s all Evan can do to survive in the shadow of a dead woman’s lies. ~amazon.com

Review: Ah Evan, she always finds herself and her loved ones in precarious situations but this one takes the cake. This is the worse possible case of stolen identity that I could ever dream of. Not only is your fiance/lover on his way to identify your body, but you have bills you didn't even know about. How do you deal? Well if you are Evan Delaney, you throw yourself right into the mix. Me, I'd cry and try to wade through it with the police. Hence, why I'm not a kick butt attorney/writer.

Jericho Point picks up soon after Mission Canyon and we still see the affects of that on both Jesse and Evan. Jesse is even more self-loathing and destructive than before, but it's bordering on reckless for both himself and Evan.

Somehow Evan always ends up taking things into her own hands and yes, she comes out ok in the end but there is going to be some emotional and psychological ramifications here as well. You can't go through what Evan does in the book and not be seriously affected.

Meg Gardiner always knows how to write a fast-paced, action packed book with character development and I LOVE that. So many times, it's one or the other. I also loved that she brought back Evan's brother Brian, nephew Luke and Brian's wingman, Marcus Dupree. OK, I admit it I find Marcus Dupree yummy. I wouldn't mind if Evan found solace in those arms. I know she won't because she loves Jesse, but a reader can dream.

There is one thing that did bother me about the book and that was the mastermind behind the identity theft, I just didn't buy it. I just didn't think the character was smart enough and cunning enough to pull it off. You also can figure out pretty early in the game the crowd that's involved and like Evan we just need to puzzle the whole picture together. The band of criminals almost seemed cartoonish at times, especially the leader.

Also, I feel that Jesse needs to grow as a character. He needs to deal with his anger over the accident and move past that. Same with Evan. I know she loves Jesse but she needs to figure out if she's ever going to be willing to marry him. I think they have issues that would have came to a head even if Jesse hadn't been in an accident. Jesse's reckless behavior will have disastrous effects on both of them.

All in all a good entry in the Evan Delaney series. I still really enjoy Evan and I love the way Meg Gariner writes. I just want to see character growth in the next couple books. I don't think that's much to ask.

Crosscut is the next novel in the series and I definitely plan on reading that in the next few months. Pretty soon I'll be caught up and anxiously awaiting a new book.

Final Take: 3.75/5

Jenn's Review: Jericho Point