Untraceable (Tracers, #1) in Crazy Challenge Connection

Oct 11, 2010 D.G. rated it it was ok

Shelves: romantic-suspense, reviewed, sucked

My favorite genres are romance and mystery so you would think that I’d be a big reader of romantic suspense. Not really. In my opinion, it takes a gifted writer to combine the romance and the mystery so one plot doesn’t take over the other. Sadly, this is what happened here. Add to that the first in the series syndrome where there are tons of characters with neon signs pointing ‘I will be the hero/heroine in a future book!’ and you have a rambling romance where the hero and heroine didn’t spend My favorite genres are romance and mystery so you would think that I’d be a big reader of romantic suspense. Not really. In my opinion, it takes a gifted writer to combine the romance and the mystery so one plot doesn’t take over the other. Sadly, this is what happened here. Add to that the first in the series syndrome where there are tons of characters with neon signs pointing ‘I will be the hero/heroine in a future book!’ and you have a rambling romance where the hero and heroine didn’t spend a third of the book together, a suspense plot that was all over the place, two dimensional characters and a ‘strong’ heroine bordering on TSTL.

Let’s start with the heroine who’s the worst.

Since the beginning she knows who’s the killer, based on the words of a woman she doesn’t know who repeatedly lied to her. This is a usual conversation between the hero and heroine:

Heroine: He did it!
Hero: He has an alibi.
Heroine: You’re trying to protect him because he’s a cop… I know he did it!

(Whenever this happened, a big WTF was playing over and over in my head.)

There’s never a good explanation as to how the Nefarious Killer (NK) was able to do his evil deeds while manufacturing a good alibi. Oh the author made up a few excuses but they didn't make much sense:
- NK had an accomplice (but we never learn how the accomplice went around killing people without nobody noticing)
- NK is a cop so he knows how to get an alibi, which didn’t make sense to me unless he had an identical twin or could teletransport.

Like the example above, there a lot of red herrings with no payoff – meaning things happen and you never know the reason. For instance, they find a corpse with a tattoo removed and we never learned why the killer did this. The battered woman allegedly does something that doesn’t seem within character…but we never learned if this was true or not. A note to Ms. Griffin: You MUST tie all loose ends!

There’s also no explanation as to why the heroine believes all the BS the woman tells her. The heroine is supposedly a PI computer whiz (don’t get me started on that) but she swallows everything this woman tells her, hook, line and sinker. There was no ‘she reminds me of my little sister who died when she was 15’ or ‘this is my chance to make up for not helping my college roommate with the abusive boyfriend’, no reason why a woman who is supposedly smart, who should look at evidence and logic as part of her job, would risk her life against the advice of her friends for a stranger who tells her lie after lie.

Then there’s the lackluster romance. We don’t know what motivates these couple because there’s little internal dialogue. We know she likes his biceps and he thinks she’s strong. They circle around each other, have sex, and say I love you at the end but you don’t really know why they fell in love. I guess they had to because they were the hero and the heroine.

All and all, a mediocre read and a book I wouldn’t recommend to anybody who’s really into mystery OR romance. ...more

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Jan 12, 2016 Stacy rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-suspense, e-books, annoying-protagonists, read-in-2016

2 1/2 stars. It was a nice introduction to the Delphi Center and future series characters Mia, Sophie, and Troy. However, the main character Alex annoyed me with her bad judgment and self-centered behavior.

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Feb 21, 2017 Marla rated it liked it

Shelves: romance, series, adult, chick-lit, romantic-suspense, mystery, girl-power, zz-2017

Interesting book with a dedicated hero and a tough heroine. Romance was a bit hot then cold.

Likes:
* Private investigator Alexandra Lovell with crazy computer skills
* Ripped homicide cop Nathan Deveraux
(view spoiler)

Dislikes:
* Story alludes to a previous case when Na ...more

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Jan 24, 2014 Connie N. rated it it was amazing

Shelves: romantic-suspense, first-in-series, recommended, blue, paid-it-forward

#1 in the Tracers romantic suspense series

Loved it! The characters were great. Alex is a loner, but highly intelligent and motivated to succeed at her private investigation business. But she's compassionate, as displayed by the fact that she gravitates to the cases involving vulnerable women who need help disappearing. Alex is a whiz at the computer. Nathan, a homicide cop, is strong, sexy, and also somewhat insecure, especially about his potential relationship with Alex. They are very attracted ...more

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Apr 26, 2014 Nancy Brady rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: e-book

Mixing some romance with suspense, this is a missing person case with more than a few bodies. Alex is a private investigator who also helps battered women disappear. One of them has returned to her own area and now has disappeared again. Alex believes she may been murdered and by the abusive husband she was escaping from, but there's no body. Add in a homicide detective who is interested in Alex, and there is tension,both romantic and suspenseful.
Will he just walk away or will he help? Is she i ...more

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