Book 10 - Smash Cut

Those familiar with the film industry will know that a smash cut is a technique in film and other visual media where one scene abruptly cuts to another without transition, usually meant to startle the audience. (Thanks Wikipedia)

It's also the title of another amazing book by Sandra Brown.

I love Sandra - I've read just about everything she's written, including the straight romances that launched her career. Even then she demonstrated she was a cut above the rest. While many of her peers succumbed to "safe" and formulaic romance genre style, Sandra created characters that were edgier and sexier, and the plots far from run of the mill.

With Smash Cut, the latest bestselling title in a long list of romantic suspense greats, Sandra has once again cemented in my mind why I can't get enough of her stories. She never lets me down.

Creighton Wheeler, the novel's antagonist, is remarkable. Seemingly with the world at his fingertips, this rich boy has a dark side and his actions and dialogue are straight...well, straight from a movie. I loved trying to identify from which movie Creighton quoted as his mastermind "horror" plot played out in the book. The technique, meant to demonstrate a particular character trait, could have been overdone, but Sandra is a master storyteller and Smash Cut is peppered with just the right amount of well-placed film references.

As usual with Sandra's writing, the protagonist, is a strong-willed, determined and beautiful woman. In the first scene, Julie watches a man she loves gunned down by a masked robber, and then is subsequently terrorized, accused of murder, and almost killed. But she's far from a wallflower. She boldly enlists the "help" of Derek, and their chemistry is as graphic as a beautifully directed motion picture. By the end of the book, I wanted to invite them over for dinner.

Smash Cut had me at hello (grin) and took me on a roller coaster journey ending in not one, but two, beautiful twists. And like always, I am saddened my Sandra Brown adventure has come to a close.

Smash Cut not only provided a great read, the book also reinforced why Sandra Brown remains my idol.

The Book In My Bag Today: Heart Sick, Chelsea Cain