Deep Blue

Hope Sinclair is a woman on a mission—she is out to save the Hartley House, a residence owned by a sweet man named Buddy Newton where a number of senior citizens reside. If it weren’t for Buddy and his kindness, many of the residents would have nowhere else to go. When Buddy refuses a more than fair offer from a large, yet secretive corporation, a mysterious fire starts in Hartley House. On the trail of the suspects, Hope is brought up short first by coming home to find her apartment vandalized and before she can set her home to rights, is unceremoniously pulled off her story and sent to do a fluff piece on some treasure hunters looking for a missing Spanish galleon off the coast of Pleasure Island. Less then thrilled about her assignment she becomes even more annoyed when she meets up with one Connor Reese.

Conner Reese…treasure hunter, ex-Navy SEAL and definitely not looking for a woman. A bad marriage under his belt he firmly believes all women are up to no good. Not a problem for Hope as she firmly believes all men are up to no good. The two are initially able to ignore their growing attraction to each other, however when Hope’s life becomes threatened that attraction grows decidedly hotter. When the threats begin to border on becoming reality, Conner puts his life on the line for the woman he has fallen deeply in love with. But like the tendrils of plants on the ocean floor, Hope and Conner are dragged deeper and deeper into a tangled morass that neither may escape.

This reviewer as sorely disappointed in DEEP BLUE. Having become hooked on Kat Martin’s early historicals such as Creole Fires and Dueling Hearts, still on this reviewer’s bookshelf in the “keeper” section, DEEP BLUE was an eagerly anticipated read. It came nowhere near Ms. Martin’s earlier work.

There was little chemistry between Conner and Hope. Maybe it was because every time he came close she retreated to her one bad relationship and failed engagement. Most women can understand a broken relationship, many can relate to a lost child, but in Hope’s case it is a day in day out circle. Living as she did in Manhattan, a more realistic character would have looked at moving beyond those issues. At least Conner is willing to take a chance when he discovers he is in love with Hope.

For some spice, Ms. Martin introduces an ex-lover of Conner’s, a tall blonde named Glory. Even though Hope is supposedly uninterested in Conner, she is still upset by Glory’s reappearance. Instead of building on the emotion and making for some good scenes with Conner, Glory, and Hope sorting out their feelings, Ms. Martin quickly marries Glory off to one of Conner’s friends, Joe. In just a date, they are in love and a few days later married. The spice turns to a bland dish.

While billed as suspense there is little breath holding until the last one hundred pages of this almost four hundred page book. While some of the underwater scenes are fun, they come across as two-dimensional and seem to be forced. There seemed to be a strained effort to include a variety of races and backgrounds rather than telling a suspense-filled story.

While the version this reviewer received was an advanced review copy and had not been through final edit, some of the flaws could not realistically be eliminated by the final proof. Most notably the continuous head hopping between the main characters, often within the same paragraph.

There seems to be a growing trend for some of the best historical writers moving into contemporary and suspense. Few authors are able to make this transition and do it well. This reviewer will continue to enjoy Ms. Martin’s historicals because they are well written with characters that stay with you long after the final paragraph is read. Sadly, Deep Blue is not among them.

September 2006