The Point of the Plot
Jacey Grayson is on the run from her abusive ex-husband. She finds solace pretending to be her best friend Melissa in the home of Melissa's loving, but estranged, relatives in Utah--that is, except for their son Kale, who seems to see right through her. Determined to protect her son, Jacey will do anything to keep them safe.
Basically Believable: *****
Mandi should be congratulated for being the first to earn five stars in this category, but I had to give them. Nothing about this book made me stop and say--Nah, I can't see that. In all the books I've read, I've found that writing about the FBI or any other agency is hard to pull off without sounding like a bad spy movie--especially when it plays a major role but skims mostly along in the background. I think Mandi nailed it here.
Charismatic Characters: ****
Yup, five more stars. Jacey, Kale, Aunt Helen and Uncle Grant, Blaze, Melissa--everyone acted the way I expected. Maybe not always how I wanted, but always in character. :) They were lovable too! Keeping the story primarily from Jacey's POV and not wandering into Kale's POV just to provide scope helped keep my attention. (I've never mentioned how the typical romance structure of two POV's, each person thinking the totally wrong thing about the other, bothers me, right?) Jacey's struggles to protect her son hit me particularly. I often said to myself--yeah, I'd go that far.
Yay or Yuck? (The Final Word): ****
I have to be honest, it took me a few chapters to really get into the book, but by the first time John, Jacey's ex-husband, shows up, Mandi had me on the ropes. Like all good thrillers, by half-way through I couldn't put it down.
Favorite quote: "...these skeeters think I'm a dang blood donor."
Buy "The Alias" here! (Pssst, the Kindle edition is only $3.99, which I think is a great deal.)
Thank you for taking time to review my book! I loved the review!! ~Mandi Slack
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