Review by Booklist Review
When Nicky Sullivan starts looking for a story for her failing investigative news program, she thinks about her childhood home on Pawleys Island, South Carolina, remembering the unsolved deaths of three teenagers that occurred there 15 years ago, and turns to the local psychic, her mother Leonora James, for help. The only problem is that her mother, who agreed to a live broadcast, is having problems with her ability to communicate with the dead, and Nicky is worried that the show will be a bust rather than a ratings booster. But Leonora comes through with a riveting reading that instigates a new murder that mimics the previous murders and places Nicky in danger. Instead of hiding, Nicky comes back to the island to cover the investigation and butts heads with the chief of police, Joe Franconi. Joe is a former vice cop from New Jersey who was forced to resign, ending up in the sleepy southern town with an inexperienced department now responsible for searching for what appears to be a serial killer. As the two lead their separate investigations, Joe and Nicky become increasingly attracted to one another. This is another winner from the popular and prolific Robards, who delivers a great romantic thriller filled with interesting characters in a classic edge-of-the-seat read. --Patty Engelmann Copyright 2005 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Combining elements of a Southern gothic, a cozy comedy, a sexy romance and a serial killer thriller, this new offering from Robards (Bait, etc.) tries to be too many things at once, and the result is a mishmash of familiar devices and recycled characters. One such is Joe Franconi, a big city cop turned police chief for small Pawleys Island, S.C. With his "washboard abs" and painful past, Joe is the average tortured hero, and sexy TV reporter Nicky Sullivan is his natural counterpart. Nicky, with the help of her psychic mother, intends to revisit the scene of a 15-year-old unsolved murder, but Mayor Vince Capra will do anything-even enlist the local police-to keep the program from airing. With no legal ground to stand on, Joe fails to stop the filming, but he's conveniently on hand to rescue Nicky when she stumbles on a fresh murder victim and nearly becomes one herself. Has the killer from 15 years ago resurfaced, or is a new killer on the loose? Joe and Nicky spend as much time arguing over who will solve the case as they do staring "hotly" at one another, but ironically, neither succeeds in solving anything. Though the book has its suspenseful moments (and its amusing ones, which primarily involve a pig named Cleo), its final twist feels manufactured simply to bring hero and heroine together. Agent, Robert Gottlieb. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Robards's latest is possibly the most entertaining of all her romantic mysteries. Superstition contains all the ingredients that promise a truly engrossing listen: a beautiful heroine with a madly zany family; a handsome hero suffering bravely through major personal problems; and a psychic who is "blocked." Television reporter Nicole Sullivan grew up on Pawley's Island, SC, a tourist Mecca where life is easy and slow moving. The biggest news story in the community's history is the unsolved murder of three teenagers 15 years ago. Since that grisly event, the house where one of the young girls lived is reputed to be haunted. Nicole is anxious for a big-time story that will bring her to the attention of the national TV markets. Since her mother is a psychic, Nicole decides to broadcast from the "haunted" house, while her mother channels the spirits. During the broadcast, a member of the crew is killed in a manner that eerily re-creates the original murders. Joyce Bean reads in a no-holds-barred, exciting tone. Highly recommended for all fiction collections.-Nancy Reed, McCracken Cty. P.L., Paducah, KY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
