I have a little time between deadlines now so I dug into the latest bag of books a friend gave me and pulled out this Catherine Coulter paperback. It's one of her FBI thrillers so I knew I would enjoy it. Her star characters, FBI agents Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock, are married now and have a son. They are like old friends. I can count on their adventures being both scary and full of relationships that captivate me.Point Blank begins with their colleague Ruth Warnecki caving in Virginia as she follows an old treasure map she found in a 19th century book. Supposedly Union soldiers intercepted a shipment of gold headed for General Robert E. Lee in 1863. They decided to hide part of that gold to recover after the end of the war. As she searches, following that map, she is suddenly conscious of a strange odor and is driven mad by hallucinations. She wakes up much later when a dog finds her lying unconscious in a wooded area in newly fallen snow. The local sheriff, following his dog, saves her. The dog is one of my favorite characters in this book. A little poodle named Brewster, when he gets excited, he pees all over whoever is trying to calm him down. He provides laughs in times of worry.Ruth has amnesia but as soon as she is identified, Savich and Sherlock hurry to her side and they join the search to discover who drugged her and took her from the cave. Brewster of course gets really excited with all these people in the house.Savich and Sherlock had been investigating a pair of criminals, two of the worst people on the planet who are apparently intent on killing Savich and maybe Sherlock too. As they follow both cases, the thrills and chills are many, but there is also the growing relationship between Ruth and the sheriff and his two teenage sons. He is a widower and lonely, funny how that works out.Excellent thriller with a touch of romance, and great characters.Highly recommendedSource: book trade with friend
The story line is two-fold, and at first glance extremely interesting. We find married FBI agents Savich and Sherlock involved in a case of kidnapping and murder, the victim being a stand-up comic at a club Savich is involved with. The two kidnappers, an old man and his equally young side-kick, seem to be engaged in a personal vendetta against Dillon Savich, and have targeted Lacey Sherlock as one of their next victims. Meanwhile, Special Agent Ruth Warnecki is treasure-hunting in a cave in Virginia , and stumbles upon something that frightens her enough that she ends up left for dead in the woods, with no memory of who she is or what she was doing. She's found by Dix, the local Sheriff, and although physically in good condition, she seems to have temporary amnesia. POINT BLANK is definitely a quick read, and the story lines are interesting. But there were too many things that irritated me to let me enjoy the book the way I wanted to. For one, Ruth's amnesia--she went from not knowing who she was, what she did for a living, or what she was doing in Virginia to seeing Savich and Sherlock and "miraculously" having everything come back to her in about two minutes. Second, I have to agree with the reviewer who said the dialogue in the book was "stiff." There were instances during my reading that I knew I should be laughing or at least chuckling, but it didn't happen. The way the sentences were worded, and the dry words used in everyone's conversations, left me with the feeling that something essential was missing from the story. Overall, POINT BLANK isn't the best Savich and Sherlock story, but it won't stop me from reading Ms. Coulter's next release. As long as you know in advance that you're not getting ready to read Ms. Coulter's best work, you'll be fine.
What do You think about Point Blank (2007)?
Another Savitch and Sherlock FBI story. I think I'd give up on them except they are very easy to listen to on my Ipod. Typical Coulter story, one mystery with the FBI married duo and another that they are involved with that leads to romance for someone else. I appreciated this time that their own child wasn't in danger and they seemed to use good police work to solve the mystery. But all that being said these are just average stories and not "thrillers" or anything that will stick with you when you finish reading them. They are very clean for language and no sex.
—Kaye
This was a great story. FBI agent Ruth Warnecki is spending some of her off time exploring a cave in Maestro Virginia. She found an old map of the cave, and has set off yo find the gold hidden there. What she doesn't expect is to be drugged, hit over the head and left for dead in the woods. She is found by Sheriff Dixon Noble. When she recovers, she has no idea who she is. But someone was very unhappy that she was in that cave.Dix puts Truths fingerprints and pictures out to other agencies to see if someone can identify her. That brings her boss and his wife to Virgina. As soon as Ruth hears Savitch and Sherlock, she remembers everything. It turns out there was a body hidden in the cave Ruth was in. Before its all over, two more bodies are discovered. And they all lead to Dix's missing wife's family. Very powerful people in Maestro.The second story has an old man and his teenage accomplice coming after Dillon and Sherlock. Moses Grace knows Dillon well. Knows where to find all his friends and family. And he has a very long memory. Moses Grace tells Dillon, he hurt someone close to him and now hes going to return the favor. There is one tragic death that Dillon suffers, Moses Grace blows up his beloved classic Porsche. That alone is enough to set him on finding and putting and end to him.I really liked this story several twists before you find the bad guy. I look forward to what will happen in the relationship between Dix and Ruth. Dix's wife is still missing, has been gone for over three years. No clues, no reasons, nothing just gone. Something to look forward to.
—Dotti Elrick
I apparently jumped right into this series without realizing it had so many precedents. This is the story of how Ruth met Sheriff. It's an action-packed little book with just enough romance to keep it interesting. It's definitely written with a female audience in mind, but some men would find this interesting as well. There are twists and turns in the plot that are quite surprising, and the family dynamics are rather entertaining to an outside observer like the reader. I recommend this to someone who likes romance without a lot of sex (I really can't remember any sex scenes) and who can handle the intensity of a decent thriller. Unfortunately, I picked it up and couldn't put it down... :)
—Marcie
