Hotwire had a great deal of potential. It just seemed that too many scenarios were not developed to their full potential. The teens were cardboard cutouts. I didn't feel anything for the ones that died. One teen should have gotten her comeuppants but we never see that happen. She is an evil bitch and I wanted to see her burn!There were some fun characters that didn't get the limelight enough. I liked Stotter the UFO guy and talk show host. The whole area 51 cover-up is alluded to but never goes anywhere. I wanted to know what secrets Stotter's father gave him about that situation and see how the mystery Maggie is solving might be similar.Lucy was another great character we are introduced to. She fills in as an investigator and coroner and befriends Maggie in a difficult situation. I liked her--she seemed like a cool gal that I would like to hang with. It would be nice if she could come back in another novel. The food contamination threat is a real life issue. It was a great topic for a mystery but Alex Kava didn't make the situation intense enough--I didn't feel sorry for the kids that were hospitalized. When we had the outbreak in Washington State in 1993 of E. coli O157:H7 from the Jack-in-the Box restaurants 600 people were sickened. Many of us stopped eating hamburger after they explained on the news how it is processed and contaminated.(" The vast majority of E. coli contamination occurs when contaminated feces comes in on the cattle’s hides, or when intestines are ruptured during evisceration.") Her explanation for the salmonella outbreak was a bit of a twist in the story and somehow managed to tie both mysteries together. If you already suspect the government involved in a cover-up over food safety or biological bacterial contamination then this book might be just for you! I had some mixed feelings about this book. Once again it is an easy to read, well written novel but I don't like it as much as the other Alex Kava books I've read. To put it simply and avoid confusing people with my lack of explaining skills I liked one of the story lines but not the other. This is a bit of a spoiler but....I really enjoyed the party of the story following Maggie O'dell. It was an interesting and complex investigation into teenage parties and government conspiracies with a hint of suspected alien activity. I like the way it keeps you guessing right through the very end. On the other hand I found the other story line relating to the food poising a bit slow and uninteresting. It lacks the action Characteristically shown in Alex Kavas writing and to be honest I considered skipping those chapters.
Good thriller. Definitely makes you wonder about our own government. Keeps your attention.
—csibi
Another good story - this one about tainted food and the FDA.
—Rick_Pitino
Loved it!
—sophie6842
