This first book in what will be her FBI series, is a suspense-filled nail-biter... When she escapes from a mental hospital, Sally runs to her aunt who lives in a small town known for its fabulous ice cream. FBI agent James Quinlan looks for her there, his cover story is that he's looking into the disappearance of an elderly couple who were traveling in their camper three years before. His nosing around begins a chain of events that ends with two startling revelations --- one concerning a number of missing citizens who have stopped for ice cream, and the other about Sally's "guilt" in the murder of her father. ( )

The Cove is the first book in Catherine Coulter's FBI series but it's actually not about Dillon and Sherlock, although Dillon does have a supporting role in the book. Instead, The Cove is about FBI Special Agent James Quinlan and his relationship with Sally Brainerd, who disappears after her father was murdered. The book is set primarily in a small community called The Cove, and involves the the investigation not only of Sally's father's murder but also the goings-on in this quaint little town. It's hard to provide a more detailed plot description without giving away the game so that's all I'll say about plot.

I've read this book several times before but this is the first time when I've really noticed how lame some of the dialogue is. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a solid mystery but some of the writing is pretty heavy-handed and I found it a bit jarring - jarring enough to pull me out of the story, at least. I don't think everyone will have this problem but I like my people to seem real, and Ms. Coulter's characters don't have that air about them. They're clearly characters at certain moments, rather than fully sketched-out people. Some of the dialogue also feels like it's come out of a bodice-ripper, the type of romance novel I preferred in my teens, and which I don't enjoy nearly as much now, which may be why I find it so noticeable. I guess my favourite part o the book is the fact that it introduces Savich, and serves as the beginning of a fairly solid series. In and of itself, The Cove felt pretty so-so this time around but that doesn't mean I won't pick it up again in a few years to revisit the characters.

Originally posted at http://ireadgood.wordpress.com (modified version presented here) ( )

I don't know--maybe it's just me, but I couldn't shake the "Harlequin Romance" feeling from the cover of this one.

Interesting enough story, actually a mini mystery set within a romance story. Both were predictable but the two going at once was the only exciting thing happening here.

Coulter gets way off with over-developing some very minor characters that we didn't need and totally left out the needed info regarding the main characters. ( )

Sally Brainerd escaped from an asylum just in time to wonder if she was the one that killed her father. FBI Special Agent James Quinlan was sure that if Sally didn't kill her father, she would know who did, so he tracked her down. Both ended up in a little town , The Cove, thats claim to fame was the 'World's Greatest Ice Cream' shop and the nicest picture postcard type town you have ever seen. After meeting and talking to Sally, James wasn't at all convinced she could kill her own father and in the process the sleepy little town of The Cove has 2 murders of their own.

The basic story of James, FBI man, finding then changing his mind about Sally, insane murder suspect, was a great classic romance story. The other plot, the Cove, its beauty, its murders, its missing persons, was a strange twist to a typical story. I felt it could have been two different books. ( )

This really caught my attention at first...

...but then it went downhill from there, unfortunately.

First of all, the characters were quite cliche and flat. No development of them at all from beginning to end. There's the troubled, helpless, vulnerable, yet spunky heroine and the rugged, strong, handsome, yet sensitive hero.

And the plot... is just... so far-fetched that it needs to be delivered in an extraordinary way to make it work as fiction... but for me, Coulter just doesn't pull it off.

Not a complete waste of my time, but definitely not one I'd recommend to anyone but an enemy. ( )