Jasmine Cresswell

The first novel I've read by this author and I can't wait to explore more of her writing! The book has been on my "to read" shelves for a long time and now I can't understand what took me so long to explore the offering.

It's a page-turning thriller and with a copyright date of 2003 it seems even more creative to be written before the word "terrorist" was part of our nation's daily headlines and daily vocabulary. For anyone who has been deceived by the partner he/she married this captures show more the innermost feelings of betrayal, guilt, and the aftereffects to his/her self-confidence. Charlotte has been told by the FBI that the man she married and dearly loves is an international terrorist and at Christmas when emotions always seem closer to the surface. So begins twists and turns that I never saw coming on the next page or pages and I couldn't stop reading! show less

his book is about Verity Marlowe. After the death of her husband she falls in a downward spiral of alcoholism and self-pity. Until one day a funny encounter with someone from her past shakes her loose from her stupor. Just in time to get back to work and save her country and her childhood friend. He and his family are in trouble and she is the only one who speaks his language. She rushes to his aid only to find that the other agent in charge of the whole thing is Michael Strait. To her shock show more she realizes that the simple truths that she knew about him were really well crafted lies. Can she forgive him enough to save a country and herself.

This book clearly suffers form back of the box syndrome sometimes I wonder if the person who writes the synopsis on the back flap really reads the book at all. At first glace I thought that this book was just another run of the mill anti-terrorist book. This is not the case however it is a very delightful book filled with funny lines romantic scenes and a bit of a twist. I would recommend this book it is well worth the read and I give it a 4 out of 5 stars. show less

Missing
1 Star

Ron Raven, a successful and respected businessman, is missing and presumed dead, but this is merely the tip of the iceberg because Ron is also a bigamist. Not only has he scammed his separate families for more than two decades, he has also conned his brother-in-law out of three million dollars. As the Raven and Fairfax families struggle to come to terms with Ron’s betrayal, his daughter, Megan, and brother-in-law, Adam Fairfax, must work together to locate the missing show more millions.

The suspense plot has such tremendous potential. Unfortunately, the writing is long-winded, repetitive and redundant - too much telling and not enough showing. By the time the villain and motive are revealed, it is difficult to care one way or the other.

The romance doesn’t fare much better as Megan and Adam have very little chemistry and don’t even meet until halfway through the book.

All in all, an excellent premise but the writing is so poor that I’ve no interest in continuing with the series. show less

I really like Jesamine Cressell's novels, but in THE CONSPIRACY she almost writes two books. One has an appealing hero and heroine with an intriguing "problem." At the same time, we had page upon page of turgid prose describing the political situation in Khasmir and lots of pages that must have been written from someone's notes. I liked the major characters; I skipped the many boring parts. Now I'm taking my copy of the book to a second hand bookstore. It's not a keeper.