Fern Michaels

On the Line

         I got this one from a Goodreads giveaway, and I was looking forward to it because I have enjoyed Fern Michaels in the past.  It’s also being featured on the Between the Chapters book club, so I figured I was going to be in for a great story. 

            I did not, actually, encounter a great story.  The book starts with Mateo in the hospital battling elevated levels of mercury in his blood, which can be fatal.  He receives treatment and a continuing course of action, but lands himself back in the hospital not even two weeks later with his mercury levels even higher.  His doctor, who he is openly attracted to (I had a hard time with this part of the storyline…the dude is literally dying and he seems more focused on asking the doctor out than he is on NOT dying), turns into a diligent detective to find the source.  

            From there, Michaels dives into the past, giving the reader Mateo’s origin story: how his parents met, their flight from Colombia via Mexico, and their constant worry that their past would catch up to them.  The drug cartels out of Colombia are a huge part of this story, leading the reader to believe Mateo’s affliction is going to be somehow connected to Pablo Escobar’s ongoing deadly legacy.  Imagine the disappointment when the cause of Mateo’s mercury poison turned out to be something utterly petty.  I was left baffled as to why Michaels spent so much time on the story of  Mateo’s parents. 

            It was a poorly told story.  Had Michaels spent more time on Mateo and his life as an emerging media chef, it would have made much more sense.  It was the focus on Mateo’s parents and their lives prior to Mateo that drew the story away from, well, the actual story.  In the end, it just didn’t come together well. 

Kristen Claiborn

         I got this one from a Goodreads giveaway, and I was looking forward to it because I have enjoyed Fern Michaels in the past.  It’s also being featured on the Between the Chapters book club, so I figured I was going to be in for a great story. 

            I did not, actually, encounter a great story.  The book starts with Mateo in the hospital battling elevated levels of mercury in his blood, which can be fatal.  He receives treatment and a continuing course of action, but lands himself back in the hospital not even two weeks later with his mercury levels even higher.  His doctor, who he is openly attracted to (I had a hard time with this part of the storyline…the dude is literally dying and he seems more focused on asking the doctor out than he is on NOT dying), turns into a diligent detective to find the source.  

            From there, Michaels dives into the past, giving the reader Mateo’s origin story: how his parents met, their flight from Colombia via Mexico, and their constant worry that their past would catch up to them.  The drug cartels out of Colombia are a huge part of this story, leading the reader to believe Mateo’s affliction is going to be somehow connected to Pablo Escobar’s ongoing deadly legacy.  Imagine the disappointment when the cause of Mateo’s mercury poison turned out to be something utterly petty.  I was left baffled as to why Michaels spent so much time on the story of  Mateo’s parents. 

            It was a poorly told story.  Had Michaels spent more time on Mateo and his life as an emerging media chef, it would have made much more sense.  It was the focus on Mateo’s parents and their lives prior to Mateo that drew the story away from, well, the actual story.  In the end, it just didn’t come together well. 

On the Line

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