Sandra Brown

In the French Quarter during Mardi Gras week, New Orleans narcotics cop Burke Basile sets out to avenge the acquittal of the murderer of his partner by kidnapping the sheltered wife of the defense attorney. Lit Guild & Doubleday Main.

Fat Tuesday

In this "intriguing" thriller (People), a New Orleans police officer kidnaps an attorney's wife in an act of revenge -- but he's not expecting the electric attraction between them. Burke Basile is a cop with nothing left to lose. Haunted by his partner's death, the end of his marriage, and the destruction of his career, he targets his nemesis, a flamboyant attorney who helps killers evade justice. Burke's shocking revenge centers around kidnapping Remy, the lawyer's trophy wife. But Burke hasn't planned on the scorching desire he'll feel for this desperate woman, who rose from the slums of New Orleans to marry a man she can never love. Nor can he predict the fierce duel that will explode as the clock ticks toward midnight on Fat Tuesday when all masks will be stripped away -- and Burke will be forced to confront his own terrifying secret.

Sarah Sammis

I've read five Sandra Brown novels. Three of them I loved, one of them bothered me (Seduction by Design) and Fat Tuesday I could not finish.

As the title implies, the novel is set in New Orleans. It's supposedly a tale of love borne out of revenge but I didn't get far enough in the book for any of that to happen. I couldn't get past page sixty.

Officer Burke Basile is out for revenge after he mistakenly shoots his partner in the head. He sets out to destroy the life of Pinkie Duvall. He'll do this by kidnapping Duvall's wife and of course a romance will develop.

I didn't get far enough to see if the Stockholm syndrome played out as squicky as it sounds in the set up but some of the reviews I've read on Goodreads implies that it's as bad or worse than I could imagine. What made me stop were the clichés and the cardboard cut out characters. I didn't like the hero. I didn't like the heroine. Pinkie seemed ripped off from Dreamland by Clarence Budington Kelland and I didn't find Kelland's Pinkie all that believable either. A second iteration of him wasn't any sort of improvement.

FROM "MASTERFUL STORYTELLER" SANDRA BROWN (USA Today), A STORY OF RAGING PASSION AND DESPERATE REVENGE IN NEW ORLEANS. Burke Basile is a cop with nothing left to lose. Haunted by his partner's death, his marriage and his career over, he focuses on his nemesis, Pinkie Duvall, a flamboyant attorney who helps killers evade justice. Burke's shocking revenge centers around kidnapping Remy, the lawyer's trophy wife. But Burke hasn't planned on the electric attraction he'll feel for this desperate woman, who rose from the slums of New Orleans to marry a man she can never love. Nor can he predict the fierce duel that will explode as the clock ticks toward midnight on Fat Tuesday when all masks will be stripped away--and Burke must confront his own terrifying secret.

Lynn Braden

Burke Basil is suffering from the death of his partner, Kev Stuart. The killer gets off due to his attorney, Pinkie Duvall and his defense, which revolves around the fact that Burke accidentally pulled the trigger killing Stuart, thinking it was someone else. Burke hates Duvall and all that he stands for, including the corruption Duvall has incited in the NOPD but thinks he may have found the lawyer's achilles heel in his wife, Remy Duvall. On the outside, Remy looks like a pampered trophy wife, but her life has been anything but worry free. Burke makes a bold move involving Remy and finds out that her life may not be as perfect as he once thought, leading to a daring plan that could be the end or the beginning for both of them.

This is my second read of Fat Tuesday, and I didn't enjoy it as much as I remembered. The plot is full of twists, including a big one at the end, but the feelings that develop between Remy and Burke come a little too quickly to be believable. Also some of the actions of the characters don't seem to be logical, however, the character development and the atmosphere of the book raise the level of storytelling, still making this book a very good read. Overall, Fat Tuesday is an enjoyable romantic suspense story with a 1990's sensibility. 3 1/2 stars.

Fat Tuesday

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