Her Every Move

If you’ve never thought a book about a librarian and a library could be told with edge-of-your seat suspense, then you must read Her Every Move! Yeah – I know. If I didn’t read the book, I probably wouldn’t believe it either. But I’m not lying.

The story is set in the city of San Antonio. It even includes scenes at the most historic, sacred and visited location in Texas: the Alamo. The protagonist (or is she the antagonist?) is really a librarian and event planner. There’s an explosion at one of her events. People die, including the police chief. She is immediately identified as a “person of interest” by an alphabet of authorities – SAPD, FBI, ATF, etc. What ensues can only be described as exciting and original.

I’ll get the “bad” out of the way first. The pacing in the first half of the book reminded me of the hurry-up-and-wait routine I experienced in the military. At times it was quick, but then it slowed down. It didn’t seem to have a natural pace.

That all changed around the middle of the book. The pacing became very steady, building to some type of climax, and I literally could not put the book down before finishing the story. That’s the kind of pacing I love to see in a story.

The characters all seem very real. You probably know people very much like them. They have their little quirks, but they are mostly decent folks who have jobs to do. They also have some skeletons in their closets. It’s a funny thing about those skeletons; they can ultimately make a person do unspeakable things that they normally wouldn’t do.

“The aroma of freshly brewed coffee filled the air, stifling the scent of Chinese takeout, a full trash can, dust, and loneliness.”

Although the story is written in the third person, I thought the author did a great job of showing and not telling. Much of the story is conveyed through dialogue. That’s a good thing.

Another good thing is the author’s use of description. All the senses are involved, from the acrid smoke following a bomb blast, to the taste of yesterday’s coffee, to the emotion created when being gently touched by someone during a time of crises.

“The Santoro sisters were not known for their culinary prowess.”

The Christian aspect of this story is nicely entwined in the action. It does not overwhelm the story, but it does help to define some of the characters. I thought it was very genuine and appropriate.

I very much enjoyed this story – especially the second half of it – and I considered the plot very original. (However, what the author did to Alamo Plaza made me grimace!)

If you want to know more, you’ll have to read the story. I highly recommend it!