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RANSOM
By Danielle Steel
This is my second Danielle Steel novel. I waited for the longest time to read her because, well, I used to be a literary snob and I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Then I broke down a few months ago and read Dating Game, and son of a gun – I enjoyed it.
I liked her new paperback bestseller, Ransom, although not as much as Dating Game. This new one felt like it could have used a good editor. She tends to repeat herself, and that frustrates me as a reader. I found myself reading a passage thinking, “Yeah. You said that already.” I also felt like the novel ended about 20 pages before the words did. There’s nothing worse than skimming over the last pages because they really don’t matter.
Ransom is the story of Fernanda, a recently widowed mother of three who finds out after her husband’s death that her husband’s millions were squandered. It’s the story of a young drug dealer whose life was so promising before he became addicted to drugs and went to prison. And it’s the story of a detective nearing retirement who finds himself becoming personally attached to a victim and his family. Steel does a good job – not great – but good at tying these unlikely characters together.
Ransom reminds me of Danielle Steel attempting to write like Nora Roberts. She doesn’t quite get there, but it was enjoyable. I give a mild recommendation to the new paperback bestseller, Ransom. On the Book Beat for KSL Newsradio 1160, I’m Amanda Dickson.
