Love has been the motivator for many ills, both fictional and real throughout time. It has caused many a man (and not a few women) to take steps they may never have considered otherwise. When medical student Ed Tyson is turned down by his love, Beth, in order to marry their friend Peter Grainger, Tyson begins plotting a revenge that will take 15 years to come to fruition.

Ed, Peter, and Beth are medical students in New York. They are all friends but unbeknownst to Ed, Peter and Beth are falling in love. When Ed proposes to Beth near the end of their last year he is shocked by her refusal. That same night, at the Cadaver's Ball, Beth and Peter announce their engagement. when Ed learns of this, that same night, he proposes to a beautiful underclassman and she happily agrees. Ed and Beth never speak of his proposel to her. The two couples each have seperate families and continue to see each other through the years. All the while Ed bides his time, waiting for the woman he really loves.

Fifteen years later Beth dies in a horrendous car crash with Peter behind the wheel. Beth and her unborn child are killed instantly and Peter is left to suffer the grief. When Ed hears of the accident and Peter's place in it, he sets his plans in motion. He sees Peter as a murderer and intends to destroy everything he loves. In the process he will involve an emotionally unstable young girl and her brother, as well as a cop who has her own past to hide. Everyone becomes a pawn in his plan and no one is safe.

Sounds pretty dramatic and gripping, right? A real edge-of-your-seat page turner? Not really. The plot was relatively thin and the characters are not engaging. Tyson spends most of the book hopped up on super ultra-dope infused coca leaves (yes, coca as in cocaine) and yet no one ever notices anything. The woman he proposes to after Beth says no is eager to tie the knot with this man that she doesn't even know and somehow they stay married for fifteen years. Then you find out that he is apparently drugging her at night but it's only a quick blurb in a chapter and nothing is ever pursued about it. Not to mention that Tyson is able to propel his plans at warp speed because he is a "powerful mimic" and makes calls all over the place pretending to be other people. And then there's the cop who suffered severe mental trauma in her early 20's and tried to kill herself. This was before she applied for the force and she didn't mention it on her application. I'm not sure but I thought police force applicants had a pretty extensive background check done before they were allowed in. All in all I would not recommend this book. It was a time-sink and not worth the effort.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mass Market Paperback: 342 pages
Publisher: Leisure Books; Reprint edition (August 2006)
Language: English
ISBN: 0843957573
Buy This Book