Envy
Large Print Edition
By Sandra Brown
Warner Books - Large Print, (2001)
ISBN: 0-446-52987-7
Genre: Mystery - Suspense
Reviewed by Angela Evans - September 10, 2001
Sandra Brown is a well-known best selling author, and her new novel, Envy is likely to keep her firmly entrenched on the best sellers lists. The novel opens with an intriguing prologue of a novel, also entitled Envy. This novel was written by a mysterious writer who goes only by his, or her, initials - P. M. E. When Maris Matherly-Reed, a book editor, reads the prologue to the novel Envy, she instinctively knows that she has a hit on her hand. The partial manuscript that she had received had been unsolicited, and consequently had sat in her office, unread, for months. But now that she had read it, she wanted to read more, and so she tries to contact the author, a task which turns out to be more difficult than she had anticipated.
As Maris' queries into the whereabouts of the author, and his credentials deepens, so does the mystery. She discovers that the author of the piece is the gruff and multifaceted, Parker Evans. As she works with him on the novel, she unintentionally enters a dangerous world, one which she is ill prepared to navigate. Envy concerns the deaths of a young man and woman - and Maris comes to believe that they were murdered - for real. Is Parker's Envy a simple work of fiction, or is it his confession? Maris' life is further complicated when she starts to have feelings for the bitter and brooding, Parker. This is despite the fact that she is married, although somewhat unhappily, to Noah Reed. Noah a best selling author in his own right, and is the second-in-command of Matherly Publishing Company. This the same publishing company that Maris works for, a company which was founded by her father. Her life which is further complicated when people around her start to die.
This is a complicated, well-crafted story that will startle you with its ending. But not before taking you on a frantic journey full of twists and turns, dead-ends, red-herrings, and of course, thrills. There is also a bit of a love story thrown in for good measure. The characters are full-bodied, the dialog crisp, and the plot enthralling - an all around good story. Brown keeps you guessing the whole way through, and just like Maris, you will have trouble telling the truth from fiction. Consequently, you will find yourself racing through this novel just to find out who did what to whom and why!
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