Second to J.D. Robb, I love to read Sandra Brown. Her books always have unexpected twists and unusual story lines. Although my favorites tend to be her older books, her newer books are still pretty good. One interesting aspect of Sandra Brown’s books is how dark and unlikable her male protagonists start out to be. If you like dark, brooding men who are saved by a good woman, then Sandra Brown is your author.

Sometimes though, they are too unlikeable or the situation is so unrealistic (i.e. Play Dirty). Lethal starts off just like that. Coburn takes Honor and her daughter hostage for a night, he kills the cop who shows up to save them, and then Honor leaves with him…voluntarily. Of course, it was the right thing to do, since the cop was dirty. But I wonder if I’d have gone with him, especially with my four year old daughter in tow.

Despite that, the book was one of the better of Brown’s recent releases. Perhaps it’s the setting (I love books set in Louisiana) or watching how Honor’s daughter interacts with the hard, cold Coburn. Like all the books, the villain is a surprise, although it doesn’t leave you with the feeling of “Oh my God, I didn’t see that coming” that Sandra Brown is famous for. In fact, there is less and less of that with her new releases.

If I could change one thing about the book, it would be the ending. It stops one scene short. (Spoiler alert….) the romantic side of me would have liked to have experienced Coburn’s reaction to seeing Honor step off the plane.