Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Book Review: All Due Respect by Vicki Hinze

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Title: All Due Respect
Author: Vicki Hinze
Publisher: Bell Bridge Books
Paperback: 304 pages
Summary: (taken from Goodreads)
Can a first-grade teacher from Grace, Alabama stop a terrorist group from its deadly mission?  
Can she trust her heart again?  
Former Air Force scientist Dr. Julia Warner-Hyde went into hiding three years ago to escape her abusive ex-husband. Her new life as a small town school teacher is safe and peaceful-until her old lab partner, Dr. Seth Holt, arrives.  
Terrorists have stolen the missile system Seth and Julia designed, and they fully intend to use it. Seth needs Julia's help to find, outwit and halt them, but he and she didn't part on the best of terms. He doesn't know that Julia has a secret enemy who might kill them both. Can she fight that threat and the terrorists-all while keeping Seth in the dark? How can she refuse to try, with millions of lives at stake? 

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

Thanks to Net Galley I got the privilege to read this book for free, but I must say, I would have bought it anyway. All Due Respect was very entertaining, touching, suspenseful, and intriguing. The relationships that developed between Dr. Julie, Dr Seth and a little abused boy named Jeffrey were entertaining and touching. The dynamics in developing a neutralizing device that could diffuse any rogue bomb and return it back to the original launch site intrigued me.

The main characters were well developed with a strong back story that was interwoven throughout the chapters. I’ve always enjoyed not having all the characters' histories laid out upfront. It gives me a chance to ask myself why a character made a certain decision.

The author includes the answers to all my “whys,” which could make a book very tedious when not explained. There were times that my mind drifted because of all the minute details, but I was able to get back on track with the main storyline. The author had intertwined three stories of abuse, two from a parental figure and one from a spouse. The culmination of these storylines is touching, but lacked any type of true realism. It took Dr. Julia three years to develop the relationship she had with her abused student Jeff. But after one phone call with Dr. Seth, to whom she couldn’t even tell about her past abuse, nor has she talked to him in years, she believed Dr. Seth would take care of Jeff, even though he’s never met him. That didn’t sit well with me.

The book is definitely worth the read due to excellent writing, great strong characters and intriguing storyline but at times it did not hold my attention. In the end, a well developed book.

*I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*