I received this book for free from the library in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: the library
Razor Sharp
by
Fern Michaels
It is part of the Sisterhood #14 series and is a suspense in a paperback edition that was published by Zebra on October 1, 2009 and has 304 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books in this series include [books_series]
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Hide and Seek, Weekend Warriors, Vendetta, The Jury, Sweet Revenge, Lethal Justice, Free Fall, Hokus Pokus, Fast Track, Collateral Damage, Final Justice, Under the Radar, Vanishing Act, Deadly Deals, Game Over, Cross Roads, Déjà Vu, Home Free
Fourteenth in the Sisterhood vengeance-suspense series surrounding a core group of seven women who provide justice to those abused by the legal system. In this story, the action takes place in Las Vegas and Washington D.C.
My Take
This was so stupid! Yeah, I totally agree with Michaels’ premise that the double standards of charging prostitutes and ignoring the johns is completely wrong. Both sides are making a choice to engage in this particular activity. So either make it legal, charge ’em both, or ignore it completely.
But. Michaels pushes the concept of how incredibly awful the actions of her side of the fence are for spending a weekend with hookers too far. Omigod. Woe is me. The sky is falling. The presidency will collapse. She’ll be impeached. Maybe I’m naive, but why not just take the bull by the horns and out all the johns with a condemnation and demand for their resignations??! Be appalled at their actions and how it reflects on their families.
Ah well, what fun would that be? Instead, even though it is less Keystone Kops in this installment, we have to drag ourselves through the torturous maze of the characters’ immaturity as they somehow escape all notice and discover the ones who are responsible. The punishment meted out reflects their maturity level. Arguably, I think it’s rather appropriate for the ringleader.
The Story
A madame in Vegas is persuaded to bring the “show” to D.C. for a weekend of “camp” to celebrate the win and then swearing in of President Martine Connor. But someone leaks the action, smearing the start of President Connor’s term of office. Martine is frantic and calls on Lizzie. She wants the Vigilantes to hush the scandal up and prosecute the madam. Hah! Martine has a snowball’s chance in hell. Not only has no pardon shown up for the ladies, but the ladies simply don’t agree with the double standard of prosecuting one half of the offending team.
The one problem with refusing President Connor’s demand is that she knows the location of Pine Mountain.
It’s a case of “follow the money” to learn who leaked the naughty doings.
The Characters
All of the first and second team members:
Myra Rutledge; Anna de Silva and Little Fish; Yoko Akio and Harry Wong; Alexis Thorne and Joe Espinosa, the Post reporter; Isabelle Flanders (seems that Stu Franklin is still a runner-up); Kathryn Lucas and Bert Navarro, the Director of the FBI; and Nikki and Jack Emery, the D.C. Assistant District Attorney; Lizzie Fox and Cosmo Cricket, the lawyer for the Nevada Gaming Commission; Judge Cornelia Easter Cummings and Elias Cummings, former Director of the FBI; Maggie Spritzer, EIC for the Washington Post and Ted Robinson, one of her reporters; and, minus Charles Martin.
President Martine Connor has recently been sworn in.
The Vegas FBI office consists…
…of Special-Agent-in-Charge Duncan Wright who has his own suspicions about the case and Director Navarro.
Lily Flowers, a.k.a., Crystal Clark, a.k.a., Ann Marie Anders, a.k.a., Caroline Summers is the madam of the Happy Day Camp. After getting a tip off, Ms. Flowers hustles over to Cosmo Cricket’s office to engage him as her attorney and leaving him with her black books, financial records, and the fingerprints of all who participated in both weekends. She also signs off that he may do what he wills with any or all of it. Just in case, she becomes a “suicide” like the D.C. Madam.
The Cover and Title
A beautiful cover! A hazy sunset of oranges and a base of dusky purple as the sun drops behind a stand of mixed trees. And, again, has nothing to do with the story.
The title is mentioned within the story. I guess so it would have some validity.
