Book Hoarders Anonymous

The trouble with long running series is, they usually run the gambit of series behavior - a series does one of 3 things - improves, stagnates, or deteriorates. I don't know that this one has deteriorated, but for sure it's stagnated. I guess it could be worse - some skip that process and just...jump the shark.

So the author started out her series with a family involved in law enforcement, and then it evolved into fellow officers, etc. The problem is, not everyone you meet really needs a story, and some could/should probably be put off into better circumstances. And here we run into another issue - the story arc/plot - and the difficulty inherent in making each book truly unique. The series has seen a number of individual story arcs, though they seem to be two basic types - dark underbelly/mob connections, and serial rapist. The plots often involve someone stalking for some reason - either as part of the story arc, or character specific. Sigh... A traffic ticket would be nice...

Back to the book in hand. It took me a while to place Elise, by which time I'd classified her as one of those strong-willed females who would rather come off as TSTL than admit they're in trouble. I hate that. And well, it shouldn't have surprised her that the stalker was someone she was v. cheerful to (while being unfailingly polite to her boss - the H). Which brings me to another point - officers are expected to pass a psych exam before acceptance. How in the hell did a guy whose cheese was not only off his cracker, but not even in the same state, get a position as desk guard in a precinct station? Are you kidding me?

And now...I find myself wondering if I should continue with this series. The books are short, yet it took me an unreasonable amount of time to read it.