TBR Challenge: ‘THE FIXER’, by Helenkay Dimon

The topic of this month is Paranormal or Romantic Suspense

Published: Dec-2016

Genre: Romantic Suspense

My Rating: two stars

Part of a Series: Games people play #1

This book has been in my kindle for a while. It won two awards, the RT Reviewers Choice and the Rita Award, both in the category ‘Romantic Suspense’, and there was something very attractive in the synopsis –A mysterious and powerful fixer.

Emery solves cases of people who has disappeared. When she was a teenager, her cousin and best friend, Tiffany, disappeared, and she cannot forget that. When her uncle dies, she gets his files on the case and she finds a name –Wren.

Just that name, and she looks for him. Is he a suspect that his uncle discovered? When she meets him, it is obvious that he cannot be the culprit. 

The way Wren is presented is the most attractive thing of this book. Someone mysterious, you do not know who he is or what does he exactly for a living. He is a wealthy fixer, someone who solves problems for the powerful people. He does not give his real name, and hides his personal story.

Soon they will be together, trying to solve Tiffany’s disappearance and feeling this great chemistry between them that make the fall quick and hard.

It took me several days to read this rather short book, while I usually just inhale them. Although I enjoyed what I was reading, nothing in the story made me keep on reading. It was quite easy to put down and I did not feel the hurry to take it again.

In the end, it was quite a disappointment because my expectations were high. Having received those awards, I thought that at least it would be a suspense novel. What do you expect from that kind of novel? A mystery that is solved in the end after you follow an investigation. You expect certain red herrings; see the characters make inquiries, get it wrong, interview different suspects… Considering Emery and Wren are experts on something, I expected to see competence porn.

At least that is what I want to see in a mystery.

Nothing here.

They tell you what Wren does for a living, but you do not see him do anything amazing.  Or anything at all. The entire book he is talking with his friend and with Emery and that is it. If he is good at fixing things, you do not see him fixing anything. You expected someone like Olivia Pope, and you just get the story of a boy (is he really 35 years old?) falling for the smartest and cutest girl in high school. Because he likes the way she smells.

Don’t get me wrong. I liked the hero more than the heroine. He sounded more juvenile that his age says, but was a rather coherent character. Emery made me nervous. He wants to keep his privacy, and she nags him all the time wanting to know his name, his story, even in the most unexpected moments. I wanted to yell at her ‘leave the poor guy alone! He will tell you what he wants when he feels like it’.

I will try to get to the point again. My main problem with this book was that it was –IMHO– a poorly written suspense. I do not need a high body count, I just want to think, to use my brain trying to solve a fictional mystery.

I did not see any investigation. Moreover, I did not feel that thing that I love which is that when the identity of the culprit is revealed I could be surprised. *Spoiler?* the person who you think is the bad one, the obvious suspect from the beginning? Yes, that is he. He did it. Clear as a summer sky. No mystery at all. *end spoiler*

There were quite a few explicit sex scenes, and well written, which is something very attractive. There is more sex than investigation, what made me think that perhaps this was a kind of erotic novel. Nevertheless, everything is very vanilla to be considered erotic. Moreover, there is a moment when something kinky is hinted, but not delivered afterwards. I do not care if the sex is vanilla or not in a romance novel, I can even read a romance novel without sex and enjoy it. What I find hard to accept is when you misguide me about the kind of sex I am going to find.

If you add that they speak as if they were teenagers and not grown people, in the end, this book is nothing as I expected. So this hard boiled hero in the end is just fluffy, which is I guess the worst thing you can put in a noir.

This is not a suspense novel for me. When I think about this subgenre, I remember authors like Sandra Brown, Nora Roberts, Karen Robards, or Anne Stuart, to name a few. This book is nothing like a book written by any of them. 

It is more a contemporary with common traits with a Lauren Layne or Christina Lauren book in my opinion. However, without the humour and the high level of sexiness that these other authors give to their stories.

Therefore, I do not think I am going to try this author again. It is not for me.