Jodi Compton - Sympathy Between Humans (2005)
Reviewed by David J. Montgomery
Proving that the fairer sex can twist the screws on readers just as well as the masculine writers in their midst, Jodi Compton has produced a tense and exciting thriller that is sure to win her plenty of fans.
Sympathy Between Humans is the second book featuring Minneapolis police detective Sarah Pribek, a woman still haunted by a violent series of events in her past.
As is the case with authors John Sandford and P.J. Tracy, to whom her work favorably compares, Compton uses the Twin Cities to excellent effect as a setting, making the region and its people come alive.
Compton crams a lot of story into her book, including two major plotlines, one featuring her investigation of a man practicing medicine without a license, the other involving a family with a troubled past and dark secrets they’re desperately trying to hide.
The author makes it all work, however, nicely balancing the different threads of her story and creating a significant sense of tension and jeopardy. Granted, elements of the plot are often wildly unbelievable, but Compton is good enough at what she does to make the reader suspend disbelief and simply sit back and enjoy the story.
Posted by David J. Montgomery in Book Reviews | Permalink
