Radical Cure by Olivia Gates Silhouette Bombshell #80 - Feb 06

Wow! I am awestruck! This book has got to be in my Top 10 for 2008! And yet, it's so far out of my usual reading comfort zone that it will seem strange on that list among the tamer Harlequin lines.

So how did I end up reading it when I normally ignore ‘Bombshell's? Because the author is Olivia Gates and she is my buddy. (Sounds neat saying that!) I've never read one of her books although I've ‘talked' to her on this site and the challenge for March was ‘New to You'. So it all fit. Also, when I first saw the book, I was curious about her ‘voice'. Eharl had a thread going last fall where they posted samples of a mystery author and we had something like 21 days to guess who it was. I didn't have a clue but I think someone guessed in about 3 days. Having now read this book, I can only say that if she writes all her books like this, I'll be able to pick her ‘voice' out of a pile, too. It's phenomenal!

Yeah, there's a lot of killing and cursing and sex and...did I mention there was a lot of killing? Not my usual inspy book, eh? But because of the characters and the storyline, that's what was required. Anything less would've looked fake.

You want to know what happened when I started reading Radical Cure? Picture this: we have an hour to drive to the city. Since I'm starting from the beginning, dh wants me to read out loud b/c it's a boring drive. So I start reading. Now, I don't have a medical background but I am a good reader and somehow I read - out loud - that opening sequence with all its medical terms. And I read it at a fast clip because that's how Olivia wrote it. Fast paced? This book is going to stay on my writing desk for when I have pacing problems!

Anyway, I read until we got to the city and dh had to concentrate on the traffic. I took my ds to his appointment and started getting tired. By the time I got back to the car 2 hrs later, it was mid-afternoon and I fell asleep in the car while the rest of the family went for groceries. After going through a drive-through, we left the city...and I slept all the way home. Got home at 6, cuddled on the sofa and started reading...an hour later, I tried to watch my new favorite show ‘Murdoch Mysteries', but dozed off and on through it. When it was over, I went to bed, read a bit, but was asleep by nine and slept until 6 am. THIS IS NOT NORMAL!!! I don't sleep in the daytime. I've never been able to sleep in a moving vehicle.

The only thing we can figure out is the fast pace, big medical words, and heart-stopping action totally drained me.

Don't believe me? The next morning, I'd been reading for about an hour when I heard a thumping noise. What the heck was that? I realized it was my heart! I called my dd over and asked if she could hear my heart beating. She rolled her eyes but put her ear a couple inches away and said, "Just a little bit." Just a little bit? Since when can you hear someone's heart 2 inches away from their chest???

As for the book, Radical Cure - apparently it's the 2nd book from Olivia Gates starring Dr. Calista St James. The first one is Strong Medicine and after reading this book, I suspect I know what it was about so if you have the chance, read Strong Medicine first.

To me, Dr. Calista St James is the female counterpart of 007 James Bond - only better. Mr Bond just kills people. Calista has the skills to bring people to the brink of death and then because she's a surgeon, if she so desires, she can fix them up again. Yeah, so she's not licensed to work in a real medical facility...in her job, that's not a deterrent. Most of her missions wouldn't be classified as ‘normal' anyway. Her only weakness...Damian De Luna. Her feelings for him are summed up in this quote from Radical Cure: "...a man I loved, had faith in, but would never fully trust or fathom...Just what I needed. To make life interesting."

Damian De Luna is kind of James Bondish - but a hundred times more lethal. He's a chameleon even to Calista. She never knows if he's with her or against, whether he's lying or telling the truth. And neither do we. Until the last page.

Heat level: Heat Wave

My Rating: Excellent - 5 stars (one to re-read; definitely a keeper)

 Total books Read: 39    Harlequin Imprint: 36    Others: 3

March Challenge - New To You =  13

New Author - 12

New Imprint - 2

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