Crime & Beyond Book Club Reads Sandra Brown

Kerry Hammond is here with her report back from the Crime & Beyond Book Club based in Denver, Colorado. 

Crime & Beyond met in January to discuss Mean Streak by Sandra Brown. This was our first time reading this author and we had a lively discussion. I think this book is great for book clubs because it really gave us a lot to talk about.

Emory Charbonneau is a pediatrician with a medical practice in North Carolina. She’s active in charity events and an avid runner. She sets off one weekend on her own to run in the mountains as she trains for an upcoming marathon. She fails to report in after her run, and her husband begins to suspect the worst. The police begin to investigate but have very few leads. What the reader knows is that while running, Emory is hit over the head and wakes up in a mountain cabin with an unknown man who won’t allow her to leave. She finds out that the man has a violent past and when he refuses to give her even his name, she fears for her safety. Police detectives search for Emory while she tries to escape her captor. But as the situation unfolds, you realize that Emory’s husband isn’t the great guy he holds himself out to be, and maybe her captor isn’t out to harm her. Or is he?

The Crime & Beyond members had a lot of great things to say about the book. We loved the twists and turns of the story. The characters were well written and interesting. We loved the good guys, hated the bad guys, and then couldn’t decide on some of the others that the author purposely left wide open. It was a great read and we think it needs to be made into a TV movie. I know other Sandra Brown books have been made into movies, so there’s always hope. 

Next month we’ll be reading about Mickey Haller and discussing the latest Lincoln Lawyer book, The Gods of Guilt by Michael Connelly. 

You can find Mystery Playground on Twitter @MysteryPlaygrnd and on Facebook.