Envy by Sandra Brown
Warner Books, Inc. -
ISBN: 0446527180 - Hardcover
Romantic Suspense - for explicit sex

Reviewed by Barbara Buhrer, MyShelf.Com
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Going through the slush pile of unsolisticated manuscripts, Maris Matterly-Reed discovers the prologue of a novel, the author identified only by the initials P.M.E. She is captivated by the story and traces the author who is wheelchair bound, to his decrepit plantation on an island off the coast of Georgia.

She doesn't realize that he is using her to revenge against her husband, Noah Reed, a philandering sociopath.

Maris is drawn to Parker and his novel, the story of a friendship between two men which ends tragically in a boating accident. She searches for the truth behind the story, coming to believe the novel's characters are really Parker and her husband.

Eventually there is a struggle for power for the publishing company between Noel and Maris and a dissolution of their marriage. The final confrontation between Parker and Noel brings resolution to the wrongs of the past.

The suspense builds from the first chapter until the end. The story is well-written; the characters are developed in-depth. The atmosphere at the Georgia island is well presented; the reader can practically feel the humidity and the sea breezes. The technique of a novel within a novel is an intriguing one, and keeps the reader guessing at the outcome.