Book Review: Never Say Die by Kris Neri

Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Gripping beginning, good story

Cons: Occasional slow plotting, a little hard to get into

The Bottom Line:

Attempted murder

And major competition

For exciting read

Danger for a Triathelete

Professional triathelete Zoey Morgan has come to San Diego to finish her training for the annual half Iron man race. As usual, she arrives several weeks early for her body to adjust to the local conditions. She's set a heavy workout schedule for herself so she can win the race.

All that comes to a halt when a car runs her down. Almost left for dead, she forces herself to make a speedy recovery so she can return to her training. Unfortunately, she has no recollection of the accident or any of her time in San Diego.

Zoey's convictions that it was a freak accident begin to erode when more strange things start happening to her. She tries to block it out of her mind and concentrate on her training, but when things take a deadly turn, she no longer can. What does she know that is worth killing for? Or is this revenge for her anti-steroids stand?

While some books start slow, this book starts with a bang. The first chapter hooked me, and the subsequent mystery of Zoey's missing memory kept me going. Unfortunately, the pace of the story is a little uneven, at times slowing to talk about her training. While this is an important part of who Zoey is, a little bit goes a long ways.

The narration also could have been better. Zoey is a reserved person who rarely lets anyone fully into her life. This translates to the third person narration as well. At times in the first quarter, I felt like I was observing something from a distance, not really a part of the story. This problem could have been lessened by a first person narration. By letting the reader more fully into Zoey's head, they can empathize with her more.

Of course, that would make the story harder to tell. Occasionally, we are treated to the thoughts of our villain. While it doesn't happen too often, these chapters really heighten the suspense.

Once the reader begins to understand Zoey, the book really picks up. She is a complex character with several issues that are touched on but not fully addressed in this book. They are brought up in such a way that they add sympathy to her character, yet don't slow the story down.

And, while it wasn't as quickly as I would have liked, I did sympathize with Zoey. This only made the rest of the novel even more gripping.

There are really only one or two other main characters in the book, and they are well developed. Some of the secondary characters fill in nicely, while a few remain two-dimensional.

The flaws I mentioned are relatively minor over all. Never Say Die kept me turning pages and I enjoyed the journey.