Angela Gerst: A Crack in Everything



In her debut novel Angela Gerst looks at what happens when you combine love, politics and murder.

Susan Callisto is a real estate lawyer but also a small time political campaign consultant and she should have known better when Charles "Chaz" Renfro walked into her office, offering her 20, 000 dollars in order to be part of his campaign, as the election was only a few days away. But charmed by his smooth talking Susan agrees to offer him advice if he can only get the voter signatures needed to run. If Chaz getting the signature was Susan's only issue thing would have been great. However, in a span of a few days she discovers a dead body, is under investigation for murder (which is being investigated by her ex that she doesn't really know how she feels about him) plus working on for all the other campaigns and her lawyer office none of which seems to be going right as well. The more that Susan is able to uncover, the more she becomes the target and the killer is dead set on her not making it out to vote. 

This was an interesting read for me. Gerst was able to keep me entertained. Gerst showed a great ability for story telling and plot execution for her debut novel. Everything  within the book stems, naturally, from money and the ever searching cure to something that all humans suffer from mortality. No this is not a paranormal novel, it is a mystery novel with some politics thrown in.

This book is a little bit slow in parts as Susun tries to put everything together, plus she has other events in her life that need to be taken care of, both personal and business. I like that Gerst was able to mix real life and the investigation together in the book and still hold my attention. I like the web of lies, maniputation and deceptions that occur throughout the book that Suzy never really knows who she can trust and whether to trust her gut or not. I think that this is where Gerst excels in her manipulation of the plot and the people that you never really know what is going to happen next and where the next lie, manipulation or deception is going to occur or be uncovered.

I liked Susan as a character, she has a witty and fairly dry sense of humor that had me smiling as I read. I liked Susan's ability to just be what people needed her to be for the most part. I think that she got this from being a lawyer and knew how to play up her strengths and down play her weaknesses. Although Susan may appear strong to those around, she is a very depressed woman, who is often living in the past; past events, past mistakes, they all haunt her. It was interesting being in Susan's mind throughout the novel and seeing how she looked at the world, the case and her life.

THANK YOU Angela Gerst for not falling into the ever so common trend these days of page after page of sex scenes. Gerst did it right in this book, some sexual innuendos and scenes that are leading up to sex, but not expanding past that. This is one of the first books i have read in a long time (by a female author) that has done this. I applaud Gerst from moving away from this norm.

The one part I did not really understand was her relationship with Michael. They had pushed each other away and really blamed the other person for it. I just felt very Hot and Cold feelings flowing between them (i'm sure some people would say this could have been helped by having some sex scenes...lol....but that is not the point). I just thought that there was a lack of connection between the characters, maybe they just needed to work through more of their own personal and relationship issues.

This book keeps going right to the end with it overwhelming web of lies that surround everything Susan knows. This book was a constant puzzle (but in a good way), so those looking for something that will have you thinking a little bit harder trying to figure everything out right till the end, will want to pick up this book. This was a good read and I liked the mixture of mystery, politics, money and real life drama. I look forward to Gerst's next book.

Enjoy!!!

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