Let’s just get this out of the way: former model Tara Moss is not a hot version of Agatha Christie. Oh, she’s hot, all right, but she holds her own as a writer. Her latest thriller COVET is pretty much a sequel to the events of last year’s FETISH, taking place 18 months after.
Makedde Vanderwall – Mak to her friends – is not only a forensic student, but a supermodel. (I wonder on whom Moss based that character?) Anyway, she is called back to Australia to testify in the case against Ed Brown, FETISH’s stiletto killer. But Ed has plans of his own, wanting to finish what he started; he’ll do whatever is needed to do so.
Moss writes a very breezy read for a novel of this length. Her story never drags, but there are moments that easily could have been cut out – namely, those that fixate on the whole modeling aspect of the character; they just seem to be taking up space.
But that can be forgiven since Moss has come up with a really creepy character in Ed Brown. Having not read FETISH, I’m guessing he was even creepier in that book. He’s a former morgue attendant who has a penchant for killing women à la Ted Bundy. COVET flies by so fast, you might need to catch your breath at certain moments. Once Ed makes his grand escape with an accomplice – who, to be honest, is even scarier than he is – the story kicks into high gear, even though there are moments where you have to suspend disbelief.
The best way to experience this book is as perfect beach reading. It’s a total guilty pleasure that passes the time as it offers plenty of suspense. Think of COVET as an Ashley Judd film waiting to be made, just with more sex and swearing. –Bruce Grossman
