It's been a long time since I disliked a book to the extent of this one.  And it's a real shame, because Catherine Coulter's BlindSide started out decently.  It even reunited me with some characters I've enjoyed in her other stories.  But the book took a couple wrong turns.

There are two main stories in this book.  The first involves a serial killer who is targeting female math teachers.  Towns and schools are in a panic as the bodies pile up.  The question is "what could possibly be the motive?"  This case is keeping Dillon Savitch and his wife Sherlock (yes, that's really her name) busy.  Their good pal Miles, has a really big problem, though.  His young son is missing.

And now we have the second story.  Miles' son, Sam, has been kidnapped and taken hundreds of miles away.  But the young lad escapes!  End of story, right?  Nope, the kidnappers attempt to grab Sam again.  And when that plan is foiled they try AGAIN!  This is clearly no random kidnapping.  What is so special about Sam that someone will go to incredible lengths to take him?

The stories were interesting enough.  I was certainly engaged in them.  With the math teacher serial killer I was imagining someone who had an abusive teacher in the past.  Or, perhaps someone whose mother was a math teacher, and this person was somehow re-enacting her death over and over again.  I won't tell you if either of these scenarios ended up being right, but I had fun imagining the possibilities.

The larger focus, however, was on Sam's story.  And here's where the book's mistakes start piling up.  First of all, I don't know if the author has children or not.  But she wrote Sam, and his little friend Keely, as if they are teenagers, not five- and six-year-olds.  These kids are way too smart, speak way too well, understand far too much, and are just way more adult-like than their ages warrant.  They simply didn't read like little kids.  It was distracting as little kids outsmart adults over and over.

Then there's the romance angle that's part of this story.  Anyone who reads my reviews knows that I frequently dislike the romance that seems to find its way into nearly every murder mystery.  Mostly, I just find that part of the story unnecessary.  This book goes beyond unnecessary to the absolute ridiculous.  The two people who get involved had no business doing so, and certainly had no business doing all that they did, after knowing each other only a few days.  What was Ms. Coulter thinking? 

Finally, the "big reveal" of the kidnapping story was a disappointment to me.  I was expecting one thing, but I got something completely different.  And while I like surprises as much as the next person, this particular surprise was not exciting.  It was not clever or intriguing.  It was just blatantly annoying. 

Despite reuniting me with Savitch and Sherlock (whom I enjoyed in The Maze), this book really didn't do it for me.  The stories started out OK, but the main story fizzled terribly.  And, while the math teacher story was enjoyable, it was the minor focus in this book.  Far too much time was wasted on romance and annoying kids, rather than on engaging mysteries.


Also by Catherine Coulter:

Point Blank

The Maze

Recommended: No