Wow. How can a book with such a decent premise sink into such a disappointing mess? Elizabeth Lowell's The Secret Sister starts out decently enough. But very quickly this book stops being an intriguing story about one sister looking for another. And it becomes, instead, almost a text book, teaching me more than I ever wanted to know about archaeological digs, poached artifacts, and ancient Anasazi civilization and customs. And while I don't mind when a novel sets out to teach as it goes along, I do mind when the teaching becomes the main focus and the original storyline is dropped like a hot potato. And that's exactly what happened here.

Basic Plot

Christy McKenna, a NY fashion writer hasn't spoken to her sister Jo for 12 years. In fact, she doesn't even tell most people that she and Jo are related. Jo is a highly celebrated supermodel living in Colorado, working exclusively for a designer out there. And, if Christy's description is to be believed, Jo has always been overly selfish, using her beauty to get whatever she wants.

Thus, Christy's shocked when she returns from a two-week vacation to find messages from Jo have accumulated in her absence. Messages that indicate that Jo's in some kind of danger. Messages begging Christy to come out to help her. And also warning her of impending danger.

In a ridiculous twist of coincidence, Christy's sent to Colorado for her job, to interview Jo's boss. So, Christy heads out to Colorado to write her story, and find her sister, and that's where she meets Aaron Cain, a man with a difficult past, and a deep hatred for Jo. And soon Christy and Aaron will find themselves in danger, and on the run from people who want to see them dead.

So, what went wrong?

Well, the plot as I described it above sounds interesting enough, right? Too bad that after a third of the book is past, the plot is basically dropped. Because that's the point where Christy seems to lose her mind. She stops being a smart, independent woman on a mission and becomes, instead, someone incapable of making rational decisions.

Let's see - she decides to break into Jo's boss's home, to search for clues to her sister's whereabouts. After nearly getting caught by the security guards, Aaron helps her escape. She knows nothing about this man except that he killed a man a while back, is considered by some locals to be a thief, and was recently shot by an unknown assailant. Yet, when he tells her that he "can't" drive her back home tonight and that she "must" stay at his house with him, she goes along with him. Does this sound like a smart thing to do? Throughout the rest of the book, Aaron orders her around, and she blindly listens to him and does what he says. In fact, she falls hopelessly in love with him. Bearing in mind that all of the action takes place in a just a couple days, does any of this sound like the thoughts of a rational woman, supposedly looking for her sister?

That search for her sister, by the way, is basically forgotten as she gets more involved with Aaron's problems. Forgotten, as well, is the fact that she's supposed to be developing a story for her job. In fact, she doesn't ever get to that interview, she's too busy hiking through ruins and looking for archaeological treasures with Aaron. Along the way we learn a huge number of facts about the ancient Anasazi civilization, as well as the laws governing the lands on which their ruins may be found. We also learn that Anasazi artifacts can bring a high price, and that some people will stop at nothing in order to acquire them, whether through legal means or not.

OK - so all this goes on & on & on until finally there's only a few pages left in the book. That's when the author remembers her original story, and very quickly brings it all to a very unsatisfying closure.

I just can't believe how unlikable the characters in this book were! Christy, our protagonist acts like a stupid schoolgirl with her first crush, and completely betrays both her sister and her job. Even without that, I didn't like Christy from the beginning. Her reasons for the estrangement from her sister were ridiculous and petty, and it bothered me that she could abandon her younger sister for all those years. Family should have been more important to her, than her petty grievances.

Aaron is no more likable. He has one mission: figure out who shot him, and he doesn't care who gets hurt in the process. He has legitimate reasons for disliking Jo, but when he finds out that Christy is Jo's sister, he unfairly makes assumptions about Christy, assumptions that she's as selfish and as much of a user as Jo is.

Then there are assorted "bad guys". All of them written with exactly one dimension: Greed. They all do whatever they have to do in order to achieve their wealth. With complete disregard for other people, as well as for protected lands.

I'm trying very hard to come up with something positive to say about this book, but it's really just not possible. Starting out well enough, it quickly dissolves into a total mess. Oh wait - there is one good thing about this book - Aaron's dog, Moki. He's really cool! But other than that, this book is awful. Avoid it.



Recommended: No