Desperate

Daniel Palmer has a knack for creating interesting and easy to read suspense/thrilliers using his trademark recipe - a mixture ordinary people exposed to extraordinary situations, common and present day fears, and of course a roller coaster, or two. Similar to HELPLESS and STOLEN, this book was easy to get into and the storyline keeps you hooked all the way through. I finished in about 3 sittings and only because I didn't have the time to finish it in one. I recommend this for your next cross country flight or a way to fill an afternoon. In DESPERATE, follow Anna and Gage, a couple that have been put together through extraordinary events, as they try to start a new family with an adoption from a a young and innocent surrogate, Lily. What starts off as a fairy tale for Gage and Anna, quickly begins to unravel as Gage gets a gift from Lily that pulls memories from his tragic past forward. He begins to question Lily and this drives a wedge between Anna and Gage because Anna fears that Lily will leave and take away their only opportunity to become parents again.

Desperate was an exceptionally captivating book that I read in one day. Full of twists and turns that kept me reading to find out what was going to happen next. Full of surprises. The characters were well developed and believable. I did find it hard to believe that Gage would become a criminal instead of coming clean with Anna. That was a huge change for the character. I would give this book a 4 and 1/2 rating.

This is mainly a domestic thriller, with bad guys and a bit of cops-and-robbers type action thrown in toward the last half, and a final twist. You do have to keep a lid on your disbelief in a few places - a number of the decisions made seem to reflect a serious error in judgment, although this overall issue is somewhat explained away near the end, so it's not a complete loose end. People who read frequently from this genre may be able to see where it's going after the first half. I'm not such a person, and it was reasonably suspenseful, although the space between plot turns sometimes seemed overly long. The pacing was even, but the pacing was quite slow. Generally, it was a moderately enjoyable and somewhat memorable read with a few page-turning sections.

I don't often review books because I hate to repeat the synopsis of a book that everyone else has already touched on, but I have to tell you how much I loved this book! Desperate is full of suspense along with unexpected twists and turns and a surprise ending that I didn't see coming...AT ALL. Some parts of the book dragged just a bit, and others were a little far-fetched, but the surprise ending made it worth every second. I had trouble putting this one down from about a third of the way through to the very end. I even read the acknowledgements which I normally don't bother with. The final twist was so unexpected I immediately wanted to start reading it again to see how I missed it. Fantastic book! I think I've said it before, but Daniel Palmer now has now cemented his spot in my must-read author list along with Lisa Gardner, Karin Slaughter, and Harlan Coben. These four need only put their name on a book to convince me to buy it immediately without even knowing the plot. This book is the perfect example of why I love reading.

This book had me guessing all the way through. Being the genius I am, I had it figured out at least ten times. Or more. And was wrong each time for a new record. Loved the characters, even the bad guys. I never tell anything about the book or the story itself because all someone reading this needs to know is how it makes you feel when you read it.......the answer is great! Was hard to put the book down when life got in the way. Love the writing style, the characters, the intrigue.......

INCREDIBLE -- SHOCKING -- TERRIFYING !!!!!!!!!!!! OMG -- I CANNOT ADEQUATELY PRAISE THIS BOOK AND ITS BRILLIANT AUTHOR. THE MOST EXCITING BOOK I'VE EVER READ, AND I'VE READ THOUSANDS. IT'S A GOOD THING IT WAS ON KINDLE BECAUSE IT HAD ME SHAKING FAR TOO MUCH TO HOLD A BOOK. HOWEVER, I WAS SO ENTHRALLED, I BEGAN TO WORRY ABOUT THE COMPUTER CRASHING! IT WAS 3AM -- WHERE COULD I IMMEDIATELY GET A NEW COMPUTER? BECAUSE I COULD NOT --COULD NOT POSSIBLY STOP READING !!!!! I LOVE A BOOK WITH A SURPRISE ENDING. WELL, AT ABOUT PAGE 260 IT SEEMED THE STORY WAS OVER, BUT THERE WERE ALMOST 100 PAGES LEFT. WHAT WOULD THEY BE??? AND THEN THE SHOCKS STARTED COMING, ONE AFTER ANOTHER AFTER ANOTHER!!! BODY AND MIND SLAMS THAT WERE UNIMAGINABLE!!!! NO-ONE COULD GUESS ANY OF THEM !!!! THERE IS DEFINITELY SOMETHING VERY WRONG WITH ANYONE WHO DOESN'T LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING MASTERPIECE OF THRILLS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I tried this book because an author that I like, Harlen Coben, recommended it. While the premise was interesting, most of the book was painfully drawn-out. The description of why the husband's job was important and cutting-edge could have been summed up in about 3 sentences, but it took pages. And the author kept going back to the point, just in case we forgot. The relationship between husband and wife seemed very unrealistic to me - they married so soon after meeting and with all the odd things happening around them, the husband is the only one who recognized the events as odd. About the 5th or 6th fight they had over differing views made me skip to the end of the book - something I never do. The ending was interesting enough, although exceedingly unlikely. The chances of everything going EXACTLY the way they needed to go to reach an outcome are so astronomically slim that it took the fun out of even the ending. I disliked every character, and I won't be reading any more of Mr. Palmer's offerings.

I couldn't put it down. It's a great read with all the twists and turns.

Am half way through reading this tense and sometimes dark novel. American adoption rules well researched. He is as good a writer as his father, Michael Palmer, was.

I liked it.