Short but OK

The last couple of Iris Johansen books I have read disappointed me. Her publishers are reissuing some of her older books, which in many cases have not stood the test of time well. Notorious is more than 20 years old and might have fallen to a similar fate; fortunately, it doesn’t show its age too badly.

This is a short book. Although the page count of the story is 268 pages, with its fairly large font and wide line spacing, it feels more like 150 pages. Don’t expect this to take more than a couple of sittings to read.

As the story commences, beautiful actress Mallory Thane is the defendant in a murder trial; the victim was her husband, Ben. Mallory’s defense lawyer successfully secures an acquittal, leaving Mallory free to go but unsure whether she will ever get work as an actress again.

Ben’s brother, Sabin, whom she hadn’t met during her short marriage, appears at the trial, and she finds herself fascinated by him. When the trial finishes, she has a short conversation with him then finds herself with a new acting job in Sedikhan. She heads out there only to discover that she’s actually been almost kidnapped by Sabin. He think she owes her six months as his mistress; she hasn’t the faintest what he’s talking about.

The bulk of the book consists of the interactions between Sabin and Mallory and their power struggle (if it can be called that) as they learn about each other. Mallory, while appealing in some ways, is vapid in others. Sabin’s '90s male persona is less attractive in 2012 as he bullies Mallory.

Notorious is rather devoid of believable characterization, character growth, location description, and more--oh, and the sub-plot including a baddie isn’t exactly hard to solve. This is a reasonable quick read but nothing special.