Book Review: "Turn Back the Night" by Jennifer Drew

*Get the book on Amazon here*

Jennifer Drew is the pen name for a mother-daughter writing team. This is a relief, since I cannot imagine just one person could come up with a romance novel this unromantic. I got this paperback in a box of books I bought from a local recycling center. It mentioned a ghost hunter on the back, so I figured this might be a cut above some of the pulp Harlequin/Silhouette is known to publish. I was wrong.

Dawn is a Chicago resident who goes to visit her sister Laura in the boonies of rural Wisconsin. Dawn is an antiques mall manager and dealer, and her business partner's name is Jane. Laura's husband Gary is away on business in Japan, leaving Laura in a large country farmhouse on her own. All of the aforementioned facts pelt the reader in the first two pages of exposition. Also staying at the house is a psychologist, Aaron. It seems Laura heard some strange noises one night, and immediately called Aaron to investigate the paranormal phenomenon. Dawn is immediately suspicious of Aaron's motives, but attracted to Aaron. Aaron is just trying to help Laura, but is attracted to Dawn. Laura is a worrywart, and doesn't have a clue. The following one hundred pages are an absolute waste of paper. Aaron investigates, Dawn is suspicious of everything, yet the two kiss and fall in love. The grand finale is scareless and predictable.

One of the many problems is that Aaron, Dawn, and Laura are the only characters for dozens of pages, and they are not interesting enough to read about. The authors also have an irritating way of switching points of view, even on the same page, so you are reading about Dawn's sexy summer outfit, her ability to bid well at auctions, and her thick brown facial hair- before realizing Dawn is now describing Aaron. Another annoyance: one character will ask a simple question like "do you really believe in ghosts?", and by the time the characters bombard the reader with their internal thoughts, everyone's clothing is described, vocal inflections are analyzed, and the two lovers make goo-goo eyes at each other, someone answers "I can't answer that question," and you must turn back the page to remind yourself what the original query was in the first place. "Turn Back the Night" is one hundred and eighty five pages of hot air. I had a relative who used to plow through this type of novel in a couple of hours, it took me three weeks to read this.