The Cove by Catherine Coulter

FBI Thriller #1

by Catherine Coulter

Sally St. John Brainerd seeks sanctuary from authorities who want to question her about her father's murder in picturesque town The Cove "Home of the World's Greatest Ice Cream". FBI Special Agent James Quinlan goes undercover. James and Sally find two corpses, Sally vanishes, and agent Savich must rescue partner. James is key to a murder, but whose?

Genres: Mystery, Romance, Thriller, Suspense, Fiction, Romantic Suspense, Mystery Thriller

Audio CD

First published April 1, 1996

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

I remembered reading some Catherine Coulter books in my early teens (when finding my grandma's hidden romance novels and reading them under my blankets was still cool), and I think I enjoyed them at the time. So, when I found this in a box of books I thought it might be good at least for a little frivolous reading. Unfortunately, she doesn't hold up well with age. The Cove manages to detail fantastically improbable events while being unbelievably BORING. Sally was insipid, James was cardboard, and despite the fact that I read the book last night I had to look up their names to write this review. The Cops and FBI Agents violate so many basic procedures of law enforcement that it crosses the line into the absurd. Worst of all, it perpetuates insulting stereotypes - just because a person is gay does not mean they have AIDS. If that little gem hadn't come at the very end, it would probably have been what tossed the book into the DNF pile.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whew, I had a blast from the past reading this backlist title from Catherine Coulter’s FBI thriller series. I’ve nearly gotten to all the books and it’s been fun, quite honestly, working my way back in time and seeing how writing styles have changed over the decades. In this one, Sally, the daughter of an important man in Washington, runs away after her father’s murder. She can’t remember what happened that night… just that her father has abused her and her mother for years… and that she has creepy memories of being institutionalized for reasons she can’t understand. People are after Sally, but figuring out who and why is up to Dylan Savich (yay! Now I want to see where we meet Sherlock 😊) and special agent James Quinnlan. This was a fun one, with SPOOKY twists as we got to the end. Wasn’t expecting that one!

Trigger Warnings: sexual assault

[Steven Walle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this detective novle very much. There were a lot of twists and turns. I will give you a full review later.
I highly recommend this one.
Enjoy and Be Blessed.
Diamond

[Luisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow...not sure where to begin. I found this book to be pretty silly. I mean, a town of senior citizens murdering seemingly-wealthy tourists to get their money to repair the town? How would no one in the town feel guilty about that earlier on? The twist about the father having plastic surgery (on himself and some poor victim) to disguise the fact that he hadn't really been murdered was good. Overall, though, I found all the twists and turns to be implausible and too sordid for my taste--especially the whole bit about it being the [fake] father who was sexually and physically abusing Sally in the fake sanitarium. My other main issues were: 1. the two main characters fell in love too fast, especially since they were both part of strange relationships previously; 2. how would Aunt Amabel fall in love with her sister's abusive husband?; and 3. during almost every discussion of the fact that Sally's husband was gay, they also discussed how they had taken precautions to make sure Sally wouldn't get HIV, as if every gay man is HIV-positive. Way to perpetuate harmful stereotypes. Yes, it was written in '96, but still. Oh well, based on the average rating, other readers seemed to enjoy it, so maybe I'm too picky.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better editing, with less repetition and unnecessary repeated violence would have at minimum improved this story by a full star. 6.5 of 10 stars

[Cookie · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is so much about this book that is bad that I can't even review it fully. 

Susan "Sally" St. John is running from everyone after escaping an institution where she has been involuntarily committed for a mental breakdown. She also, possibly, killed her father. FBI agent, James Whatshisface, I dunno his name, I've forgotten, is tasked with tracking her down so that he can get to the bottom of the murder. Sally lands in "The Cove", seeking refuge with an estranged Aunt (because law enforcement would never investigate estranged family members) and they both figure that she can really fool everyone if she just wears a black wig.  

FBI agent James shows up in "The Cove" and immediately is on to stealthy Sally. There's something about her idiocy that is irresistible and he practically falls in love with her on the spot -- putting him in quite a pickle.

The mystery ensues, new people are killed, the questions keep pouring in.

I can't decide what I hated more - the dialogue or the characters?

The dialogue is cringe-worthy:

"James, you're wonderful. Even in all this mess, you can laugh and make me laugh and you weren't angry that I poked a gun in your stomach and stole your car. I had to just ditch the car, James. Then I bought the motorcycle. I had to get away. I think if you could forget who you are and come to Bar Harbor with me, everything would be better than what it's going to be soon. I used to love life, James, before - well that's not important right now."

The characters are stupid, flat and poorly drawn. For example, when 'Sally' needs clothing because she's fleeing in the middle of the night in a hospital gown, an FBI agent buys her apparel from the children's section by mistake. Consequently, her pants are 'very tight' and her shirt barely buttons allowing many opportunities for shenanigans.

Also, Coulter seems to think that creating characters that are FBI agents means that they have carte blanche to just do whatever in the hell they want - jaunt half-way across the country without checking in, steal witnesses and cozy them away in personal retreats, chase down random motorcycles and threaten them at gunpoint... the list goes on.

And don't get me started on the bad guys who are practically twirling their mustaches. Oh, the number of villains in this, not just henchman mind you, are in the double digits. This is possible thanks to the many, many absurd sub-plots that make this novel painfully long.

The ending was completely over the top and I didn't even care because I was so relieved it was over. As it stands today, this series has 20 books in it. On one hand, I get that this is written in 1996 and in many ways it is a product of it's era, but on the other hand, this book is crap and I can't believe that her style would turn around drastically enough to make me want to read another entire installment, let alone 18 after that.

[Stefanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was recommended this series by this author, but I have to say it was rough. I wasn’t expecting that at all. I love a good mystery and I’ve heard good things about Catherine Coulter, but guys, this book was a hard one to get through.
The writing was inconsistent and amateur in a lot of places, which I found surprising for such a well-known author. The dialogue seemed unnatural and forced in a lot of areas as well. Plus, James and Sally (or Susan... the author liked to switch that up a lot, which added another layer of confusion), had a romance in the midst of everything, which seemed so sudden and random. Not that you can’t have the fall-in-love-at-first-sight storyline going on, but the romance between these two felt rushed and like it was just thrown in there to keep a reader attached to the characters.
I liked the aspect of two mysteries going on at once, keeping you engaged and trying to solve two different things, but they were very far-fetched in my opinion. It all just came across as strange and unusual as I read through the stories and then everything was revealed and wrapped up in the end.
I’ve been told to keep reading because this series gets better, but I honestly don’t know if I want to try. Yikes.
I don’t like giving a book a negative review, it hurts my heart a little, but I’m always honest with my reviews and this is truly how I felt about this one.

[Terri Puckett · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really need to change my habits and learn to toss a stupid book. This was AWFUL. My mom suggested I read Catherine Coulter for a "light, fast read". It was light alright. The characters are all morons. The dialogue is overly wordy and downright childish. This book had two plots and both were absolutely ridiculous. SPOILER - a whole town of elderly mass murderers?!? Geez. I'll have to give my mom some grief about this. I'm hoping given the number of books that this woman has written, that I just picked the first and the worst?

[Izzah ꒰Duchess of Cabria ಇ ⭑✧ ᴏɴ ᴘᴀᴛʀᴇᴏɴ ✧ ⋆꒱ · Rating 3 out of 5]

What the hell did I even read?


Me: *finishes reading* 👁️👄👁️

Book: So? ✨

Me: *trying to ascertain what's reality and what's fiction* What the hell even happened? Why did everyone feel as if they were human-adjacent?

Book: 👁️👅👁️

Me: *rocking back and forth in a fetal position* I need medication.
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🕮⋆˚࿔✎𓂃 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬
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[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Cove by Catherine Coulter
Book #1 on FBI Thriller
2 Stars

Synopsis:
Sally Brainerd is on the run from an FBI agent, who believes she has information about her father’s murder, and from a sadistic doctor who wants to keep her quiet. She seeks sanctuary in a picturesque town called the Cove but strange things are happening there and the townsfolk are not what they seem. What is really going on in Sally’s life?

Review:
This is one of the worst plots I have ever read. It is ridiculously implausible and becomes seriously confusing with numerous disorienting transitions in location. The dialogue is stilted and the characters are like card board cutouts with no real development. The female lead is idiotic. Really, how many times can the same woman be abducted? She seems to be on a really slow learning curve. Even her name is puzzling – is she Sally or Susan?
I will not be continuing with the series.

[Jenny · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Cove is about a young girl Susan Brandon who after the murder of her father mother run away to her Aunt Amabel who runs an Ice Creamery at The Cove. FBI Agent James Railey Quinlan who was looking for Susan to help the FBI in their investigation. Susan thought she was safe with her Aunt and FBI Agent James Railey Quinlan thought his assignment was over. However, it was not the case. The readers of The Cove will follow the twist and turns to see what happens to Susan and FBI Agent James Railey Quinlan.

I finished this book. However, I am not sure that I enjoyed it. For me, The Cove plot was slow, and a little bit weird. I did like the twist that Catherine Coulter put into The Cove. However, I did not like the way Catherine Coulter portrayed her main characters. Readers of The Cove will learn about how law enforcement work undercover. Also, the readers of The Cove will learn about running an ice creamery.

I do recommend this book if you enjoy a crime thriller with a difference.

[Gina · Rating 5 out of 5]

UNPUTDOWNABLE! You know, I try not to use that word very often, cause I'm a sucker for a really good book. This one... was totally awesome! The way the characters play with the mind of the main character, Sally, in turn, Coulter's playing with the reader's as well, and I love how she twisted that in the story. Coulter worded her story so precisely that I could actually see this happening in real life, and that's the way a good book should be written. I love how Sally and James come together in this story, and how both used their gut instincts, something I usually do myself. There was enough twists, plots, action and suspense that I really could not put this book down. Highly recommended as an awesome, UNPUTDOWNABLE read! Crystal, I can't thank you enough for turning me to Catherine Coulter! You were right! I enjoyed it immensely!

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read one or two of Catherine Coulter's FBI series, here and there. I enjoyed the ones I read, and I know they hit the NYT bestseller list, so I thought I would start at the beginning and read it all the way through to the present. I still intend to that, because I know they get better as they go along. However, this was a rocky start IMO.
First of all, Catherine Coulter was known at the time this book was published as being primarily a historical romance author. If this was her first foray into other genres, I can be forgiving about some of the most outrageous plot lines I have read in a long time.
Sally, escapes from being help captive, and runs to her Aunt's home. We are not given the details to start off with in regards to where Sally was being held and why. We only know she believes she is protecting her mother after her father was murdered. She doesn't remember the details of the night he was killed, but she knows she was there.
FBI agent James Quinlan, is after Sally. He just wanted to find out what happened the night her father was murdered. He thought she might show up at her Aunt's home, located in "The Cove". A quaint, picturesque community that's just a little too perfect. He tells everyone that he's investigating the disappearance of a couple that passed through The Cove three years ago, and has never been seen since. The cover was an actual case, and when he started asking questions, he knew he had stumbled onto something sinister. Meanwhile, he has his hands full with Sally. She had just started to trust him when they both attacked and Sally was kidnapped... again.
There are two mysteries here, both of which are really, really, really farfetched. It's just too incredible. The book started out pretty good. But, by the halfway point it had turned ridiculous. There is of course romance between James and Sally, and everything is explained in the end, and they live happily ever after. If you ever decided to read this series start to finish, be prepared for a sub-par beginning. But, don't give up on the series, it does get better with age.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-read.

This one was good, but they certainly get better! Dillon Savich was here, but he had not met Lacey Sherlocke yet. That's next in "The Maze." I am going to that one now. Oh yes, now the real fun begins!!!

[Ira · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an ok read but certainly couldn't come close as good as in Death series, sigh..

[Vintage · Rating 1 out of 5]

When will I learn? I liked CC's Night Shadow which has a winsome and kickass heroine that wins the bad boy manwhore plus a whole plethora of cute kids that defy plot moppet status. He’s a rake, and the book is rather erotic with no icky sex scenes. The same can not be said about Night Fire and Night Storm. In one the heroine is subjected to an older husband who rapes her and grossly sexually abuses her, and the hero in the other is a complete and total A-hole. And I just gave The Final Cut a 4 star review, but then CC did have a co-author so kudos for some added sanity.

SPOILERS ahead, woo hoo, so hold on to your hats.

What I’m trying to get to is that Catherine Coulter is an accomplished and well published author, so how in the hell did she get this hot mess of yucky squirmy worms in the bottom of barrel published? No holds were barred in grossness, creepiness or outlandish storyline. Excuse me, TWO storylines because it’s not enough to have the heroine on the run because she thought she may have murdered her abusive, wife beating father and run from her unsympathetic, duplicitous (and homosexual) husband as well as the evil doctor that placed her in a sanatorium where she was drugged, beaten and sexually abused by …her father. Or is he her father?

No, the other storyline is she runs to her aunt in a small, Stepford-like town where the elderly people have been offing other elderly and well-off tourists in order to keep the town going. There is a Best Ever Ice Cream Shop with a secret ingredient that CC thankfully spares us from pondering what could be the secret ingredient. Cough, Soylent Green, cough. No, but still, I am surprised that… well never mind.

Anyhoo, there she meets the attractive FBI agent who is posing as a PI to investigate the missing people, or is he there because he’s investigating her? I don’t know, and I don’t care because I was using my superhero skimming powers by then and it was page…what…4?

Bottom line, I wasted a couple of hours of time where I could be reading other drivel. This is a one star for sure in terms of ridiculous plots, wooden writing, poor transitions, stupid characters, but it is worth a browse for the complete and total WTF-ery that can get published.

[Dyana · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was my first Catherine Coulter book and very disappointing. I found the story line ridiculous and the writing was amateurish with horrible dialogue. It was a convoluted story or, I should say, stories, as there were many subplots. Sally Brainerd escapes from a mental institution where she was put after finding her father (a wife beater and arms dealer) murdered, and James Quinlan is the FBI agent hot on her trail. She ends up in the Cove, a quaint little picture postcard town that sells the World's Greatest Ice Cream. It turns out everyone in town (only senior citizens reside there) is a serial killer. Dr. Beadermeyer is a plastic surgeon turned psychiatrist in charge of the sanitorium. Everyone who works for him is a sadist. The only believable and funny character is Dillon Savich, another FBI agent. Need I say more? - pass this book up.

[Petra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Outlandish storyline. Cardboard characters fulfilling every cliché possible. Could have been shortened by hours if previous actions hadn't been retold again and again. Stilted dialog.

[☼♎ Carmen the Bootyshaker Temptress ☼♎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow what a screwed up family and crimes. I’m not even sure what is worse but I enjoyed the book. LOL

[Karen · Rating 1 out of 5]

There is so much I dislike about this book that I can't take the time to write it. It was ok until about the middle when the first plot was pretty much resolved. The second plot (the old people in the town killing everyone and getting away with it) was just plain stupid. The characters were irritating and their actions were even more so. I agree with another commenter who mentioned the hair trigger on the gun--if it was so sensitive (mentioned at least twice) why did Quinlan casually toss it in the backseat of the car?

It felt as if the book was written by two different people or maybe I just wasn't paying as much attention during the first half. When the author has resolved the mystery I don't want them to repeat it over and over again (Beadermeyer explained, her father explained, the FBI agents explained, etc.) I got it the first time.

I didn't even read the last few pages. Couldn't bear to.

[Kristi · Rating 1 out of 5]

FINALLY I am done reading this book. Only my personal rule to finish all the books I start kept me going. This read like a bad soap opera to me. It took SO long for anything to happen, and the dialog was very repetitive. The only good thing I can say is that the ending did tie up all the ends.

[Irene · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a totally far-fetched mash up of a hunt for a psychopathic killer and a romance. The further I read, the more ridiculous the plot and the cheesier the dialogue became. 1.5 stars

[Lynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book a long time ago from PaperBackSwap and having no recollection what it was about, I put it in my bag as an option to read while I was in Texas. As it turned out, I read frequently when I was in Texas. I really miss reading a couple books a week and hope this will kick-start me on reading again.

The Cove is a small town Sally escapes to after the murder of her father. She doesn’t remember what happened that night, but she very well may have killed him. Or perhaps her mother killed him. Either way, both she and her mother are safest if Sally runs away. At least that’s what she thinks. An FBI agent named James Quinlan easily tracks down Sally and begins to work his magic on her trying to put together the pieces of the puzzle leading up to her father’s murder. In the meantime, strange things happen in The Cove which can’t easily be explained and James finds he has another mystery on his hands.

My description probably sounds boring, but this book was anything but. The pace is quick, which I’ve discovered I prefer in books. The mysteries are plentiful and kept me guessing. Sometimes I had aspects of it figured out and other times I was shocked to discover the truth. Overall, it was a pretty good suspense book with a little romance thrown in for good measure.

[Lisa (Harmonybites) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Coulter is a romance writer that has broken out into the mainstream; this book was found in the mystery section. Blessedly, the book lacked the romance genre's purple prose descriptions of the protagonists, but it did have a bad habit of head-hopping that by Chapter Four was seriously getting on my nerves. However, the book also had an intriguing mystery that was pulling me in and had me firmly hooked by Chapter Ten. Unfortunately, the plot holes kept growing until they became a yawing plot gorge. To give one example not a spoiler, the hero, an FBI agent, more than once talked about how his gun was on a hair-trigger. Then, without any mention of unloading it after taking it away from someone, he "tosses" it into the car. Time and time again he and his partner ignore the law and act recklessly and irresponsibly. Eventually little and not so little things like that piled up, the story lost credibility with me, and I stopped reading about half way through and skipped to the end--the resolution of the mystery was silly. This is also the second novel out of six read so far on a romance novel recommendation list where the heroine was involuntarily committed for mental illness by her husband and is on the run to avoid being sent back. (Sweet Nothings is the other.) Is this something common in the romance genre or what? Part of the FBI Thriller series--I'm going to pass on the rest.

[Thea Kane · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book - romance, mystery, FBI... most of the things I like in a novel. The writing started off okay, but the plot was very weak and the characters thin. I don't like it when an author has to prove to me that they did research - for example, having a character talk about something that has nothing to do with the story but is a casual reference to a place or person that is mentioned. For example, Quinlan refers to an element of "the extensive 12-week FBI training at Quantico" at least three times. Really? A career fibber is going to talk about his training that much to a civilian?

This book read as a classic first book - lots of set-up seemingly disconnected, limited character development, then too-rapid conclusion that had no interesting twists or turns and introduces about 8 new characters in the last 50 pages. There were so many annoying little things as well - the habit of always referring to a character's first and last names, few scenic aspects, disjointed dialog, repetitive plot points. How many times did Sally flashback to her mother's abuse? Really?

I won't even get into the ridiculous ending and how absurd the entire story was. I should have stopped after chapter 5 because it was just so ridiculous. How is this woman even an author?

[Marina · Rating 1 out of 5]

So bad. had nothing else to read over thanksgiving and picked this up. thin characters, predictable (yet outrageously impossible) plot, and mediocre writing

[Debrac2014 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This mystery thriller had so many twists and turns, at times I didn't know which end was up! The story had lots of interesting characters, people who were not who they seemed to be! I enjoyed it!

[Tiffany PSquared · Rating 2 out of 5]

I chose this book on a whim to have something playing in the background while I did some pretty intense house cleaning. Although it was good as "background noise", I am not enticed to continue the series.

It got pretty hokey fairly early on. Nowhere in the neighborhood of believable at almost any point, so don't go into this one without a healthy ability to suspend your disbelief.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book so much! I figured out what was going on but it was a definite page-turner.

[fleurette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have once read a book in this series Eleventh Hour and I wasn't impressed. This one was slightly better but still I read some greater ones.

The romance part was rather poor and totally undeveloped. The idea of insta love and 'I don't know you but would you marry me' was more annoying than grabbing. I just couldn't believe in any feeling between Sally and James who were completely strangers to each other.

I enjoyed the suspense part a little more. Although, it was definitely unrealistic an unbelievable. Still, both mystery parts were interesting enough to keep me reading this book.

Three stars for being a quick and easy read but more like two and a half.