Too Close to Home

by Maureen Tan

Brooke Tyler knows a thing or two about secrets. Growing up, she'd sworn to keep certain skeletons in the family closet. But her silence came at a heavy price, not the least of which was giving up the love of her life.

Today, Brooke is a small-town cop, sworn to uphold the law and uncover the truth. Until her latest investigation unearths another long-buried a dead body. And then others. A virtual killing field. As she delves into these murders, Brooke discovers more than she bargained for—that every secret she's ever kept was based on a lie….

Genres: Romance, Suspense, Contemporary, Romantic, Fiction, Ebooks, Modern

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 2006

About the author

Tan is the author of numerous articles, four fiction novels, and several short stories.

She is a consultant specializing in the science/technology and healthcare fields. Before beginning her consulting practice, she worked for the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and also served as a Public Affairs Officer for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Reviews

[Paschalis]

elibrary

[Kathleen B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Maureen Tan

I thought I had read everything by Maureen Tan, but somehow this one slipped past me. It was a delight to find it and read it.

[Saly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too Close to Home was written in first POV, it's been a while since I read it so it took some time but it was not bad. The book too was okay, I did have issued with it and how the heroine Brooke handled certain things.

Brooke's family has for years run the Underground circuit, that helps abused women disappear, on her first extraction her older but fragile sister(she was molested saving Brooke) killed a woman and Brooke helped cover it up. This is the reason she broke up with the man she loved Chad. Since, he's law enforcement and so is she.

A body is discovered in the woods, they think it is maybe Chad's mother, who his father killed while attempting to kill Chad. The book had a lot of moral dilemmas.

First, Brooke she tampered with evidence, she took a inhaler from the crime scene, hid the murder her sister did and then in the end also hid a serial-murderer. I especially found her foolish when she put her underground work above personal safety. Maybe I just don't understand higher goals, but in the book there were no consequences. Didn't think it was a romance.

[Falina · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is surprisingly gritty for a Silhouette -- I guess "Bombshell" is supposed to be a darker series. Too Close to Home features child abuse, murder, and a morally problematic ending, even for me, who likes heroes based on literary representations of Satan, and who openly has a crush on Hannibal Lecter. In a way, the very last line of the novel makes it seem as if conservative family values are offered to cancel out the problematic part -- hey, we're having a baby, so it's okay that _____ (I won't give it away).

At least the book has me thinking, instead of shrugging and moving on to the next one. Silhouettes and Harlequins (which are now apparently one and the same, and it seems I was the last to know) generally don't satisfy me-- they're not dark enough, not meaty enough. Too regulated. This one had that feel in a way, but also surprised me by being darker than I knew was possible under this publisher.