Unspeakable - Sandra Brown

Summary: Carl Herbold is a cold-blooded psychopath who has just escaped the penitentiary where he was serving a life sentence. Bent on revenge, he's going back to where he began--Blewer County, Texas...

Born deaf, lately widowed, Anna Corbett fights to keep the ranch that was her son's birthright, unaware that she is at the center of Herbold's horrific scheme--and that her world of self-imposed isolation is about to explode...

Drifter Jack Sawyer arrives at Anna's ranch asking for work, hoping to protect the innocent woman and her son from Herbold's rage. But Sawyer can't outrun the secrets that stalk him--or the day of reckoning awaiting them all... (Image and summary from Amazon.com)

My Review:
A Sandra Brown novel always provides three things:
1. Suspense
2. Romance
3. A fairly dependable happy ending.

Things that Ms. Brown should leave out of her novels:
1. Gratuitous gore.
2. Violence against animals.
3. Violence against children.

That being said, I have very mixed feelings about this novel. I have come to love the characters that Brown brings to life. I love the men that are protectors, very masculine and yet very compassionate (and passionate..but that is a whole other review).

I especially liked that the woman in the book was also a very strong person. She was born deaf and widowed young, before her husband could even see their son born. She perseveres through life, cutting out a niche for her and her young son.

Now, the hard part. I will not go into any detail, but I feel I need to warn possible readers that this book is a step beyond were the author usually goes with "graphic violence". If you have a hard time with animal cruelty, stay away. It is put in the story for, as far as I can tell, no reason beyond shock value. If you have a hard time with crimes against children, stay away. I find absolutely no point in this scene either. The horrible nature of the two criminals could have been conveyed in a much more tasteful way.

At one point I did actually consider putting the novel down. I am glad I did not, it ended up being a good enough story that I was able to get past the parts aforementioned. But, I would have been giving this book a higher rating if those scenes would not have occurred.

Filled with suspense, flushed with steamy romance, and rampant with twists and turns that seem to take on a life of their own. Unspeakable is another classic... I am thrilled to have it in my collection.....albeit their may be a little Sharpie action going on before I read it again.

My Rating: 3 Stars

Sum it up: When escaped convicts, widows, drifters, unsolved 20 year old murders, and retired sheriffs meet, something Unspeakable will this way come..........
(How is that for cheesy??)