The Heat of Betrayal is the latest novel to flow from the pen of best-selling author Douglas Kennedy. It is a story of adventure set mostly in Morocco with some good characters and a strong plot.
Accountant Robin is married to artist Paul. She is successful and level-headed where he is impulsive and extravagant but they seem happy. As Robin nears her fortieth birthday, her biological clock is ticking and she’s keen to have a baby.
When Paul suggests a holiday in Morocco, Robin agrees and they set off for a few weeks of sunshine and relaxation. As is often the case in Kennedy novels, ‘happenstance’ plays an important role. Here, when Paul disappears and Robin is suspected of harming him, her world changes utterly and suddenly turns very dangerous.
Fortunately Robin is brave, inventive and has the financial nous to get herself out of some sticky situations. As she looks for Paul, her path crosses some dodgy characters and she uncovers some unexpected secrets from Paul’s past.
Strong women in The Heat of Betrayal
Douglas Kennedy has the gift of creating strong women characters and presenting the world through their eyes. Robin is a good example and the other female characters in this novel are also believable and sympathetic.
If I have a quibble with The Heat of Betrayal, it is that I was not keen on the violence that Robin encounters in her quest to find Paul. But Kennedy sustains the tension right to the end of The Heat of Betrayal.
This is a novel with a strong plot and believable characters making for a thought-provoking page turner that is hard to put down. I liked The Heat of Betrayal more than Temptation and Five Days, both of which I thought were disappointing when compared to Kennedy’s earlier novels like A Special Relationship and The State of the Union. For me, The Heat of Betrayal is a return to top form for Douglas Kennedy. I enjoyed it.
[Disclosure: An advance copy of The Heat of Betrayal by Douglas Kennedy was made available via Netgalley for the purpose of this review]
See also: The Moment