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Jared Snow is a country, late-night, DJ in Rhode Island, with a voice that is liquid sex appeal, a voice that keeps women up way past their bedtimes just to hear him announce another set by Garth, Reba, and the Judds. Heart of the Night is the story of three of those female listeners: Savannah Smith and her fraternal twin sister Susan, and their good friend Megan VanderMeer. Savannah is a type-A, hard-working assistant to the Attorney General. Susan is a divorced high-society woman with a not-quite serious drinking problem and not much to do with her copious free time. The sibling rivalry between the two is never far from the surface, although neither woman will admit to the feelings. Megan VanderMeer is a woman very concious of the difference between where she came from and where she is now, at least in terms of social class and money, and even more aware that her husband has mismanaged the family business just about into bankruptcy. Megan is kidnapped. Her husband Will appeals to Savannah to help find Megan, without calling in the police. Savannah calls in some chips to get unofficial police help; one of those chips is an undercover cop named Sam Craig. She also calls Susan to come stay with Will, because he is too distraught to be left alone and Savannah doesn't have enough hours in the day to stay with Will and try to find Megan. Sam and Susan don't get along . . . which (as most readers of romance know) means that Sam and Susan will get along extremely well by the end of the book. Something in the ransom note gives Savannah reason to believe that the kidnapper(s) have some connection to 95.3 FM, WCIC. She goes to the station to ask Jared Snow for help, and the attraction is immediate, intense, and mutual. Both Savannah and Jared have histories which make them reluctant to get involved, and both are very aware of the pressures which come with their respective careers. Savannah is very driven to find Megan. This doesn't happen. The ransom is paid, and Megan is returned alive but she has been brutalized (euphemism for raped many times, in many ways) by her kidnappers. Savannah is now driven to find the kidnappers and see justice done. Megan is, for quite some time and quite understandably, not interested in doing what needs to be done to help the police find the men who tortured her, since this includes going over everything that happened to her many, many times. Eventually, a combination of events bring her to the point where the anger gives her the strength and courage to talk about it all. In the meantime, Sam and Susan are doing the courthship dance. He's not comfortable with her money. She doesn't like the dangers inherent in his job. He doesn't like her drinking as much as she does. She's bored when he's not around, and she drinks more when she's bored. All of these sub-plots are connected to each other, and there are a few more sub-plots I haven't even mentioned. By the end of the book, it looks like everyone lives reasonably happily ever after. I enjoyed this book, in a very lukewarm sort of way. The suspense wasn't very high. The conflicts, both inter-personal and plot-connected, were such that there was no doubt they'd be resolved. The big twist, having to do with Megan and the kidnappers, is a surprise only to the characters in the book. This book nevers gets far out of "tepid" range, and the potential for greater heat is certainly there. Even the obligatory sex scenes are pretty blah. I was very grateful that Megan's rapes were not graphically described. I've been more involved, as a reader, in suspense/romances by writers who are not nearly as well-known as Ms. Delinsky.
Reviewed by P.J. Coldren, April 2003
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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