Deliver Me from Evil

Bestseller Monroe delivers what could be her wildest and most entertaining novel yet. Greed, betrayal and murder intersect as Wade Eddie Fisher, who looks “like a low-income Lenny Kravitz,” and Christine Thurman, the wife of super-successful video store entrepreneur J.R. Thurman, devise a plan to fake her kidnapping, collect $500,000 and get her out of her marriage. (A pre-nup would leave her with nothing if she divorced.) But after the shoddy plan is put into action and creepy thug Jason Mack comes onboard, things quickly disintegrate. J.R. offers to pay double for Christine’s immediate and safe return, setting into motion among the conspirators murderous plots and double-crosses. The narrative is fun but suffers from repetitive exposition and unsympathetic characters, though their nasty (or pathetic, depending) natures create enough surprises to keep readers piqued till the end. (Sept.)