ARA Review by hoges02 of The Savage Surrogate

[hoges02]

[Following is an OnlineBookClub.org ARA Review of the book, The Savage Surrogate.]

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4 out of 5 stars

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Review – The Savage Surrogate – 4 out of 5 Stars
The Savage Surrogate is, I understand, the third of a trilogy written by Dorothy M Mercer around Juliette McBride and her husband, Mike. I have not had the pleasure of meeting them previously, so I am not aware of the back story. Mike McBride is a US senator; Juliette works in television.

There are three strands to this story. Mike, as a Senator, is concerned with issues around surrogacy, where one woman carries another woman’s baby, and has initiated a Senate Inquiry at the insistence of his secretary. Secondly, Mike is also concerned about the maladministration of Carson City, because of the impact it has on the lives of citizens there, particularly his family and friends. Juliette, on the other hand, (and this is the third strand) is frantic to find her very good friend, Fran, who has been abducted from the streets of Washington DC.

Mike spends most of the time in Carson City, where he helps to solve a murder that he believes is connected to a mysterious facility being built by the mayor. Juliette, acting on information from a Mr. Who, (who, I infer, figures prominently in previous books), sets off with her dog, Lady, to Hong Kong, then through Oman before returning dejected to the States. Meanwhile, in a location called the Savage Center, Fran is subjected to medical procedures aimed at turning her into a brood mare for rich clients wanting children. Although high tech scientifically, the centre is a high security, degrading place, like a Nazi concentration camp.

I gave The Savage Surrogate four out of five stars. It is a well written, easy to read story; the dialogue is natural and believable. The premise of the story, surrogacy, is, in itself, significant morally and legally. The story is well paced. One is kept wondering how the three strands of the story will come together. The use of exotic locations, Hong Kong, and Oman, add interest. The characters are easy to identify with, being pretty ordinary people rather than all-knowing superhero types. Particularly in relation to Fran’s experience, there are periods of intense emotion. There is a minimum of romance with allusions to a caring relationship between the spouses.

My reservation is that I would have liked to see a more gradual resolution of the mystery. Things build up nicely, and suddenly it is all over. The resolution is credible and unusual. However, it is as though the author had a word limit and waved a magic wand to bring it in on target. I can’t be more specific without giving away the climax.

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