Official Review: Inescapable ~ Tomorrow by Madge H Gressley

[Manang Muyang]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Inescapable ~ Tomorrow" by Madge H Gressley.]

---

2 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

ORCA, a Dubai company, is still celebrating the successful launch of its underwater habitat, the Bio Dome in the Pacific Ocean off Peru. Its next monumental housing project is going to be "out of this world." CEO Asad Damji once again offers the helm for the project to Brad Daniels, owing to Brad's engineering success with the Bio Dome. But this new job has dangers unknown.

Before taking on the job, Brad hurries off to Morocco to wed the love of his life, Darcey. A wealthy man close to the couple offers to foot the bill for the fairytale wedding. Darcey gets to finally meet her unknown maternal grandmother who is set to make her heiress to the family riches. These are all good developments. The negative is in discovering that she also has a depraved estranged uncle, her deceased mother’s brother Ahmed, who will stop at nothing to wrest the family fortune from Darcey.

Will the couple find their “happy ever after”? Will Ahmed succeed in his evil quest? Will Brad want to leave his beleaguered bride for the new job that will take him to uncharted territory?

Tomorrow is the third installment in the Inescapable series by Madge H. Gressley, a series that blends the science fiction, thriller and romance genres. In this book, Gressley takes her protagonists, Texans Brad Daniels and Darcey Callahan, to Morocco, Dubai, and other surprise destinations.

Tomorrow is easy to read; the characters’ musings and conversations give the reader a good grasp of what happened before. However, I still recommend a short synopsis of the first two books to ensure that the reader starts the book with a proper background.

The wedding in the Moroccan ranch aptly named Mon Reve (French for "my dream") is every girl’s dream. Women will find great enjoyment in the nuptial arrangements depicted by Gressley; would-be grooms may want to hide the book from their fiancees, though. For the men, the action and fight scenes will raise their adrenaline and will keep their eyes glued to the book. A casual reader will breeze through the book and close it with a satisfied sigh.

However, being a picky reader, I found things to gripe about. The romance aspect was endearing enough, but the love scenes tended to be monotonous. The author kept using the phrases "there was no air to breathe," "she felt hot and cold at the same time," and "their pulsating connection." At least none of the love scenes were too steamy to cause discomfort.

I agree with Doris Day that “everybody loves a lover.” But the author seemed to want all the characters to have romantic partners; the matchmaking became tedious.

The author uses a secondary character to ensure that Darcey is kept safe. It is difficult to believe in the character’s commitment to that task and more difficult to accept all the coincidences that consistently put him in the right place at the right time. This character also conveniently disappears with no explanation after his job is done.

The villain Ahmed, supposedly feared and wily, made decisions that were unlikely and even foolish. The heroin stash was left unguarded, murder instructions were given in the hotel men’s room without checking for witnesses, and bungling assassins were picked. I was also surprised that even the technical team of engineers and data analysts were made to take up weapons to defend ORCA. They were armed and trained in barely a couple of days! Brad also proved to be an able marksman, felling enemies while talking over his commlink. (That's great multitasking, but it's not realistic.)

Moreover, there are superfluous scenes which may be done away with to enliven the pace. The visit to the pawnshop, the parade of bridal gowns, and the shopping sprees are some.

Lastly, the grammar needs a lot more work. The author has to watch her punctuation, spelling, verb tense and number, and word choice. The author also misuses some Spanish words. (I do appreciate the language lessons; now I have an arsenal of cuss words in Espanol and French!)

I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. Tightening of the plot, more creative words for the love scenes, and careful editing are recommended. Right now, romance and thriller fans will find the book okay. With the required fine-tuning, it’ll be much better tomorrow.

******
Inescapable ~ Tomorrow
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on Smashwords

Like Miriam Molina's review? Post a comment saying so!

[Debjani Ghosh]

Right now, romance and thriller fans will find the book okay.

I am a romance and thriller fan but with so many inconsistencies and "divine" coincidences in the plot along with grammatical errors, I am pretty sure I'm not going to fall for this book. Thanks for the thorough review!

[Marissa Michael]

I'm not really into the storyline so I will have to pass this one. Thanks for your candid review.

[Helen_Combe]

Great review. The sci-fi part sounds fascinating but I’d prefer to skip the romance and the wedding plans. I once read a book where every single character got married to another character. I vowed never again to read a book with an even number of characters.

[Manang Muyang]

The first two books have good Amazon ratings. I was afraid the author would find my rating shocking. I hope she has recovered.

Thank you, girls, for the visit. (Deb, I hope I'm not mistaking you for a girl.)

[Cecilia_L]

I agree with Doris Day that “everybody loves a lover.” But the author seemed to want all the characters to have romantic partners; the matchmaking became tedious.

I really dislike this type of forced romance, however, I did enjoy your excellent review.

[kfwilson6]

"okay" is not much of an endorsement. I don't care for the mediocrity you seem to be described. It seemed to have such potential...
Excellent review as always. Going to pass until some cleanup is done.

[Robert Magori123]

Commendable review work done ,besides if grammatical errors are corrected ;definitely it is a book to recommend to avid readers.

[Manang Muyang]

I agree with Doris Day that “everybody loves a lover.” But the author seemed to want all the characters to have romantic partners; the matchmaking became tedious.

I really dislike this type of forced romance, however, I did enjoy your excellent review.

I think the author wants everyone to be happy. Don't we all?

Thanks for the kind words!

[Manang Muyang]

"okay" is not much of an endorsement. I don't care for the mediocrity you seem to be described. It seemed to have such potential...
Excellent review as always. Going to pass until some cleanup is done.

You are more than kind!

I hope I don't dampen the author's enthusiasm for this series. I think she is still contemplating a fourth book, maybe more.

[daydreaming reader]

I don't think I will enjoy this romance. Thank you for your review though.

[Georgia Lyonhyde]

At this point I feel I'm more interested in reading other reviews than reading the book.

It sounds like I would need to read the other two books first which isn't a problem, however having said that, because this is book 3, I think I would have expected fewer errors to be cited. As a result, I'm probably biased towards my objection to pick up a copy before the author has had a chance to rectify some of the flaws.

[Manang Muyang]

I don't think I will enjoy this romance. Thank you for your review though.

Thanks for dropping by!

The book has its moments. The wedding preparations surely had me daydreaming.

[Manang Muyang]

At this point I feel I'm more interested in reading other reviews than reading the book.

It sounds like I would need to read the other two books first which isn't a problem, however having said that, because this is book 3, I think I would have expected fewer errors to be cited. As a result, I'm probably biased towards my objection to pick up a copy before the author has had a chance to rectify some of the flaws.

I wonder if I would have rated the book better had I read the first books, "The Beginning" and "Remembering." Maybe I would have gained more affinity with Darcey.

[Georgia Lyonhyde]

At this point I feel I'm more interested in reading other reviews than reading the book.

It sounds like I would need to read the other two books first which isn't a problem, however having said that, because this is book 3, I think I would have expected fewer errors to be cited. As a result, I'm probably biased towards my objection to pick up a copy before the author has had a chance to rectify some of the flaws.

I wonder if I would have rated the book better had I read the first books, "The Beginning" and "Remembering." Maybe I would have gained more affinity with Darcey.

Perhaps. That's why I wondered whether I would need to circle back first before I committed to this instalment. It sounded like the author hasn't recalled the first two. Ioks enough to make this a standalone.