theeditorreads's review against another edition
5.0
The Switch is the Llyod twins’ story, and when one of them is murdered, a NASA astronaut, Christopher Hart, is mired in the homicide.
Trigger Warning: self-harm, murder, stalker, cult activities
Synopsis:
Gillian and Melina Lloyd are thirty-six-year-old identical twins. Melina works as a media escort and Gillian is a real estate agent. On the verge of making a huge life decision, Gillian grudgingly agrees to Melina's idea of switching places to help take her mind off of her life for a few hours. But shortly after her night out, she's found brutally murdered in her bed.
Colonel Christopher Hart is a NASA astronaut (the first native American to ever be) who just returned from an important outer space mission and has to be escorted to an event felicitating him. That's where Melina comes in. Chief, as he is known to everyone, never thought he would be so enamoured with a woman as he is with Melina.
Being implicated in a murder is not good for Chief's career or retirement plans, but he just couldn't let it go, especially after he feels there's a link between him and the murdered woman he thought he was falling in love with.
Review:
I got The Switch and Mirror Image by [a:Sandra Brown|6218|Sandra Brown|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1500485527p2/6218.jpg] after a friend recommended Sandra Brown's works a few years back. And I'm finally reading The Switch!
The story takes place in Dallas and has been narrated in the third person. I love books with twins and the switcheroo plot and this one had identical twins that no one could ever really tell apart. The Switch starts with a description of the daily lives and the bonding that the Lloyd twins share.
But the story kicks off with a bang a few chapters in when Gillian is murdered and Colonel Hart is the prime suspect, at first. Then starts the police investigation, with another male in tow (Gillian's boyfriend, Jem Hennings), and things start to look interesting.
Sandra Brown is a master storyteller who deftly navigates a multilayered plot, never once losing the thread, and ties it up into a neat package at the end with the biggest revelation of all. Throughout the story, this romantic thriller kept me on my toes, with clues and hints and revelations peppered throughout. The FBI agent pretty much summed up the story in his quote above.
The blurb as well as the events described in the first few chapters of the book are somewhat confusing, or maybe ingenious depending on how you look at it. The Switch that the book talks about is not really there but then it's all out there, and kudos to the author for the play with the text.
Chief Hart's reputation is up in flames as he's connected so closely with a homicide but he points the police toward who might as well have been the real culprit, which seems a tad too easy at first. But of course, it will be, otherwise, how will Melina and Chief's real journey to find the actual murderer begin.
While the story may have started in Dallas, it ends up in New Mexico, with a few stops along the way as Melina and Chief set out to find out what actually happened to Gillian. What I liked more was that the author kept the reader well-informed about the goings-on at the back. It helped connect the dots throughout the story, with the villain's angles being revealed almost simultaneously with the protagonists’.
Brother Gabriel is a televangelist who lives in The Temple in New Mexico. He has a world of followers and it's evident that he is a cult leader. But how and why he may be involved with a murder is what the story is about.
The Switch has a plethora of characters but they are linked every which way and take the story forward perfectly. There are FBI agents in the scene, Hank Tobias and Lucy Myrick (how I would love them to have their own story), who closely follow the case for their own reasons.
The ending is completely unexpected and having a NASA astronaut as one of the main protagonists means there's quite a bit of an adventure there. The story touches upon a host of topics, including the rights and issues of Native Americans, artificial insemination, and a few other things.
Originally posted on:
Shaina's Musings
Trigger Warning: self-harm, murder, stalker, cult activities
Synopsis:
Gillian and Melina Lloyd are thirty-six-year-old identical twins. Melina works as a media escort and Gillian is a real estate agent. On the verge of making a huge life decision, Gillian grudgingly agrees to Melina's idea of switching places to help take her mind off of her life for a few hours. But shortly after her night out, she's found brutally murdered in her bed.
Colonel Christopher Hart is a NASA astronaut (the first native American to ever be) who just returned from an important outer space mission and has to be escorted to an event felicitating him. That's where Melina comes in. Chief, as he is known to everyone, never thought he would be so enamoured with a woman as he is with Melina.
Being implicated in a murder is not good for Chief's career or retirement plans, but he just couldn't let it go, especially after he feels there's a link between him and the murdered woman he thought he was falling in love with.
Review:
I got The Switch and Mirror Image by [a:Sandra Brown|6218|Sandra Brown|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1500485527p2/6218.jpg] after a friend recommended Sandra Brown's works a few years back. And I'm finally reading The Switch!
The story takes place in Dallas and has been narrated in the third person. I love books with twins and the switcheroo plot and this one had identical twins that no one could ever really tell apart. The Switch starts with a description of the daily lives and the bonding that the Lloyd twins share.
But the story kicks off with a bang a few chapters in when Gillian is murdered and Colonel Hart is the prime suspect, at first. Then starts the police investigation, with another male in tow (Gillian's boyfriend, Jem Hennings), and things start to look interesting.
This case was so damn multilayered.
Sandra Brown is a master storyteller who deftly navigates a multilayered plot, never once losing the thread, and ties it up into a neat package at the end with the biggest revelation of all. Throughout the story, this romantic thriller kept me on my toes, with clues and hints and revelations peppered throughout. The FBI agent pretty much summed up the story in his quote above.
The blurb as well as the events described in the first few chapters of the book are somewhat confusing, or maybe ingenious depending on how you look at it. The Switch that the book talks about is not really there but then it's all out there, and kudos to the author for the play with the text.
He was a member of a minority, and, as all minority youths learn early on, he'd had to work longer, strive harder, be tougher. ... He was watched more closely, the implication being that at some point he would probably screw up.
Chief Hart's reputation is up in flames as he's connected so closely with a homicide but he points the police toward who might as well have been the real culprit, which seems a tad too easy at first. But of course, it will be, otherwise, how will Melina and Chief's real journey to find the actual murderer begin.
While the story may have started in Dallas, it ends up in New Mexico, with a few stops along the way as Melina and Chief set out to find out what actually happened to Gillian. What I liked more was that the author kept the reader well-informed about the goings-on at the back. It helped connect the dots throughout the story, with the villain's angles being revealed almost simultaneously with the protagonists’.
I doubt they're held in chains. But mind control can be an even stronger shackle.
Brother Gabriel is a televangelist who lives in The Temple in New Mexico. He has a world of followers and it's evident that he is a cult leader. But how and why he may be involved with a murder is what the story is about.
The Switch has a plethora of characters but they are linked every which way and take the story forward perfectly. There are FBI agents in the scene, Hank Tobias and Lucy Myrick (how I would love them to have their own story), who closely follow the case for their own reasons.
The ending is completely unexpected and having a NASA astronaut as one of the main protagonists means there's quite a bit of an adventure there. The story touches upon a host of topics, including the rights and issues of Native Americans, artificial insemination, and a few other things.
Originally posted on:
Shaina's Musings
zenithharpink's review against another edition
4.0
I don't typically appreciate Sandra Brown, but I really enjoyed this book. Light lit, but enjoyable enough.
jacquibear's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Racial slurs, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Sexual content
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Medical content, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Alcohol, Blood, and Grief
doloresofcourse's review against another edition
1.0
The book starts out with a gay waiter being referred to as "fruity". The slurs and stereotypes don't stop there. I am really hard pressed to believe something this bad was written by Sandra Brown. I've read 17 of her books so far and this is by far the worst with plot and characters. The other one I didn't care for was Envy which was written around the same time.
gallan's review against another edition
5.0
I loved it! It was full of twists and turns and never once bored me! Highly recommend :)
jsh626's review against another edition
2.0
I'm going to be really honest here: my reading time is pretty much limited to how long I can be in the bathroom by myself. Since that is (usually) an extremely small portion of my day, I try to be very selective in my reading choices. I'd rather spend my precious reading time on something I really enjoy.
"The Switch" was not bathroom worthy.
My summary can best be summed up by this discussion:
Husband: "What's that book about?"
Me: "It's about an astronaut who has a one night stand with a twin and then the twin gets murdered and the astronaut and the other twin (you know, the live one) team up to find the killer who turns out to be controlled by some cult nut who tries to kills them while they fall passionately in lust with each other - the astronaut and the live twin, that is. All in 1 day."
Husband:
As a side note, this book seemed more like a vehicle for the author to write repressed sexual fantasies from 9th grade versus a real story.
"The Switch" was not bathroom worthy.
My summary can best be summed up by this discussion:
Husband: "What's that book about?"
Me: "It's about an astronaut who has a one night stand with a twin and then the twin gets murdered and the astronaut and the other twin (you know, the live one) team up to find the killer who turns out to be controlled by some cult nut who tries to kills them while they fall passionately in lust with each other - the astronaut and the live twin, that is. All in 1 day."
Husband:
As a side note, this book seemed more like a vehicle for the author to write repressed sexual fantasies from 9th grade versus a real story.
gramidi's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Twists, turns, surprises, tugs at heart
ellie705's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0