Review of Vertigo by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

A Dark Tale of Suspense, July 11, 2007

By	Nancy O. Greene “Author of Portraits in the Dark” – See all my reviews

Let me say right off that I am not much for romance novels. It’s not that I think they’re bad, it’s just that they don’t grab me like other fiction does. That said, VERTIGO is a thrilling erotic tale that is sure to keep various types of readers interested.

The writing style is very good, keeping pretty close to what seemed to be the standard speech during the time-period. And the story itself is riveting; I found myself trying to figure out the twists and turns long before they happened and did figure out one or two things before they were revealed, but the clues were there, placed as tantalizing bits of information to keep the suspense going.

When Emma, a Victorian wife, sets out to fulfill her New Year’s resolution of “becoming a better person,” she has no idea how to proceed and seeks her husband’s advice. John suggests that she start writing to a prisoner, and he can give her the contact because he is working on a book about the subject and has access to the facilities. In a classic example of the phrase “be careful what you wish for,” Emma is thrown into a Victorian-style forbidden romance with a prisoner fittingly named Chance Wood. What follows is a sinister unraveling of her very well-kept world; where she is keenly observant of the folly and hidden feelings within others, she is wholly in the dark about her own situation.

Love, lust, betrayal, and murder follow. Family and, especially, friends prove untrustworthy. Secrets are formed and revealed, lives changed forever. It is not so much a romance as it is a dark erotic tale of suspense and mind games–games that become more dangerous as the stakes become higher.

VERTIGO is a great summer read, perfect for conversation afterwards. I ended up discussing the characters as if they were real people. At times I was reminded of Dante’s INFERNO and the Victorian lovers spending an eternity regretting their actions–there are allusions to that theme within the pages of the book as well. And the ending of VERTIGO, while somewhat familiar to this kind of work, will likely shock and leave you shaking your head in disbelief.