Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Book club discusses "The Seventh Sense"

This month the book club used an older title (1999) for the book discussion--T.J. MacGregor's The Seventh Sense. This is a stand-alone fiction title by MacGregor, who has written under other versions of her name, the "Tango Key" series and astrology books. And here's a pix of Trish MacGregor from her website.

The setup for the Seventh Sense is a sudden and lethal case of road rage resulting in the death of a driver and shake up of the passenger, his pregnant wife. The enraged driver, attorney Frank Benedict, panics and drives away from the scene later consoling himself with the notion that bad things happen to people (that is, that's the G-rated version of his thinking). That pregnant passenger is FBI agent Charlotte "Charlie"Calloway, who has a tragic miscarriage and quietly vows revenge against the driver.

Meanwhile, Frank enlists the aid of his wife, Anita, to get rid of the damaged
vehicle and to cover up any signs of criminal activity. The results strain the relationship and the mistrust takes its toll.

And Charlie gets assistance from a co-worker who enlists the help of an old
friend, former agent Doug Logan, to figure the case out. Logan, it turns out, possess unique psychic powers which include visions from touching another person.

Our book club discussion including the topics:
  • the actions of Frank Benedict and his redeeming qualities
  • a lawyer as a good criminal
  • Anita Benedict's response to Frank's actions and her family background
  • the possible relationship between Doug and Charlie (and her possible growing supernatural power)
  • a surprise ending with a violent confrontation
  • favorite characters from the novel (including a woman suffering from Alzheimer's disease)
  • good pacing and writing of the book by the author (I disagreed on the pacing
    and thought the book rushed the ending but no one else said so)
  • good tale of revenge for greatly wronged heroine Charlie (of course, Charlie is wronged but naked blood lust for Frank left me oddly cool too)
  • the seventh sense itself.

    No had read MacGregor but a few looked up and started to read other books written by her.
  • No comments: