Sins of the Flesh - Review & Contest

Book Synopsis from Amazon.com:

Caterina Shaw's days are numbered. Her only chance for survival is a highly experimental gene treatment-a risk she willingly takes. But now Caterina barely recognizes herself. She has new, terrifying powers, an exotic, arresting body-and she's been accused of a savage murder, sending her on the run.

Mick Carrera is a mercenary and an expert at capturing elusive, clever prey. Yet the woman he's hunting down is far from the vicious killer he's been told to expect: Caterina is wounded, vulnerable, and a startling mystery of medical science. Even more, she's a beautiful woman whose innocent sensuality tempts Mick to show her exactly how thrilling pleasure can be. The heat that builds between them is irresistible, but surrendering to it could kill them both . . . for a dangerous group is plotting its next move using Caterina as its deadly pawn.

My thoughts:

Sins of the Flesh begins with the introduction of Caterina Shaw. Caterina “Cat” is a cellist of rare talent. Music is her life, yet her life is being consumed slowly and painfully by a brain tumor. At the end of her options, Cat signs up to undergo experimental gene therapy to make the pain go away, and hopefully eradicate the tumor.

When Dr. Wells, a partner at Wardwell Biotech is murdered, Caterina, now cured is the prime suspect. Yet, the murder is nasty business and Dr. Edwards, Wells’ partner calls in Mick Carrera, a corporate “problem solver” to clean up the mess and locate Caterina. The option to return her or eradicate her seems to be up to Mick’s discretion. As Mick plunges deeper and deeper into the investigation, some things just don’t ring true with Edwards story. How could this woman have possibly killed a trusted physician who had saved her life?

Once Mick locates Caterina everything falls in place. She is scared to death, starving and hurt. Something is also very wrong with her, she might not even be human anymore. Will Mick finish his assignment and turn Caterina over to Edwards? And who killed the doctor? Mick faces these issues and more as his sister Liliana comes to his aide and brings more problems in her wake.

Sins of the Flesh is a complex and original novel, with a lot of action and a touching romance. While the cover hints at some intense loving, the romantic scenes, while descriptive are pretty low-key and subdued. The characters of Caterina, Mick and Liliana are very well developed and likable. The bad guys are suitably detestable and on the creepy side. The “twist” bad guy though was kind of out of no where, so I wouldn’t say it was a plot twist, more of a right angle.

There is a lot of medical terminology in the novel. Ms. Piñeiro goes into great detail concerning Caterina’s afflictions and treatments. While informative and giving substance to the novel it often bogged me down and I found myself skimming through medical jargon to get to the good stuff.
Another issue I had with this novel was how a lot of the novel was spent waiting around. In the final parts of the novels it felt as if Mick was just following orders and was not taking action and their success was based purely on luck. I also thought the novel could have done without the epilogue. It’s sole purpose was to show that there would be another book in this series, but it just reminded me of a villain rubbing his hands together saying “I’ll get you next time…”

Overall the novel was a good read. It took me longer than I expected because of the medical terminology, but I was satisfied once I was done. I would recommend it to fans of the paranormal and anyone who likes a good romance and mystery.

Review copy provided by Hachette.

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