I noticed while reading some of the other reviews that many of the readers had the same problems reading this novel as I did. I had an extremely difficult time getting into the characters, which admittedly may be because I didn't read the prior novel with the same characters, but they still seemed to be cardboard cutouts even with the authors obviouos intent for it to be otherwise.

The story itself seemed to be mired down in its own cleverness. Too many threads and story lines which almost all seem to fall flat with no real exciting knot to tie them up. ( )

Maybe it would help to have read the other Ellie Foreman / Georgia Davis books by Hellman, but this one just did not work for me. The characters were flat, their actions often didn't make any sense, and the mystery was convoluted, illogical, and unengaging. Not recommended.

[full review here (some spoilers): http://spacebeer.blogspot.com/2009/12...] ( )

This a busy mystery with the following elements: nativist militias, illegal aliens, Mexican drug cartels, corrupt civilian military contractors (think Blackwater on steroids), a kidnapped eight-year-old girl, and a mysterious man with a missing finger who seems to be at the center of everything. Ellie Forman's friend tells her that another friend's daughter has been kidnapped. The girl's mother, a bank IT executive, is reluctant to bring in the police. Ellie calls in her friend Georgia Davis, an ex-cop and private investigator.

The kidnapped girl, Molly is released three days later with no ransom demanded or has it been in the form "irregular" banking transactions and three mysterious million dollar checks. The bank executive and her boss are killed in auto accidents after their cars have been tampered with. The plot is off and running as the two women connect the dots that lead to an Arizona border town. ( )

I struggled to continue with this book after reading the firest few chapters. The descriptions of the characters seemed somewhat stilted and I didn't find myself connecting with either of the main characters.

The storyline itself had potential but for lack of interest in the character, it was extremely difficult to care about the plotline as well. The complexity of the plot seemed to cause the author problems in trying to resolve all issues and a lot of the time, it just felt as though... it fell flat on it's face.

It was ok - but I'm not going to go out of my way to find her earlier books. ( )

As I hang my head in shame somewhat, I will admit I have put off reviewing this book because I don't relish writing negative reviews. This book is called Doubleback: a Novel of Suspense. To me, it was anything but suspenseful. The author, Libby Fischer Hellman, has written other books (two series' actually) with both of her main characters in this book as the "stars". In this book, she brings them together and pairs them into an unlikely friendship as she describes it. One of the huge problems for me was that the two main characters seemed like the same person. Libby switches back and forth between their voices. Aside from the fact that one has a child and they had different names, of course, I really couldn't tell the characters apart. Another problem was that I did not care for either character. I think this stems from Libby attempting to make them too tough. I believe the author is trying to make her female characters similar to Patricia Cornwell's or Sara Paretsky's lead characters...but for me, it fails. Her leads simply wind up being dull. And what personality they have isn't likeable. Case in point, one of the leads (I don't even remember their names which is unusual..that's how little I felt invested in caring for them), the childless lead let's call her, has amazing sex with a man that she suspects may be on the "wrong" side. About 1/2 hr after their extraordinary encounter, the man winds up getting his head blown off in view of her. She is so detached and uncaring when she moves his body from the road that it made me dislike her intensely as opposed to thinking "wow, she is soo strong". The author needs to work on giving her characters more personality. One can be strong and still have a heart.
Also the plot. Dulllll....had I not committed to reading it for the website, I might have been tempted not to finish it. The author attempts to make a convoluted plotline that starts with a power outtage, hacking into a company, and a kidnapping of a little girl. It evolves into several murders, fraud, drug running, illegal immigration and mysterious going-ons at a military outpost. It is just a mess basically. I think the author was trying to make it complex and it just falls flat. It didn't keep my interest much. I could not wait to finish the book simply so I could be finished with my boredom.
Lastly, "a novel of suspense" really is false advertising for this book. I hate when I figure out who the "bad guy" is, lol, before the ending. That is why I consider Elizabeth George a master of the mystery genre. She keeps you guessing. I figured out the villian ahead of the reveal which, of course, made for an anticlimactic ending also.
Perhaps readers of Libby Fischer Hellmann's other books would enjoy it. For that reason, I gave it a rating of two stars. ( )