February Meeting, "No One in the World" by E. Lynn Harris and R.M. Johnson

Since this latest book was set in Chicago, we went for all-American food and had a great hamburger at Smash Burger.  Nothing fancy, but very tasty. Unfortunately, the book was not nearly as good as the burger! It sounded much better in the very short review that led me to select it. Yes, the burden is all on me.

It was part Harlequin Romance, part gay and straight porn, part gangstas in the hood. The premise was good: a closeted gay man having to marry to retain control of the successful family business. However, the execution was awful. It was a poorly written story with too many clichéd characters and improbable plot twists. Although the co-authors are both highly acclaimed, they apparently couldn't get it together to create a compelling story. Almost from the beginning, it starts to unravel. The contrivances were too numerous to count: the parents die in a plane crash (dramatic enough?) the main character only has one month to find a suitable wife and get married to save the business (really?); he bumps into (literally) his long-lost twin brother while at the prison in his capacity as a lawyer (come on!); his brother's ner-do-well cellmate finds out all of the family's secrets and uses them in a grand blackmail scheme (typecasting, much?); the bride-to-be falls in lust with the ex-con brother (again, really?)... Need I say more?

The thing is, it could have been done so much better. This is a work of fiction, after all, where the writer creates the circumstances of his/her characters' lives. It seems these writers didn't have much imagination, especially when it came to the obvious, like naming characters, plot development, or providing an ending to the story! To wit:

• Several characters had the same names: Tyler Stevens (senator)/Raymond Tyler (attorney)/Steven Ballard (ex-con); Austen Greer (fiancée)/Austin Harris (family law attorney). If this was supposed to be some inside joke or secret, it failed miserably. If it was an inability to be creative, a quick Google search could have provided plenty of boys and girls names.
• Could no one keep a secret?! This lazy approach to plot development involved everybody telling everybody everything that was supposed to be "just between you and me." 
• There was no ending! The whole premise of the book -- saving the company business -- went completely unresolved. In fact, it seemed to have dropped off a cliff. Maybe that's what happens when you have two authors. "No one in the world" could agree on an ending!

One hates to speak ill of the dead -- Harris passed away a few years ago. But, the collaboration between the two authors obviously wasn't enough to save this ill-conceived and poorly executed mess.