Reviewed by Dee
TITLE: The Red Files
AUTHOR: Lee Winter
PUBLISHER: Ylva Publishing
LENGTH: 384 pages
BLURB:
Ambitious Daily Sentinel journalist Lauren King is chafing on LA’s vapid social circuit, reporting on glamorous A-list parties while sparring with her rival—the formidable, icy Catherine Ayers. Ayers is an ex-Washington political correspondent who suffered a humiliating fall from grace, and her acerbic, vicious tongue keeps everyone at bay. Everyone, that is, except knockabout Iowa girl King, who is undaunted, unimpressed and gives as good as she gets.
One night a curious story unfolds before their eyes: One business launch, 34 prostitutes and a pallet of missing pink champagne. Can the warring pair work together to unravel an incredible story? This is a lesbian fiction with more than a few mysterious twists.
REVIEW:
The last paragraph of the blurb hooked and reeled me in. Having now read the story, I am reminded reading and content is open to interpretation, and can be so subjective, much the same as reviews. Please bare that in mind while reading this review and ensure you check out all the wonderful reviews this story has received prior to mine.
So back to the hook – prostitutes and missing champagne, my brain connected the dots and came up with a deliciously sexy scandal. However, that was far from what I got. It was the price of the prostitutes and who funded it that was at stake. So unfolded one long story to solve those questions. The two heroines, as stated, barely tolerate each other but set out on a road trip to find answers.
I found it very odd how forth coming many people were with freely giving out information. Although there were plenty of red herrings thrown-in to keep the reader guessing. But, the investigation went on, and on, and on. And given the nature of the story, and the amount of people interviewed, there’s an abundance of ‘yapping’ in this story. Something I could have dealt with, had there been more inner dialogue to balance out the incessant talking. Instead I felt like a child in the backseat of a car listening to people drone on, and trying to pay attention while my mind keep saying – are we there yet?
The story is ‘told’ in third person and completely from King’s point of view. I never got a grasp on any of the characters. I would say the story had an abundance of telling but then someone would say, hey I could ‘see’ what he / she was wearing. Because believe me everyone and their clothing were described in vivid detail. Even characters who dropped off the page as faster than they were introduced.
For me to be sucked into a plot, I need to become invested in the characters, but while I was told what they were doing, I never got any ‘feels’ from them. For instance – telling me, ‘She sighed’, can mean many different things. Did she sigh because she was tired? Content? Frustrated? Relieved? I wanted to know how the character ‘feels’.
Much of the time, the narration was like reading an article in a magazine, albeit a very long one, being told the events of a story but not being ‘drawn’ into it, if that makes any sense.
Given the blurb mentioned prostitutes, I wrongly anticipated an erotic story. There is no heat until around the 80% mark which is more of a knee jerk reaction and left me feeling cold.
The last 20% basically summarizes the entire plot, and tidies up any loose ends.
All and all this story was just ‘meh’ for me. I neither loved nor hated it. On that note, I have to say the author did a great job of keeping track of who was who in her head and bringing it all together.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS: