On my weekend trip to the library I swore I wouldn't take out any more books until I finished the ones in my stack at home. My husband was doing research for a school paper and my son is addicted to the CD collections, and I told myself I would browse the magazines. Let's just say, the spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak.

Saturday's foray found me in the Bs. I finished two of the books thus far, and it's been pretty hit and miss.

I started with "The Great Betrayal" by Millenia Black (ISBN 9780451219534). The jacket teased a novel about a seemingly perfect family and the secrets that are coming home to roost.

I was intrigued. The story didn't quite connect though.

It opens with a prologue detailing a woman shocked to discover a couple in bed together.

In chapter one Black introduces a young couple expecting their first child. Tragedy strikes and the partner left behind struggles to rebuild a life.

It's all very plot-driven. I kept turning the pages because I wanted to know who the couple in the prologue was ... what exactly was the great betrayal.

My desire to have those questions answered kept me going despite characters I never really got to know, conversation that was stilted, and a subplot that came out of nowhere.

This is Black's second novel, one I can very easily see turned in to a movie of the week (that I would watch).

And I have to say, I would read more of her work. It's fast-paced, mind candy, escapism.

Tomorrow: "The Gifted"

- Tricia Ambrose