This review is for the audiobook version of Friction, by Sandra Brown. I’ve read and enjoyed other books by Sandra Brown, but this one didn’t really grip me. Crawford Hunt wants his daughter back but her grandparents are fighting him for custody. While Crawford is on the stand for a custody hearing, a masked shooter enters the courtroom and opens fire. Crawford, who happens to be a Texas Ranger, protects the judge and chases the man from the room. Later, afraid his actions will jeopardize his case, he goes to the judge’s house to talk to her, but they end up having sex on her sofa instead. Thus begins a clandestine affair AND an investigation into the shooting.
This book is about Crawford, hardly about the judge. In fact, I can’t even remember her name and I only finished the book 4 days ago. It isn’t a bad story, just a lopsided one, for a romance. I felt like I didn’t know the judge’s character by the end. Crawford seemed to love his daughter, and I could predict his actions or at least guess at them. His in-laws were fairly predictable too, with the grandmother being worried for the child and the grandfather just being a rude asshole.
The story tried to rely on past events as a motive for murder but didn’t make that connection clearly enough. The past event is described, but only by Crawford, so it feels unreliable. The main “friction” is between Crawford and the detective on the shooting case, who seems to be ridiculously wrong-headed and behaves illogically.
It’s fine, but I wouldn’t rush to recommend it to a friend.