Sky Blues

My favorite TART, Vicki Hendricks, offers a tale simmering with my favorite noir one-two punch: Obsession and betrayal. SKY BLUES has the reader simultaneously shouting "Yes, yes, get naked" and "stop it you silly woman. Can't you see that man is evil?"As a big, dumb man, it's nice to see that a woman's judgment can be clouded by burning loins too. But the novel's frank, well-handled sex scenes are not the only reason to read. Hendricks deftly potrays a woman whose common sense fights a bitter duel with her unquenchable desires. A protagonist tragically complete, a believable woman fighting a battle she halfway hopes to lose.Passionate and riveting.

This is one of Hendricks' best! All her classic elements are there---the bastard--the lust-filled heroine desperate for orgasm--the mystery--but what a romp this is! And, plot-wise it is a finely wrought thriller. After a seductive beginnning musky with desire and replete with animal feces and blood, she takes you on a high. She gets you wet with anticipation and she doesn't let you down until she wants to.When Des, the vet, meets Tom (another of Hendricks' most deliciously smarmey but sexy bastards) she pulls the ripcord of her desire and lets loose with an adventure you're not soon to forget. Tom's a sky diving instructor who is as smooth in his dives into bed as he is in the air. He's one of those guys who has to manipulate everything he puts his sweaty hands on, and he wants to manipulate Des, but she bests him in this one.The best part of this book is the evolution of Hendricks' characters. Always a master at noir, she jumps up a level here and creates a story any woman...can enjoy. One any any man with a desire for conquest can leap into... Des, tensioned between her desire for the animal side of her nature and her struggle for spiritual purity, draws us deeply into her free-fall into hell. And, Tom gets his come-uppence in way that is both delicious and insidious. No one can create a more sexy story than Hendricks, but this book transcends mere noir, it's also a good mystery with very human and three dimensional characters. Blue skies--freedom and spiritual purity--versus the earth below with its dark sex-jungle, its predatory lions and heavy footed hippos... what a fantastic metaphor for the inner wars we all wage against our primitive natures and something more... The settings in this novel drive the plot and make the characters soar.The whole time I was reading this book, I keep thinking--movie! Movie! Of all of Hendricks' great adventures into the steamy and dark side of life, this one has the best potential to become a great movie...

Being a skydiver I really appreciated the way she tells it like it is. Skydivers are a really close-knit community - sometimes too close for comfort!The main character Desi is very believable. She makes you want to scream "Wake up!" but at the same time you know you would be making an equally stupid naive assumption about someone at that point.I couldn't put the book down. I just had to see how she was going to extricate herself from the unholy mess she'd been sucked into. Great suspense from cover to cover.

Destiny (Desi) Donnie had a dream that when she grew up she would be a country vet in the manner of Dr. Herriot. When she opened up her practice in a small town in central Florida, she felt fulfilled professionally but she had no friends and felt isolated from the rest of the community. Her feelings of desperation come to an end when she meets Tom Jenks, a stud muffin who wants her to treat his lion cub. There is an immediate electric attraction between the duo but Desi tries to fight it because she doesn't want to be in thrall to any man. When he takes her skydiving, she becomes an adrenaline junkie and falls even deeper under Tom's spell. As time goes on she discovers the secrets he is keeping from her but is unable to walk away from him until the day comes when he expects her to commit an unspeakable act. After reading SKY BLUES, the audience will better comprehend how seemingly intelligent people could be fooled by a Ted Bundy persona. Observing Desi's gradual fall into blind obedience and acquiescence with Tom's plans is a fascinating yet scary process. Vicki Hendricks tells a thrilling story that draws readers into the gut of the tale.Harriet Klausner