I’ve just finished reading “Truth or Dare” by Jayne Ann Krentz. She is one of the most consistent writers I’ve ever come across. She always delivers a quality read, with strong characters and a tight plot. Further, I enjoy her type of story, in which the characters are always imbued with a sense of honor, humor leavens the suspense, and a mystery provides entertaining twists and turns on the way to true love.
The suspense is interesting enough to keep the pages turning, but not so nerve-wracking that it isn’t a relaxing, enjoyable escapist read. I dislike true suspense thrillers because they make me tense, and sadly many romance writers I’ve enjoyed in the past are now writing books that are too dark and suspenseful for me. So I love this particular brand of intrigue, romance, humor and happy endings that Krentz does so beautifully.
One plot point revolves around SDLRs, the characters alerted to trouble by subtle little cues that Something Didn’t Look Right. Unfortunately, in real life people all too often overlook the SDLRs, particularly women. I once heard a police officer speak on the topic who said that most female victims later reported that something about their attacker or their situation struck them as wrong but they didn’t react because they didn’t want to be rude.
Please dwell on that for a moment; women become victims in many cases not because they don’t notice potential trouble but because they have been oversocialized to the point that they don’t protect themselves for fear of offending their attackers. It isn’t nice to be suspicious. It’s rude to refuse to open that door.
This is uppermost in my mind because I had a SDLR moment of my own yesterday. Out for a hike, I came out onto a stretch of road where there are no houses on either side for a little distance. And right on this stretch, a man by himself in his mid-twenties drove past in a pickup and noticed me walking alone. His head turned as he drove past. And he pulled over and turned around just ahead of me on a turn in the road.
The turn put me just out of view for a few minutes, and to my left was another trail entrance that I knew came out onto the same road further up next to a house. I hit the trail and vanished into the woods by the time he drove back to where I had been on the road.
Maybe he suddenly remembered he’d forgotten to lock his front door. Maybe he wanted to ask for directions. Or maybe not. I didn’t like the way he took notice of me, I didn’t like the way he turned around and headed back, and I didn’t stand around waiting to see what would happen. I just took evasive action. (As a side note, I do not make a habit out of hiking or jogging alone because the statistics compiled by the Road Runners of America on assaults on women jogging alone were alarming 10 years ago. This was a rare occasion when my husband wasn’t with me.)
I won’t start my “all women should take martial arts” rant (although I do believe that and intend to sign my daughter up in another year), but at the very least all women should be aware of their surroundings and know about personal safety. Your local police force will undoubtedly be delighted to send somebody out to talk to you about personal safety and what you can do to improve yours. All too often they don’t get the opportunity to prevent a crime.
So pick up “Truth or Dare” for a fun and page-turning read, and give some thought to taking any SDLR moments in your own life seriously. Maybe you’ll be overreacting. Or maybe it will save you.
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