Those of us who enjoy reading crime books, thrillers, suspense and so forth know that crimes are often committed for two things: love or money. Perhaps this is just a bromide, but even so, many of the best novels have both.

I won't list the ones here that have made me seek out every novel by a particular writer, as we all have our favorites. The best of them are written in a way that I am drawn to as much as the young woman who always insists on going down to the basement to check the noise coming from there; I am compelled to keep reading the book, just as she is compelled to go down those stairs. Alas, Riley by Paul Martin Midden is not such a book.

As is noted in the information provided on Midden, he has many years of experience as a behavioral psychologist. Thus, not unnaturally, Riley is filled with insights into the characters and their behaviors in exquisite detail.

The story is that of a woman, the titular Riley, who is unhappily married but is a successful enough novelist that her first novel was good enough to allow her to live on the profits and write full-time. She has a best friend, Jennifer, who is attracted to her, but who doesn't want to ruin the friendship they have by coming on to her. Riley also is estranged from her husband, who is emotionally distant in many ways from her, and this is somewhat of a catalyst for rash behavior Riley engages in with a lonely schoolteacher named Edward. This one-time sexual encounter with Edward leads to computer hacking, the Dark Web, a private investigator, the director of a woman's shelter, and Riley fearing for her life.

With its interesting premises, this book had potential. Among its flaws is that of it being too long. Although it had an editor, it appears as if a spell-checker was used instead of it being carefully read and annotated for mistakes. The endearment "Honey" was used as a proper pronoun and always capitalized, instead of the standard "honey," which in some parts is considered criminal. The author often wrote as if he were writing for a journal of behavioral psychology instead of for those who like to read fiction that is well-paced, consistent in its meter and leaves the reader an opportunity to figure some of the mystery out.

Riley had potential, but not enough to keep me wanting more from Midden.