Subjects:  1. Fiction - General    2. General    3. Mystery/Suspense   

Editorial Review

James Patterson and Peter de Jonge's Read more

Reviews (253)

Awful, actually worse than awful
The 4th Patterson book I have read and this one is painful to read. I thought that the LA coroners' office was doing the autopsy on Peter's body. To believe that this man was not murdered and it was an accident was to far over the top. The kangaroo trial at the end of the book was so ridiculus that it was laughable. Hopefully, the next Paterson book will be much better than this effort.

Fast, Good Read
This book is a very fast read. Enjoyable. Nothing unpredictable, really, but well written. It goes extremely fast so makes it a wonderful read when you are traveling. I read mine between work and meetings. A good break! I agree that it follows "the formula" but that doesn't make it bad.

James Patterson you need to go it alone!
This co-authorized James Patterson book is painful to read. I only made it to page 100. Larger than usual print, and chapters only 2-3 pages long. Too much skipping around on characters. Not up to his usual mystery style of book. Not recommended! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. American Mystery & Suspense Fiction    2. Drowning victims    3. East Hampton (N.Y.)    4. Fiction    5. Fiction - Psychological Suspense    6. Mystery/Suspense    7. Psychological    8. Rich people    9. Seaside resorts    10. Suspense    11. Fiction / Suspense   

Reviews (2)

PLOT TWISTS AND DASHES OF FORENSIC SCIENCE

excellent
Five years ago Richard Fletcher was murdered, his head bashed in to disguise a bullet wound and his daughter Jenny disappeared.Jenny's brother Mason was found in the desert with drugs in his system and the murder weapon and bloody clothes in the back of his car.He was tried and convicted for the murder of his father and the kidnapping of Jenny.He was given life without parole but his brother Caleb believes his sibling is innocent.His mother remarries Richard's brother Nelson whohas loved her for a lifetime.
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Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - General    3. Fiction - Mystery/ Detective    4. General    5. Kidnapping    6. Mystery & Detective - Women Sleuths    7. Suspense fiction    8. Fiction / General   

Reviews (137)

Good Book
I just bought Mary Mary last week, my first book I have read by James Patterson and could hardly put it down.I bought 2 more( Alex Cross series) and read both within a week. Now today I just bought 2 more( Jack and Jill and Cat and Mouse and I am anxious to start them. They are all very scary and very hard to put down. I see Mr Patterson has written alot of books, should keep me busy for awhile!

Mary, Mary (paperback version)
Mary, Mary (the paperback version), is interesting in a number of ways.
Mary Mary
The book Mary Mary by James Patterson is one of the most thrilling and exciting books I've ever read.James Patterson keeps you hanging on eith this book and with each page you read, it takes an unexpected turn. Mary Mary is a murder mystery book. The killer, codename Mary Smith, is after certain Hollywood female stars.Arnold Griner,of the Los Angeles Times, is being sent emails from Mary Smith after each murder she makes.Why Arnold Griner? Well, there's a reason that will need to be discovered. Agent Alex Cross is our main detective who's taking this whole care under his wing. With every murder made, the more crucial the case becomes, and less time until the next actress is murdered. Agent Cross has a family but is divorced with three children. His ex-wife, Christine, took Alex to court for custody of their yougest son, Alex, also know as "Ali". Having that said, his court case and his Mary Smith case is too much to handle. The LA Times receives email after email and murder after murder courtesy of Mary Smith. And she's not finished yet. She wants for anyone to catch her. Her messege is "come and get me." Every page you read takes you on a new adventure, a new suspect, and once again, a new murder. My favorite scene was at the end of the book when Agent Cross comes face to face with Mary Smith and fights for his life against her. It was the most exciting part of the whole novel. I give this book 4 stars, and to me this was the best book I've read so far. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - Mystery/ Detective    3. Mystery & Detective - General    4. Suspense    5. Thrillers    6. Fiction / General   

Reviews (4)

A Charming Character
In M. J. Hyland's latest novel a boy whose large size already casts him as being different, strives to set himself apart officially, by making it into his favorite book, the Guiness Book of World Records. John Egan believes he can do this by being the world's only human lie-detector. In the background, his family struggles with his father's choice to pursue his dream rather than keep a steady job and John suffers humiliation from his peers after he wets himself in class. Hyland's writing is clear and lovely; her characters, unforgettable and charming.

A disturbed childhood
This is the story of a normal childhood gone astray by a series of events. The kid, John loses his only friend and the family goes through a crisis due to which they move from a previous house to another one. Things get worse here. It shows how things can be difficult with children given excessive confidence from adults. Growing up in 1970s Ireland adds an additional complexity in already complicated story. The lack of opportunity in Ireland adds to the damage done by misunderstanding and lack of affection on the boy. This is an outstanding character study. Like other stories, this is narrative in first person. While the story has powerful themes, I feel that these could have been developed further. While the novel is enthralling and painful, it also seems meandering in the end. Overall, a highly commendable book that deserves some praise.

Heartrending, long after you've closed the cover
Carry Me Down leaves you with a lump in the throat afteryou've closed the cover.It's such an authentic portrait of what it is to be a lonely adolescent who's an awkward misfit, though thankfully not every lonely adolescent tries to smother his mother.
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Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - General    3. General    4. Literary    5. Popular English Fiction    6. Psychological    7. Fiction / Literary   

Editorial Review

Before he was sent to federal prison for treason (among other things), Joel Backman was an extremely powerful man. Known as "the broker," Backman was a high roller--a lawyer making $10 million a year who could "open any door in Washington." That is, until he tried to broker a deal selling access to the world's most powerful satellite surveillance system to the highest bidder. When caught, Backman accepted prison as the one option that would keep him safe and alive, since the interested parties (the Israelis, the Saudis, the Russians, and the Chinese) were all itching to get their hands on his secrets at any cost. Little does he know that his own government has designs on accessing that information--or at least letting it die with him. Now, six years after his incarceration, the director of the CIA convinces a lame duck president to pardon Backman, and the broker becomes a free man--and an open target.Read more

Reviews (517)

200 Pages of Total Immersion Italian
The is by far the weakest Grisham novel I've ever read.The first two hundred pages creep along at a glacial pace as the protagonist (Joel Backman; more about him later) wanders Italy for nearly 200 pages, learning to speak the language and spending way too much time sipping espresso in quaint trattorias with Italian carictatures that would make Chico Marx cringe.When Grisham finally rachets up the action and suspense, it's all for naught, as the story eventually limps and staggers to a completely listless and anticlimactic ending.
yawn
Definitely not one of his best! SLOW SLOW SLOW...But at least this character had some realistic difficulty learning a foreign language, unlike the hero of "The Partner" who learned a little known Spanish dialect perfectly by sitting in a hotel room listening to cassette tapes for 2 weeks!

too much Italy...what about the rest?
Grisham is one of my favorite authors. However this one is not one of his bests! We all understood that he loved Bologna and the culture of Italy. It is a nice written travelogue but this is not what I want to get from a Grisham novel. What about the pace, the adventure, the chase..?
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Subjects:  1. Americans    2. Attempted murder    3. Espionage/Intrigue    4. Ex-convicts    5. Fiction    6. Fiction - Espionage / Thriller    7. Italy    8. Mystery/Suspense    9. Suspense    10. Thrillers    11. Fiction / Suspense   

Subjects:  1. California    2. Fiction    3. Fiction - Espionage / Thriller    4. Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.)    5. Legal    6. Los Angeles    7. Mystery fiction    8. Mystery/Suspense    9. Police    10. Suspense    11. Wambaugh, Joseph - Prose & Criticism    12. Fiction / Suspense   

Editorial Review

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Reviews (224)

Another good Womens Murder Club Book
I really like the Women's Murder Club, if you're a woman and like crime stories than this series is for you!!!

Another Exciting Entree!
Take four professional women--Lindsay, a homicide inspector who receives some bad personal news; Claire, a medical examiner and Lindsay's best friend; Jill, a tough assistant DA; and Cindy, a persistent reporter from the Chronicle--mix them together and you've got: The Women's Murder Club.
mediocre
This is a mediocre mystery compared to the first women's murder club story.Some of the other members of the club are totally useless in this story.Fast-paced though and plot is tolerable.Kudos to Patterson for at least giving us a truly unpredictable ending! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. American Mystery & Suspense Fiction    2. California    3. Female friendship    4. Fiction    5. Fiction - Mystery/ Detective    6. Mystery & Detective - General    7. Mystery & Detective - Women Sleuths    8. Mystery/Suspense    9. San Francisco    10. Women detectives    11. Women in the professions    12. Fiction / General   

Editorial Review

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Reviews (118)

Worth your time
This is a Dan Brown book but has a feel of a James Patterson book.It is a typical scandal in politics and as it unravels it is even more scandalous.I thought it was enjoyable and had some interesting information about space and the ocean that will give you some educational value.I enjoyed it a lot but wouldn't classify it as a best ever.

Writing was not as experienced as his later books
I devoured Angels and Demons and The da vinci code. Reguardless of all the comments on the content of the books, he wrote flawless books. The were smooth, smart and fun.
Stupendous Read!!!
I must say that this book is a very fine piece of work indeed. Dan Brown is an excellent story teller and this book was absolutely marvelous from the first page to the last. Mr. Brown must have done an extensive amount of research to write this book since there were many scientific and technological facts included. I am not what you might call a very avid reader. "Deception Point," however, had me hooked! This book has many great elements to it: thrills, suspense, sexual humor, and humor in general. I found myself laughing quite a bit while flipping through the pages of this excellent read! Kudos to Dan Brown for an excellent story! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Action & Adventure    2. American Mystery & Suspense Fiction    3. Fiction    4. Fiction - Espionage / Thriller    5. Fiction - Mystery/ Detective    6. Mystery & Detective - General    7. Mystery/Suspense    8. Thrillers    9. Fiction / General   

Reviews (26)

Started out well, but didn't finish in the same fashion...
I seem to have this love/hate relationship with Robin Cook titles.His latest, Crisis, is no different.On one hand, I like a good medical thriller, and generally the overall plot of Crisis, isn't bad.On the other hand, I get really tired of the incessant flogging of the "evil" insurance companies.Couple that with an ending here that left me scratching my head, and I'm not real sure I'd recommend the time commitment on this one.
Disappointing
I agree with "implausible".The book was fairly interesting until the last thirty or so pages. Apparently, the author was late on a deadline to get the book to the publisher because the ending made no sense, left numerous issues outstanding, and left this reader with the sense of being cheated.I have enjoyed this author's books in the past. Not this time.

what a disappointment
Have liked most of his books but did not like this one. I plowed through a lot of unnecessary detail and then the ending was so lame and did not address any of the "loose ends". Who was responsible for terrorizing the kids? Why did he do what he did? ETC. Hope his next book is better!!! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Boston (Mass.)    2. Cook, Robin - Prose & Criticism    3. Fiction    4. Fiction - Espionage / Thriller    5. Fiction - Psychological Suspense    6. Malpractice    7. Medical    8. Medical novels    9. Physicians    10. Thrillers    11. Fiction / Thrillers   

Editorial Review

Considered the best mystery novel ever written by many readers, Read more

Reviews (563)

And then there were none
Ten little soldier boys went out to dine;
This book defined the term "Page Turner".
Probably the best book The Dame ever published. The story has been copied thousands of times ever since in movies TV and novels; but this is the blueprint.
There can only be ONE !!!
Barring the many controversies that this book generated over the several decades since its first publication, "And Then There Were None" probably ranks among the BEST works of crime fiction ever written.
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Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - Mystery/ Detective    3. Mystery & Detective - General    4. Mystery/Suspense   

Editorial Review

Jack Reacher is back, dragged into what looks like a series of grisly serial murders by a team of FBI profilers who aren't totally sure he's not the killer they're looking for, but believe that even if he isn't, he's smart enough to help them find the real killer. And what they've got on the ex-MP, who's starred in three previous Lee Child thrillers(Read more

Reviews (92)

A Bizarre Mystery Without Clues
In Running Blind, Jack Reacher is caught up in a bizarre mystery when he's picked up by the FBI as a suspect in a string of murders.Someone very smart is murdering former military women across the country, leaving no trace evidence, in fact not even evidence of how they died.All they women have one thing in common, they were the victims of sexual harassment in the military and Jack Reacher was the military cop involved in their sexual harassment cases.There is another military link.All the women's naked bodies are found in their own bathtubs filled with drab green military grade camouflage paint.The lead FBI profiler seems to hate Reacher, saying her profile indicates either Reacher killed them, or someone exactly like him did.He convinces them he's innocent, and they pressure him to stay on the case by threatening his girlfriend.So, he joins the case, but in usual Reacher style slips away w/the help of military friends, and makes sure his girlfriend is in no danger.Then in his usual enigmatic way, he pursues musings and hunches that lead him to a truly surprising killer.What was chilling to me was the way the killer enlisted the cooperation of the victims in their own murders.I've read that others think this novel is not one of Child's best.I thought the portrayal of the FBI as near criminals, who threaten an innocent woman, was unbelieveable, but other than that it was riveting.
Jack is my hero!
You have to love this guy...and envy his sense of "keep it simple" by travelling light.I think I travel light by not owning much, but Jack really knows how.The man definitely has his priorities straight.Another "I can't wait to get to the next page" kind of book.

I set my scale high after the first three, and then I got.....this
The first book I read of Child's was Without Fail. The book was brilliant with a wicked main character and plot. I immediately went searching for more. Other reviews have pressed the notion that Reacher's vagrant style is slightly unrealistic and anti-civilization. Although I'd agree that in Running Blind (aka the Visitor) Reacher's near sightedness when it came to his living was rather annoying, in the other books I liked it. It added to Reacher's personality and his character.
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Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - Mystery/ Detective    3. Mystery & Detective - General    4. Mystery fiction    5. Suspense    6. Thrillers    7. Fiction / Suspense   

Reviews (20)

A Terrific Read....
Once again, J.A. Jance has provided an exciting and well-written book!!I couldn't wait 'til the end and was sorry it HAD to end!!!I am also a J.P. Beaumont fan and all I can say to this author is "Please keep up the great work (on both series)."Personally, I cannot wait for the next books to appear for either series--Susan

Good book, disappointed in the ending
I always enjoy the Joanna Brady mysteries, fast-paced and interesting while you are reading them but not something you have to put a lot of thought into. This one was no exception, the characters and the crimes being investigated were good but I was really disappointed that the "mystery" behind the case wasn't explained more in the end. I actually wondered if my copy was missing some pages.

Can't Get Enough of JA Jance
Jance's twelth book in the Joanna Brady series finds Joanna newly elected, expecting her second child and forced to deal with an unidentified corpse with his fingers cut off and a raped and beaten Animal Control Officer. But Joanna's no slouch and despite the load she's carrying, she flops on her belly to shoot a bad guy. Too bad she can't do that with her meddling in-laws. Faced with an animal cruelty crisis and competing with Maricopa County's sheriff for brilliant ingenuity, Joanna comes up with a solution: Give prisoners pit bulls. Huh? So what if this sounds wacky. It works, and so does this book. JA Jance can't pump these things out fast enough for me. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Brady, Joanna (Fictitious character)    2. Fiction    3. Fiction - Espionage / Thriller    4. Fiction - Mystery/ Detective    5. Mystery & Detective - Hard-Boiled    6. Mystery & Detective - Police Procedural    7. Mystery & Detective - Women Sleuths    8. Mystery/Suspense    9. Policewomen    10. Sheriffs    11. Suspense    12. Fiction / Suspense   

Reviews (92)

Good read, hard to review
This was a story so full of twists I feel I have to be careful not to give anything away here. Several seemingly unrelated stories follow each other: in 1970, in Cambridge, a mathematician and his wife have a terrible marriage, but keep on having children. Things come to a head when the youngest child disappears one hot summer night and is not found. The second chapter is about a solicitor whose younger daughter is murdered in a horribly violent scene while working at her father's office. Her murderer is not found. The third chapter involves another unhappy marriage in which the wife appears to be suffering from post-partum depression. She is also an uber-perfectionist who came from a ghastly family background. The husband is murdered with an axe and the wife is found guilty and serves time in prison. Each of the families contacts a detective who is a former Cambridge police inspector. This all happens at the beginning of the book. The stories become interwoven and each is eventually solved, but don't expect to be able to guess who did what. I had trouble putting this book down. The author claims she didn't base the novel on actual events, but then she has some imagination. You'll want to read it right through to the end.

It's Just OK...
In the book Case Histories, private investigator Jackson Brodie, receives three new clients in the course of a couple of weeks that all have "cold cases" they need closure on.
Best Atkinson so Far
Kate Atkinson is a masterful writer and this is her best book.She interweaves the case histories of the title so cleverly that when you finish the novel you are amazed by her skill and rare ability to bring diverse and sometimes eccentric characters vividly and compellingly to life.Her new novel, due this month, promises to bring some of these characters alive again. Writers today rarely combine suspense, characterization and plot with such brilliance. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - General    3. Literary    4. Mystery & Detective - General    5. Mystery And Suspense Fiction    6. Mystery/Suspense    7. Short Stories (single author)    8. Fiction / General   

Reviews (86)

If Koontz couldn't tell a good story...
I would have left this book in the airline seat back on my way to the exit.
Could have been much better
Unlike the other reviewers, I enjoyed the first book more. Deucalion, the most interesting character, is not utilized enough in this book and there are more storylines than necessary. Deucalion and Victor Helios (Frankenstein); Randal Six and Arnie; Erica Five and Victor; the two detectives. Less would have been better.
An Easy Read
Dean Koontz's Frankenstein books, each of which are co-authored by other writers, are entertaining, quick reads. While I am looking forward to the next installment, and am interested in what happens to the characters, I can't help wondering if they would be "better" if Mr Koontz wrote them alone. The normal Koontz-ian character development doesn't seem as thorough, and the build-up of suspense is not as acute. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - Horror    3. Horror - General    4. Koontz, Dean R. (Dean Ray) - Prose & Criticism    5. Mystery/Suspense    6. Suspense    7. Thrillers    8. Fiction / General   

Editorial Review

Jack Reacher, the taciturn ex-MP whose adventures in Lee Child's six previous solidly plotted, expertly paced thrillers have won a devoted fan base, returns in this explosive tale of an undercover operation set up by the FBI to rescue an agent investigating Zachary Beck, a reclusive tycoon believed to be a kingpin in the drug trade. The novel begins with a bang as Reacher rescues Beck's son from a staged kidnapping in order to get close to his father--and trace the connection between Beck and Quinn, a former army intelligence officer who tried to sell blueprints of a secret weapon to Iraq but was murdered before he could pull it off. Or so Reacher thinks, until he spots Quinn in the crowd at a concert in Boston. As usual, Child ratchets up the tension and keeps the reader in suspense until the last page, although his enigmatic hero hardly ever seems to break a sweat. In the tough guy tradition, Reacher and his creator are overdue for a breakout, and this muscular, well-written mystery might be the one. Read more

Reviews (96)

Tough going in, but the payoff is great
It took me three weeks to slog through the first chapter of this book; I simply wasn't engaged.The first-person POV narrative reads like the 40-yr-old version of the kid in your junior high science class, the one who already had a full beard and a big scar across his cheek.I picked up this book only sporadically and trudged through the prose, which is loaded with remarkably passive language that "tells" rather than "shows" the reader what's taking place.That's sooooooo distracting to me as a reader; I love getting sucked into a story without big glaring reminders that it's only a book.
Hunting An Old Enemy
Persuader, begins with Jack Reacher staging the murder of a cop, two bodyguards and kidnappers, all to impress the terrified teen age son of a supposed drug kingpin.This is how Reacher plans on getting close to the criminal father, who is a rug merchant.But what is he smuggling with the rugs?Reacher is really after the boss who is higher up, an former army intelligence officer who once butchered a young woman sergeant under his command when he was in the military.This novel is filled with violent and sadistic criminals many of which guard the boy, his mother and the rug merchant father on a walled estate on the cliffs in Maine overlooking the raging Atlantic.Soon a female Treasury agent's body is found mutilated exactly in the fashion Reacher's former sergeant had been murdered.Now Reacher is determined more than ever against nearly overwhelming odds.What is compelling is Reacher's mind set.The reader gets a look inside the pragmatic and yet somehow philosophical mind of a specially trained military man who still has deep loyalty to his long dead sergeant.
Solid pacing, terrific ending for a Reacher novel...
I have read the majority of Lee Childs' Reacher novels.They are always enjoyable.Reacher is a fascinating character...brutal, engaging and entertaining.
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Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - Espionage / Thriller    3. Suspense    4. Thrillers    5. Fiction / Thrillers   

Reviews (3)

Agatha's Back and Up to Her Beady Eyes in Mystery and Romance
Agatha Raisin has two addictions in life---one is butting in where others fear to tread and the other is James Lacey.Both consume her in this latest adventure of the middle-aged detective who prides herself on her good legs.
a wonderfully satisfying "cozy"
Agatha Raisin's ex-husband, James Lacey, is back in Carsely, and seems keen to rekindle their relationship. Would Agatha succumb once more to James' siren call in spite of all the pain and angst he's caused her? I had to know and fairly pounced on "Love, Lies and Liquor" when I saw this spanking new Agatha Raisin mystery novel on the sorting carts.