Helpful Score: 12
WOW!!! Absolutely dynamite! I figured this guy had to be a pretty good writer based on his collaborations with James Patterson. The Blue Zone, his first solo book, was amazing. Just be warned: start this on a Friday night, when you don't have any Saturday plans. It was that good, and will keep you reading straight through.
One of the best thrillers I've ever read, based on the idea: what would you do if you learned that your entire life was a lie, and you didn't know who you could trust? And it takes off from there. Very taut book; at over 300 pages, there's not a wasted word, and it's a rollercoaster ride.
This would make an excellent movie. The author's going to be a huge star, and I can't wait for his next book. I only hope he turns them out as fast as James Patterson!
One of the best thrillers I've ever read, based on the idea: what would you do if you learned that your entire life was a lie, and you didn't know who you could trust? And it takes off from there. Very taut book; at over 300 pages, there's not a wasted word, and it's a rollercoaster ride.
This would make an excellent movie. The author's going to be a huge star, and I can't wait for his next book. I only hope he turns them out as fast as James Patterson!
Helpful Score: 8
After you read this book you will know Andrew Gross name didn't appear next to JP just as a favor. You get right into this book, feel like you are part of it. I'll bet you find yourself gripping the book tight and clinching your teeth from drama of this book, I did. My fingers are sore from gripping the hardback so tight. Every time you think you have it figured out something else comes in to play. The book ends and you can very easily see a sequel, hope there is one too. I started this book last night at bedtime and just finished it at bedtime tonight. It's a quiet time and don't disturb me book for sure.
Helpful Score: 7
What an excellant book, I couldnt put it down and it kept me guessing up until the end.
Helpful Score: 6
This book is awesome!! Story about a family going into the witness program and then getting lost! Many plot twists and keeps you guessing until the end. Highly recommended!!
This was a book that I could not put down once I started reading it. Total mind capture!!!
This was a book that I could not put down once I started reading it. Total mind capture!!!
Helpful Score: 5
GREAT thriller, lots of twists and turns.
Helpful Score: 4
This is a thriller, written in the style of James Patterson. It is a real page turner. I am looking forward to this author's next book.
Helpful Score: 4
This solo debut novel is very compelling. Gross has previously co-authored books with James Patterson. It is a page-turner, even though the plot at times seems far-fetched. A web of deception and betrayal leaves many lives on the line. I do recommend this book and look forward to reading the authors next novel, The Dark Tide.
Helpful Score: 3
Started slow, but the story got much more interesting after about 100 pages. Overall, a good read, but not one of my favorites. The storyline about the witness protection program has some very good twists which make it worth reading. The writing style was only average in my opinion.
Helpful Score: 3
Here's a look inside the Witness Protection Program and what happens when those in the program leave it and hide to pursue their own program. Andrew Gross has written several best-sellers with James Patterson, but this is his first solo effort. Some surprise twists are built in as well as a few coincidences that are a tad hard to believe. Over all, though, I found it good entertainment...and I recommende it.
Helpful Score: 3
This book was quick moving and kept me guessing. I recommend it!
Helpful Score: 2
An ok book, but not my favorite. Andrew Gross writes just like James Patterson. If you like Patterson books you'll like this one.
Helpful Score: 2
Great thriller - story drew me in and kept me guessing.
The blue zone - the state most feared, when there is suspicion that a subject's new identity has been penetrated or blown. When he or she is unaccounted for, is out of contact with the case agent, or has fled the safety of the program When there is no official knowledge of whether that person is dead or alive.
The blue zone - the state most feared, when there is suspicion that a subject's new identity has been penetrated or blown. When he or she is unaccounted for, is out of contact with the case agent, or has fled the safety of the program When there is no official knowledge of whether that person is dead or alive.
Helpful Score: 1
Written by the co-author of Lifeguard and Judge & Jury, a New York Times Bestseller. This is a tense and chilling thriller of what goes wrong when a witness protection plan cover gets blown. A really good and coherent read.
Helpful Score: 1
I read so much that it's not very often that a book keeps me guessing until the very end, but this book did that, and more. Twists and turns abound, it's definately a sit-down-and-read-all-the-way-through book.
Helpful Score: 1
If part one doesn't grab and hold you hostage, you might just be brain dead. What an exciting beginning! Benjamin Raab (Kate's father) is arresting on RICO charges and like a house of cards, his whole life crumbles taking his wife and three children with it. Kate refuses to enter the Witness Protection Program and loses contact with the rest of her family until the proverbial shit hits the fan and her father disappears.
The plot is complex and deftly crafted to keep you on the edge of your seat the entire time. The twists and turns come at a furious pace and the surprises don't stop until the very end. I really liked Kate but felt there was something wrong with Ben from the start. He was just too good to be true and I knew something was going to happen though I wasn't prepared for what actually did happen which was a total surprise. I never felt anything for her husband Greg either. He just didn't have much input into the story...until the end.
This is the first book I've read by Andrew Gross but it most definitely will not be the last. I've read some of the books he collaborated with James Patterson on but it's just not the same as a full-fledged novel which shows his talent and not Patterson's.
The plot is complex and deftly crafted to keep you on the edge of your seat the entire time. The twists and turns come at a furious pace and the surprises don't stop until the very end. I really liked Kate but felt there was something wrong with Ben from the start. He was just too good to be true and I knew something was going to happen though I wasn't prepared for what actually did happen which was a total surprise. I never felt anything for her husband Greg either. He just didn't have much input into the story...until the end.
This is the first book I've read by Andrew Gross but it most definitely will not be the last. I've read some of the books he collaborated with James Patterson on but it's just not the same as a full-fledged novel which shows his talent and not Patterson's.
Helpful Score: 1
EXCELLANT BOOK
Andrew Gross without James Patterson and you would
not even know it
Fast & enjoyable
Great twists
Andrew Gross without James Patterson and you would
not even know it
Fast & enjoyable
Great twists
Helpful Score: 1
I was delighted to read that other reviewers had the same impression I did when reading this book--this author will be a total success on his own, as he continues to write excellent and thrilling stories. Patterson's helpful hand, taking co-writers under his wing, is a mentoring program that pays off for us readers.
From the blurb: "Everything in Kate Raab's life seems perfect. She has an amazing family, an invigorating job straight out of college, and a boyfriend she adores. Then a phone call changes everything. Her father, a successful businessman, a man she has always trusted and admired, is in trouble with the law. He's innocent, he insists, but the only way out is this: his testimony against his accomplices and the immediate placement of the family deep inside the Witness Protection Program. ... Now, a year later, her worst fears have been realized. Kate's father suddenly disappears--into what the WITSEC agency calls "the blue zone"--and someone very important to him is found brutally murdered. ..." It's just a great read!
From the blurb: "Everything in Kate Raab's life seems perfect. She has an amazing family, an invigorating job straight out of college, and a boyfriend she adores. Then a phone call changes everything. Her father, a successful businessman, a man she has always trusted and admired, is in trouble with the law. He's innocent, he insists, but the only way out is this: his testimony against his accomplices and the immediate placement of the family deep inside the Witness Protection Program. ... Now, a year later, her worst fears have been realized. Kate's father suddenly disappears--into what the WITSEC agency calls "the blue zone"--and someone very important to him is found brutally murdered. ..." It's just a great read!
Entertaining. Really enjoyable.
I so loved this book, Andrew Gross's first book was a masterpiece at it's best! Did I say that I loved this book? Well I did! I couldn't get enough of it. The story line was phenomenal, non-stop excitement from start to finish! I love how he writes. Very very well written! I wanted to story to continue but I'm glad that the Blue Zone had good closer at the end! This is a must read for any Patterson fan or anyone for that matter. Getting to know the main character was amazing, I felt like I was Kate alot of the times. Almost like I was right there with her! Keep up the awesome work Andrew. I'm very much looking forward to reading you second book! Thanks for the great ride! Heather P.
I read this in one night.....exellent book!!!!!
What is it like to just be into beginning adulthood when your entire support system, your family is pulled out from under you? And worse, yet, you begin to be followed... and worse. This is the ever-changing situation where "Kate" finds herself in this thriller by Andrew Gross.
This was my first time reading a story written by Andrew Gross, and it was a good one to begin with. His styling is much like James Patterson; short, fast chapters, compact descriptions telling us just enough, quick changes of scenery moving rapidly through time. Gross' writing allows you to see through some, but not all, of his plot twists and turns, drawing you into the story over and over again.
This book is a quick, easy read, and lets you become his characters just long enough to try them on for size. What characters will YOU trust? It is difficult to choose sides. Try this book and make up your own mind.
This was my first time reading a story written by Andrew Gross, and it was a good one to begin with. His styling is much like James Patterson; short, fast chapters, compact descriptions telling us just enough, quick changes of scenery moving rapidly through time. Gross' writing allows you to see through some, but not all, of his plot twists and turns, drawing you into the story over and over again.
This book is a quick, easy read, and lets you become his characters just long enough to try them on for size. What characters will YOU trust? It is difficult to choose sides. Try this book and make up your own mind.
A really "can't put it down" thriller. I enjoyed the characters, the plot, the ending. Highly recommend you give this one a try.
I've never read a book by Andrew Gross before so this was the first time for me and I actually thought this is a new author. I was surprised to read he'd published a few books before.
However, I liked the plot:
The family Raab is tight and torn apart after Ben Raab, the father, admits to different accusations by the FBI. His confession and plans to testify in court against the Colombian drug cartel puts him and the family into a dangerous position and therefore into the Witness Protection Program. The family has to vanish and never come back to it's old life.
Kate, the oldest daughter though, decides to not run away from her life and boyfriend Greg. Realising later on, she's never going to see her family again she takes on her own life and marries Greg.
14 month later she receives a surprising visit by the FBI: her father has vanished and left a trail to the murder of his case agent.
Feeling the FBI hides information from her Kate begins to investigate a bit and soon discovers that the special relationship she once had with her father isn't as true as she'd always believed.
Who is the man she'd always believed to be her hero ? Why did he do what he did ?
Kate needs answers and tries to find her family which causes her mother's life. From there on Kate's life is a roller coaster of fear. Understanding what she is dealing with Kate has to realize she is stuck between her father and the cartel. Who is right and who is wrong and what did her mother plan to tell her when she got shot ?
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Although I didn't like the all too predictable ending I enjoyed reading The Blue Zone.
The main character Kate isn't very memorable from my point of view but I really liked her husband Greg as a minor role. The Blue Zone is a nice holiday-beach read: not too demanding and quite short.
However, I liked the plot:
The family Raab is tight and torn apart after Ben Raab, the father, admits to different accusations by the FBI. His confession and plans to testify in court against the Colombian drug cartel puts him and the family into a dangerous position and therefore into the Witness Protection Program. The family has to vanish and never come back to it's old life.
Kate, the oldest daughter though, decides to not run away from her life and boyfriend Greg. Realising later on, she's never going to see her family again she takes on her own life and marries Greg.
14 month later she receives a surprising visit by the FBI: her father has vanished and left a trail to the murder of his case agent.
Feeling the FBI hides information from her Kate begins to investigate a bit and soon discovers that the special relationship she once had with her father isn't as true as she'd always believed.
Who is the man she'd always believed to be her hero ? Why did he do what he did ?
Kate needs answers and tries to find her family which causes her mother's life. From there on Kate's life is a roller coaster of fear. Understanding what she is dealing with Kate has to realize she is stuck between her father and the cartel. Who is right and who is wrong and what did her mother plan to tell her when she got shot ?
-
Although I didn't like the all too predictable ending I enjoyed reading The Blue Zone.
The main character Kate isn't very memorable from my point of view but I really liked her husband Greg as a minor role. The Blue Zone is a nice holiday-beach read: not too demanding and quite short.
A great read, page turner all the way through.
Enjoyed his first effort
This is a pretty good adventure. However Kate's reason for not trusting the FBI seem a bit contrived. It seemed like the author just needed her not to trust the FBI so she would go off on her own.
This book was lost at a motel & brought to me. Almost did't read it. A very good story & read it in one night. Liked the way Gross writes.
I am a new reader of Andrew Gross's books. This was the 2nd one and I am expecting another in the future The two books I read were excellent.
Very disappointing work by an author who has collaborated with James Patterson on several books. This one was just not cohesive or even interesting oon the same level as the others.
