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Review Date: 5/19/2009
Helpful Score: 4
Starts with the very real possibility of a major earthquake in America's heartland, and goes on to build a well-written page-turner. Excellent fast-paced, edge-of-seat thriller.
Review Date: 3/16/2014
Helpful Score: 2
This is an impressive debut novel, with some truly creepy moments. Even when it's clear "whodunit," the tension doesn't let up and you keep reading compulsively to see how it ends. Well done and well worth reading, if you enjoy psychological thrillers.
Review Date: 3/29/2010
Chilling and dark, this thriller is a genuine page-turner; I kept reading "one more chapter" for hours after I'd intended to stop. It's all a bit implausible, but the runaway freight train pacing keeps you suspending disbelief and reading on compulsively.
Review Date: 4/20/2010
Helpful Score: 2
Here's another author worthy of wider recognition and readers; Sydney Bauer has two books published in the U.S. to date, "Undertow" and "Alibi." They are legal thrillers, with all the expected elements: page-turning fast pace, lots of red herrings and plot twists and turns, high courtoom drama, and a surprise ending. Both the books rise above the best-seller genre in many ways: the writing is definitely a cut or two above average, the characters live and stay with you after the book is finished, and there are complex ethical and moral issues that the legal system is poorly equipped to resolve. If you haven't yet discovered Sydney Bauer, you're in for a surprise and a treat!
Review Date: 10/26/2011
Helpful Score: 1
It's not an easy book to characterize: not really horror or mystery, almost a gothic but not quite. Whatever the category, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The characters are well-drawn if definitely off-center, the pace picks up speed as the novel progresses, and I found myself reluctant to put it down.
Review Date: 8/2/2009
Helpful Score: 2
Just lost most of a weekend day to this book; after reading the first few chapters, I just couldn't put it down! It's an excellent page-turning thriller, but still creates three-dimensional characters you come to understand and care about; and its premise scenario is sufficiently plausible to be truly chilling. Don't start this book late at night unless you're willing to lose a lot of sleep time.
Review Date: 3/17/2010
Helpful Score: 1
Well-written, edgy police procedural. The author was new to me, and I'm very happy to discover him.
Review Date: 6/3/2012
Helpful Score: 1
As a reader, I usually find well-written books of non-fiction to be informative and, at their best, very readable and enjoyable. With Mary Roach's books, I have to add adjectives not often applied to non-fiction: addictive, consistently entertaining, often laugh-out-loud funny. Her subjects are distinctly off-center, her research exhaustive, and the results are wonderful!
Review Date: 4/27/2011
Helpful Score: 1
What an amazing, wonderful novel. Find it, read it, you'll never forget it. For those of us who didn't live through World War II, it's difficult to truly comprehend the nightmare that was Nazi Germany. Zusak trains the focus on one girl, one family, one street in Germany; through them, the times come to life, vivid, chilling, and very real.
The narrator is Death: who better, really? Not a frightening figure, this Death is very "human," full of compassion and prone to flashes of ironic humor when they're needed most. He frequently remarks on how overworked he is: how sadly true.
I know this book will stay with me for a long long time, and I recommend it without reservation.
The narrator is Death: who better, really? Not a frightening figure, this Death is very "human," full of compassion and prone to flashes of ironic humor when they're needed most. He frequently remarks on how overworked he is: how sadly true.
I know this book will stay with me for a long long time, and I recommend it without reservation.
Review Date: 10/9/2009
Helpful Score: 1
Here's a unique twist on the usual serial killer book: one who uses the storms in Tornado Alley to cover his crimes. Fast-paced, with credible characters and a well-drawn and suspenseful plot, this is an excellent page-turner and compelling mystery.
Buckingham Palace Gardens (Thomas and Charlotte Pitt, Bk 25)
Author:
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
42
Author:
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
42
Review Date: 9/18/2009
No one does a better job of bringing Victorian London to life than Anne Perry. In this excellent entry in the Thomas Pitt series, the crimes in question take place within the walls of Buckingham Palace. An interesting twist is that most of the members of Pitt's family make only cameo appearances, but Gracie plays a pivotal role and comes into her own in this novel. Well-written with a fun puzzle and the usual well-drawn characters and effective historical atmosphere and setting.
Review Date: 3/2/2009
Helpful Score: 2
This is a real page-turner as it describes the birth and mutant growth of a record storm aimed at Manhattan. Political subplots galore involve human manipulation of climate. I'm surprised this book hasn't yet become a film; the writing creates horrific special effects images that are tailor-made for the big screen.
Review Date: 10/25/2009
Helpful Score: 2
What a marvelous find this novel is! At moments it is brutal, at others charmingly innocent, often with touches of light and humor. The characters come alive in your mind and heart and stay with you long after you finish reading. I'll be looking for more of this author's work, for sure.
Review Date: 6/25/2010
Helpful Score: 2
This is one of those unusual books you can't put down, yet you don't want it to end. The action is fast-paced, the suspense builds by the chapter, and there are complex, very real characters you come to care about. I'm delighted to discover this author, and will be looking for more from him.
Review Date: 11/16/2009
Helpful Score: 4
What a marvelous suprise this book was! I've recently begun exploring and enjoying historical novels, but found the idea of a novel of nearly 900 pages a bit daunting. And yet, I was disappointed when it ended: this is a real tribute to the way it brings to life the Victorian era, and a cast of characters who intrigue and interest you to the point that you want to hear more. Yes, it is graphic at times, as is inevitable given the subject matter; but the story and characters become very real and compelling. I'll definitely look for more of Mr. Faber's work!
Review Date: 3/13/2010
Don't miss this one! If you sometimes feel, as I do, that each new serial killer book is more "same old, same old," this novel is a breath of fresh, if twisted, air. The killer's motivation and methodology are unusual, complex and compelling; some of the good guys seem at least as crazy as some of the villains, and there are enough twists to keep you guessing for quite a while. I'll definitely be looking for more of this author's work.
The Dead Lie Down (aka The Other Half Lives) (Culver Valley Crime, Bk 4)
Author:
Book Type: Paperback
36
Author:
Book Type: Paperback
36
Review Date: 4/1/2014
Helpful Score: 1
This is a truly odd book: not so much a "whodunit" as a "who did what, if anything?" book. Very well written, it manages to be impossible to put down until you've followed all the red herrings and wrong turns to understand what's happened to whom, when and why.
Review Date: 2/3/2011
A plot synopsis makes this book sound like everyday horror. Ghosts, witches and their familiars, same old same old. Think again. Irwin's characters have a depth that makes them real, and adds an extra depth of horror to events. And the horror elements are very well done. If you have a certain phobia (and maybe even if you don't), there are scenes that will give you the shudders, and images that will stay with you for a very long time.
Review Date: 9/27/2015
Helpful Score: 1
I wouldn't care to read a book like this one every day, but I found "The Dinner" to be a very worthwhile read. It's a really scathing and dark satire and yes, the characters are thoroughly unsympathetic. Their closed ranks and self-centeredness, not to mention their actions, are taken to horrifying extremes;the result is a brutal book you won't soon forget.
Review Date: 8/4/2011
Helpful Score: 1
Quick read and lots of fun. The idea of the dog thinking like a hard-boiled p.i. sounded like it might be too cutesy for my taste; but his behavior is all dog, so it works and is actually pretty amusing. Fun read for dog lovers.
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