Editorial Review

California, 1985-Four children and young teacher Anne Navarre make a gruesome discovery: a partially buried female body, her eyes and mouth glued shut. A serial killer is at large, and the very bonds that hold their idyllic town together are about to be tested. Tasked with finding the killer, FBI investigator Vince Leone employs a new and controversial FBI technique called "profiling", which plunges him into the lives of the four children-and the young teacher whose need to uncover the truth is as intense as his own. But as new victims are found, Vince and Anne find themselves circling the same small group of local suspects, blissfully unaware that someone very near to them is a murderous psychopath... ... Read more

Editorial Review

What would you do if you woke up one day and found out everything you thought you knew about your father turned out to be a lie?

After being bitten by the genealogy bug, Grace Hendricks awakens a conspiracy that's been lying dormant—ever since she disappeared shortly after her father's funeral eleven years ago. Now, here in the present, his military records have been tampered with and his death certificate is no longer on file.

In an effort to unravel the mystery she turns to Eric Wayne, an old flame she thought she'd tucked safely away into the past. Eric has no intentions of getting involved with Grace and her crazy allegations, until he realizes that someone else is buried in his former commanding General's grave. ... Read more

Reviews

Suspenseful Sizzler, September 9, 2010
Ms. Edwards has written another thrilling ride that will take you from a cemetary to a military base and everywhere in between while entertaining you the whole time. Secondary Targets grabbed me from the first sentence and never let go. What a great story, filled with conspiracy theories, spies, covert military operations, secrets, deceptions, love, romance, redemption. Ms Edwards does such a good job of weaving the past relationships of all the characters into a thriller that kept me guessing until the last page. Great plot twists. And the ending gave me a chill.

*SIMPLY ASTONISHING*, October 24, 2010
THIS IS INTELLECT AT IT'S BEST! AWESOME BOOK!
Another (MUST READ) by Ms. EDWARDS. This is the kind of book you wish you were watching on Screen! Yes it's that GREAT! I don't like to give too much away in my reviews out of consideration for the potential reader but I will say this: It's LOADED with Brilliant Conspiracy and Suspense.
You won't be sorry you picked up this Thriller.
Happy Reading ;)
*Amy E.*

Another Hit For Author Sandra Edwards, October 8, 2010
What would you do if everything you thought was true turned out to be false? That's what Grace Hendricks is facing. Eleven years after the death of her father she learns that he wasn't who she thought he was. Upon returning to his grave she finds that someone else is buried where her father should be. His death certificate is nowhere to be found. It's as if he never existed. There's only one man she can turn to for help, Eric Wayne her ex-fiancee, whom she walked out on eleven years ago. With the help of Eric's best friend Marcus Johnson and his wife the four race to learn the truth. But can Grace truly trust Eric and his friends? Are they in on the conspiracy?

Sandra Edwards has done it again. Secondary Targets is a remarkable mystery/romance that will keep you guessing right till the end with a twist that will blow your socks off. If you love a great romance with lots of mystery thrown in then I highly recommend you don't pass up Secondary Targets.

FANTASTIC BOOK!!!, September 9, 2010
What a cool premise for a book! It has a wonderful beginning, cluing the reader in that this isn't your normal mystery...it's much better, with a twist I never saw coming! Thank you, Sandy, for yet another wonderful plot! I'm glad I own this book!

a plodder, December 16, 2010
For a "tale of intrigue and mystery," very little happens, at least in the first 25%, which is probably where I will leave it.

Also...
- the Army does not generally give awards to Lance Corporals
- there is no decimal point in 9mm
- the phrase is "in vain", not "in vane"
- Four Star General does not need all those caps

Too much romantic angst, December 14, 2010
I struggled through this book and about a third of the way I skipped over to the end. NO surprises there. It reminded me of a soap opera, watch it one day and go back two weeks later and find you haven't lost out on the action. I'm glad I only lost $.99 on this book. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Watch out, world. Here comes Stephanie Plum, a bounty hunter with attitude. In Stephanie's opinion, toxic waste, rabid drivers, armed schizophrenics, and August heat, humidity, and hydrocarbons are all part of the great adventure of living in Jersey.

She's a product of the "burg," a blue-collar pocket of Trenton where houses are attached and narrow, cars are American, windows are clean, and (God forbid you should be late) dinner is served at six.

Now Stephanie's all grown up and out on her own, living five miles from Mom and Dad's, doing her best to sever the world's longest umbilical cord. Her mother is a meddler, and her grandmother is a few cans short of a case.

Out of work and out of money, with her Miata repossessed and her refrigerator empty, Stephanie blackmails her bail bondsman cousin, Vinnie, into giving her a try as an apprehension agent. Stephanie knows zilch about the job requirements, but she figures her new pal, fearless bounty hunter Ranger, can teach her what it takes to catch a crook.

Her first assignment: nail Joe Morelli, a former vice cop on the run from a charge of murder one. Morelli is also the irresistible macho pig who took Stephanie's virginity at age sixteen and then wrote the details on the bathroom wall of Mario's Sub Shop. There's still powerful chemistry between these two, so the chase should be interesting.

It could also be extremely dangerous, especially when Stephanie encounters a heavyweight title contender who likes to play rough. Benito Ramirez is known for his brutality to women. At the very least, his obsession with Stephanie complicates her manhunt and brings terror and uncertainty into her life. At worst, it could lead to murder.

Witty, fresh, and full of surprises, One for the Money is among the most eagerly awaited crime novels of the season. ... Read more

Editorial Review

BONUS: This edition includes the full text of the novel plus the following content:
-- Lisa Gardner on Detective D.D. Warren: Who was the inspiration for D.D. Warren? Find out in this essay.
-- An excerpt from Lisa Gardner’s Love You More.

He knows everything about you—including the first place you’ll hide.
 
On a warm summer night in one of Boston’s working-class neighborhoods, an unthinkable crime has been committed: Four members of a family have been brutally murdered. The father—and possible suspect—now lies clinging to life in the ICU. Murder-suicide? Or something worse? Veteran police detective D. D. Warren is certain of only one thing: There’s more to this case than meets the eye.

Danielle Burton is a survivor, a dedicated nurse whose passion is to help children at a locked-down pediatric psych ward. But she remains haunted by a family tragedy that shattered her life nearly twenty-five years ago. The dark anniversary is approaching, and when D. D. Warren and her partner show up at the facility, Danielle immediately realizes: It has started again.

A devoted mother, Victoria Oliver has a hard time remembering what normalcy is like. But she will do anything to ensure that her troubled son has some semblance of a childhood. She will love him no matter what. Nurture him. Keep him safe. Protect him. Even when the threat comes from within her own house. 

In New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner’s most compelling work of suspense to date, the lives of these three women unfold and connect in unexpected ways, as sins from the past emerge—and stunning secrets reveal just how tightly blood ties can bind. Sometimes the most devastating crimes are the ones closest to home.
 
  ... Read more

Editorial Review

The haunting follow up to the Edgar Award-winning debut In the Woods

Tana French astonished critics and readers alike with her mesmerizing debut novel, In the Woods. Now both French and Detective Cassie Maddox return to unravel a case even more sinister and enigmatic than the first. Six months after the events of In the Woods, an urgent telephone call beckons Cassie to a grisly crime scene. The victim looks exactly like Cassie and carries ID identifying herself as Alexandra Madison, an alias Cassie once used. Suddenly, Cassie must discover not only who killed this girl, but, more importantly, who is this girl? A disturbing tale of shifting identities, The Likeness firmly establishes Tana French as an important voice in suspense fiction. ... Read more

Reviews

The hawthorn as extended metaphor, July 22, 2008
There will be no spoilers in this review.

As in her first novel, In the Woods, Tana French has created another sensuous, lyrical, haunting, suspenseful story. Although it is considered a mystery, it is much much more than that. It is a story of identity in all its literal and metaphorical forms. It is a social commentary (but never sententious) and it is also about fear and flight and love.

Cassie Maddox and Sam O'Neill are detectives from In the Woods. Although Operation Vestal (from In the Woods) is mentioned several times, these books can be read in any sequence without ruining it for the reader. The setting is again Dublin, Ireland.

Cassie is the star attraction of this story as she goes undercover to live with four liberal arts doctoral candidates whose housemate, Lexie Madison, is found dead from a stabbing in an abandoned cottage. Lexie Madison looks exactly like Cassie, and the name is her last undercover alias, which adds to the mystery. The housemates will be told that she survived the stabbing.

It isn't necessary to give too many plot details. What is more important is the response from reading. This is a generous, gorgeous, thoughtful, poetic story. The tone is almost elegiac at times, especially during her descriptive paragraphs, and the author's use of the extended metaphor is prolific and often profound. At the end of the novel, I looked up hawthorn (the tree, flower, bush) on Wikipedia and had a chill run up and down my spine. Her descriptions, turns of phrase, elegant passages and graceful unfolding keep me fastened and fascinated. What I love about Tana French is that her novels are both character-driven AND plot-driven. She does not sacrifice one for the other. With most mysteries, I only read them once. But The Likeness can be read again just for the aesthetics. Also, there is no deus ex machina here. The story is excellently paced with a well-timed delivery of its climax.

Tana French is no lightweight, but she makes the story accessible to anyone who enjoys reading. She has that gift to appeal to a variety of readers-- even readers who look for largely escape mysteries. But this is not escape reading; it is the kind of reading that makes you ponder. It is philosophical and it echoes. It has shadows, swirls, hollows, heart,humanity, tension, suspense, whispers, hawthorn, hawthorn, hawthorn...

I look forward to the third book that Tana French is working on, with Frank Mackey (from The Likeness) as the main protagonist.

Gorgeous writing, flimsy plot, December 2, 2008
Likeness is one of those off-kilter books that you love to read because the prose is stunning, but which fails completely as a novel. In order for French's plot to work you have to believe: 1)that an undercover cop could pass herself off as another person to a group of people who knew her "double" intimately, 2)that a person can go from being a hat designer to a PhD student in one year (transcripts? application process? recommendations?),3) that grad school students act like 15-year-olds (well, OK maybe that's not so far off the mark),4) that a trained undercover cop would keep important evidence (the diary) from her superiors, etc. etc. etc. I simply did not buy any of it. There were problems with the writing as well. I found the trendy post-modern "quotes" (Star Trek, Alice's Restaurant) disruptive. And those endless ambiguous, interrupted conversations hinting at dark secrets got old after a while. I wanted some resolution. Even the relationships between the characters were unconvincing. Was Cassie actually supposed to be in love with Sam? Why did Cassie want to be Lexi? Why did the villagers care so deeply about a woman who had died almost a hundred years earlier? In short, the premise was implausible, the book was over-written, and the psychology shaky.
French is a fabulous writer. I'm hoping that her third novel will be a charm.

Feckin' genius, August 19, 2008
It's feckin' genius, that's what it is. I couldn't write a single sentence as well as Tana French if I started now and lived to be a thousand. And she wrote a whole book, two books, of them. Flawlessly. Word after word, sentence after sentence, paragraph after paragraph, until the book is as perfect as it could be. It boggles the mind, it really does.

The first time I picked up Raymond Chandler, I knew I was in the hands of something profound and mysterious. I haven't had that feeling again for many years, till In The Woods, and even more powerfully, The Likeness.

Here's an Australian sheep rancher, talking about his daughter:

"But when she was nine, her mother had hemmorhaged, ...and bled out before a doctor could get there. 'Gracie was too young to hear that,' he said. '...I knew as soon as I told her. The look in her eyes: she was too young to hear it. It cracked her straight across.'"

"It cracked her straight across". That's the power of metaphor in the hands of a master. It conveys in a way that touches the heart what exactly happened, in the same way that Shakespeare would use metaphor and words.

It's a privilege to read Tana French, it really is. I feel only pity for the person who wrote of the unbelievable plot, I do. This book isn't about a plot, just as Chandler wasn't about plot, just as we don't read Shakespeare for the plot. Anyone can do plot; but to give feeling and life, undoubted life, to characters on paper, that is to marvel at.

Cassie Maddox meets her doppleganger, July 17, 2008
The premise of The Likeness--Detective Cassie Maddox (heroine of French's memorable debut novel, the Edgar-winning In the Woods) assumes the identity of a lookalike murder victim who herself assumed an undercover identity Maddox abandoned years before--certainly sounds absurd on the surface, but the author makes it work, and makes it work well. Once Cassie's (and through her, the reader's) logical objections to the scheme are overcome, French proceeds to deliver a masterwork of suspense, dropping her heroine into a dangerous, emotionally charged situation, where she is constantly aware that any or all of the people she's trying to deceive may wish her dead. The fact that the novel is written in the first person makes it all the more intense.

another Edgar to come for Tana French?, July 18, 2008
The extraordinary follow-up to Tana French's Edgar-winning "In the Woods," "The Likeness" beautifully combines the narrative and the lyrical, interspersing moments of transcendent illumination with leisurely confident story-telling that doesn't let you go for a moment. The language is wonderful, the characterizations are complex and believable, and the suspense builds to a climax that surely will soon be incorporated into "a major motion picture." French credits her readers with intelligence and taste, letting this book be read on many levels, from dramatic mystery to speculation on subjects like the guts and work that being loved take; the thought that in life you take what you want and then pay for it (though you don't know in advance what the price will be); the changing nature of social subversion (which used to be expressed through discontent and now takes the form of contentment); what happens to people and societies when group memory is lost. A wonderful mystery, but not just a mystery. Highly recommended.

The Must-Have Read for Summer, July 24, 2008
It is safe to say that is the best book that I have read since completing French's "In the Woods" last summer.

A thriller that picks up some time after where "In the Woods" left off, the story follows the mysterious murder of Detective Cassie Maddox's doppleganger.

While the plot is sometimes totally incredulous, the quality of French's writing ropes the reader back in everytime reality threatens to destroy enjoyment of the novel. French strikes a tone that is intellectual (there are several long-winded monologues made by one of the characters Maddox encounters)- yet is at the same time accessible and easy to read. Something of a "The Secret History" style characters meets the cultural/class/society undertones of "Brideshead Revisited" makes this a totally engrossing read. Though the book reaches a much more concrete conclusion than that offered in French's previous offering, the novel still carries with it an air of mystery and unrest that is fascinating.

While I have seen several reviews that have said the book is a tad bit long-winded, I was not bothered by the length- to the contrary, I actually very much enjoyed spending all the time possible with French's clever characters (particularly the group of students that Maddox finds herself embedded among).

Am very much looking forward to Ms. French's next novel...

Exceptional, August 24, 2008
Although I read and thoroughly enjoyed French's debut novel "Into the Woods", her sophomore effort is by far superior. It was truly an exceptional and thrilling read. The way French fleshes out Cassie Maddox, Lexie Madison and the four housemates is truly astonishing. I have always been fond of character-driven plotlines and novels, and French truly impressed me with "The Likeness". The amount of depth present in these characters - their motivations, relationships, and personalities - was both fascinating and engrossing. This was a book difficult to put down.

To put it simply and sincerely: I loved "The Likeness" and would recommend any reader interested in a solid character-driven novel and thrilling mystery to buy this book.

I look eagerly towards her next novel! Hopefully, the wait will not be long.

Seductively safe atmosphere and delicately suspenseful plot. This is an intelligent, enjoyable mystery. Highly recommended, September 11, 2008
A year after the events in In The Woods, Cassie Maddox has an unheard of opportunity: A recent murder victim is her exact double, and even used an undercover alias that Cassie created years ago. Now, she can become the victim, stepping into her life and her friendship with a close-knit group of four students, to try and crack the case from within. The Likeness is strongly atmospheric, with an almost magical setting, a closely interwoven cast of characters, and slow, delicate suspense. It isn't an attention-grabbing book, but it is an intriguing, strongly constructed mystery, and I loved it. Enthusiastically recommended.

I picked up The Likeness because I read In The Woods and loved it--it was a dark and visceral book which captured me and simply would not let go. The Likeness is a different style of book. It still has a strong atmosphere, but that atmosphere is quiet, romantic, and almost magical (even though there's no magic in the book), building into slow suspense. Cassie enters an extraordinary life: a close-knit friendship whose apparent safety and strength seduces both Cassie and the reader; an old refurbished home which cocoons the occupants in a small, private world. Yet Cassie is in the middle of a murder investigation, and she is always in danger of being discovered or attacked; despite the utopian setting, the suspense builds: slow, delicate, insidious. It's a careful balance and, though it isn't as attention-grabbing as In The Woods, it makes The Likeness an intriguing and compelling read.

Meanwhile, French spins an intelligent mystery. There are some unbelievable moments (not just the coincidence of the shared appearance and alias, but that an undercover investigation like this would ever occur), but the twist and turns are realistic while still surprising and the final reveal is entirely logical--but also tense and frightening. French's writing style is strong: Cassie has a unique narrative voice, the story is well-paced, and the setting and characters come to life (although some characters have unrealistically strong and simplified traits). I loved In The Woods so much that I was almost hesitant to read The Likeness, afraid that it wouldn't live up to my expectations. While I still prefer In The Woods, my fears were for naught. The Likeness is intelligent and subtly nuanced, seductive and suspenseful, and a pleasure to read. I highly recommend it--and, despite being an indirect sequel, The Likeness stands alone and interested readers not need read In The Woods first unless they want to.

forget the plot, love the characters, January 6, 2010
I read the book, then I read all the reviews... and I started to doubt myself. I loved this book - it was pacy, unusual, I loved the characters and the feeling of warmth and 'home' Cassie feels. I didn't want it to end. However, having read the reviews, I have to ask myself whether the book really was ridiculous or not.
Yes, I suppose it was. I did think it was highly improbable that a group of close friends would not recognise another friend. In this sense, it was asking a lot of the reader.
But so many readers, like myself, gave this novel four or five stars, so something must have worked - and I suspect that they, like myself, loved the representation of the students. It was a warm, escapist atmosphere, reminiscent of Maeve Binchy perhaps. Wonderful for a rainy afternoon.
Incidentally, I took note of the reviewers who urged people to read The Secret History instead, and I could not have been more disappointed. High-brow and pretentious, I liked none of the characters and it had none of the warmth and spirit of this book, nor a likeable central character. I wanted to murder all of them.
Just one criticism - I am a bit sick of authors (male and female alike) who portray their female police officers as delicate, beautiful, enigmatic, yet still intelligent and feisty, with degrees and firearm prowess, never over the age of about 30 and never have children or are single parents. This sort of stereotypical description of your heroine is OK if you're Jackie Collins, but a UK crime writer? Can't the heroine be a normal woman?!

Not To Be Believed..., September 2, 2008
First off, I was a big fan of Tana French's first novel and it was deserving of an Edgar Award. I looked forward to her next effort. I was greatly disappointed.

Good fiction allows you to suspend disbelief. You can overlook a coincidence that propels a character or plot. Some author's ask to you do more than others. What Ms. French does with this story is so ridiculous that it made the entire enterprise next to worthless. The lead character is still interesting and she obviously knows how to tell a story but when that story is so far fetched, it makes the experience of reading it almost painful.

The book's premise is that everyone has a twin somewhere in the world. Fine. However, this story says that a detective's twin has been murdered. In the same country as the detective. In the same city as the detective. The murdered woman happens to have the same name this detecitve used in a previouos undercover operation. The detective's boss decides to put her undercover again to move into the house the deceased woman shared with 4 of her friends/classmates. Here, she is supposed to find out the truth about her "twin's" murder.

Maybe she might fool one of the friends. But she is supposed to fool all 4 of them?!? For weeks?!? Without anyone getting suspicious?!? There is more to the story and the 4 friends are an interesting group. If you can "suspend your disbelief" about the plot, may be you can enjoy it. I just couldn't. The story was just too silly to be plausibly believed and when you don't believe what you read, there is no sense contiuning. Again, Ms. French is talented. I hope she provides better stories in the future to show off that talent. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Black Friday - the official opening of the Holiday Shopping Season and Patrice Marcum is stuck in the middle of her local superstore with a crying infant, a near hysterical desire to just abandon the diapers and milk she desperately needs, and the snowstorm of the century dumping a half-foot of snow on the parking lot outside.She needs a miracle.
The little old lady seemed sweet, but there was no way Patrice was going to leave three-month old Jeremy with a stranger.She looked outside at the snow-covered parking lot and saw yet another distressed shopper’s cart topple over in the drifts.The old lady sensed her distress and volunteered to call a store employee to help watch over Jeremy while Patrice got her car.The older gentleman, wearing a store badge with the name “Ron,” seemed too good to be true.What could be safer?
Less than five minutes later, after brushing the snow off the van and driving across the crowded and snow-packed parking lot, Patrice pulls up in front of the store.Jeremy is not there.Pushing back panic, she rushes into the store and looks around. Jeremy is not inside either.She pushes through the line at Customer Service, the associate calls Ron on the intercom, and issues a Code Adam.When Ron appears and he’s only seventeen years old, Patrice realizes the worst. “Oh God!They’ve taken my baby!”
Mary O’Reilly, Private Investigator, is decorating her office for the holiday season when the newly installed bell over her door jingles.She looks over to see a six year-old boy standing next to her desk.His name is Joey Marcum and he wants to hire Mary to find his baby brother
Mary nodded. “Okay, Joey, but I’ll want to work with the police on this one. Do you have any problems with that?”
Joey paused. “No, I guess you can talk to them.”
“That’ll be helpful.”
“But you can’t tell my mom you’re working for me,” he said, “Promise?”
“Yes, I promise.”
Joey shrugged. “I don’t think she’d understand, seeing that I’m dead, you know.”
... Read more

Reviews

Wonderful, Charming, Heartwarming!, December 3, 2010
This book was still on my mind days after I read it. I really hope there will be more to come, since I am now completely addicted to these characters. Bradley is charming, sexy and sweet. Mary is a strong woman who takes her gift and puts it to good use rather than dwell on the negative aspects of it. Good Tidings hits all the right spots; laughter, suspense, a little teardrop now and then and a sweet romance in the making. Once I read Loose Ends I just had to see what would happen next and now that I've read Good Tidings I find myself craving more. Great book!

Love the Ghosts, November 26, 2010
This new book has all the right components of mystery, romance, humor and some tears. This is a very talented writer. Please continue the series.

awesome read, November 24, 2010
this is the second book in the series it was well written with a very good story. cant wait till the next book comes out ... Read more

Editorial Review

Paris is stunning in the summer

NYPD detective Jacob Kanon is on a tour of Europe's most gorgeous cities. But the sights aren't what draw him--he sees each museum, each cathedral, and each cafe through the eyes of his daughter's killer.

The killing is simply marvelous

Kanon's daughter, Kimmy, and her boyfriend were murdered while on vacation in Rome. Since then, young couples in Paris, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, and Stockholm have been found dead. Little connects the murders, other than a postcard to the local newspaper that precedes each new victim.

Wish you were here

Now Kanon teams up with the Swedish reporter, Dessie Larsson, who has just received a postcard in Stockholm--and they think they know where the next victims will be. With relentless logic and unstoppable action, The Postcard Killers may be James Patterson's most vivid and compelling thriller yet. ... Read more

Editorial Review

This is the way the world ends: with a nanosecond of computer error in a Defense Department laboratory and a million casual contacts that form the links in a chain letter of death.

And here is the bleak new world of the day after: a world stripped of its institutions and emptied of 99 percent of its people. A world in which a handful of panicky survivors choose sides -- or are chosen. A world in which good rides on the frail shoulders of the 108-year-old Mother Abigail -- and the worst nightmares of evil are embodied in a man with a lethal smile and unspeakable powers: Randall Flagg, the dark man.

In 1978 Stephen King published The Stand, the novel that is now considered to be one of his finest works. But as it was first published, The Stand was incomplete, since more than 150,000 words had been cut from the original manuscript.

Now Stephen King's apocalyptic vision of a world blasted by plague and embroiled in an elemental struggle between good and evil has been restored to its entirety. The Stand : The Complete And Uncut Edition includes more than five hundred pages of material previously deleted, along with new material that King added as he reworked the manuscript for a new generation. It gives us new characters and endows familiar ones with new depths. It has a new beginning and a new ending. What emerges is a gripping work with the scope and moral comlexity of a true epic.

For hundreds of thousands of fans who read The Stand in its original version and wanted more, this new edition is Stephen King's gift. And those who are reading The Stand for the first time will discover a triumphant and eerily plausible work of the imagination that takes on the issues that will determine our survival.


From the Hardcover edition. ... Read more

Reviews

A brilliant novel!, September 20, 2002
Before I get to the meat of my review, I feel I should provide a little bit of perspective. First, I am not a die-hard Stephen King fan. In fact, aside from "The Stand", I have only read collections of his short stories, so I can assure you my review isn't the rabid defense of an overly loyal admirer. Second, I am not a fan of horror and I wouldn't classify "The Stand" as such. Finally, I am a big fan of the "apocalyptic fiction" genre, and I believe I have a pretty good basis for my evaluation of this novel.

That said, "The Stand" is an incredible novel; perhaps one of the best I have ever read, by any author or in any genre. The story is predicated on the accidental release of a "super-flu" that wipes out 99% of the humans on the planet. The survivors find themselves drawn into a battle between good and evil that will determine the future of the entire planet.

As one might expect, a novel with such an ambitious plot and of such prodigious length touches upon numerous themes. In order to simplify my review, I am going to break down the novel's strengths into the following categories, and then consider them one at a time: world-building, plot, characters and themes.

First is world-building. In most apocalyptic fiction, one (if not both) of two things will be true: 1. The characters stay in one place or 2. The action picks up after the disaster. An example of the first is "Earth Abides" and of the latter "On the Beach". There's nothing wrong with either plot device, but in "The Stand" King injects a remarkable level of detail into his novel by covering the super-flu from start to finish. The novel starts at the very beginning of the outbreak, and many key plot lines are developed before the epidemic ever rears its head. King charts the breakdown and eventual destruction of civilization, and then offers a short, but remarkable, picture of the survivors in the immediate days after the flu has run its course. He makes the subtle observation that many survivors would die in a second wave of suicides, accidents and depression that would weed out many of those unequipped for an empty world. Finally, as the story progresses, King makes remarkable (but not overbearing) predictions about how nature would reshape the U.S. in the absence of man.

Second to consider is the plot. As I alluded to earlier, King has used the emptied United States as a battleground between good and evil. Soon after the flu has run its course, the survivors begin having dreams about an old woman (Mother Abigail) who seems to be marshalling the forces of good, and a malign presence (Randall Flagg) who is gathering those who would serve him and his ends. Insofar as the reader knows, the choice is clear-cut, irrevocable and mandatory. It is very much a "are you with us or against us" type of situation. That said, much of the book is devoted to the characters traveling across country to Boulder or Las Vegas (guess which side is where), no mean feat in a world without mass transit, hotels, etc. In fact, King's writing is so effective, the novel would be fascinating if the characters did nothing but travel around and attempt to reestablish society. The second, metaphysical, layer just makes it all the more interesting.

Thirdly, we have the characters to consider; I'll won't name names or speak in specifics to avoid ruining the plot, but there are a few general points worth mentioning. To start, the cast of characters in "The Stand" rivals that of "Lord of the Rings", and King handles it every bit as well as Tolkien. One might expect that a novel with a story this complex would skimp on character development, but the opposite is actually true. King took a huge idea (good vs. evil) and reduced it to a human element that the reader could digest. His characters show an incredible range of emotion, and even their flaws serve to enhance the reader's view of them. They struggle and fail and are rarely sure of themselves, in other words, they are human. As such, their actions take on a level of realism that is astonishing.

Finally, we come to the themes of the book. The way I see it there are three: the dualistic nature of good and evil, redemption and hope. The first is the most obvious, King correctly points out that good cannot be appreciated or striven for in the absence of bad. We can strive to limit the effects of evil, but it will never be overcome, as King sees greed and hate as intrinsic to the human condition in general, and civilization specifically. The second theme, of redemption, is subtler and offsets the first. King does not paint anyone is irretrievably lost, and along the same lines, he considers how good intentions are frequently misdirected through ignorance and fear. King seems to believe that given the opportunity and support, anyone can salvage their lives. Which brings us to the final theme of hope. As the novel ends, the reader knows that evil has not been vanquished, but also that it can never triumph because within its very nature are the seeds of its destruction. Over time, evil empires have gained power because they have torn down their enemies (see Nazi Germany), but as the saying goes, live by the sword, die by the sword. There is always hope, because evil cannot win.

There are so many other points to touch on, I could write indefinitely, but what it all comes down to is this: if you're looking for a novel that will entertain you even as it makes you think, "The Stand" is for you.

Enjoy!

King's apocalyptic masterpiece of modern literature, November 15, 2004
The Stand, in my opinion, marks Stephen King's progression from horror to literature. Consistently voted fans' favorite King novel ever since its initial publication in 1978 (although I personally consider the novel It his finest work), The Stand delivers an archetypal conflict pitting good against evil against a backdrop of civilization itself. In this extraordinary novel, King fully unleashes the horrors previously contained in the microcosms of an extraordinary person (Carrie), a single town ('Salem's Lot), and a haunted hotel far removed from civilization (The Shining).

This is how the world ends: with a human-engineered superflu which escapes containment in the form of a terrified guard who unwittingly spreads death over a wide swath of southwestern America in his bid to escape infection. Captain Trips, they call it - until they die, and people die in droves within a matter of days. In almost no time at all, well over 99% of the American population have suffered an agonizing death. Those that are left all alone begin to dream: comforting visions of an ancient black lady called Mother Abigail in Nebraska rising up alongside nightmares of a faceless man out west. Many find their way to Las Vegas to serve under Randall Flag, the Walking Dude of their night visions, but many others flock to Mother Abigail in Nebraska and eventually Boulder, Colorado. As the citizens of the Boulder Free Zone attempt to reform society and make a new life for themselves, they are forced to come to terms with the fact that they are caught up in a struggle defined by their spiritual leader in religious terms. They must destroy Flagg or be destroyed by him - in a word, they must make their stand.

I could not begin to describe the dozens of richly drawn characters King gives life to in these pages. They are ordinary people called to do extraordinary things in a world reeking of death and fear. Some are not up to the challenge, and betrayal has awful consequences in this new reality - to the betrayer as well as the betrayed. These are real human beings, flaws and all; there is good to be found even among those serving the greatest of evils, and at the same time, the good guys don't always behave in ways you think they should. Nick Andros, Nadine Cross, Larry Underwood, Glen Bateman, Stu Redman, Harold Lauder, Mother Abigail, Tom Cullen, Randall Flagg, Trash Can Man - these are characters you will never forget. I must admit the climax of the great struggle just doesn't seem to be all it might be, but the first 1000 pages of this novel are so good that even Stephen King could hardly be expected to top what he had already accomplished in the framing of this ultimate conflict.

I find it slightly odd that religion plays such a small part in this visionary apocalypse. As far as Mother Abigail and, eventually, the novel's heroes are concerned, this is a religious fight between the imps of Satan and the servants of God, but you won't find any theology apart from a few misplaced references to Revelations by frightened characters, and no preacher of any faith seems to have survived the superflu outbreak itself.

I wouldn't call this a scary novel, but it certainly does have its moments - best exemplified by one character's journey through a dark tunnel surrounded by invisible but very dead and decaying bodies caught in an eternal traffic jam. The real horror, of course, is the all-pervasive atmosphere of a world decimated by man's self-imposed destruction. Death is literally everywhere these characters turn - in the silent houses and cars all around them, in the streets upon which they travel, in the terrifying nightmares they have of the Walking Dude, and even in the future they try to avoid thinking about, as no one knows whether the superflu will kill the children yet to be born. I found the sections dealing with the reconstitution of a society of some sort to be the most interesting aspect of the novel - will it be like the old society, will it repeat the mistakes of the last one, etc. This is also a story of personal redemption, as the novels' heroes must overcome their pasts and/or their human weaknesses and handicaps in order to make their stand. When the deaf-mute Nick tells Mother Abigail that he does not believe in God, she tells him that it doesn't matter because God believes in him - that is a truly empowering message.

There is an intriguing philosophical undercurrent to this novel that applies both eloquently and meaningfully to the human condition. The Stand is modern literature, a direct descendant of such epics as The Iliad and The Odyssey, and you will learn something about yourself when you read this masterpiece of contemporary literature.

Classic King novel as the author intended it to be read...., December 12, 2003
The Stand, Stephen King's apocalyptic novel that mixes science fiction with horror (think of it as a realistic merging of The Andromeda Strain and The Final Conflict), was a runaway best-seller when it first hit bookstores in the late 1970s and is still regarded as one of King's best works, at least by his millions of fans. Its scenario of an accidental outbreak of a government-created strain of the flu -- which has a mortality rate of over 90 percent -- that wipes out most of mankind and sets the stage for a final showdown between good and evil makes for compelling reading.

What many readers did not know was that King was asked by the accounting department of his publisher to trim his already huge novel by several hundred pages to keep costs down and to make the hardcover's price affordable ($12.95 in 1978). Given the choice of doing the edits himself or letting the in-house editors do the cutting, King chose the former. As a result, most -- but not all -- the characters and situations appeared reasonably whole, although King remarks in the Preface that pyromaniac Trashcan Man's westward trek from the Midwest to Nevada has the most scars from the literary surgery he performed.

By 1989, though, King had enough clout -- and reader support -- to get Doubleday to publish The Stand: The Complete and Uncut Edition. Released in hardcover in 1990, the book sold very well and was later adapted by King as a miniseries for ABC-TV.

So what are the differences between the two versions of The Stand, besides the heavier weight and higher price? (Remember that
$12.95 retail price from 1978? In 1990 this had nearly doubled to $24.95!) Well, the novel's tale remains the same -- nefarious U.S. military creates a deadly strain of the flu...flu accidentally (and later not so accidentally) infects most of humanity...then the survivors split into two camps, one led by the evil Randall Flagg, the other headed by an elderly woman known as Mother Abigail, thus setting up the ultimate battle between darkness and light.

But in this novel, the magic is in the details. The long and fiery journey of the Trashcan Man across the United States is now more complete, and a frightening character who was completely excised from the original novel in '78 is now restored in a literary equivalent of the Extended Editions of The Lord of the Rings DVDs.

Another bonus: Illustrator Bernie Wrightson, who has contributed his drawings and artwork to King's Creepshow, Cycle of the Werewolf and one of the Dark Tower books, has added several illustrations to this edition. There are just a few and they are sprinkled sparingly, but they add a powerful jolt of visual effects to King's already vivid prose.

King acknowledges his penchant for writing big, sometimes rambling novels, and The Stand: The Complete and Uncut Edition is surely big and rambling. Yet the cast of characters -- Stu Redman, Frannie Goldsmith, Larry Underwood, Harold Lauder (whose descent from merely obnoxious teen to jealousy-driven traitor is one of The Stand's more interesting subplots), Nadine Cross, Nick Andros, Tom Cullen, Lloyd Henreid...and the mysterious entity known as Flagg -- is one of King's best ensembles of fictional creations, and the mythical landscape of post-flu America is truly unforgettable.

A Recommendation, October 18, 2001
THE STAND was the first Stephen King novel I read (I think it was in 1985). The similarities to biblical prophecy in this marvelous story are hard to miss for even the the novice student of the book of Revelation. That fact played a large role in my interest in The Stand. The book is so enthralling that even when I became aware that King had veered a long way from the scriptural story, I didn't really care. And after all, no other writer had managed to figure out what all those seals, and trumpets, and vials of the Apocalypse were either.

Continuing my interest in the subject, I have read a number of other books in the same general vein. Or perhaps I should say that I started to read several. The problem is that every writer that tries to stick with the original concept of end-times prophecy is also out to force a load of preaching down your throat. Their stories are less coherent that comic books and they seem to think their relationship with God makes up for the fact that they can't write.

I have very recently found an exception to this rule and I wanted to recommend it. It's THE CHRIST CLONE TRILOGY by James BeauSeigneur. BeauSeigneur does an incredible job of story telling while sticking very exactly to biblical prophecy. He even blends in prophecies from several other religions! An interesting difference is that in THE CHRIST CLONE TRILOGY the antichrist/Flagg character plays his role and tell his lies so well that you can't help but sorta be pulling for him even though you know he's the bad guy. Or is he?

The original version was superior, May 2, 2003
If I were reviewing the original of this novel, I'd definitely give 5 stars. I read it years ago and loved it. I was heartbroken, though, to read this version with all those pages that had been originally edited out and which, years later, King decided to have put back in (purely out of ego, I'm sure, because he couldn't bear the thought of any of his writing being discarded). Examples:

1. In the original, I recall being impressed that you got an explicit sense of what Frannie's mother was all about, even though she wasn't in a single scene. In the new version, she's in there, taking up space.

2. Similarly, I liked the understated reunion between Larry and his mother. You got a clear impression of their awkward relationship in just a few pages. But once again, SK decided to throw in a lot more exposition that wasn't at all necessary and slowed down the book.

3. There is now a completely gratuitous and really grotesque homosexual rape scene that I could have lived happily without.

4. Worst of all - SPOILER ALERT - There is now a tagged on ending that renders completely meaningless the sacrifices made by the heroes of the novel.

5. SK claimed he was putting back in original material and yet he has a character wondering if the plague is some strain of AIDs. When The Stand came out, no one had ever heard of AIDs.

6. The character of (I believe) Dana originally crops up in Denver with a minimum of history attached. Now there's an utterly ridiculous description of how she and some other women had been kidnapped and turned into sexual playthings for a wandering gang of thugs before being rescued.

I guess to sum it up: King's editors knew what they were doing back in the days when editors actually dared to edit him! I just hope he leaves The Shining and Salem's Lot alone. I can see why everyone's giving 5 stars, but I really wish you all could have read the original - You really missed out, and I'm sure you can't find it anywhere now.

Quite possibly the best book I have ever read., August 17, 1997
Stephen King's greates novel in its finest form. This is not horror. The breadth and scope of this novel reaches above and beyond anything King has wrote and will write. The magnum opus of his career. The book by which everything else Stephen King does in his career will be judged by. Quite possibly the finest book I have ever read. The tale is an apocalyptic vision more frightening then anything else King has ever imagined. It tells the tale of a world destroyed by death, of the coming of the Dark Knight to lead the world into the apocalypse of Hell, and of the soldiers of light who attempt to rescue humanity from the forces of evil. This book explores our innermost thoughts and feelings, it probes into our fear of the unknown, it delves into the fear of Hell itself. It also deals with our beliefs in the supernatural, our beliefs in God himself, and the choices we make that create our lives. I found the ending, which has been criticized often, as sensational. This book deals with God, Satan, and the struggles of humanity to rid the world of evil. It deals with inner evils inside of us, but it deals with the notion that man, at his heart, is good. An epic tale of fantasy, this is the greatest book I have ever read. I have read Faulkner, I have read Steinbeck. This beats them all

"STANDS" alone when compared to the movie, June 28, 2004
The end of the world. Who hasn't thought about it? And how can you forget those crazy Y2K fanatics who all firmly believed the Apocolypse was arriving on our planet Earth? They all stocked up on canned goods and urged the rest of the world to do the same.

King's Apocolypse depiction is a bit different here. No one saw it coming, not even the greatest so-called psychics. The world's population is not wiped out merely by explosions - nor does everyone die simultaneously. A deadly virus has escaped a factory and kills, once through, over 99 percent of Earth's people, over a couple of months. Victims are found in horriffic states: bloated necks, black skin, maggots feasting on their remnants and crawling out of their noses and ears and eyes.

THE STAND is not for the faint of heart.

I read the oh-so lengthy uncut version. Because of how long this novel is, King can afford to introduce many different characters. Some novels have attempted to do this. From my observations, their efforts usually fail because their book is too short to allow audiences to get to know and appreciate a plethora of characters. My favorite character was Nick Andros. Oddly enough, he was deaf and mute. But he's worked his whole life to overcome these hardships and shows he is very wise and witty, to an extent. Before the beginning of the Apocolypse, he was taking college courses. He can read lips just as well as Hellen Keller ever could, and once people realize his disabilities, he talks to them by means of pen and paper or pantomiming.

True, people will either love or hate THE STAND, King fan or not, I believe. My favorite novel of his will always be CARRIE, and this is a far cry from the traumatized teen and her world. It is also very different from PET SEMATARY, the second effort of his that I read. THE STAND is beautiful, at times, terrifying, and has a quality that distinguishes it from all other horror novels.

THE STAND's suspense begins practically from the first chapter and draws on and on. Whenever I met a new character, I wondered if they'd make it to the end of the book. This clearing out of people, practically like deforesting, is for the purposes of a Good vs. Evil confrontation.

In 1978, as fans of THE STAND may well know, renowned science fiction author Spider Robinson encouraged that people not read THE STAND. Unarguably, however, this book cannot be ignored. It became so popular that it was republished, unedited, in 1990. I'm pleased I got to read the unedited version, despite the fact that some say this isn't advisable. Because I haven't read the edited version, I'm not quite sure how to respond to this. But I very much enjoyed this version and I've got no difficulty understanding why many call this one of the greatest horror novels of recent years.

Different, it is. But only in the best way possible. :)

Look What They Done to My Book, Ma, January 8, 2004
OK, so obviously this isn't "my" book in the sense that I wrote it, but long-time fans and admirers of "The Stand" like me consider the book to be a masterpiece and are kind of possessive about it. I was excited about reading an expanded version of The Stand, in supposedly its original state as submitted by Stephen King to his publisher in 1978. I was very dismayed that this edition actually contains some *new* material that Mr. King wrote around 1989. As a result, this edition suffers from some temporal dislocation. An example: the rock singer Larry Underwood goes to a girl's apartment where she has displayed a "Love Story" poster -- very 70s. Then afterward he goes to a Freddy Krueger movie. NOOOO! This just doesn't work for me. It takes me right out of the dark spell that the previously published "Stand" put me under.

I still give it 4 stars because the story is so powerful. But if you haven't read "The Stand" yet, I would really recommend that you read the truncated (edited) version first.

Up there with Absalom, Absalom! and Tom Sawyer., March 5, 2001
The Stand sits alone atop the hierarchy of King novels. In fact, it sits near the top of the hierarchy of all novels. Its 1200 page length could be considered a blessing except for the fact that even 1200 pages might not be enough. King has created one of the most fascinating scenarios and some of the most interesting characters ever to appear in literature, so every page is worthwhile. King's writing style is straightforward. He does not employ the range of literary techniques you will find in a work of Faulkner (but then again, who does?) or Twain, but that does not detract in the least from his ability to develop his characters to an extraordinary extent and weave them into a fascinating story.

The plot has been summarized in numerous other reviews, so I will not spend a lot of time on that. Essentially, a government created virus escapes, people begin to get sick, gradually the American populace realizes that they are all going to die- and for the most part, they do, the survivors sort themselves out into two camps, and we conclude with a showdown between good and evil.

The fascinating thing about this book, and what makes it so good, is that King takes the above story line, which is hugely ambitious, and instead of trying to streamline things, he instead embraces every detail. This book focuses on each moment as if what were occurring at that moment were the subject of the entire book. King pursues every possible story thread to the fullest, and in doing so creates a sense of vividness unmatched in any other work. King has fleshed out the backgrounds of even the most peripheral characters to a greater degree than other authors sometimes are able to do with even their main characters.

Being not a science fiction fan myself, I can also offer this to potential readers- this book, while at times embracing the supernatural and religious, does keep its feet firmly planted in reality. The first part of the book in which the virus escapes and the populace succumbs is almost entirely devoid of any purely supernatural/science fiction elements and rather deals mostly with sociology (and is truly fascinating). And King does not leave 99.94% of the populace dead without examining some of the non-supernatural consequences, such as the lack of law, the absence of things such as electricity and hospitals, the fact that there are millions of dead bodies rotting across the U.S., and the question of whether offspring of survivors will be immune to the disease. Even after the two groups have split up for this oft-mentioned showdown, sociological elements prevail. In fact, a great deal of conflict occurs in the second half of the book as peoples' everyday sensibilities lead them to attempt to organize and re-formulate a society while at the same time trying to come to grips with a situation (the threat of the Dark Man, the Walkin' Dude, Randall Flagg) which they cannot understand and can only overcome by reliance on faith.

One final thought on the uncut version. As I indicated above, the depth and fleshing out of every detail in this novel is what takes it to another level. A lot of this fleshing out is done in the uncut version. Most notably, Frannie's relationship with her mother is delved into more deeply, and there are also many more of those priceless vignettes of life in a collapsing society- snapshots of scenes taking place around the U.S. as the superflu takes hold. Oh, yes. And the uncut version is also the only one in which you will run across The Kid- a disturbing character, but one who alone is almost worth the price of admission. Don't tell me, I'll tell you.

Never Goes Where You Expect, January 28, 2006
A month from this moment I would have told you that I was not a fan of Stephen King. Somehow in all my many years of reading I always managed to pass up his books on the shelves. I think it was to do with all the horrible films made from his work... not all of them were horrible films mind you... just most. Enter Amazon.Com. The site that let me see what other people thought about books, and let me know more about what was IN those books than the summaries printed there on. Thank god for that.

I came to get The Stand when I started running out of authors. The way I usually work is to find a great author, and then buy all of his work and read it. Consequently I've a load of books laying around, and so many of the authors I've read told me how amazing Stephen King was, be it through references in the material, or interviews with the authors. So I came to Amazon to research the accepted favorite book of all of King's work... Enter The Stand: Complete and Uncut Edition.

Doorstop books are no problem for me, in fact I love them. If a book is over 1000 pages it's a bonus to me. I read fast enough to get through multiple books in a day so one that can make me think about it for more than a day or two is always welcome. But let me get to the point. The Stand is a journey from the beginning of the end of the world as we know it, to the beginning of the new world after, and the way it all happens and comes together.

The Cast: Each character has a vital part to this story, even the so called 'throwaways.' One of my favorites was Nick Andros, deaf-mute, probably a genius. My point is (I don't want to tread the ground that most of the other reviewers have, I'm trying to speak to non-fans of King as I was) that all the characters here are fascinating in a way or another. Each is so well drawn that you begin to feel that you REALLY do know them. They are in no way abstract to you... except of course the Walkin' Dude. He is deliberatly obtuse until the end.

The Stand, not the book,the thing in the book is NOTHING what I expected. The epic battle between good and evil doesn't happen there, at the end of the book I realized that it was happening through the entire book, and The Stand was just the final event in the long journey.

This book will take you through so many emotional roller-coasters and plot twists that you will at times feel dizzy. As you read you will literally FEEL some of the things the characters feel, such is King's gift for projecting emotion through words.

I've read five of Stephen King's books now... The Stand, 'Salem's Lot, The Running Man, The Long Walk, and Dreamcatcher. Each of his books 'feels' like sitting down with a good friend and listening to him tell you a story. There is a tangible feeling of Mr. King's love for his work, and a tangible feeling that he appreciates you being there to read it.

I've remained vague on the book itself because it's hard to summarize... I find it interesting that the books I most want to review are those that I feel so much for that it's hard for me to get it all into words. I cannot imagine this book being even one page shorter... I put it down wanting another thousand pages. The book is better than five stars. Read it.

It is a month later. I read the stand three weeks ago, all of those I've listed above since then.

I am now a Stephen King fan. ... Read more

Editorial Review

It is the summer of 1950–and at the once-grand mansion of Buckshaw, young Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison, is intrigued by a series of inexplicable events: A dead bird is found on the doorstep, a postage stamp bizarrely pinned to its beak. Then, hours later, Flavia finds a man lying in the cucumber patch and watches him as he takes his dying breath.

For Flavia, who is both appalled and delighted, life begins in earnest when murder comes to Buckshaw. “I wish I could say I was afraid, but I wasn’t. Quite the contrary. This was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life.” ... Read more

Editorial Review

In a harrowing tour de force, Tom Clancy shows how an ordinary man named John Kelly crossed the lines of justice and morality--to become the CIA legend Mr. Clark. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Advanced weapons manufactured for Space Command are being offered for sale on the galactic black market. Trader Vyx, an undercover operative for Space Command, the military arm of the Galactic Alliance, has been sent into the Frontier Zone to procure several weapons from an Alyysian arms merchant, as part of an effort to trace the serial numbers and end the thefts.

All is going smoothly until a Tsgardi mercenary enters the room. He utters a profanity as he recognizes Vyx and immediately reaches for his sidearm. Vyx grabs for his own sidearm, but then has to dive for cover as the weapon merchant's bodyguards open up, turning the room into a killing zone of deadly crossfire.

Vyx manages to kill the mercenary and escape, but is hotly pursued by bodyguards who believe him responsible for the shooting incident that severely wounded their boss. The chase continues through the small Gollasko Colony as Vyx uses all of his skills to evade guards bent on ending his life. Each time he thinks he's lost his pursuers, they turn up again.

While Vyx is fighting for his life on Gollasko, Commander Jenetta Carver is facing problems of her own in another part of the galaxy. The Galactic Alliance has decided to expand the border, and Commander Jenetta Carver is venturing into the new territory as captain of a prototype scout ship. An onboard accident sends the small ship flying wildly out of control. They find themselves in a disabled ship, unable to contact anyone, with life support systems beginning to fail. When a passing Raider warship happens across the apparently derelict ship, Jenetta must face the question of resistance or surrender.

108,500 Words - 328 Pages ... Read more

Reviews

Another great book, October 29, 2010
From the title and the preview I was afraid Jen would be stuck in intel, not so. More ship action with the raiders and a very fast scout ship. Just cool. Glad there are more books to be released.

Jen's sisters are yet to play a major role, Jen is still the protagonist. Some family makes a showing. Vyx is a covert op as in the preview sample and less interaction with Jen than expected. The scout ship is a stealth scout with high speed and major stealth and commo capabilities and is intended to work in tandem with the battleship. It is a slave/drone design that doesn't enter the battleship but docks with the upper superstructure inside the mothership wit a fair sized crew. It is heavily armored with the metal from the clone facility on Mawcett. The Galactic Alliance is expanding it's borders into Raider space with a planned expansion of ships and crews. Things are about to heat up with at least 5 more bases projected and the GA headed into conflict with the Raiders.

If you've read the previous books and liked them, no problem here. Jen gets more command time and uses some original tactics. Still has the cats too. Well done.

I would like to thank T.D. for the decent sized previews and samples, quick release times, and decent pricing. He gets it. The big fight publishers put up to raise e-book prices to hardcover rates is unfair and costs them sales, to me if no one else. I will pay more for a hard copy but not an e-copy. Doubt they pay the authors more of that pure profit. {Apple backed thier play @ the time. Said would charge more to weaken Amazon and kiss some publisher booty. Rotten Apple lol. }
Authors like T.D. are going to change the dynamic thank goodness. Well written books can be rewarded. Great installment in the series so check it out.

DePrima continues to carve(r) out his niche!, November 1, 2010
The entire series is notch space opera well worth the coin. don't miss the preceding books! if i had anything more to ask from the author it would be have the next one ready by oh i dunno xmas of this year? ;)

Indie author wins again, November 1, 2010
This is the 4th novel in The Galaxy Unknown series by indie author Thomas DePrima. As with the previous three novels, there is plenty of action/adventure. Jenetta Carver is in the thick of it (in space battles and the Intel sector), winning, as usual, against seemingly impossible odds. Not likely in reality but isn't that the whole point of this style of writing? Jenetta reminds me of Lee Child's or Matthew Reilly's type of hero (heroine?) who, with a few hiccups along the way, always ends up on top. However, instead of winning with superior physical tactics, she wins with her superior IQ! At last a geek actually wins!
Other reviews have mentioned that DePrima's writing is a bit simple or unpolished; well maybe it is, but the story itself more than makes up for any such flaws. It drags you in and at the end, leaves you wanting more. Thankfully there are another 3 novels yet to be released with DePrima willing to write more if there is the demand. Mr. DePrima, I suggest you'd better get writing... If the next 3 are as addictive as the ones so far, I won't be the only one clamoring for more.

Great series with striking similarities..., November 19, 2010
Like another poster said, I don't often write reviews, but this series warrants one for several reasons.

First, although it seems no one has mentioned it, this series really evokes images of the early Honor Harrington novels, Kris Longknife, & even the mid-book Kendra Pacelli from Michael Z. Williamson's "Freehold". And...dare I say it? I'm reminded of the Early Miles Vorkosigan books & Alan Dean Foster's Flinx books from the early years. Excellent work Mr. DePrima!

Second, the great thing about these books is that they aren't pretentious. Unlike Weber or Williamson's (or Ringo's) pushing of their opinions about governments and social issues, Mr. DePrima simply tells a good story. He does throw in the occasional dictionary.com word, but all in all his story telling simply works. I find it interesting that like Isaac Asimov's Classic "Foundation" series Mr DePrima is able to write a novel including very high tech elements (e.g. Superluminal Travel, virtually instantaneous comms over galactic scale distances, etc) without ever getting lost in the descriptions of said technology, or inventing fake physics to describe how things work (e.g. Warshawski Sails & Grav Waves...).

Third, Self Publishing. Thank You Mr. DePrima for taking this path. I am heartily sick of the Publishing industry, most of whom have earned my undying emnity (That's would be you TOR), for their ridiculous approach to e-books. I'm glad you have self-published, and I will certainly continue to buy your works.

Now, having said all that, Mr. DePrima's writing is lacking a bit in polish, and the characters are a bit two dimensional. Many of the non-primary characters have the feel of classic "Red Shirts", and the universe appears to operate a bit simplisticly. The "Raiders" appear more bumbling, incompetent and un-coordinated than serious and dangerous. The villains could definitely use some better development, and the universe and social environment a bit more complexity.

But, you can see the writing style improving and the characters becoming more developed as Mr. DePrima continues the series. I applaud him for this, and only wish I had the skills he has already developed!

In short, give these books a chance! They are worth the time to read if you like "Space Opera", and supporting Mr. DePrima and authors like him is a nice bonus!. I look forward to further installments!

4.5 - 5 stars for some good easy reading SciFi, November 20, 2010
While looking for some new SciFi to fill up my shiny new Kindle, I came across "A Galaxy Unknown" (the first in the series) and bought it based on the story outline. I blasted through it in a couple of days, then grabbed the next two straight away, and likewise finished them very quickly - both because of the size of the books, and because I couldn't put them down. I picked up "Trader Vyx" as soon as it was available, and will happily grab the next instalments as soon as they hit the virtual shelf. This story introduced some new characters that look like they will play some pivotal rows in upcoming episodes, and shook up the established universe enough to make things interesting.

They're a quick read - especially compared to the Peter F Hamilton I'm currently re-reading - but that makes them no less enjoyable. In fact I was impatient enough to read Trader Vyx that I paused between books in the Hamilton series to speed through it.

There are many familiar elements in this series - the navy setting, the young self-doubting protagonist, the apparently unstoppable enemy - but I think it is the elements of the familiar together with the interesting twists that TDP adds that keep me reading. That, and because they are just a rollicking good read. :-)

My only real criticisms of the writing is that occasionally there seems to be a little too much repetition of certain elements - like Admiral Hubera's repetitive negativity in each Admiralty meeting, or the Raider's meetings in the first few books - but that doesn't detract from an otherwise highly enjoyable romp. I would like to see more in the way of offshoot stories - because while this is Jenetta's tale, it would be interesting to read more about her "recent" siblings, and their journeys through the navy - a battleship crewed by Carvers would be something to be afraid of, or perhaps a fleet of them!

I'm eagerly awaiting the release of the next volume "Milor" in mid Dec, followed by the next two in early Feb and March respectively. Keep them coming.

Interessting story, October 30, 2010
So this is the fourth part of "A Galaxy unknown" . Its space opera, reminds me a lot of H. Hornblower or Honor Harrington (David Webber) and in a positive way. The story is interesting and develops "naturally" and was unexpected. There are some minor gripes I have with the series and I know it wont change. J.Carver as a heroine is bit to perfect for me and the antagonists are bit to stupid. While Carver always comes up with the perfect plan which works of course well, perfectly ...the enemies fail as every step. The way Mr. de Prima writes is sometimes a bit unpolished, too many simple phrases one after the other.

Still its worth to follow the series as there are few good simple and fun science fiction series right now. As well the price is really fair. Check it out or start with the first book.

TraderVxy good read, November 4, 2010
this was the forth book in this series that I have read and my reaction was, "I want more". I seem to blast right through these books and get to the end always thinking I wish there was more and looking for the next book. I really like the characters, even the raider characters although many of them seem to be the typical dumb criminal type this just makes the real bad guys stand out more in contrast. I thought the battle strategy was well done and yet not explained to death like some authors do. All in all I would definately recomend the series to any lovers of space science fiction. ... Read more

Editorial Review

A gorgeously written novel that marks the debut of an astonishing new voice in psychological suspense. ... Read more

Reviews

A Great Novel with an Annoying Ending, August 12, 2007
This novel takes a bit to get going, but once it does you're sucked into a really great mystery novel. The character are flawed but still very real and you find yourself caring about what's happening to them, asking yourself why they are making decisions that are obviously bad, and annoyed when you don't get the ending you've been waiting for since page one. Even better, Tana French immerses us into modern Ireland; a country that continues to ride the Celtic Tiger economy while dealing with all that implies. There are two issues I have with the novel. First, the author basically gives us two plots and gives equal time to both; however, only one of those plots ever reaches any sort of conclusion and the one we most want to see solved is left open ended. Second, while the other plot is resolved it's resolved in way that was very annoying and a major letdown. Maybe the author thought she was being different but ending the novel this way, but it didn't work. No, I don't think every novel has to conclude with everything nicely tidied up, but when I turned the last page I was just left with a feeling of disappointment. Still, it's great novel, especially for an author's first published work.

Uneven and disappointing, May 29, 2008
I'm usually pretty bad at figuring out whodunnits, but honestly I solved the Katy Devlin murder at around the halfway point -- it was just too obvious. That was a major failure of the book made worse when Ryan addresses the reader at the end and suggests that we have been just as befuddled as he was. French perplexingly seems to suggest that she's pulled a "Murder of Roger Ackroyd" on us with a narrator who tells us in the very first pages that he lies. But in fact he hasn't lied, not even by omission; he's just been phenomenally stupid.

The second major failure of the book was in the way French crafts characters and relationships. The cutesy-poo banter between Cassie and Rob might be fun for a 16-year-old to read, but I found it boring, annoying, excessive and hugely unrealistic. Every single time they interact, there has to be an exchange that I guess the reader is supposed to find clever and sexy, but in fact, the playfulness of their relationship struck me as a kind of clicheed teenage romantic fantasy: the guy and girl are best friends (though not lovers -- yet) and everyone believes they're in love but they are the last to realize it themselves; then when they finally do sleep together, it changes everything...oh please, Ms. French; save that for your YA book.

Moreover, French seems to like the character of Cassie so much that she makes her just about perfect. Cassie is always right, and she does almost all of the detective work on the case. Rob does end up making a key breakthrough, but does so in a way that seems like a fluke on his part, plus that's his sole contribution; everything else is done by Cassie, who is also apparently the only person on the force who knows the definition of a psychopath and understands profiling. The result of this is that, ironically, after a while I started to wonder why we even needed Rob in the story at all. I also think this is part of the reason why many readers found Rob unlikable -- Cassie is so flawless that we can't help but see Rob as excessively flawed, which I'm sure is not quite what French intended.

And of course, there's the ending. I am not against ambiguity; in fact, many contemporary mystery novels leave at least some part of their plots unresolved as a way of adding realism; no matter how much we may want to seek the truth, a detective knows better than anyone how impossible it is to find it absolutely. And yet, as others have said, the ambiguity here serves absolutely no purpose (except, as has been suggested, to pave the way for a series). If the idea is supposed to be that "some things simply can't be uncovered," we hardly needed 400+ pages to understand that. Moreover, in these 400+ pages we learn almost nothing new about the 1984 case other than a few vague hints of what seems like supernatural forces -- and, importantly, Rob doesn't seem to have learned anything or changed at all after going back to the woods. Why even bother writing about it then?

On the plus side, yes, she can write beautifully at times, as many have said. But frankly I'm getting a little tired of all these super-mega-best-sellers covered with glowing accolades that make it seem like you have to read it or you'll be missing out on the event of a lifetime. I see it more like this: if you read this book, you'll probably find some of it quite enthralling but a lot of it disappointing; if you don't read it, don't worry about it too much.

Enigmatic literary mystery thriller--don't expect genre!, January 10, 2008
After reading numerous reviews, I am compelled to counter a lot of the remarks by frustrated reader reviewers expecting more of a resolve than is served up in the story.

This is the kind of mystery that feels organic. Language, imagery, poetry, sensuality, metaphor, emotional density, visceral fear--that is how the story is revealed. This isn't exposition and a lot of declarative sentences. It is not formula. It performs a vivisection on genre. As much as it is a mystery of the present murder of a young girl and an unsolved past mystery of the main protagonist's boyhood (he is now a detective who as a young boy survived a violent attack on himself and two friends, who were never found), it is much, much more. The story is allegory. It is about the enigmatic quality of relationships, the complicated enmeshments glued by dysfunction, the underbelly of fear that keeps people from leading full lives, and the question of survival in a life of elliptical events.

Detectives Cassie and Adam were characters that haunted me around the clock, even when I was not reading the book. The characterizations were meticulous. The inner dialogue was fresh with deep, psychological insights, and the minor characters were not drawn for convenience or contrivance, either. Not one character seemed cardboard. The book was unputdownable; the story was a generous mix of harrowing and romantic and wry and witty and dramatic and tragic. I might even consider the word epic as an apt description. And it was this epic quality that makes it stand apart from your prosaic thrillers that flood the marketplace.

This is not Stephen King. It is way too literary, layered, full of allusion, and linguistically lush. The author makes it both accessible to the reader while also challenging the senses. She has a grasp of comic timing and dramatic irony. She loves her characters. It is evident in every beautiful sentence that Tana French writes. She did not use a cookie cutter to write this. This came from the marrow of her bones, the center of her heart. The unfolding of the story never feels forced or artificial.

If you are looking for a dues ex machina, or if you are inflexible about having all your ducks in a row, then this is not a novel for you. I was initially frustrated at the close of the novel because all the answers were not forthcoming. But as I chewed on it for a night and a day, I realized that my reaction is also a part of the story. I do not want to reveal too much, but the reviewers who criticized the author for essentially cheating them out of a certain kind of ending remind me of the characters in the story also working out their personal demons through this mystery. I do believe that the author slyly and discreetly puts the reader right there in that Irish berg. It forces the reader to reflect on personal issues concerning resolution.I am one of the characters by the time it is over--I am part of the town.

It is plausible, also, that Tana French could bring back Cassie, Adam, Sam, and several other characters in a future book. I would welcome their return!

Disappointed, August 4, 2007
I could not put this book down. I think Ms. French's' writing style, the story and setting were terrific. There was such a great chance to link these two mysteries together in the end. I woke early on a Saturday morning to finish it and promptly threw it across the room! I was so let down by the ending. What happened Tanya? I do not think I would put myself through another novel by her to be let down once again.

Excellent!, August 18, 2007
It is so refreshing to read a mystery in which the main characters are just regular human beings. That's the case in this story. Without giving away too much, I'll say that you shouldn't expect all the loose ends to be neatly tied up in the end; that doesn't happen in real life, and it doesn't happen here. But there is at least a degree of resolution to every story line.

These characters are interesting, not because of their James Bond good looks and extraordinary talents, but because they are human beings, good at some things, not so good at others, and even frustratingly obtuse at times.

The writing in this book was gorgeous and rich, and I can't wait for the author's next book. I couldn't put it down!

SPOILER ALERT-Don't read if you plan to read this book, April 23, 2008
Wow I was really into this book. I LOVED it. I read it non-stop all day and could not put it down. By 11 PM Sunday I was worried that I wouldn't get enough sleep before work, but I just HAD to find out what had happened to Ryan and his friends when they were 12. Then as the ending got closer and closer I started having a bad feeling. I shook it off, sure that all would be right at the end. By the time I had about 10 pages left I realized this book was not going to explain one damn thing about the central and most important mystery. I was spitting mad by the end, I had stayed up late to finish it for nothing. Did the author even know what the resolution of the mystery was herself? I got the impression that she didn't. It has hints here and there about what happened, but if you were supposed to figure it out from vague clues, the book was a dismal failure. I cannot believe that Nancy Pearl from NPR recommended it. The bomb of an ending completely erased everything I enjoyed about this book. If you like being frustrated and angry, then this might be the book for you. Otherwise there are a zillion good mystery books out there. I heard she is writing a sequel but I think she could have left happy readers with a resolution to this one, and still had them clamoring for more. Instead we are left with a broken trust.

The ending was ridiculous, July 12, 2007
I strongly agree with other reviews here criticizing the ending. I was much more interested in the disappearance of Adam's friends than the murder of little Katy. I also stayed up all night just to find out what happened to them. How utterly disappointing to find out this would never be addressed. Are we seriously supposed to believe some "laughing" human with "antlers" was chasing around kids, putting some of them on sacrificial altars, clawing some of their shirts apart then putting their bloody shoes back on???????? How ridiculous. You have to have some responsibility to your readers, who have spent thirty dollars on your book. I always joke when I am watching a movie "what if right in the middle it just said 'the end' and the credits started to roll, wouldn't that be funny! Everyone would be so confused!" Well, no joke, that's exactly what this was like and I wasn't laughing.

Made Me Mad and I Couldn't Put it -Contains Spoilers, December 29, 2007
I'm in complete agreement about the ending. To give the reader all that about the crime in 1984 and not resolve it. Completely unacceptable. There aren't even any viable possibilities. Were they eaten, do you suppose? I agree also that the mystery of the 1984 crime is what keeps you involved. The relationship between Ryan and Cassie? Contrived but forgivably so if it was going to get us to the bottom of the 1984 crime.

I'm baffled by why the book's considered such an achievement. Sections are beautifully written. Yes. Others verrrrryy awkward. Rosalind's untrustworthiness completely obvious (that might have been intentional to show Ryan's unreliability, but I don't think the writer had enough control to make clear how we were to take his blindness).

Also, I was willing to suspend all the "Hey, wait a minute . . ." thoughts I had about how a person who had been a victim of a hugely famous crime could become a cop without anyone knowing. Are we to understand that Ireland's police are so backward that they wouldn't have any way of tracing that? Is that why it's set in 1997? to get around those pesky questions and leave it all explained by a lack of technology? Surely there would be psychological screening?

A Book Worth Discussing, August 16, 2007
This book deals with the investigation of the murder of a child by a trio of detectives. The detective through whose eyes we see the story is heavily damaged by a similar episode in his own past, and the book is an in-depth study of his own issues as much as it is a murder mystery.

And, bless it, it does have one ambiguous storyline that lends itself to discussion and argument. I found it very satisfying. It's not a quick, shallow, connect-the-dots cozy. The writing is lyrical, the characters are complex. It lends itself to a second reading with pencil in hand to note themes and recurrent images - a great pleasure for those of us who will always be life's lit majors. Anyone who has read Donna Tartt's "The Secret History" will hear some echoes.

If you must have all your little plot lines tied up with big bows on them in the last 4 pages of the book, this is obviously not a good choice for you, as some of the other reviews suggest.

Could I find fault with it? Not much. [This from a reader whose criticisms, large and small, about every single book our mystery group read were the despair of the rest of the members]. A little too much foreshadowing (problem solved if about 2 sentences were cut), and some readers will not be entirely confined by the main character's viewpoint and may reach conclusions about the murder before he does. And I'm not even sure that the latter is a fault, as it adds to our opinions on his own character.

Nearly Brilliant, September 21, 2008
I loved this book so much --up until the very end-- that it breaks my heart to give it only two stars... Yet I'm sorely tempted to give it only one.

The plot was fascinating, the characters were vivid and complex, the prose was elegant yet engaging, the dialogue was convincing and lively... I was thrilled with this book, and felt I had found an exciting new author to follow, and a new art in a genre that usually leaves me cold. But no, I'll probably never read another book by Tana French.

There are all sort of implicit agreements between an author and his or her readers, and chief among them is the unspoken promise that the author will not leave you hanging, flapping in the wind with no resolution or explanation by the end of the story. With that trust we go forward. With that trust we invest the hours and attention, staying up way too late to devour just a few more pages, and then a few more; stealing off to read for a few minutes, one ear cocked for bosses or parents or kids or spouses, when we should really be spending our time more productively; and, finally, picking up our book with a rush of gratitude and a sigh of happy contentment in those precious moments of perfectly free time.

Jana French broke this trust with "In the Woods" and though it's actually one of the best new books I've read in a while otherwise, I won't run the risk of being fooled again. If her non-resolution of one of the two mysteries that form the spine of the tale is an attempt at a sort of artful meta-commentary on the nature of trust and disappointment as demonstrated in the rest of the story, I have to say that for me it fell totally, utterly flat. If, on the other hand, it was meant to be a way to kick off a series, with readers always hopeful that the core mystery will be resolved by the end of four or five or six or 26 books, I'm even more thoroughly disgusted. I won't be blackmailed into buying more of the same, desperately hoping that the tale that was promised in the first book will finally be told.

It's a shame, too, because if it weren't for that stunt, I'd be lining up for the next one... I would have loved to continue on with these characters and this author; I didn't need to have my hand held over the flame. ... Read more

Editorial Review

In the newest devastatingly intense thriller by #1 New York Times bestselling phenomenon Vince Flynn, his deadly and charismatic hero Mitch Rapp wages a war against a new enemy with the help of a fellow soldier as dedicated -- and as lethal -- as they come.

Vince Flynn's thrillers, featuring counterterrorism operative Mitch Rapp, dominate the imagination of readers everywhere. In them, Flynn captures the secretive world of the fearless men and women, who, bound by duty, risk their lives in a covert war they must hide from even their own political leaders.

Now, Rapp and his prot�g�, Mike Nash, may have met their match. The CIA has detected and intercepted two terrorist cells, but a third is feared to be on the loose. Led by a dangerous mastermind obsessed with becoming the leader of al-Qaeda, this determined and terrifying group is about to descend on America.

Rapp needs the best on this assignment, and Nash, who has served his government honorably for sixteen years -- first as an officer in the Marine Corps and then as an operative in an elite counterterrorism team run by Rapp -- is his choice. Together, they have made careers out of meeting violence with extreme violence and have never wavered in the fight against the jihads and their culture of death. Both have fought the war on terrorism in secret without accolades or acknowledgement of their personal sacrifices. Both have been forced to lie to virtually every single person they care about, and both have soldiered on with the knowledge that their hard work and lethal tactics have saved thousands of lives.

But the political winds have changed in America, and certain leaders on Capitol Hill are pushing to have men like Rapp and Nash put back on a short leash. And then one spring afternoon in Washington, DC, everything changes.

Using his insider knowledge of intelligence agencies and the military, Flynn once again delivers an all-too-real portrayal of a war that is waged every day by a handful of brave, devoted souls. Smart, fast-paced, and jaw-droppingly realistic, Extreme Measures is the political thriller of our time. ... Read more

Reviews

Not one of Flynn's better ones..., October 25, 2008
Having read all of Flynn's other books, I was excited to receive his latest in the mail today. After reading it cover-to-cover in one sitting, I must admit that I'm a bit disappointed. This clearly wasn't Flynn's best work. Mitch Rapp had a greatly reduced role, and far too much time was spent on the rote family life details of Mike Nash. At times it felt like the equivalent to when television sitcoms advertise "a very special episode" involving an important message about drugs or whatever. The book's overall message -- that America has become overly complacent in the war on terror -- is one that I share, but it didn't need to be delivered in such a drawn out and almost 'preachy' manner. Too many pages were devoted to changing diapers, Nash's erectile disfunction, and the laborious preparations of a rather lackluster band of cardboard terrorists; with too few involving Rapp in action, or even dealing with Rapp at all. I'm not sure if Flynn is looking to transition his books away from the Rapp character, but it certainly seemed to be the case with this one. In the acknowledments, Flynn referenced that this has been "a very hectic year" for him. Perhaps this explains why he had trouble delivering on this one. Hopefully, things will settle down and his next book will be more in line with what his fans expect and deserve.

A Little Different...but...perhaps helpful?, October 22, 2008
First off, I need to admit that short of a rabid stalker, there is probably no bigger fan of Vince Flynn's Mitch Rapp series than I. That having been said... this one is, to me, a LOT different than what I had come to expect.

This time, we get to see some hardcore political wrangling that likely mirrors what is actually happening on the Hill as time passes and many lose their stomach for war. This time, the perspective is much less first-person Mitch, and much more modern-age fable. We get to see the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly lock horns over a problem that is very much real, but growing more unpopular by the day.

Don't get me wrong -- there is still plenty of action and you will still want to block out enough time to read in case, like me, you can't put the book down until you are finished. But I came away from this one feeling more that I had been reminded of a very important lesson than I had read about Mitch's latest exploits.

There is much less smart-alecking (some may be happy about that), and given the shift in perspective, much less from Irene and Scott. But there are other characters that Flynn does as good a job in developing. In all, there is a very important, and very timely message in this book. Though I wish I could have had more "classic" Mitch (and am disappointed that I have to wait another year for more), I think this was the right book at the right time.

If this would be your first VF book, I would strongly recommend you read earlier books first. If you are a rabid (or even a casual) fan, you should love this one. If you have been kind of turned off by some of the "over the top" antics in previous novels but like the overall character and concept, then give this on a try. It will be hard to be disappointed.

I give it five of five because it is timely, it is a page-turner, and it is freaking Mitch Rapp! It wasn't quite what I thought I wanted, but it ended up being what I might have needed.

A Mike Nash Book FEATURING Mitch Rapp - Caveat Emptor!, October 27, 2008

If you're looking for a "traditional" Rapp story, I'm afraid you're in for a disappointment. Rapp is a fairly peripheral character in this story that primarily focuses on his prot�g� Mike Nash.

Terrorist cells are planning strike missions against targets within the United States. Two of the three have been "neutralized", but the last is led by a megalomaniacal fanatic bent on furthering his own ambitions by striking a crippling blow at our strategic capabilities.

This story, as is usual with Flynn, is his signature unique blend of political intrigue and manipulation with shoot-`em-up thriller. But instead of focusing on Rapp and his CIA boss Irene Kennedy, the action centers around Nash and lesser lights at the CIA. Kennedy's appearance is less than perfunctory; she's barely in this story at all, and plays absolutely no meaningful part in its furtherance.

The quality that makes Rapp a "superstar" is that he's virtually a force of nature; an implacable, unstoppable weapon of American policy. Nash is... not.

We spend a lot of time reading about Nash's angst, family problems, the conflict of his job with his family life, etc. It was done in an entertaining fashion, but it's just not a Mitch Rapp book!

And Nash isn't anywhere near as just plain deadly as Rapp. In other reviews of Flynn's work, I've written that Rapp is the American version of James Bond as originally written by Ian Fleming. That's a major part of his appeal and Flynn's popularity.

At the end of this book, I was left with the feeling that Nash was lucky to still be alive, and wouldn't be if it weren't for the timely appearance of Rapp at the final showdown.

So... buyer beware.

Extreme Measures is a Dissapointment, November 12, 2008
I'm a huge Vince Flynn fan, having read all of his books to date and enjoying his Mitch Rapp character immensely. I was looking forward to "Extreme Measures" hitting the bookstores, and when it did I snapped it up, reading it over a few days.

I'm afraid I must agree with others that it was a disappointment, certainly not up to the standards we're used to from Mr. Flynn.

A good story allows its characters to speak and act, enabling the story to emerge in a suspenseful and engaging way as a natural consequence of the characters and actions; and in the case of a thriller, the plot twists and final resolution are critical. Vince Flynn is very good at this in his Mitch Rapp stories.

But not in this one.

I found the plot to be utterly predictable with little of the usual Rapp action until the final few chapters. And the characters had morphed from action characters with some degree of complexity, to cardboard cutouts giving speeches, both good guys and bad.

I enjoyed seeing Mitch Rapp develop as a character in the first nine novels, struggling with relationships and doubts. None of that is evident in "Extreme Measures." In this outing, the Rapp character is flat and pompous, mouthing predictable political positions while torturing the bad guys and preaching to the "liberal" opposition.

And the book certainly needs a good proofreader! Inconsistencies and grammatical errors litter the pages (other reviewers have pointed out many of them), and Vince really needs to find some good alternatives for the verb "grabbed." At one point I nearly flung the book across the room as a character "grabbed" (a gun, a pack, or what have you) for about the sixth time on a single page! Arggggggh!

I don't want to be too harsh, for I really do love the Mitch Rapp stories, but Vince has fallen woefully short on this one.

His fans deserve better.

Extreme Disappointment, November 4, 2008
Having read all of Flynn's previous works, I was so disappointed with this new one. I kept wondering if Flynn had actually written it, it was such a different style. The subject was timely and indeed there is a lesson there but the development of the characters was so shallow, lost was Flynn's intelligent dialogue, replaced with more profanities per page than in all his other books combine. I miss the wit, the quick, smart plot and especially the connection with his characters.Extreme Measures: A Thriller

Not so extreme measures, November 9, 2008
This novel is certainly not up to Flynn's usual standards. In fact, it is downright disappointing. The congressional jockeying for political advantage versus the security services is by now a worn out commonplace. The real purpose of the novel appears to be a justification for a sequel in which Mitch Rapp can complete what he started in this one.

BTW: will someone please tell the author/editor/proof reader the correct usage of "myriad"? It does not take a preposition. For example: this novel has myriad shortcomings.

Not Extreme Measures But Rather Extreme Disappontment, December 19, 2008
Having read all prior mitch rapp books, i was greatly forward to this one.
Unfortunately this was not the page turning thriller of past novels.

The parts with mike nash confronting government officials was interesting but pleeeeeease, i am not reading these type of books to read so much page filling nonsense about his family. This took up an excessive amount of the book.

Mitch rapps role was so minimal, that if this were a movie, he would not even rate the title of supporting actor.

When nash was introduced i was relishing the thought of both of them combining to just kill everyone.

Instead the only action like that comes at the end and nash is reduce to shooting one terrorist and the standing by while rapp kills everyone else. Even this part was a major letdown.
It is almost like vince flynn adopted another persona when he wrote this book ( or maybe someone else did? ) The confrontations with londsdale were interesting but too many and her role reversal seemed to be not written well.

Too much politics and family and not enough action. There was plenty of cursing perhaps to make up for the very prdictable story.

how anyone could rate this 4 stars is beyond me.

Political-threats of present day, March 22, 2009
Vince Flynn's Mitch Rapp is a wonderful character to read about. Mitch always "gets his man" and the ways in which he does it, keeps the reader (listener) on the edge of his/her seat to the very end of the book. Mr. Flynn's writing makes it hard to put the book down until it is finished.

EXTREME MEASURES finds Mitch and Mike Nash collaborating to extract information from two terrorist leaders. Mitch and Mike fear there is a third cell trying to wreak havoc on American soil. Their goal is to stop the cell before it can reach the designated target.

Making their job harder is the fact that Senators have visited the jail where the terrorists are being held and are now demanding that they be given better treatment. Meanwhile, the third cell is gathering its final information and moving on the target.

They are brought before a Senatorial hearing committee to be questioned on their methods of interrogation. During these hearings, the third cell bombs three prominent Washington DC lunch spots. Killed in one of the restaurants is one of the Senate committee member's Chief of Staff.

This loss is the turning point of how the committee thinks about Mitch and Mike. They are now supported whole-heartedly by those on the committee who wanted to stop them. This story is written with today's threat to the US in mind.

Armand Schultz brings a wide range of voices to the reading of this book. He is easy to listen to.

I have never been disappointed in one of Mr. Flynn's books and EXTREME MEASURES is no exception.

Change of pace for Vince Flynn, November 29, 2008
Vince Flynn takes a different direction with his characters in this one. Rapp takes a background role and although his scenes are a delight, it is Mike Nash who is the main good guy. Nash offers something else, he is a family man with some domestic issues, smart but not the bulldozer that Rapp is.
Against the background of an impending attack on the US, this is a book about political in-fighting and how the rights of individuals should be balanced against the need to protect the Nation. The CIA methods are being questioned by liberal politicians and slowing down the need to fight fire with fire, is the main thrust of this book.
The point is made bluntly and is made a little too obvious at times.
This is an okay thriller but not up to previous high standards.

not up to his standards, November 6, 2008
I have loved all the Flynn books until now. This writing reminds me of other authors who write great then start to write a book a year and the stories become weaker and weaker. If you're a fan it will still be worth reading but will the next one? ... Read more

Editorial Review

This volume, contains all 4 full-length novels and all 56 short stories featuring Sherlock Holmes. At over a thousand pages, the weighty tome is a perfect gift for budding amateur sleuths, and it is an ideal companion for a long stay on a desert island (or a leisurely trip through the English countryside). As the reader wades past the tense introductions of A Study in Scarlet and moves towards such classic tales as The Hound of the Baskervilles, "The Adventure of the Speckled Band," and "The Final Problem," she is sure to draw her own conclusions about Holmes's veiled past and his quirky relationship with his "Boswell," Watson. Doyle never revealed much about Holmes's early life, but the joy of reading the complete Holmes is assembling the trivia of each story into something like a portrait of the detective and his creator. By the end of the long journey through London and across Europe (with a long stopover at Reichenbach Falls), one is apt to have found a friend for life.
... Read more

Editorial Review

The new novel from William Gibson, "one of the most visionary, original, and quietly influential writers currently working." (The Boston Globe)

Hollis Henry worked for the global marketing magnate Hubertus Bigend once before. She never meant to repeat the experience. But she's broke, and Bigend never feels it's beneath him to use whatever power comes his way -- in this case, the power of money to bring Hollis onto his team again. Not that she knows what the "team" is up to, not at first.

Milgrim is even more thoroughly owned by Bigend. He's worth owning for his useful gift of seeming to disappear in almost any setting, and his Russian is perfectly idiomatic - so much so that he spoke Russian with his therapist, in the secret Swiss clinic where Bigend paid for him to be cured of the addiction that would have killed him.

Garreth has a passion for extreme sports. Most recently he jumped off the highest building in the world, opening his chute at the last moment, and he has a new thighbone made of rattan baked into bone, entirely experimental, to show for it.Garreth isn't owned by Bigend at all. Garreth has friends from whom he can call in the kinds of favors that a man like Bigend will find he needs, when things go unexpectedly sideways, in a world a man like Bigend is accustomed to controlling.

As when a Department of Defense contract for combat-wear turns out to be the gateway drug for arms dealers so shadowy that even Bigend, whose subtlety and power in the private sector would be hard to overstate, finds himself outmaneuvered and adrift in a seriously dangerous world. ... Read more

Reviews

What's at stake here?, November 10, 2010

ZERO GRAVITAS: The Play

Bigend: "Hollis!....I need to spend insane amounts of money on vague nothingness!....and you, being a woman of dubious talents and with no grasp of finances, need a job!"

Hollis: "I know.....it's true....(pouts)"

Milgrim: "Who?......what?........oh"

Hollis: "I'm being followed...or maybe not...oooo weird wallpaper......why hasn't my boyfriend called?"

Milgrim: "...iPhone..."

Bigend: "Peel me a grape!...here's $10,0000!...I need you in Ulan Bator at 25:00 hours!...Something may or may not occur!"

Milgrim: "Who?......what?....will there be snacks?"

Hollis: "He's talking to me.....well, will there?......I mean, okay...(pouts)"

Fiona: "You may be under surveillance....motorcycles are cool"

Garreth: "I know a very interesting rich guy....No, you don't get to meet him.....oh, and I watched 2 seasons of The Unit"

Evil Spec Ops Villain (off screen): "I killed an entire Afghani village with a dead parrot...now I steal fashion designs and forgot everything I ever learned in sniper school"

Secret Clothing Designer: "I am too cool, to...you know...like, sell OUT?..you know....oh my god..."

Everyone: "Aren't we PRECIOUS!!!.....Hugs all around!"

FIN


PS: Huge William Gibson fan, just starting to wonder a bit ; )

THE FUTURE IS NOW, September 14, 2010
William Gibson has long gone into the hinterland of the beautifully absurd. And his imagery is absolutely mesmerizing, it stays with you long after the last traces of the story evaporate.

If the Sprawl Trilogy changed the way we view the future and the Bridge Trilogy brought that future dystopia closer to home, the latest Bigend Trilogy interweaves that future into our everyday life: you know THAT future? Well, it is NOW. And because of this, after turning its last page, memories of the book seem to pop up everywhere, when least expected.

The story ties loosely with the previous two books of the Trilogy (Pattern Recognition and Spook Country) and it is surprising to find out just how ruthless the garment business really is. However, the story is the vehicle, not the destination.

Gibson seems determined to deconstruct a persistent and omnipresent pop-culture that glorifies the trivial, attempts to turn our daily grind into a series of tolerable epic moments and reproduces the propaganda that steers public opinion towards the aims of the interconnected elite. And this he achieves with dense poetic wordscapes, his pattern brand-name fetishism and chains of ironic yet insightful observations.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Zero Gravitas, October 21, 2010
With "Zero History", you get the feeling that William Gibson, finding the world has finally caught up with his Marshall McLuhan-meets-Timothy Leary vision of the future, has decided to escape instead into the world of fantasy.

This accentuates a trend in Mr Gibson's recent novels. Starting with 2003's "Pattern Recognition", the settings of his books have pulled closer and closer to the contemporary world, even as his storylines have pushed further into la-la land. You almost wonder if he's being deliberately perverse. How else to explain "Zero History's" bizarre concoction of macho military fashion designers, ninja rock drummers, Japanese tailors and base-jumping super-spies? And that Mission Impossible-as-done-by-the-A Team ending? Please dear God, let that be a joke.

Don't get me wrong, Mr Gibson remains one of the most effortlessly stylish and readable authors out there. It's his choice of subject matter. I feel like I'm watching Michelangelo doing potato painting.

Let me explain.

"Zero History" completes the trilogy begun with "Pattern Recognition" and continued in 2007's "Spook Country", though it is much more closely tied to the latter. Freelance journalist Hollis Henry returns, again in the employ of insatiably curious marketing bigwig Hubertus Bigend. So is Milgrim, the benzo-addicted translator from "Spook Country", now straight thanks to Bigend's largesse and a stint at a clinic in Switzerland.

Also making a reappearance is the style of "Spook Country", which ratcheted down the flowery language in favor of bare-bones structures, non-linear conversations and off-beat settings. When it works, and it usually does, the words glide effortlessly, supple as old-fashioned denim.

There's a nice touch early on when Hollis googles "Gabriel Hounds" and describes what comes up first--a book by Mary Stewart, a Wikipedia entry, a CD title--because of course that's exactly what comes up if you or I try it, giving you a weird behind-the-looking glass feeling, and lending the story that extra touch of verisimilitude. There's also a reference to a YouTube video of someone jumping from the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building. Again, same thing.

Hollis remains something of an enigma, a sort of existentialist hero drawn into absurd events, seemingly lacking the will to extract herself. Milgrim is more sympathetic, an innocent reborn through his detoxification, and not surprisingly he provides the loom that spins this particular story. Bigend remains plausible, a billionaire brat more spoiled than malevolent, but no less dangerous for it. This time, the objective of Bigend's fascination is fashion. Specifically, a cutting-edge guerrilla brand called "Gabriel Hounds", and in a parallel plotline, military outfitting contracts.

Fashion provides Mr Gibson an excuse to revisit his theme, present in both "Pattern Recognition" and "Spook Country", of the tension between the cutting edge and the mainstream, how the former becomes--or desperately seeks to avoid becoming--the latter. The subtext is that the mainstream is derivative, exploitative and false, an elaborate con game. One would-be designer speaks of her dream to escape "the seasons, the b_llsh_t, the stuff that wore out, fell apart."

I might feel better about this subplot if I didn't find the whole premise such an offensive, heaping, steaming pile of Hounds doo. There is nothing inherently superior in cliquey exclusivity or snobbery. I couldn't care less about "secret brands" of canvas shoes or Japanese denim, and as a result, this part just feels tiresome. At one point, Bigend refers to companies that "find brands ... with iconic optics or a viable narrative, buy them, then put out denatured product under the old label." I wish I could say this barrage of pretentious bafflegab is supposed to be indicative of the character, not the author, but Mr Gibson is forever having people spout lines like this.

It didn't use to irritate me. Mr Gibson has always been a bit of a hipster, but it grated far less when he was writing about the far future. Geeking out over the (purely imaginary) "Hawker-Aichi roadster" in 1999's "All Tomorrow's Parties" didn't bug me--the endless iPhone, iMac and Twitter references drive me a little bonkers.

The main plot kicks into gear, and sadly loses touch with reality, when Milgrim's investigation into military clothing upsets a competitor, who first tries to kidnap Hollis and Milgrim, then succeeds in nabbing one of Bigend's other employees (no, I won't spoil it by telling you who, though it's another returning character from "Spook Country") in retaliation. This sets up a rescue that involves the cast of Ocean's 11, conspiracy-theory worthy technology, the makeup effects from Mission Impossible, the camera balloons from "All Tomorrow's Parties", and the martial arts moves from, er, "Rush Hour 3". It's a hopeless, hideous letdown, a bit like the new Gap logo.

I said much the same thing about "Spook Country", and this only confirms it. The more I like Mr Gibson as a storyteller, the less I like the stories he tells. "Zero History" is a beautifully written, vividly imagined, totally preposterous pile of bunk.

I'm just not the right audience for Gibson's novels, I think..., October 23, 2010
OK... I think Zero History by William Gibson will be the last book I attempt to read by the father of the cyberpunk genre. Looking back at his last four novels I've read, they've all ended up in the 2 - 3 rating area. I have no argument with Gibson's ability to paint a scene. From the first page on, Zero History paints a very detailed picture of the characters and surroundings. On the other hand, his story and plot leave me flat. If anyone else tried to tell that same story in 400 pages, I would have said it was about 325 pages too long. And even then I would have said it was a bit strange.

The novel revolves around an ad agency owner who is on the bleeding edge of fashion marketing psychology. He hires a couple of people to track down some unknown designer who he wants to know more about. Along the way, there's double-crosses, deadly competitors, and kidnappings. Without getting into the deeper "meaning" of what Gibson is trying to say along the way, that's about the core of what happens. And I'm still struggling with a lot of "so what" feelings now that I'm done.

My problem is that generally speaking, I don't read novels to analyze them for some significant and profound commentary on society by the author. I read them primarily for entertainment. Yes, I'm shallow... so sue me. This "quirk" of mine makes me the wrong audience for Gibson's work, no matter how much I can appreciate his ability to paint with words. So rather than beat myself up over spending hours only to be left wanting, I think I'll just scratch off Gibson's name from my list of authors I read, and we'll all be happier.

Disclosure:
Obtained From: Library
Payment: Borrowed

Better once I got into it, September 16, 2010
A suspenseful trip into the racy world of fashion, music, and unlikely heroes and anti-heroes across the globe.
This book really grew on me. I felt that initially Gibson seemed to be trying too hard. He was using improbable vocabulary and characterisation was very slow. However, about a quarter into the book, the narrative really took off and started to become engaging. 3 stars for the slow start, after that it did improve, but not enough for a 4.

least fave of the gibson novels..., November 2, 2010
william gibson is one of my favorite authors. am a 'science-fiction' fan, a genre overloaded with authors with great ideas but modest writing skills. gibson generally excels at both; so, despite a relatively-uninteresting story, his writing remains strong. i'll read his shopping list (should he ever publish that).

just..the story, it's little ado about little. the characters seem flat, milgrim is (by design, i get it) a sort-of blank slate. makes it hard to get involved though...
will take this as a cruise, a departure from brilliance; even gibson's lesser novels outshine this one.

i remain a fan, and will wait for what's next.

Great Modern Style, BUPKIS plot excitement, October 17, 2010
I have the highest respect for Mr. Gibson, and have read all of his
works, finding the last few, for me, to be in dire need of any sort of plot energy
or excitement. I am quite surprised by the high average review ratings here.
.
His familiar wordsmithing is indeed intact, with it's iconic touch-points(the phone brands, eyeglass styles, after-market truck mods, tweets, coffee bars), and rhythm of sentence and little micro-logics....

but...but...but..

Plot, damn it! Trying to hold a veteran fan's interest with a plot consisting of (no spoiler here), various neo-bohemians lazily trying to locate a legendary, enigmatic denim jeans designer in order to appropriate the design to compete on possible defense contracts just does not make a story that holds my intrigue, hold my eye to the page, or make me yearn to pick the book back up regularly. And I'm now further puzzled by who Gibson thinks his demographic is, and their enchantment level. And what year is this, almost 2011? It feels like he wants to pull back on the forward-thinking edginess, and concede to the trends of the moment.

Quite so, this outing feels like a denial of this long-time reader's hi-tech sci-fi needs, and an indication, after a couple of these stories, that William is not coming "back to the future", writing mostly in a sort of ho-hum "Future-Lite".

When did Gibson become a Fashion Critic?, November 4, 2010
I have read everything Gibson has ever written (and I mean everything) and I loved his dystopian view of the future. However, it seems he has given up trying to be a leader on how tech can shape our lives in radical ways and is now just pandering to the fashion crowd. With his latest work I think he would do better as a contributing editor to Cosmo or Women's Wear Daily.

Search for Pants goes nowhere, October 29, 2010
A long term fan of Gibson, I found this to be a "one sequel too many" type of book. My impression is he is attempting to apply espionage type scenarios over the fashion industry which ends up leaving the reader puzzled as to the extreme reactions of the antagonists (the good and bad guys) over attempts to find out the source of blue jeans. And the scenarios are endlessly repeated with Mr. BigEnds "full english breakfast" scene being played out numerous times. I finally gave up after 75% of the book as it was not going anywhere with any believable story line.

Weakest Gibson's novel, September 28, 2010
With great regret I have to say that Zero History - the worst Gibson's work.

From the writer, whom we knew as author of brilliant trilogies "The Sprawl" and "The Bridge", only recognizable language style left. But now it used to describe the use of the iPhone and Air. Okay, I can live with the fact that Gibson's book is not fiction and/or cyberpunk anymore. But where the story? Where the plot? The whole book about pants? I beg your pardon...

I like to read it, but I don't like that I'm reading. It's nothing. Zero. I'm so sorry. ... Read more

Editorial Review

In the extraordinary new novel by Patricia Cornwell-the world's #1 bestselling crime writer-forensic expert Kay Scarpetta is surrounded by familiar faces, yet traveling down the unfamiliar road of fame. A CNN producer wants her to launch a TV show called The Scarpetta Factor. But the glare of the spotlight could make Kay a target for the very killers she would put behind bars... ... Read more

Reviews

What A Fan Wants, January 6, 2010
Your sales were down 50% from last year. You failed to hit the #1 slot on the NYT bestsellers list for the first time in, like, a hundred years. So what do we, the readers, want?

1. Brevity. Your last two books ballooned to 500 pages. And you used to be so concise!!

2. The third person has to go. We all loved Kay, we loved hearing her thoughts.

3. Dump the spouse. Benton is boring. Your new forays into the mind and psychobabble are also boring.

4. Go back to the morgue. Yes, it's been done a billion times since you introduced it but readers still like it and you still do it better than anyone.

5. Take a lesson from Sue Grafton. U is for Undertow just hit #1. The Scarpetta Factor did not. Kinsey's still Kinsey. Kay is no longer Kay. There's no more sharp tone, sharp heels, dread, bad dreams, bad tempers, worry, loss of appetite, compassion, sleepless nights, wry banter with Marino, ability to work 5 days straight without changing clothes .... We want that back. None of this idealized version you've given us, with everyone lusting after her or admiring her or losing it while she floats above it all in her highrise apartments. What happened to her gardens, the fresh tomatoes, the cooking? Highrises are so sterile. Benton is so sterile. (The Scarpetta Factor had one cooking scene at the end that felt very contrived.)

6. Stop trying to elevate Kay. She got fired from Richmond. She tried and ended several apparently unsuccessful businesses. With that past no way will she be on CNN hosting the Scarpetta Factor. That would be like you hosting CNBC. Ain't gonna happen. Kay's superiority came from her brains and moral compass -- not her jobs and not her money.

7. But what's wrong with being "just" an M.E. in NY or Boston anyway? It's what we want.

8. Marino is a big, crude, uncouth man. Forever, he'll have wisps of hair and trail his raincoat belt. He's a great cop. Why mess with him? Forget the biker, forget the shaved head. Marino's all about cheap suits. Remember that.

9. Lucy is best in very, very small doses. She's WAY too crazy and a brat and should have been in jail long ago. If you're going to keep her, keep her relatively poor. She got crazier with every dollar.

10. Your own words: "Write what you know." You know cops. You know forensics. You're not a shrink. We don't want you to be.

11. Ditto: "All my science is real." Now it's suddenly "possible." Awful. Stop that.

12. You used to have beautifully written scenes. Now it's dialogue and the most basic prose. "The Monday I carried Ronnie Joe Waddell's meditation in my pocketbook, I never saw the sun. It was dark out when I drove to work that morning. It was dark again when I drove home. Small raindrops spun in my headlights, the night gloomy with fog and bitterly cold. I built a fire in my living room and envisioned Virginia farmland and tomatoes ripening in the sun. I imagined a young black man in the hot cab of a pickup truck and wondered if his head had been full of murder back then...."

That was good stuff.

13. Stay on track. You had a formula: Kay solves a death, someone's after Kay. Sometimes that someone had to do with the case, sometimes not. Simple. Stop taking these unending side trips to nowhere with dog torturers, and weird lonely people. Your bad guys have gone from a gentle man crazy under the influence of drugs (Waddell), to a beautiful and evil mother to the brilliant Gault to increasingly far-fetched fantasies. Werewolves, shrinks, twisted celebs.... Sometimes simple is elegant.

14. Stop being too topical. Your best books -- your earliest books -- are a pleasure, a comfort, to pick up. I can't tell what the economy was doing or who was president. They carry me deep into a world I don't know but find exciting and want to know. I don't want so many reminders of where I actually am.

15. NO SEX. Not with Kay, not with cardboard Benton, certainly not with Marino. Really. At this point it would be like hearing about your parents having sex. Do NOT want to go there.

16. Quantico was a great place to visit. Yeah, yeah, you hate the FBI since you-know-what but they once gave you a wonderful vehicle. Maybe it's time to forgive and forget.

17. You made a huge mistake when you brought Benton back. You made another mistake when Marino did that crazy thing you said he did -- I won't even dignify it by repeating it, it's so out of character. You made another mistake when you made Lucy as rich as Buffett and as lawless as a criminal. The Rocco murder -- too crazy to even address. As readers, we don't gasp and say "brilliant! we didn't see it coming." We say it's out of character and would never happen.

18. You made another mistake when Kay got married (UGH!) and shared her space. Kay was a hero to the unsung, to misfits, to the weak. She's friends with judges but family to Lucy and Marino. (Oddly enough, Benton has never felt like family.) She's somehow diluted by Benton. She's become something less, taken on some of his duller, cooler colors. She seems meeker, removed, out of touch. It's terrible to see.

19. Benton was at least bearable in the beginning. He had a talent (now it's useless psychobabble and navel-staring). He had a twinkle in his eye. Now he's petty and vindictive. For sure, Kay and Benton shouldn't be working together.

20. Get an editor. No, a real one, not your ex- for Pete's sake! One who's not afraid to take a red pen to your work and keep you honest.

The best of the series in a long long time, October 22, 2009
To be frank, I was never going to read another Scarpetta mystery after the last few disasters that Cornwell wrote. However, there the book was on the new releases shelf at the library staring down at me with a silent "read me" plea. Seemed like fate that I got to the library in time to pick up Cornwell's latest entry in the ongoing Scarpetta series. I opened it and started reading with a lot of trepidation as her last few books have been truly dreadful. To sum it up--I was pleasantly surprised to find Cornwell has regained her stride in the series and has written a taut, suspenseful mystery with believable characters and situations. There are a lot of twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the end.

The series opens with Scarpetta doing pro bono work in New York City as well as fulfilling her role as senior forensic analyst for CNN. During her appearance on the CNN show she is asked about details on the ongoing case of Hannah Starr. The complexity of the mystery starts to weave almost immediately. Her husband Benton and her friend Marino are clashing. Her niece Lucy continues to waiver between the gray areas of the law. But all three must work together with Scarpetta as they race to solve this mystery.

This book still lacks some of the sparkling dialogue of the first books and rehashes old hurts and insults. However, Scarpetta comes of more human somehow as she struggles with the mystery of Hannah Starr, the offer of her own show, her shaky marriage, her injured friendship with Marino, and of course her troubled niece. It is truly nice to see Cornwell once again pick up the reigns of the series and alter course for the better!

Too long and over-stuffed with technical jargon, October 24, 2009
At 500 pp this book needs serious editing. Parts of it were incredibly boring (mostly the Benton parts) and parts of it were meaninglessly techno-filled. Cornwell tries to dazzle us with all the research she does but the book would be A LOT better if Kay and her world were the focus and the Bentons and Lucys remained minor satellites. In fact, if she cut out most of the stuff she probably learned from the list of people in the acknowledgements, she'd have a stronger and more readable book. Resorting to recycling one of the most mocked and reviled characters in Scarpetta lore was unnecessary, too.

Not one of her best, not one of her worst, but I don't understand what's now a two-book trend of forcing us to swallow 500 pages. She leads us on long and detailed side trips with characters and drama that turn out to be irrelevant and unnecessary and I'm not talking about red herrings, either, but long, winding meanderings: Agee, his hearing problems, Berger and her romance woes with Lucy, the ridiculous voodoo/poo-poo bomb, Hap and his necrophilia, the missing Blackberry and the huge drama surrounding it, the RIDICULOUS and boring psycho-babbling between Benton and an old colleague in the beginning of the book that nearly had me putting the book down for good; the immature Benton-Marino tension that dissolved seemingly in an instant. It's a shame that Cornwell feels the need to keep piling on to keep our interest.

It was interesting that Lucy apparently has lost a substantial part of her fortune. It may be the best thing to ever happen to Lucy as her brattiness and craziness seemed to increase with her wealth. That was an event that I thought deserved more detail and certainly more of an emotional reaction from Kay.

Made me angry, November 12, 2009
I believe I have read every book Patricia Cornwell has written. The excellent ones have propelled me through those that didn't click with me. These books have never been "easy" reads, in that the characters seem unnecessarily hard-edged, bleak, and 2 dimensional. But the plots were interesting and I like the forensic aspects, so I soldiered on.

But no more. I see this book as something that was phoned in. The characters have deteriorated to one dimensional. The skimpy inner lives of each one of them reek of paranoia and unhappiness (in a one-dimensional way). Cornwell sees the need to fill in the backstory on each of the characters through contrived, stilted dialog. I suspect padding here. Also, Cornwell uses two descriptors where one would do the job. I used to do that when I was inflating my homework. As an added bonus the additional descriptors give the writing a melodramatic air that to the naive among us could be confused for good writing.

These tricks were obvious when I used them on my homework, and they are obvious now. Once you deduct the awkward attempts to bring the reader current on the characters' lives and the redundant descriptions, there are about 10 pages of interesting writing.

So I must say that I am sorry, regretful that I can no longer purchase, buy, order, read Ms. Patricia Cornwell's books, manuscripts, writings. This makes me sad, blue, cheerless, and dejected.

Oh, Kay, November 3, 2009
Oh, Kay...what's happened to you?

For years, Kay Scarpetta was my hero. Brilliant, beautiful, strong, emotionally scarred and oh-so human. The initial Scarpetta books, written in the first person, will continue to be some of the best mystery fiction every written. But the more recent Scarpetta books -- those written in the third person -- have been a disappointment, especially this one. In "The Scarpetta Factor," Cornwell continues to distance herself from her character. The once-vibrant heroine is now helpless, preoccupied, scattered, bland, without focus and, here it comes, aging badly. Cornwell seems to have tired of Kay and the people in Kay's life. Kay is no longer a force to be reckoned with; in this book she must be "saved" repeatedly: by Lucy, by Marino, and finally by Benton in an impotent climax that has both Kay and the reader blinking what-just-happened-here?

Most of the action in this book happens "off-camera" and the reader hears about it in a near-epilogue fashion that was disheartening to this avid Cornwell fan. I bought it because of the good reviews on this site, but in all honesty, I would recommend you save your money and read/re-read her earlier, timeless works. I intend to.

What a waste of time......, November 14, 2009
I have been a fan of Patricia Cornwell since her first book came out and I have read them all in order and waited anxiously for the next to come out. I am sooooo over her. She just doesn't have it anymore.

The Scarpetta Factor was just a big waste of days for me. I am a very fast reader, and normally if I really like a book of this size I can finish it in a day two at the most. But I got this book from the library nearly 4 weeks ago and have been trying to read it ever since. I just finished it out of sheer determination.

It wsa too technical.....to bizzare.....to stupid to even comprehend. Too many facts to take in....too many things from the past that just turned to a bunch of jumble. The characters are every bit as pathetic as they have become in her last few books. I am sick to death of Lucy.....she is a whiney excuse for a genius. She lost some money....a nine figure amount....and she is mad. But yet.....she is still loaded with all her fancy cars and jets and helocopters. She is still a mental basket case. She makes me mental just reading about her.

Marino is typical Marino.....but trying hard to change for the better.....too bad he is surrounded by a bunch of over priviledged egotistical counterparts. Scarpetta feels sorry for him because he spends time with a dog at a fire department precinct? Thinks this is a sign of his ongoing depression and his feelings for her. Oh please....I would take a dog's company over boring old Kay and Benton....Feel Sorry for Me Lucy and her Lover of the Month....in a second.

No matter what city they end up in....this time it's NYC.....the world revolves around them. My world has stopped including wasting time on Patricia Cornwell books. I have 7 more Best Seller to read and now I only have a week to do it in because I wasted so much time on this crap. I wish I had my time back again. I think Cornwell's future as a gifted writer is long over. I have not spent a dime on any of her books in ages. Funny to think I used to be at the bookstore the day they were due out.....now I just wait for them to come into the library and not strangely.....it is not a long wait.

I know there will be many people who will not agree with my thoughts and that is great! That is what makes reading so wonderful....we get to use our imagination and form our own images in our heads about things. I just did not get a good image from this book and I was not impressed. I truly hope that those of you who choose to read this book don't feel like you wasted your time because time is a precious thing to waste.

Good luck to anyone out there taking this book on. You just may need it.

Left me scratching my head, October 28, 2009
I've read most, not all, of Cornwell's Scarpetta novels over the years and this one left me feeling like I had really missed something important along the way.

Much of the book alludes to incidents in characters lives that happened in previous books -- if you've read those books the references make sense, if you haven't they really don't.

A lot of narrative is devoted to secondary characters. The conflict between Lucy and Berger is developed with some depth before being dropped with little explanation. The plot-changing clue is easily spotted early in the book leaving me as reader frustrated with the 400+ pages before any of the characters actually does anything with it. I kept wanting to whip out my red pencil and cut stuff out to create a leaner, more targeted, faster-paced narrative.

Overall, reading this book was like a bad visit with a good friend. You want to keep in touch, but you're kind of sorry you spent so much time with them this time.

boring, November 29, 2009
I have read all of Patricia Cornwell's books over the years and some were indeed excellent, but lately she has lost that special touch and has come up with some very boring books with screwy plots and repulsive people, with inexplicable motives and this book definitely belongs to that group.......Perhaps Cornwell is trying to elevate the genre of forensic mystery to another higher level, by producing this unnecessarily big tome ( 500 pages ) I have no other explanation. Surely, they know about editing at Putnams?

I was approached by Amazon to buy this book before the official publication and I obliged. Unfortunately. Then I was asked to review it.

It you are a person like me, who does not have the time to sit down and read for hours, this book of unnecessarily twisted inscrutable plots, subplots, undeveloped characters, perverse and unexplained relationships and motivations between characters, and other general confusion, makes for a very frustrating and boring reading experience and you quickly lose your thread and interest. It was so boring to me, I never finished the book and passed it on to my husband who has more perseverance and struggled through it. He suggested I read the last 20 or so pages for an explanation and the d�nouement, however, I couldn't care less. I would never buy this book again. The book luckily has left my house for a free reading center and was picked up there already by some other unfortunate sucker......

.........The name Patricia Cornwell on a new publication unfortunately no longer guarantees `a good read.'

Sure Cure for Insomnia, November 27, 2009
I was going to title this review "P-O-S" but decided to be more refined.

I remember the fabulous thrill of reading the earliest Cornwell novels starring Kay Scarpetta. They were like lightning! But in too many subsequent books the characters have become caricatures of themselves . . . and each one has become more boring and tiresome than the last. What a dreary, unhappy, neurotic bunch! Why oh why do these people stay in touch with one another???! I don't want to spend time with them -- my reading hours are precious! If these were real people, I would not accept their invitation to friend them on "Facebook." But as a longtime faithful reader, even though I've often been disappointed, I gave Cornwell yet another chance ... what a mistake!

The character Lucy, who some readers believe is Cornwell's alter ego, has apparently lost hundreds of millions of dollars in the financial crisis. Now the alter-ego thing sounds reasonable -- maybe Cornwell lost zillions in the meltdown and is trying with this book to recoup some financial losses quickly. Or maybe her publisher has been riding her a**? (The downfall of many a great author.)

Regarding Benton: Could there possibly, ever, be a more boring fictional character? Gloomy Heathcliff seems like jaunty Jack Sparrow in comparison to Benton. I've never gotten this guy. What a dour fella. Couldn't this fabulous creature, Kay Scarpetta, come up with a more interesting and passionate love interest? If this is the best she can do, no wonder she's always depressed! Patricia Cornwell, just let Kay be single, OK?

And why are these people always too busy? The most successful people I know always manage to carve out some time--in fact, LOTS of time!--to enjoy the fruits of their labors. The characters in the Scarpetta novels never seem to have time to sleep more than two or three hours at a crack.

Why, for example, would Kay Scarpetta agree to appear with some regularity on a news cable talk show? It's suggested in the book that she does this to disseminate info. Please. The Kay character would go on NPR. Not on a sensationalistic program with a fame-crazy showboating hostess.

It's an awful book, a truly pathetic effort to create some new fabric out of old, old, old threads--and most of those threads were stupid and repulsive (and not in a good mystery-writing way) to begin with, like that hairy villain character and that ludicrous phony death of Benton. I couldn't believe the gyrations the writer (Cornwell or a ghostwriter???) went through to weave together a tale involving so many previous books/villains/characters/plotlines. Cornwell or her ghostwriter managed to pull the very worst our of her very worst books to "solve" this particular mystery.

Ghastly, miserable. I can't believe I read the whole thing. On the bright side, I caught up on my sleep. After devouring the initial pages of laying out the basic story, I could hardly read two pages without dropping off to sleep.

Yet I read it to the very end, simply because I can never NOT finish a book I start. I read it through the entire labyrinthine "plot" that failed to answer anything and that made me so frustrated I wanted to throw the book into the fireplace. This book asks you to go faaaar beyond suspending disbelief.

Can you tell I'm mad? I am. I'm mad that Patricia Cornwell has failed once again to meet her potential. She once was a master writer. Now she's just another hack. Please, Cornwell, if you're not feeling up to the task to writing a really good book, that's OK. You've done your share in the past. Just don't write if you're not really into it! Surely you are earning enough royalties from your good earlier work to keep you going. When you're feeling the muse, write again, but please don't disappoint your once avid fans again with another P-O-S.

Never again, November 13, 2009
Patricia Cornwell's novels have been on a steady decline for the last several years but like Charlie Brown, I always step up to the football believing that this time it will be different. Not happening. Massive editing would have been helpful but not enough to balance out the tired cast of tedious characters who need to get over themselves. As with other authors who have grown long in the tooth, Cornwell needs to retire. ... Read more

Editorial Review

BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Lee Child’s Worth Dying For.

Two lonely towns in Colorado: Hope and Despair. Between them, twelve miles of emptyroad. Jack Reacher never turns back. It's not in his nature. All he wants is a cupof coffee. What he gets is big trouble. So in Lee Child’s electrifying new novel,Reacher—a man with no fear, no illusions, and nothing to lose—goes to war againsta town that not only wants him gone, it wants him dead.

It wasn’t the welcome Reacherexpected. He was just passing through, minding his own business. But within minutesof his arrival a deputy is in the hospital and Reacher is back in Hope, setting upa base of operations against Despair, where a huge, seething walled-off industrialsite does something nobody is supposed to see . . . where a small plane takes offevery night and returns seven hours later . . . where a garrison of well-trainedand well-armed military cops—the kind of soldiers Reacher once commanded—waits andwatches . . . where above all two young men have disappeared and two frightened youngwomen wait and hope for their return.

Joining forces with a beautiful cop who runsHope with a cool hand, Reacher goes up against Despair—against the deputies who tryto break him and the rich man who tries to scare him—and starts to crack open thesecrets, starts to expose the terrifying connection to a distant war that’s killingAmericans by the thousand.

Now, between a town and the man who owns it, betweenReacher and his conscience, something has to give. And Reacher never gives an inch. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Taking America back...one politician at a time TERM LIMITS In one bloody night, three of Washington's most powerful politicians are executed with surgical precision. Their assassins then deliver a shocking ultimatum to the American government: set aside partisan politics and restore power to the people. No one, they warn, is out of their reach -- not even the president. A joint FBI-CIA task force reveals the killers are elite military commandos, but no one knows exactly who they are or when they will strike next. Only Michael O'Rourke, a former U.S. Marine and freshman congressman, holds a clue to the violence: a haunting incident in his own past with explosive implications for his country's future.... "Ingenious....Outpaces anything recently published, including Baldacci and Clancy." -- Florida Times-Union Includes an excerpt from Memorial Day, Vince Flynn's electrifying new hardcover ... Read more

Reviews

The beginnings of the master of the political thriller, September 24, 2005
By my count, Vince Flynn has written six poliical thrillers to date with a seventh due in October, 2005. I have now read all six published works in no particular order. "Term Limits" was, I believe, Flynn's debut work. Having read it last provides, I think, an interesting perspective on Flynn's work.

Five of the six Flynn novels feature Mitch Rapp, a very skillful assasin. "Term Limits" doesn't have Mitch Rapp, but it does feature many of the characters found in his later novels.

Straight out of the box, Flynn gives a unique voice to the political thriller. In his Washington, the politicians are generally loathsome, self-serving creatures lacking basic integrity, morality and values. All they live for are their greed and swaggering egos.

The book opens with the murder of Senator Fitzgerald, an obese, alcoholic senator intent on projecting his own power even when, as in this case, it leads to the deaths of American solidiers.

Fitzgerald's neck is expertly broken in his home. Within hours two other equally corrupt politicians are murdered. The murderers issue a set of demands calling for the executive and legislative branches to acheive certain political goals. As in all Flynn novels, these goals resonate with ordinary Americans.

The CIA and FBI come into play to solve the crimes. But President Stevens' Chief of Staff and National Security Advisor don't necessarily want the murders solved. In fact, they think more murders would help President Stevens achieve re-election.

Michael O'Rourke, a first-term Congressman from Minnesota has alrady turned down the President's invitation to vote for his overblown, bloated budget. O'Rourke, a decent man, has an idea of who the assasins might be. A former Marine he recognizes the killing techniques as those American Special Forces might use.

Director Stansfield of the CIA and his assistant Irene Kennedy, head of counter terrorism efforts pursue the leads in conjunction with Director Roach of the FBI and Special Agent McMahon. All of these characters live on in Flynn's subsequent novels and I am glad they do.

The suspense is riveting. Is the President involved in the brutal murders of Senator Olson and a "clean polirtics" Representative? Will the White House succeed in its attempts to manipulate public opinion?

Flynn's Washington is a place of distrust, dishonor, duplicity, hypocrisy and murder. He is, in my opinion, the best crafter of political thrillers in the business today, putting Tom Clancy (except for "Red October") to shame.

In "Term Limits," we see Flynn gathering his strength for later efforts. In all the other Flynn novels, the characters literally jump off the page. "Term Limits" has one minor character who doesn't quite have it. The political cynicism of Flynn's subsequent novels are sharply drawn: you can recognize many of the repulsive characters as being modeled on politicians whom we are all too familiar with from the daily news. In "Term Limits" only one politician, the alcoholic, self-interested, hypocritical, immoral Senator whose death opens the book triggers immediate recognition with its real prototype.

The plot is tight. Flynn simply doesn't require that his characters have fortuitous, unbelievable inventions to adcvance the story. His plots are simply exquisite. (One of my particular irritants are authors who use scenes involving food and drink as bridges to let the characters expound. Jack Higgins and Clive Cussler in their latest novels overuse these devices: Flynn simply doesn't need them.)

"Term Limits" is a true page-turner. I intended to spend an hour with it as bedtime reading --- and it kept me glued till dawm. What higher compliment can I pay to Vince Flynn? Oh yes, the same thing happened when I read his other five novels.

Jerry

Plausible in every way!, May 31, 2004
Term Limits is fast paced and filled with scenarios that both can and probably have happened. This realistic view of political power makes events that seem impossible to the once na�ve public feasible and all too real.

Assassinations rock the U. S. President, Secret Service, Cabinet, FBI, and CIA when three are carried out on a single night. Ignoring the ultimatum issued by the "terrorists" causes a fourth man to die and puts the President in the line of fire. Fear triggers tempers as the administration determines if it should make changes that yield to blackmail? Then two more men are murdered, but where only the four specific targets were taken out in the first wave, these also include law enforcement guards.

Questions power the plot; drama moves it forward; action demands reading even though your eyes are tired and burn; the characters are interesting and multi-dimensional.
* Why isn't the budget balanced?
* Why do the Republicans and Democrats care more about special interest groups than the constituents who voted them in?
* Who has the power in the White House?
* Who runs Black Ops, and what power is used to maintain the secrecy of an organization in their clandestine operations.
* Is anyone capable of controlling them, and are personal agendas the root of military and covert actions?
* Is this story too real to be ignored?
* How many groups are behind the assassinations?

Any spare minute found me reading this novel. When I finished it, I was satisfied. The story was complete, the questions answered, I am interested in what's next for these characters -- they became real. Five stars to Vince Flynn, and the knowledge that I will buy more of his books.

Victoria Tarrani

Action Packed., November 4, 2000
Vince Flynn manages to keep the action moving at break-neck speed for over 600 pages. There are practically no slow spots. The premise is fairly preposterous, and the climax totally unbelievable, but who cares? This is fiction, and an exciting and enjoyable read. There are more plot twists than a Clinton Presidency and more shoot-'em-ups than a Clint Eastwood movie. Vince doesn't even slow down long enough for any kissy-face.

The comparison to Tom Clancy is inescapable, so here goes. While the writing quality in Term Limits is professional, I have the sense after reading numerous Clancy novels that his language skills are bit more high brow. There is a higher level of sophistication in Clancy books. And while Flynn obviously did a lot of research, Clancy does more. But for that reason, many readers will prefer Flynn's books. Clancy tends to focus more on technology; Flynn goes right for the gut. Action, action, action.

This is a must-read for political thriller lovers, and a good choice for all other suspense fiction readers. --Christopher Bonn Jonnes, author of Wake Up Dead.

A good first effort, May 27, 2002
In reviewing this book, I found it hard to properly rate it using Amazon's 5 star system (IMDb.com's scale of 1-10 for rating movies is, IMHO, much better) because I honestly want to give it 3 � stars, but can't. It is a good book (especially for a rookie) nonetheless it has some real flaws. The best parts? In the Tom Clancy/Robert Ludlum tradition, the plot is fast paced and the writing is tight. At no point is the reader bored. It is the literary equivalent of the movie "Mad Max", i.e., lots of action and thrills, albeit somewhat rough around the edges. If you look beyond the action, you notice that the main characters are somewhat one or two dimensional (a common complaint in the techno/spy thriller genre) and, worse, the plot itself is rather contrived. I mean, does anyone REALLY believe that a handful of former Navy SEALs would plot to kill prominent politicians because they refuse to cut spending and balance the budget? Yet that is the central premise of this book. There is a more credible subplot, in which the SEALs assassinate one Senator (a dead ringer for Ted Kennedy) because the stupid fool let slip a vital piece of info while drinking at a local bar, this info ended up in enemy hands, resulting in said former SEAL team leader having half his men killed because the terrorists knew they were coming. At any rate, you don't have to be a tax and spend liberal Democrat to find the notion of using assassination (technically, not terrorism, since the SEALs refuse to kill any "civilians", just the politicians) as a tool to change political policy rather disturbing. I mean, I'm as much in favor of cutting all the waste and bloat out of the government as the next guy, but the "solution" proposed here smacks a bit too much of Timothy McVeigh. That aside, there's an interesting plot twist in which the president's unscrupulous Chief of Staff and National Security Advisor team up with a shady former CIA figure to stage additional assassinations to draw public support away from the SEALs, who have gone public with their demands, and whose actions in bumping off several sleazy politicians has actually aroused considerable sympathy. This leads to the final showdown, with a series of fast paced actions that threaten to blow the whole Administration apart if the shady machinations with the former CIA man are revealed. So, the bottom line is this: if you like Clancy (especially his early stuff) or Ludlum, and enjoy a plot with lots of paranoia and anti-government skullduggery, then you will get an entertaining read. Just don't expect a whole lot in the credibility dept.

Editorial Review

In his work as a Miami crime scene investigator, Dexter Morgan is accustomed to seeing evil deeds. . . particularly because, on occasion, he commits them himself. But Dexter's happy existence is turned upside down when he is called to an unusually disturbing crime scene at the university campus. Dexter's Dark Passenger – mastermind of his homicidal prowess – immediately senses something chillingly recognizable and goes into hiding.Dexter is alone for the first time in his life, and he realizes he's being hunted by a truly sinister adversary. Meanwhile he's planning a wedding and trying to learn how to be a stepfather to his fiancé's two kids – who might just have dark tendencies themselves. Macabre, ironic, and wonderfully entertaining, Dexter in the Dark goes deeper into the psyche of one of the freshest protagonists in recent fiction. ... Read more

Editorial Review

The brutal war of extinction enters a horrifying new round as the cyborgs arrive from the Neptune System, in this, the third book of the series.

The Highborn are remorselessly crushing the obsolete Homo sapiens. Gambling with humanity’s existence, Supreme Commander James Hawthorne attempts to lure the dreaded Doom Stars into a trap. Social Unity’s combined Battlefleet is the bait. The cyborgs are Hawthorne’s secret weapon.

Unfortunately, for Marten Kluge, a vast space battle threatens to take place around Mars. And that is exactly where he and Omi need to go to refuel their stolen shuttle. To reach the Jupiter System, they will need more than luck and Marten’s stubbornness.

BATTLE POD is the story of long-range beams, stealth-capsules and survival of the fittest in a techno-battle hell. BATTLE POD is a full novel, 93,000 words in length by Vaughn Heppner, Writers of the Future winner.
... Read more

Reviews

Great series so far..., October 15, 2010
Like the other reviewers, I've enjoyed this series quite a bit. Having finished the "Old Man's War" series, I found myself attracted to more of this Heinlein-style future warrior Sci-Fi, and the series by Vaughn has been a delight. He's got a great sense of pace and loves to ramp up the action from chapter to chapter in a way that keeps your attention. In fact, I blew through this latest book, Battle Pod, in less than a day, and I'm anxiously awaiting what happens next.

The only reasons I didn't give it five stars is the irritating problems with typos and a small irritation with style. So, so many times I have to re-read a line because words get jumbled, the grammar is wrong, or there are punctuation errors. While it's not a big deal, it does show that the e-Publishing market could use some freelance editing to give it the polish it needs.

As for style, I generally love the work Heppner does, but he has a tendency to repeat himself an awful lot. Yes, I know the Doom Stars are more than a kilometer in diameter. You tell me this EVERY time you mention them. :) And yes, I know the Highborne are arrogant. Oh yes, I know this well, indeed. :) Really just nitpicking, but every time I re-read a section with similar prose, I go glassy-eyed.

Looking forward to book #4.

Good continuation of the series, October 8, 2010
This book is all about the battle for Mars and continues the Doom Star series of books. There is a bit more space combat in this, but really if you liked the first 2 books then you will like this one. Great work Vaughn, hope to read more of your Science Fiction!

Another home run, October 10, 2010
With each new book Vaughn Heppner just gets better and better. This new book continues the adventures of Marten Kluge and we are re-acquainted with Osadar Di and their fight for survival and freedom against a universe bent on killing them! It has been some time since I have been so eager to follow a rip roaring series. The Doom Star series is just one of those extremely well written books that manages to maintain a tempo of action and plot-lines that makes it nearly impossible to put the books down once reading has commenced. An awesome read, I just can't believe this has not yet appeared in dead tree version. I you like Sci-fi, pick up this series for you will be greatly overwhelmed by this author. Mr. Heppner, keep cranking this book crack out! ... Read more