I Heard That Song Before: A Novel

Book Description

In a riveting psychological thriller, Mary Higgins Clark takes the reader deep into the mysteries of the human mind, where memories may be the most dangerous things of all.

At the center of her novel is Kay Lansing, who has grown up in Englewood, New Jersey, daughter of the landscaper to the wealthy and powerful Carrington family. Their mansion -- a historic seventeenth-century manor house transported stone by stone from Wales in 1848 -- has a hidden chapel. One day, accompanying her father to work, six-year-old Kay succumbs to curiosity and sneaks into the chapel. There, she overhears a quarrel between a man and a woman who is demanding money from him. When she says that this will be the last time, his caustic response is: "I heard that song before."

That same evening, the Carringtons hold a formal dinner dance after which Peter Carrington, a student at Princeton, drives home Susan Althorp, the eighteen-year-old daughter of neighbors. While her parents hear her come in, she is not in her room the next morning and is never seen or heard from again.

Throughout the years, a cloud of suspicion hangs over Peter Carrington. At age forty-two, head of the family business empire, he is still "a person of interest" in the eyes of the police, not only for Susan Althorp's disappearance but also for the subsequent drowning death of his own pregnant wife in their swimming pool.

Kay Lansing, now living in New York and working as a librarian in Englewood, goes to see Peter Carrington to ask for permission to hold a cocktail party on his estate to benefit a literacy program, which he later grants. Kay comes to see Peter as maligned and misunderstood, and when he begins to court her after the cocktail party, she falls in love with him. Over the objections of her beloved grandmother Margaret O'Neil, who raised her after her parents' early deaths, she marries him. To her dismay, she soon finds that he is a sleepwalker whose nocturnal wanderings draw him to the spot at the pool where his wife met her end.

Susan Althorp's mother, Gladys, has always been convinced that Peter Carrington is responsible for her daughter's disappearance, a belief shared by many in the community. Disregarding her husband's protests about reopening the case, Gladys, now terminally ill, has hired a retired New York City detective to try to find out what happened to her daughter. Gladys wants to know before she dies.

Kay, too, has developed gnawing doubts about her husband. She believes that the key to the truth about his guilt or innocence lies in the scene she witnessed as a child in the chapel and knows she must learn the identity of the man and woman who quarreled there that day. Yet, she plunges into this pursuit realizing that "that knowledge may not be enough to save my husband's life, if indeed it deserves to be saved." What Kay does not even remotely suspect is that uncovering what lies behind these memories may cost her her own life.

I Heard That Song Before once again dramatically reconfirms Mary Higgins Clark's worldwide reputation as a master storyteller.

Customer Reviews:

I Heard that song Before.......2007-09-28

It's time for MHC to pack up her computer. She has lost the knack of writing good novels. The killer is obvious from the beginning; the motive is so obvious I wonder why I bothered to read it. Read instead, Karin Slaughter, Brian Freeman, Harlan Coben, Joy Fielding.

Comes with a quality guarantee!.......2007-09-14

Librarian Kay Lansing marries Peter Carrington, head of the wealthy Carrington family.

Peter Carrington has long been under suspicion for murdering his childhood sweetheart, and as after 22 years her body is discovered on the Carrington estate in Englewood, New Jersey, Peter is charged with her murder.

The fact tht Peter Carrington is a sleepwalker, adds an interesting twist to the story, and I got urged to read more about sleepwalking by reading this book.

I'll not reveal more details about the murder investigation - in fact, the investigation of several connected murders - but leave it to the readers.

"The queen of suspense" has a unique talent for intricate plots as well as phsycological insight into the human mind.

As all her books, "I Heard That Song Before" is a real page-turner. I brought it with me on holiday. Thought it would last me a few days but finished it overnight!

Mary Higgins Clark's books come with a quality guarantee. Her fans can always trust her to deliver the best.

Enjoy!

I am a fan!!!!.......2007-09-12

I am a big fan of Mary Higgins Clark. The first section that I visit in the library is where her books are shelved. I am always looking for a new one. I think I have read them all. The nice thing about MHC is that her books are never smutty or improper and she doesn't use strong language, but the stories are still gripping and wonderful. I appreciate that!!! This was a page turner. I was hoping for a happy ending and it didn't disappoint! I am not a big fan of 'first person' dialog though. I prefer to read the novel from a third person point of view, but the story was still good. Different angles of the story really kept you guessing.....yeah, he's guilty...no he's not, yeah, he's guilty, no he's not!!! Kept me on the edge and up reading until I fell asleep with the book in my lap!

Suspenseful.......2007-09-11

I always enjoy reading her books. She always has more than one story going on keeping you guessing. I highly recommend her. There is nothing offensive or vulgar in her books.

Better than the other MHC novels I've read..........2007-08-15

To be truthful, I only ever read MHC's (or her daughter's) novels at my mother's suggestion, and this one was no exception; however, I was a good deal more pleased with this particular novel than I have been with the others I have read by her. I really enjoyed the story line of Kay being the only one who believed her husband was innocent, and that she continued to believe this even when all the odds were against him. This mystery also kept me wondering who the real culprit was a lot longer than any other of the MHC novels I have picked up, which is, of course, a plus. I still believe that Ms. Higgins Clark has a bad habit of overly describing characters who are not that important; however, at least in this novel she did not do so to the extent she usually does!

Average customer rating:

A real ho-hummer, unfortunately
Absolute rubbish
Is It Me?
A pedestrian effort
Not one of his best, but still decent.

Obsession (Alex Delaware Novels)
Jonathan Kellerman
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Psychological & Suspense | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Suspense | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0345452631
Release Date: 2007-03-27

Book Description

With scores of millions of books in print, translation into two dozen languages, and one of the most popular heroes in contemporary fiction to his name, #1 New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Kellerman is the unequivocal “master of the psychological thriller” (People). In his newest novel Kellerman delivers a tour de force–poignant, dark, and chilling–that illuminates a shadowy world where impulse rules.

Tanya Bigelow was a solemn little girl when Dr. Alex Delaware successfully treated her obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Now, at nineteen, she still seems older than her years–but her problems go beyond hyper-maturity. Patty Bigelow, Tanya’s aunt and adoptive mother, has made a deathbed confession of murder and urged the young woman to seek Delaware’s help. The doctor recalls Patty as a selfless E.R. nurse struggling to raise a child on her own–a woman seemingly incapable of the “terrible thing” she has admitted. But for Tanya’s peace of mind, Delaware agrees to investigate, and he enlists LAPD detective Milo Sturgis in the search for the phantom victim of a crime that may never have occurred.

Armed with only the vaguest details, psychologist and cop follow a trail twisting from L.A.’s sleaziest low-rent districts to its overblown mansions, retracing Patty and Tanya’s nomadic and increasingly puzzling life to the doorsteps of a sullen heroin addict; a randy real-estate broker; and a brilliant, enigmatic physics student. Suddenly a very real murder tears open a terrifying tunnel into the past, where secrets–and bodies–are buried. As the tension mounts, Delaware and Sturgis uncover a tangled history of desperation, vengeance, and death–a legacy of evil that refuses to die.

Dramatic, action-packed, and filled with the psychological detail that only Jonathan Kellerman can provide, Obsession is a whodunit, a whydunit–and something unique: a did-it-even-happen? This is Kellerman at his heart-racing best.

Customer Reviews:

A real ho-hummer, unfortunately.......2007-09-12

About half-way through this book, I realized I didn't really care who did it. Or why. Or about any of the characters in the plot-line other than our regulars -- Alex, Milo, and Robin. I think the initial plot device, a vague deathbed confession from an unlikely murderer, was a good idea. The rest of the plot was a hot mess, involving characters discussed, but never really "present" in the book. I have loved many of Jonathan Kellerman's books, but this one didn't deliver.

Absolute rubbish.......2007-08-30

That's it. Jonathanan Kellerman I gave you one last try, and you failed. This has to be the worst book I have read by anyone in years. A convoluted nonsensical plot with so much padding the author should be in the upholstery business. At least half the book is taken up by poorly developed characters arguing about whether this or that happened, or perhaps it was that or this, or perhaps none of the above. And at the end I simply did not care who had done what to whom and why. In fact I wonder if the author felt the same way.

Thomas H Cook and Dennis Lehane, you have nothing to fear from this author. You guys rule.

Is It Me?.......2007-08-29

I always love the Alex Delaware novels, and I would never tell anybody not to read this latest entry in the series. And that is despite my ongoing complaint about Kellerman's ridiculous attention to every street in Los Angeles by name (what does this mean to a reader in Poughkeepsie?).

My problem with Obsession is that I simply could not keep the characters straight. I don't know whether this is a fault of my own as a reader, or whether, as it seemed to me, they are endless stock characters of such variety and of such little interest that I kept confusing them in my mind. It got so I had to keep turning back to make sure the gentle giant erstwhile bodyguard was who I thought he was; the sicko serial killer/would-be music impresario, who had TWO names, was indeed himself; the FBI informant, what was his name? who weaves in and out of the book in a confusing manner, and all sorts of other peripheral and confusing characters.

The main plot is easy enough, but as other reviewers have said, Why would the LAPD care? A dying nurse of stellar reputation confesses, or seems to confess, on her deathbed that she killed somebody. Her daughter, Tanya, an uptight, hard-to-like highly implausible character, wants her name cleared. Alex once treated Tanya; he wants to help. Milo, although on a much-needed and rare vacation, agrees to give up all his personal time to follow a trillion fruitless leads. Petra is always a wonderful addition to the series; she is very real. Robin doesn't bother me as much as she bothers other reviewers. I just find her annoying. And the puppy? Well I'm a dog lover, so I enjoyed her antics, figuring that in real life, the Kellermans have gotten themselves a bulldog puppy!

As stated above, I wouldn't tell anybody not to read this book, but I found it extremely confusing and the ending very lame. I like the series so much, and even with all the confusion, Kellerman is fun to read, so hence the lukewarm recommendation.

A pedestrian effort.......2007-08-29

I felt Kellerman delivered a boilerplate thriller with Obsession. The murder mystery centered around a "possible" crime uttered by a dying woman, which seems pretty flimsy but in true Alex/Milo form they kept digging and made something of it. The psychological aspect was also rather weak, as Kellerman focused this time on OCD, which didn't seem relevant to the murder mystery aspect. If it did, then I missed it, but it certainly wasn't obvious. Kellerman has always been so good at intertwining the psychological aspects with the murder mystery, but he just falls short here.

I also found most of the new characters uninteresting, and the existing ones stale.

Petra seemed tired and bored at times.

The entire Bedard family was annoying. I didn't find myself rooting for Kyle despite his good intentions and goofy parents.

Tanya generated very little sympathy, and how many college kids refer to their mother as "Mommy"?

Robin was window dressing - a few short riffs on her working at the shop, going out to eat, etc. Nothing on their evolving relationship.

Issac Gomez, who has potential, was dismissed early.

The Mario Fortuno storyline was clumsy, and could have been more interesting if fleshed out further.

The interrogation of Fisk seemed too ordered and convenient (dumb con tells all).

And finally names. Where does he come up with Mary Whitbread?

In summary, it was a boilerplate, pedestrian effort by an author I love. The whole effort seemed rushed and lacked his normal attention to detail.

Not one of his best, but still decent........2007-08-24

Jonathan Kellerman has set the bar for psychological thrillers, and he's set it high. Unfortunately, Obsession, the latest in the Alex Delaware series, falls short of his previous achievements.

While the usual elements are there -- a previous client needs help, and Delaware and his detective pal Milo Sturgis jump to the rescue -- things feel a bit stale. Everything is just a bit tepid. Their reason for becoming involved in the mystery (a dying request from Sturgis' lover's co-worker) is tenuous at best. Because there is no immediate crime to investigate, just the suspicion of one, things start off slow. And the character development seems to stagnate. Robin, Delaware's live-in love, is a mere two-dimensional place holder with no personality of her own, and nothing new about Delaware's or Sturgis' personalities is revealed.

The young girl they're interceding on behalf of is annoying and simple (does this college-aged girl REALLY call her mother "Mommy" ALL the time???). I wanted her to be guilty of something, just because she bugged me so much. Bad news when the reader is cheering for culpability on the part of the who's supposed to be protected.

All in all, a decently plotted and written mystery, but that spark of excitement and frisson of fear that accompanies most of Kellerman's books is missing.

Average customer rating:

Pull-up! Pull-Up!
What was the point?
6th target
Patterson doesn't deliver with The 6th Target
Loved this latest edition in the Series!

The 6th Target
James Patterson , and Maxine Paetro
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Friendship | Women's Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Suspense | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Fiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Mystery & Thriller Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0316014796
Release Date: 2007-05-08

Book Description

When a horrifying attack leaves one of the four members of the Women's Murder Club struggling for her life, the others fight to keep a madman behind bars before anyone else is hurt. And Lindsay Boxer and her new partner in the San Francisco police department run flat-out to stop a series of kidnappings that has electrified the city: children are being plucked off the streets together with their nannies-- but the kidnappers aren't demanding ransom. Amid uncertainty and rising panic, Lindsay juggles the possibility of a new love with an unsolvable investigation, and the knowledge that one member of the club could be on the brink of death. And just when everything appears momentarily under control, the case takes a terrifying turn, putting an entire city in lethal danger. Lindsay must make a choice she never dreamed she'd face--with no certainty that either outcome has more than a prayer of success.

Customer Reviews:

Pull-up! Pull-Up!.......2007-10-02

While a huge Patterson fan, this book was disappointing. We get three half-formed antagonists and a shiftless plot. More alarming, the ratio of mystery to melodrama is starting to head in the same direction that Patricia Cornwell did--not a positive development.

1st to Die was a taut, well-paced, page-turner. Sadly, this one seemed kinda tired and formulaic.

What was the point?.......2007-09-15

I kept waiting for the 3 storylines to somehow come together and they never did. Usually I read Patterson in 2 days and this one took me 2 months! Let's start writing alone again James!

6th target.......2007-09-15

I agree with the other reviews. I was eagerly waiting for the next instalment of the murder club and I wanted to throw the book across the room in disgust. Where was the excitement, the suspense - the feeling that you can't put the book down until you know. James Patterson re-read the first 4 books and give us something the rivals those books or don't bother.

Patterson doesn't deliver with The 6th Target.......2007-09-03

This was, in my opinion, the worst Patterson book I've read...and I've read almost all of them. He is putting out so many books with so many co-authors lately, I doubt he has time to read or edit them thoroughly. He's too busy counting his money. Jokes aside, The 6th Target is not worth the time or money!

Loved this latest edition in the Series!.......2007-08-30

I loved this book. It had 3 seperate stories which kept my attention. I wound up reading it in 3 hours!!!

Average customer rating:

Could't even finish it!
A waste of a great talent!
"I'm gonna let you buy your way out"
too much AND too little
Step on a Crack

Step on a Crack
James Patterson , and Michael Ledwidge
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Suspense | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0316013943
Release Date: 2007-02-06

Book Description

Detective Michael Bennett is about to take on the most sinister challenge of his career. The nation has fallen into mourning after the unexpected death of a beloved former first lady, and the most powerful people in the world gather in New York for her funeral. Then the inconceivable occurs. Billionaires, politicians, and superstars of every kind are suddenly trapped within one man's brilliant and ruthless scenario. Bennett--father of ten--is pulled into the fray. As the danger escalates, Michael is hit with devastating news. After fighting for many years, his wife has succumbed to a terrible disease. As New York descends into chaos, he has lost the great love of his life and faces raising his ten devastated children alone--and rescuing 34 hostages. Day after day, Bennett confronts the most ruthless man he has ever dealt with, a man who kills without hesitation and counters everything the NYPD and FBI throw at him with impunity. As the entire world watches and the tension boils to a searing heat, Bennett has to find a way out--or face responsibility for the greatest debacle in history.

Customer Reviews:

Could't even finish it!.......2007-09-16

I usually devour James Patterson books and I particularly like his collaborations with other authors. Tried as I might, I could not finish this book. I can usually finish his books in a day or two...I would read three pages and have to stop. I got to somewhere in the 200s and decided it's just not worth it. Huge disappointment...but I do recommend The Quickie and You've Been Warned.

A waste of a great talent!.......2007-09-14

For the first time since "Fourth of July", I have read a James Patterson book. I have tried a couple of others but did not even finish them, since I found them so bad.

"Step on a Crack" together with co-writer Michael Ledwidge is fast-paced, witty and rather entertaining. In spite of the seriousness of the content of the book, the authors manage to give readers quite a few laughs with their sarcastic revellation of celebrity vanity. (A funeral IS a sad event, but oh boy, all those cameras sure are hard to resist!)

The story in this book is not really far-fetched in this time of terrorism. But still. Isn't it all a little bit too smooth? Too racy? Too fantastic? The distance between the private life of NYPD Detective Michael Bennett and his ten children, and his job, is big. It's got to be. However, even the NYPD and the FBI are human. As are the celebrities behind their well groomed facades.

To me, the weakness of this book is the feeling it gives of being a cleverly constructed shell which lacks the depth and insight to make both the people and the story credible. All, except Detective Bennett and his brood.

Although this book was passable, to me James Patterson has turned into an author of streamlined superman/science fiction-like/plastic coated "best sellers" which do not manage to capture my full attention nor creep into my heart.

I know many disagree with me, but in his earlier authorship there was a James Patterson who managed to enthrall, make it all come alive. Made me want his books never to end. The James Patterson I loved and badly miss.

James Patterson has a rare and unique talent. It's sad that these days he seems to have chosen to manufacture books instead of writing them. What a waste of a great talent!

"I'm gonna let you buy your way out".......2007-09-08

With this book, Patterson adds another author to his list of collaborators, and the result is pretty encouraging. Ledwige's influence on the novel results in a plot that even though not overly realistic, keeps us engaged in the story until the last page. On top of this, certain elements, like the busy family life of the main characters, give the story a nice balance between the police case at hand and the everyday problems that each of us face.

Everything starts when the Neat Man participates in the murder of former first lady Catherine Hawkins. The key to this event is that everyone assumes it was an accident, since she died from an allergic reaction to peanuts. The fact that no one suspects foul play is crucial for the next step of the plan, which is so craftily and precisely laid out that the police will be constantly on their toes.

Catherine's funeral attracts a variety of wealthy an influential people to St. Patrick's. When a group of men take control of the church, and keep a select number of hostages, the police and FBI are thrown into one of the most difficult sieges in history. The fact that the ringleader of the kidnappers, the obnoxious Jack, seems to always be a step ahead, does not simplify things. Mike Bennett is an NYPD detective that works as a negotiator and is involved in the situation from the start. But this is only part of Mike's problems, since his wife has terminal cancer, and he has to take care of his ten kids. Yes, you read right, it is not a typo; ten kids. Imagine that!

Even though the plot has some portions that are unrealistic, this novel does not have the problems other Patterson's books have had in the recent past. The story is cohesive and flows well, keeping us entertained throughout its duration. I admit that the idea of the ten kids may be a little over the top, but I enjoyed how this worked together with the rest of the story. Also, in this novel I found something that I thought Patterson had lost and that I remembered from the early Alex Cross books: clever, ruthless and believable villains. Finally, the hostage situation, allowed the authors to spend some time on character development, which in my opinion has been one of the main faults in some of Patterson et al latest works, like "The 6th Target".

This is not a literary masterpiece, but if you have read Patterson before you know that this is not something the author is shooting for. What this novel delivers is a fun and enjoyable experience, and that is enough to make it worth reading.

too much AND too little.......2007-08-22

As a life-long fan of James Bond flics, I don't require perfect credibility in my light entertainment, but this is too much - or too little -- even for me.

Here's our newest Patterson super-hero, Mike and his 10 kids and his dying wife. Obviously he needs 10 kids. With the Alex Cross books, Patterson learned that you can never have too many family members around to waste in times of crisis. (And, BTW, the Bennetts would never, ever have gotten 10 infants, each with 10 fingers and 10 toes, out the NY social services system, no matter how angelic Maeve might be. Nor do they seem to have the income to purchase infants. So I guess the Adoption Stork just loves the Irish.)

Oh, speaking of the Irish, there's Mike - super-trained superhero - losing it, totally, when a priest gets shot. But no, we can't be too critical. After all, his grandfather - his Irish grandfather -- is a priest.

Of course he is. Don't you hate when that happens?

And just how super is this super-hero??? Not only is he the hostage negotiator (even with FBI pros on-site), and not only is he the only one with the balls to shoot back at crunch-time (this time with Men in Black on site -- and why doesn't the loving father of 10-children-about-to-lose-their-mother behave with a bit of caution?), BUT he's also the only one who can address the media. In all of Manhattan, all of NYC, the eastern seaboard, a post-9/11 America, there's only Mike. What a guy.

And the setting! Last year Robert Tanenbaum - the empty name on the good Karp books/the guilty name on the bad ones - gave us a hostage stand-off in St Patrick's, and in 2000, Nelson Demille did it before either of them. I know it's big and in NYC, but geez, folks, how about a little variety, if there's no veracity on offer? Clearly Patterson, et al., is way too busy cranking them out to read the competition.

But, credibility aside, it is a zippy read, yes it is.

Step on a Crack.......2007-08-07

Excellent book. James Patterson has a knack for keeping the story moving and I loved the ending.

Average customer rating:

shocker in more ways than one
Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
Couldn't put this book down!!
Don't Start or You Won't Be Able to Stop
Boring

Heart-Shaped Box: A Novel
Joe Hill
Manufacturer: William Morrow
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0061147931
Release Date: 2007-02-13

Amazon.com

Do you sleep with the light on? Are you in the habit of checking your doors and windows before you go to bed? Maybe even checking under your bed? If you are about to crack open Joe Hill's chilling thriller Heart-Shaped Box, you might want to rethink your nighttime habits--Hill's story about an aging rock star (with a penchant for macabre artifacts) who buys a haunted suit online will scare you silly. But don't take our word for it. We asked bestselling authors (and masters of dark terror tales themselves) Scott Smith, and Harlan Coben to read Heart-Shaped Box and give us their take. Check out their reviews below, and you might want to pick up a nightlight while you're at it. --Daphne Durham

Guest Reviewer: Scott Smith

In 1993, Scott Smith wowed readers with his stunning debut thriller, A Simple Plan. Thirteen years later, he spooked us again with The Ruins, a horror-thriller about four Americans traveling in Mexico who stumble across a nightmare in the jungle.

The set-up for Joe Hill's novel, Heart-Shaped Box, is appealingly simple. Jude Coyne, an aging rock star, buys himself a dead man's suit. He acquires it online, lured by the promise that the dead man's ghost will be included in his purchase. Jude thinks this is a joke, of course. He also assumes the seller is a stranger. We soon discover that he's wrong on both counts, however, and from this point on the story moves with an exhilarating urgency. Jude wants the ghost gone; the ghost wants Jude dead. We watch, chapter-by-chapter, as they battle for survival. "Watch" is the appropriate word, too, because this is an extremely visual book. Hill's prose is lean and precise, and he renders Jude's world with impressive confidence. It feels solid, every detail both correct and fresh. And this physicality provides a firm platform for the book's otherworldly happenings, which seem all the more frightening for being so securely grounded.

Hill has a flawless sense of pacing. His narrative never flags, nor does it ever move so quickly as to outrun itself. And one can sense his literary ambition pushing at the margins of the genre. There are times when his writing, for all its spare efficiency, seems to jump away from him, stopping one small step short of poetry. An e-mail to Jude from the ghost (trust me, it's not as absurd as it sounds) could even pass for something ee cummings might've written, in an especially morbid mood. And toward the end of the book, when Hill describes a trip down death's "night road" in a '65 Mustang, the passage has a startlingly lyrical beauty.

The story's horror ultimately has as much to do with Jude Coyne's past--his mistakes, abandonments and betrayals--as with anything supernatural. Jude has caused a lot of pain over the years, moving through life with a carelessness that verges on the callous. His battle with the ghost brings this behavior into sharp relief, forcing him to reflect upon his own capacity for cruelty. This dawning self-awareness leavens the book's bleakness and gore (and it is delightfully gory in places) with an unexpected sweetness. Despite our initial impression, Jude is gradually revealed--both to himself and the reader--as an essentially decent, even kind man. It's this kindness, this fledgling ability to love and be loved, that will ultimately be of crucial consequence in his death struggle with the ghost. And it's what makes Hill's debut not only well-written and terrifying, but also--as it draws to its close--surprisingly moving. So go ahead, take a chance, and open his Heart-Shaped Box. I think you'll be happy you did. --Scott Smith

Guest Reviewer: Harlan Coben

Harlan Coben is the author of the beloved Myron Bolitar series about a wisecracking sports agent, as well as stunning stand-alone novels like The Innocent and his breakout thriller Tell No One. His new novel The Woods releases on April 17, 2007.

You, dear reader, are obviously somewhat versed in making online purchases, so today, immediately after you click on the yellow "Add to Shopping Cart" on the top right hand corner of this page, why not do an online search and buy something totally unique?

Like, say, a vengeful ghost.

That is what rock-star Judas Coyne does, thinking it will be a laugh, fun for his "sick-o" collection of such things. It seems a random buy, but Judas soon learns that it is anything but. This particular ghost is one Craddock McDermott, step-father to recent suicide victim and boy, is he cranky. He demands revenge for his step-daughter's death, which he blames on Judas's shabby treatment of her.

Or is he after something else?

There are Amazon readers who will give you a better plot summary. Don't read them too closely because Joe Hill provides plenty of fun surprises. Heart-Shaped Box is a true spine-tingler. I don't use that hyphenated word much anymore. We have seen and read it all, haven't we? But right away, in the first chapter, there was a subtle line that made the hairs on the back of my neck go up in a way I haven't experienced since I first discovered great horror as a teenager.

Hill writes with a sure hand. The prose is compelling. Like most memorable tales of horror, this book is more about redemption than scary moments--though Heart-Shaped Box has plenty of scares. They are visceral, shocking and very well done. The characters are flawed and real. The father-son relationship adds texture and surprising poignancy.

So here's the thing. My guess is, you won't find a ghost to buy online, but if you read the Heart-Shaped Box, you will be getting something that will haunt you and startle you and stay with you and yes, visit you in your dreams.

Sleep well, dear reader. --Harlan Coben

Book Description

Judas Coyne is a collector of the macabre: a cookbook for cannibals . . . a used hangman's noose . . . a snuff film. An aging death-metal rock god, his taste for the unnatural is as widely known to his legions of fans as the notorious excesses of his youth. But nothing he possesses is as unlikely or as dreadful as his latest discovery, an item for sale on the Internet, a thing so terribly strange, Jude can't help but reach for his wallet.

I will "sell" my stepfather's ghost to the highest bidder. . . .

For a thousand dollars, Jude will become the proud owner of a dead man's suit, said to be haunted by a restless spirit. He isn't afraid. He has spent a lifetime coping with ghosts—of an abusive father, of the lovers he callously abandoned, of the bandmates he betrayed. What's one more?

But what UPS delivers to his door in a black heart-shaped box is no imaginary or metaphorical ghost, no benign conversation piece. It's the real thing.

And suddenly the suit's previous owner is everywhere: behind the bedroom door . . . seated in Jude's restored vintage Mustang . . . standing outside his window . . . staring out from his widescreen TV. Waiting—with a gleaming razor blade on a chain dangling from one bony hand. . . .

A multiple-award winner for his short fiction, author Joe Hill immediately vaults into the top echelon of dark fantasists with a blood-chilling roller-coaster ride of a novel, a masterwork brimming with relentless thrills and acid terror.

Customer Reviews:

shocker in more ways than one.......2007-09-26

i found this book by reading recommendations months ago. Picked it up out of my "to read" pile of books for plane trip. finished in 2 days.
i thought WHAT A GREAT STORY! i am always intrigued about the author pic.
i kept thinking...gee...who does he look like???
i hand it to my husband and say, "read the first chapter and you will be hooked". he was and finished...last night...i said...wasn't that such a "visual" book...so gooood. he agrees...goes online and looks at me and says....
"you know who the author is don't you?"...i said...no who? he says..
welllllll.....its stephen king's son. my mouth fell open, i got teary eyed for a minute, and said...WOW! genetics!

so read this book and if you get a little ferklempt that stephen king's son is gonna be successful too then all is right in the world.
the bookreader

Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill.......2007-09-19

One thing I admire greatly about Joe Hill King, son of famous bestselling author Stephen King, is that he didn't get a leg up from his father like our President did. While I'm sure he's had plenty of help and advice, Joe Hill has earned his own success through his own writing. Having won a Bram Stoker Award for Best Fiction Collection with his first book 20th Century Ghosts, he now returns with his first novel, Heart-Shaped Box, which was naturally making a tremendous amount of buzz before the book even came out. And the congratulatory quote on the back of the book from Neil Gaiman just made it that more popular.

Our main character, Judas Coyne, is a famous guitarist of a band that was once up there with Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden, but after the sudden deaths of two band members, the guitarist is now a successful solo artist whose eccentricities range into the banal, naturally. His favorite is to collect items and trinkets of the most unusual - the weirder the better! So when Jude sees a ghost for sale on an auction site, he immediately jumps on it, chooses the buy it now option and soon has the package on its way. The single mother is very happy to get rid of the ghost of her grandfather who has been haunting her and her son for so long, and Jude now has his very own ghost.

The package arrives in a large black heart-shaped box and inside he finds an ancient but impeccable suit. Judas is impressed by it, closes the box and soon forgets about it. Then the haunting begins: strange noises and soon they see the ghost, walking around. Then things take a turn for the worse, as the ghost comes after Judas and his friends.

Sadly, when it is revealed where this ghost has come from the story kind of goes downhill. It turns out the ghost is the deceased grandfather of the sister of a former girlfriend of Jude's who killed herself after he dumped her. While the supernatural element of the ghost remains, and it is on their tail trying to catch them, the reasoning behind it is weak and destroys the foundation of the plot. Nevertheless there is a darkness and depth within this novel that reveals a talented writer with a bold future ahead of him. Like Carrie, this is not the best first novel, but with the talent in Hill's genes, we know there will be many more stories for him to tell that will be great and terrifying.

For more book reviews, and other writings, go to www.alexctelander.com

Couldn't put this book down!!.......2007-09-18

I havn't picked up a book in years. This one jumped into my hands at the bookstore. I love a good ghost story, so I said why not. This was the best book I have ever read!! I could not put it down. Two of my friends borrowed the book when I was done, they felt the same way (finished it in 2 days each). The only bad thing is going to be trying to find another great book like it!! Can't wait for the new Joe Hill book to be released!!
I havn't found another book that could captivate me like this one did.
THIS BOOK IS A MUST READ!!
Still not convinced? Check out the web site at www.joehillfiction.com

Don't Start or You Won't Be Able to Stop.......2007-09-17

I just finished this book - I read it in 1 1/2 days, because it was such a fast, exciting read. I thought the idea of buying a ghost on the Internet was novel, although the rest of the book was pretty predictable. Still, it had me hooked. The characters weren't all that likable, but Jude gets more so. I think my favorite characters were Jude's dogs. Anyway...it's also got a lot of profanity and some crude stuff. Basically, it's Stephen King without all the finesse.

Boring.......2007-09-14

This book which was so highly publicized and got me all ready to read a truly great book and I got a book which is boring, tedious, you figured out what was going to happen before you got to it this book was so predictable, save your money.

Average customer rating:

disappointing
Best Yet
The Latest Installment From A Favorite Author
Jack's Back
A different Reacher

Bad Luck and Trouble
Lee Child
Manufacturer: Delacorte Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Fiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Mystery & Thriller Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0385340559
Release Date: 2007-05-15

Amazon.com

Ex-military cop Jack Reacher is the perfect antihero--tough as nails, but with a brain and a conscience to match. He's able to see what most miss and is willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Each book in Lee Child's smart, addictive series (The New York Times has referred to it as "pure escapist gold") follows the wandering warrior on a new adventure, making it easy to start with any book, including his latest gem, Bad Luck and Trouble. However, be forewarned...once you meet Jack Reacher, you'll be hooked, so be prepared to stock up on the series. --Daphne Durham

Who Is Jack Reacher? A Video from Lee Child

Watch the video

A Note from Lee Child

Two years ago I was on a book tour, promoting that year's new Jack Reacher novel, One Shot. One particular night, the event was held in a small town outside of Chicago. The date was June 21st. As I was giving my talk and answering questions and signing books, that date was nagging away at the back of my mind. I knew it had some significance. I started panicking--had I forgotten my anniversary? No, that's in August. My wife's birthday? No, that's in January. My own birthday? No, that's in October.

Then suddenly I remembered--it was ten years to the day since I had been fired from my previous job. That was why and how I had become a writer. That night in Illinois was a ten-year anniversary of a different sort, somewhat bittersweet.

And ten is a nice round number. So I started thinking about my old colleagues. My workmates, my buddies. We had been through a lot together. I started to wonder where they all were now. What were they doing? Were they doing well, or struggling? Were they happy? What did they look like now? Pretty soon I was into full-on nostalgia mode. Ten-year anniversaries can do that to a person. I think we all share those kind of feelings, about high school, or college, or old jobs we've quit, or old towns we've moved away from.

So I decided to make this year's Jack Reacher book about a reunion. I decided to throw him back among a bunch of old colleagues that he hadn't seen for ten years, people that he loved fiercely and respected deeply. Regular Reacher readers will know that he's a pretty self-confident guy, but I wanted him to wobble just a little this time, to compare his choices with theirs, to measure himself against them.

The renewed get-together isn't Reacher's own choice, though. And it's not a standard-issue reunion, either. Something very bad has happened, and one of his old team-members from the army contacts him, by an ingenious method (it's hard to track Reacher down). She gives him the bad news, and asks him to do something about it. He says, "Of course I'll do something about it."

"No," his friend says. "I mean, I want you to put the old unit back together."

It's an irresistible invitation. Wouldn't we all like to do that, sometimes? --Lee Child

Secrets of the Series: A Q&A with Lee Child

Q: Why do you think readers keep coming back to your novels?
A: Two words: Jack Reacher. Reacher is a drifter and a loner with a strong sense of justice. He shows up, he acts, he moves on. He's the type of hero who has a long literary history. Robin Hood, the Lone Ranger, Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings, Jack Reacher--they're all part of the same heroic family. Reacher just ratchets it up a notch. Maybe more than a notch. Why is he so appealing? Most often people say to me it's his sense of justice; he will do the right thing. Even though there is no reward in it for him, even though there is often a high cost to be paid by him, he will always try to do the right thing and people find that reassuring in today's world when not too many people are doing the right thing.

Q: Jack Reacher gets compared to James Bond, Jack Bauer and Jason Bourne, each of whom now has a "face." In a movie, which actor do you think could fill Reacher's shoes?
A: That's the toughest question. The thing about Reacher is he's huge; he's 6'5" tall and about 250 pounds. There aren't any actors that size--actors tend to be small. So we aren't going to find a physical facsimile for Reacher because there aren't any. We have to find someone who is capable of looking big on the screen. Many people have said to me a young Clint Eastwood would have been perfect--we need someone like that who has the vibe of a big intimidating man. Hopefully there will be somebody available like that. It's also a question of finding somebody ready to sign up for more than one movie. They want to make a franchise, minimum of three, and that makes it a little bit harder.

Q: What research is involved in writing one of your stories?
A: My research is all kind of backwards. I don't go to the public library for three months and take notes in advance; instead my best research is by remembering and adapting. I read, travel, and talk to people just for the fun of it, filing away these interesting little snippets to the back of my mind and eventually they float to the surface and get used. The problem is, I approach writing the book with the same excitement and impatience that I hope the reader is going to feel about reading it. But even so, I need a certain measure of technical intrigue in the story. There is specific research I have to do as I go along, anything that's a small detail; a car, a gun, a type of bullet. I will check that out at the time. But, that's what I call the detail--the broad stuff is the stuff I already know.

Meet Jack Reacher

The Killing Floor

Die Trying

Tripwire

Running Blind

Echo Burning

Without Fail

Persuader

The Enemy

One Shot

The Hard Way

Book Description

From a helicopter high above the empty California desert, a man is sent free-falling into the night…. In Chicago, a woman learns that an elite team of ex–army investigators is being hunted down one by one.... And on the streets of Portland, Jack Reacher—soldier, cop, hero—is pulled out of his wandering life by a code that few other people could understand. From the first shocking scenes in Lee Child’s explosive new novel, Jack Reacher is plunged like a knife into the heart of a conspiracy that is killing old friends…and is on its way to something even worse.

A decade postmilitary, Reacher has an ATM card and the clothes on his back—no phone, no ties, and no address. But now a woman from his old unit has done the impossible. From Chicago, Frances Neagley finds Reacher, using a signal only the eight members of their elite team of army investigators would know. She tells him a terrifying story—about the brutal death of a man they both served with. Soon Reacher is reuniting with the survivors of his old team, scrambling to raise the living, bury the dead, and connect the dots in a mystery that is growing darker by the day. The deeper they dig, the more they don’t know: about two other comrades who have suddenly gone missing—and a trail that leads into the neon of Vegas and the darkness of international terrorism.

For now, Reacher can only react. To every sound. Every suspicion. Every scent and every moment. Then Reacher will trust the people he once trusted with his life—and take this thing all the way to the end. Because in a world of bad luck and trouble, when someone targets Jack Reacher and his team, they’d better be ready for what comes right back at them…

Customer Reviews:

disappointing.......2007-09-27

Unfortunately, in my opinion, this book cannot be compared the The Hard Way. That one was taut, thrilling and extremely gripping. This one was drowning in minutiae, far too many 'filler' details. It took 250 pages to even know what the characters were trying to stop. From then on, you just knew Reacher would get the bad guys and the climax was pretty standard 'shoot 'em up', no surprises or twists at all. I expected so much more. Pass this one by.

Best Yet.......2007-09-25

I have enjoyed the seris, and liked this one the best, because of the former team members, they give some real balance to Jack...

The Latest Installment From A Favorite Author.......2007-09-18

If you somehow got your hands on a copy of Bad Luck & Trouble and have NOT read the previous Jack Reacher tales, stop and begin with The Killing Floor. Lucky you!
Having said that, Bad Luck & Trouble is yet another very satisfying installment in the series. I sincerely hope that Lee Child continues to be inspired by his character and the interesting settings that Jack Reacher finds himself in.
This story is fresh, edge of the seat entertainment that we fans have come to expect. Mr Child does not disappoint!.

Jack's Back.......2007-09-16

My enjoyment of the Jack Reacher novels is such that I actually purchased this hardcover. Anyone familiar with this type of novel recognizes that plot details are secondary to what has been called, "solidification of sequence". This novel is a shade less enjoyable than the rest. Is Mr.Child losing interest? Am I losing interest? Hard to say but this one comes up short. Of course Jack is still there. And I would still like to have him as a friend, although I come probably never find him if I needed him. By the way, isn't only owning the "clothes on his back" gimmick wearing a little thin. Jack,buy yourself a knapsack, a duffel bag, at least a brief case, and carry a change of socks. To those of us accustomed to changing clothing at least every day the idea of wearing them until they reek is not only unappealing but unrealistic. And, I have wondered, what the hell does Jack do when he takes the next bus to anywhere and gets there. What does he do, walk the streets? With no real money and clothes that stink his choices are somewhat limited. Seedy hotel rooms lose their charm after a while and there are only so many undeserving victims of cruel, powerful people out there to assist. Sure, it's great to read of him breaking the neck of some ruffian but walking back into the great outback of novel land, chucking it all so he can return next year to crack some more skulls does require the willing suspension of disbelief. Life must be awful boring between bouts with bad men. Jack, settle down, get a job, star in a tv series, marry that beautiful babe, put some roots down before old age catches up with you....and Mr. Child runs out of marginably credible adventures for you to participate. And, for cryin' out loud, change your clothes.

A different Reacher.......2007-09-06

Child is reverting to his NBC roots with Jack Reacher. The two latest books have Reacher less and less an action hero and more and more a left-leaning TV star. The clincher here is Reacher and troupe donating the bulk of the booty they take to PETA. This is totally out of character with the Reacher his fans know and love from the first nine books. If you've read the first nine and loved the character and what he stood for you'll be disappointed with ten and eleven. I think I'll pass on number twelve altogether.

Average customer rating:

Poor writing,characters and storyline=bad book
Baldacci comes through again
Another good one.....
Simple Genius is Simply Great
Captivating

Simple Genius
David Baldacci
Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Fiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Mystery & Thriller Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0446580341
Release Date: 2007-04-24

Book Description

In a world of secrets, human genius is power.And sometimes it is simply deadly...A three-hour drive from Washington, D.C., two clandestine institutions face each other across a heavily guarded river. One is the world's most unusual laboratory, whose goals and funding are a mystery. The other is an elite CIA training camp shrouded in secrecy. Now a man and a woman are about to run a gauntlet between these two puzzle factories, straight into a furious struggle to exploit a potentially world-shattering discovery--and keep some other secrets underwraps forever...Former secret service agents turned private investigators Sean King and Michelle Maxwell have seen their lives splinter around them. Michelle lies unconscious ina hospital bed after a night of suicidal violence. And Sean is forced to take on a thankless investigation into the mutder of a scientist just inside the CIA's razor-wire fence near Williamsburg, Virginia.Soon he is uncovering layer after layer of disinformation that shields a stunning world filled with elite mathematics, physicists, war heroes, spies, and deadly field agents. Amid more murder, a seemingly autistic girl's extraordinary genius, and a powerful breakthrough in the realm of classified codes, Sean soon learns enough to put his life at risk. Now more than ever, he needs Michelle--at her best--to help stop a conspiracy of traitors operating in the shadow of the White House itself.From Michelle's courageous struggle to defeat her long-buried personal demons to a centuries-old secret that surfaces in the heat of action, SIMPLE GENIUS pulses with stunning, high-intensity suspense. The heroes of Split Second and Hour Game, David Baldacci's #1 New York Times bestsellers, are back--as you've never seen them before.

Customer Reviews:

Poor writing,characters and storyline=bad book.......2007-09-24

A member of our book group chose this book for us. We had read Camel Club and found the characters amusing and the story OK, but Simple Genius is embarrassingly boring. The characters lack any depth, the storyline is ridiculous and not even marginally believable;and the dialogue could have been written by a first grader. Do yourself a favor and don't buy this one.

Baldacci comes through again.......2007-09-17

Briefly, an enjoyable "page-turner." It was hard to put down, both for the action and for the 3-dimensional main characters. Not a criticism, but the author in his credits should have given a nod to Clive Cussler.
Thanks, David. I'm awaiting your next one.

Another good one............2007-09-15

I will never forgive Baldacci !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He got us started with these audio cd's with The Winner back in 1997- 98 ?

and found the perfect match for our love of driving trips !

As soon as he comes out with one, we get it... and have been enthralled every time !!!

I highly recommend Simple Genius!

Simple Genius is Simply Great.......2007-09-13

Simple Genius, like all of David Baldacci's novels, is "simply great". This novel mixes suspence, a spy thriller, and detective mystery all into one speel-binding "edge of your chair" masterpiece. I couldn't stop listening to the un-abridged audio CD set. Great audio book. Recommended to all that enjoy this type of novel or this author.

Captivating.......2007-09-07

Unlike many others I found this novel to be an engaging work. The duel mystery along with the little genius and others attached also made it quite compelling. I found all of his books to be well written and have never found one to be a flop. The final pages bringing the story to a end was very well done and explained all that had been left hanging. We all have our opinions and mine is a fine book I recommend to all.

Average customer rating:

Long and winding middle of the road writing
WOW.
A Painful Reality
A literary game not played by fair rules
Couldn't Put It Down......

The Double Bind: A Novel
Chris Bohjalian
Manufacturer: Shaye Areheart Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Psychological & Suspense | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Fiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Mystery & Thriller Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1400047463
Release Date: 2007-02-13

Amazon.com

Best known for the provocative and powerful novel, Midwives (an Oprah Book Club® Selection), Chris Bohjalian writes beautiful and riveting fiction featuring what the San Francisco Chronicle dubbed "ordinary people in heartbreaking circumstances behaving with grace and dignity." In his new novel, The Double Bind, a literary thriller with references to (and including characters from) The Great Gatsby, Bohjalian takes readers on a haunting journey through one woman's obsession with uncovering a dark secret. We think Bohjalian fans will be thrilled with this compelling and unforgettable read, but just to be sure, we asked bestselling author Jodi Picoult to read The Double Bind and give us her take. Check out her review below. --Daphne Durham

Guest Reviewer: Jodi Picoult

From the provocative and gut-wrenching The Pact, to the brilliant genre-bending The Tenth Circle, to her latest novel about a high school shooting Nineteen Minutes, Jodi Picoult's riveting novels center on family and relationships, and bring to light questions and issues that remain with a reader long after the last page is turned.

I once heard a fellow novelist call writing "successful schizophrenia"--we invent people and worlds that don't exist; but instead of being medicated, we are paid for it. Although countless novels succeed in whisking the reader away on the heels of such fabrications, there are very few that pull the curtain away from the craft, allowing us inside the mind of a working novelist as he combines reality and fantasy. Chris Bohjalian's The Double Bind is not just one of these; it's the finest example I've ever read of a book that tips its hat to both the beauty of the literary creation, as well as the magical act of creating.

Fact and fiction become indistinguishable in The Double Bind: The story centers on Laurel Estabrook, a young social worker and survivor of a near-rape, who stumbles across photographs taken by a formerly homeless client and tries to understand how a man who'd taken snapshots of celebrities in the 50s and 60s might have wound up on the streets. However, an author's note tells us that Bohjalian conceived this book after being shown a batch of old photographs taken by a once-homeless man; and the actual photos of Bob "Soupy" Campbell are peppered throughout the text. In another neat twist, Bohjalian's resurrects details from The Great Gatsby, which become "real" in the context of his own novel--Laurel lives in West Egg; part of her hunt for her photographer's past involves meeting with the descendants of Daisy and Tom Buchanan.

As a writer who counts The Great Gatsby as one of the books that changed her life, this inclusion was both startling and remarkable for me. Who doesn't want one's favorite characters to come to life--even if it's only within the constraints of another fictional work? But Bohjalian chose his text wisely: no discussion of The Great Gatsby is complete without alluding to missed opportunities and unreliable sources--critical elements in Laurel's quest. And therein lies Bohjalian's true double bind: all stories--even the ones we tell ourselves--are subject to our own interpretation, and to the degree we can make others believe them.

The Double Bind may flirt with the classics, but it's not your father's stuffy old tome: it's the sort of book you want to read in one sitting, and it packs a twist at the end that will leave you speechless. It also, worthily, spotlights the cause of homelessness in a way that isn't preachy, but honest and explanatory. Ultimately, what Bohjalian's done is offer his lucky readers another reminder of why he's such an extraordinary author: by creating characters that become so real we lose the distinction between truth and embellishment; by reminding us that the story of any life--whether fictional, functional, or marginal--is one to be savored. --Jodi Picoult

Book Description

Throughout his career, Chris Bohjalian has earned a reputation for writing novels that examine some of the most important issues of our time. With Midwives, he explored the literal and metaphoric place of birth in our culture. In The Buffalo Soldier, he introduced us to one of contemporary literature’s most beloved foster children. And in Before You Know Kindness, he plumbed animal rights, gun control, and what it means to be a parent.

Chris Bohjalian’s riveting fiction keeps us awake deep into the night. As The New York Times has said, “Few writers can manipulate a plot with Bohjalian’s grace and power.” Now he is back with an ambitious new novel that travels between Jay Gatsby’s Long Island and rural New England, between the Roaring Twenties and the twenty-first century.

When college sophomore Laurel Estabrook is attacked while riding her bicycle through Vermont’s back roads, her life is forever changed. Formerly outgoing, Laurel withdraws into her photography and begins to work at a homeless shelter. There she meets Bobbie Crocker, a man with a history of mental illness and a box of photographs that he won’t let anyone see. When Bobbie dies suddenly, Laurel discovers that he was telling the truth: before he was homeless, Bobbie Crocker was a successful photographer who had indeed worked with such legends as Chuck Berry, Robert Frost, and Eartha Kitt.

As Laurel’s fascination with Bobbie’s former life begins to merge into obsession, she becomes convinced that some of his photographs reveal a deeply hidden, dark family secret. Her search for the truth will lead her further from her old life—and into a cat-and-mouse game with pursuers who claim they want to save her.

In this spellbinding literary thriller, rich with complex and compelling characters—including Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan—Chris Bohjalian takes readers on his most intriguing, most haunting, and most unforgettable journey yet.

Customer Reviews:

Long and winding middle of the road writing.......2007-09-29

Author Chris Plot Twist Bohjalian is at it again. As with his breakout novel, Midwives, The Double Bind is filled with twists and turns and things are never what they seem. Due to that fact, little that can be said without spoiling the plot. A young woman who has survived a harrowing ordeal lands a job at a homeless shelter. After being given a box of photographs belonging to a recently deceased client of the place, she tries to find out as much as possible about the man and his family. Although her coworkers, friends and acquaintances believe that she is going overboard in her quest, she is undeterred and doggedly pursues the truth. In a number of places, the reader will likely find him or herself wondering about certain coincidences and unlikelihoods, but if he or she is can just go with it - things will eventually become clear. Clever plotting aside, the book has its problems: it is long, long, long and the writing is not exactly compelling; there are two sections (within the prologue and again in the Chapter 28) that contain profanity and graphically described violence; except for some discussion of the fact that the homeless often suffer from mental illness and Laurel's encounter with a homeless man (during which she throws caution to the wind, telling her companions that she will escort the strange man to the shelter ALONE), the whole "homeless" angle of the story seems pretty sanitized; and anyone unfamiliar with The Great Gatsby is sure to have a tough time of it. The story's highlights can be found by reading the following (if you plan to read it in its entirety, don't read on): the prologue, page 200 (for "the double bind" explained), and chapter twenty-eight through the reader's guide. Best thing about the book - the surprises - worst - the writing. Midwives is a better choice.

WOW........2007-09-27

I am rarely as enthralled with a book as I was this one...couldn't put it down, and I will recommend it to many people! Very different, brilliantly creative, and breathtaking. READ IT.

A Painful Reality.......2007-09-17

No matter how lurid, misunderstood, violent or repugnant the subject, Chris Bohjalian wrests his themes from the daily news, fleshes them out with realistic details and spins a compelling tale that both enchants
and educates the reader. His latest book, The Double Bind, deals with the aftermath of a brutally senseless attack on a compassionate young social worker.

The author aced this one, and I will never again see a young woman pass by on a bicycle without reliving in my mind the horror of a cruel encounter on a bright fall day along a Vermont country lane. The event and the subsequent unfolding of the residual pain are told with
compassion and a surreal weave of reality and fantasy. It's hard to imagine where this talented writer will take us next!

Izzie Hayes, avid Bohjalian fan

A literary game not played by fair rules.......2007-09-17

I have to give Mr. Bohjalian 5 stars for chutzpah. How many authors would so tightly link their own work to one of the American classics of the 20th century--perhaps the Great American Novel itself--forcing any reader to compare Bohjalian to Fitzgerald? I can assure you that, if this work is representative, Mr. Bohjalian is no Fitzgerald; they hardly speak the same language.

But wait, the chutzpah gets even more extreme! It is possible that Mr. Bohjalian has deliberately given us this rambling, slack style--sometimes seemingly deliberately hanging with Spanish-moss-like clumps of unfocused, clicheed phrases that only a nonwriter would dare have appear under his own name--for a literary purpose. Without revealing too much--and the book is all about the series of relevations that progressively emerge--I think I can safely suggest that Mr. Bohjalian may be dropping a (perhaps massive) clue about where the story is heading by writing in such a slack, nonliterary style. Chutzpah indeed to set himself up so close to a master stylist like Fitzgerald just to make himself look like a bad writer to advance his own plot.

Or maybe not. Maybe the book really isn't that coherent. It teems with references to The Great Gatsby on many levels. It invites the reader to hear these references in multiple voices speaking in the primary narrator's voice. But for the life of me, I can't distinguish where one voice starts and another leaves off. Shifts appear to occur in the middle of paragraphs. Or at least, the story can be viewed as coherent only if this is going on. As a reader, I feel like one of the early German scholars of the Bible trying to sort through the distinct voices present in the text and wondering what scribe could have edited these voices together in such a haphazard patchwork. What was the scribe trying to do?! What is the author trying to do here?

I can't be more detailed without revealing key elements of the story. Let me say simply this. I came to the book with great expectations. I actually lived in F. Scott Fitzgerald's dorm room in college and had a classmate who saw himself and his girlfriend as the reincarnations of F. Scott and Zelda. (Sounds like part of some alternative take off on Gatsby, but this one wasn't fiction ;-)). I felt a literary mystery story unfolding through the pages of The Double Bind and my expectations rose. I love a good literary game. But as the revelations unfolded, I couldn't make them hold together. Other readers I have spoken to have had the same reaction. At the end of the day, I can't tell what the author actually intended us to believe happened in his story. More than anything, I felt as though he had not played fairly by any set of rules he had set for the game. Or maybe more mercifully, the game didn't have coherent rules to begin with. Takes Mr. Bohjalian off the hook, but it takes any fun out of the game. I came away frustrated and disappointed.

Couldn't Put It Down.............2007-09-11

"What a ride! _The Double Bind was a "couldn't-put-it-down" book. Now I have to read it again with a different perpsective. I loved the first, and am now looking forward to the second journey with Laurel. Thank you for such a provocative book."

Average customer rating:

John Sandford's sense of humour grows
This is a fine novel
Great Book - Thoroughly Enjoyed It
A disappointment
Hmm...

Invisible Prey
John Sandford
Manufacturer: Putnam Adult
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Suspense | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0399154213
Release Date: 2007-05-15

Book Description

In the richest neighborhood of Minneapolis, two elderly women lie murdered in their home, killed with a pipe, the rooms tossed, only small items stolen. It is clearly the random work of someone looking for money to buy drugs. But as Davenport looks more closely, he begins to wonder whether the items are actually so small and the victims so random-if there might not be some invisible agenda at work here. Gradually, a pattern begins to emerge, and it leads him to . . . certainly nothing he ever expected. Which is too bad, because the killers-and, yes, there is more than one of them-the killers are expecting him. Brilliantly suspenseful, filled with rich characterization and exciting drama, Invisible Prey is further proof that Sandford is in a class of his own.

Customer Reviews:

John Sandford's sense of humour grows .......2007-09-28

John Sandford is a true craftsman. His "Invisible" works are consistent, intriguing, and growing in fun. As his charecter, Lucas Davenport, grows older an emerging note of humour (expressed through sarcasm and irony) is making these reads even more enjoyable. Invisible Prey is a fast paced, enjoyable read made all the more "fun" by the charecters as they emerge and Daveport's reactions to them and his contnuing family and friends. I look forward to what becomes "visible" next in the "Invisible" series.

This is a fine novel.......2007-09-21

John Sandford does it again with Invisible Prey. Lucas Davenport, who is one of the most believable characters in modern crime fiction, continues his career in breaking a case that is deliciously complex, involves wonderfully convoluted and perverse characters and carries you from connection to connection until suddenly it will all make sense. This is a fine novel about interesting people, some of whom are doing violent and destructive things and others whom simply want to lead nice, decent lives and catches both the way in which the innocent can without cause be destroyed by evil, and the way in which good can in the end triumph. As an optimist, I find it always comforting to read John Sandford's novels and in particular I enjoy his Lucas Davenport pursuit of justice.

Great Book - Thoroughly Enjoyed It.......2007-09-15

Lucas Davenport is my favorite - and he was up to par with this new book.
Your attention is grabbed at the very beginning of the story and keeps up the pace until the conclusion. This Prey book is different from the others but overall, it was very entertaining, a fast read. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

A disappointment.......2007-09-12

I was disappointed in the latest "Prey" book from John Sanford. Lukas is stuck in limbo in his position as a "State Investigator" There was too much of the political and not enough of the cops. The book meandered about and took twist and turns for the sake of twist and turns. Some of the dialogue was not very realistic. Sanford really got away from correct police procedures and it makes the book less enjoyable. Lucas must have gone back to the Bucher house a dozen time to pore over records. One real surprise was Weather becoming a potty mouth in front of the children. That did not ring true for her character. I think Mr. Sanford should give Lucas a rest and feature Kidd in his next effort. I have read every Prey novel and a bad prey novel is still better than most series that are out there. I look forward to a revived Davenport in the next one.

Hmm..........2007-09-10

I was surprised with this book. It wasn't up to John Sandford's standard. It was shocking. Something just wasn't right. The mystery was a good idea but I just think that he convuluted it by adding another mystery on top of it and tried to tie them together. The old crew wasn't as involved. Lucas just didn't seem his usual logical and smart self and he definitely wasn't a smart aleck like he usually is. I felt the plot had a lot of holes in it and that Mr. Sandford didn't tie it together very well. I was disappointed in it but it wasn't bad. Just not a normal John Sandford book.

The Watchman: A Joe Pike Novel (Joe Pike Novels)

Average customer rating:

Righteous Thriller
DIVING INTO ADVENTURE IN THE PIKE POSITION
The Watchman is a remarkable book
Seriously disappointing
Ugh

The Watchman: A Joe Pike Novel (Joe Pike Novels)
Robert Crais
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Action & Adventure | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Fiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Mystery & Thriller Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0743281632

Book Description

The city was hers for a single hour, just the one magic hour, only hers.

Larkin Conner Barkley lives like the City of Angels is hers for the taking. Young and staggeringly rich, she speeds through the city during its loneliest hours, blowing through red after red in her Aston Martin as if running for her life. Until out of nowhere a car appears, and with it the metal-on-metal explosion of a terrible accident. Dazed, Larkin attempts to help the other victims. And finds herself the sole witness in a secret federal investigation.

For maybe the first time in her life, Larkin wants to do the right thing. But by agreeing to cooperate with the authorities, she becomes the target for a relentless team of killers. And when the U.S. Marshals and the finest security money can buy can't protect her, Larkin's wealthy family turns to the one man money can't buy -- Joe Pike.

Pike lives a world away from the palaces of Beverly Hills. He's an ex-cop, ex-Marine, ex-mercenary who owes a bad man a favor, and that favor is to keep Larkin alive. The one upside of the job is reuniting with Bud Flynn, Pike's LAPD training officer, and a man Pike reveres as a father. The downside is Larkin Barkley, who is the uncontrollable cover girl for self-destruction -- and as deeply alone as Pike.

Pike commits himself to protecting the girl, but when they immediately come under fire, he realizes someone is selling them out. In defiance of Bud and the authorities, Pike drops off the grid with the girl and follows his own rules of survival: strike fast, hit hard, hunt down the hunters. With the help of private investigator Elvis Cole, Pike uncovers a web of lies and betrayals, and the stunning revelation that even the cops are not who they seem. As the body count rises, Pike's biggest threat might come from the girl herself, a lost soul in the City of Angels, determined to destroy herself unless Joe Pike can teach her the value of life...and love.

Customer Reviews:

Righteous Thriller.......2007-10-01

The Watchman is a superior thriller that kicks off as if you're in the middle of a tension-filled scene, and doesn't let up on the thrills and suspense until the very last pages. Crais knows how to keep the dialogue light, the action lean, and still sprinkle the whole book with healthy doses of humor.

Read the other reviewers' plot summaries if you want. I'm keeping this review lean, mean, and to the point. Like Joe Pike.

Recommended.

Highly.

DIVING INTO ADVENTURE IN THE PIKE POSITION.......2007-09-22

Joe Pike, silent partner in the Elvis Cole Detective Agency, takes center stage in this well orchestrated offering from Robert Crais, with Elvis Cole stepping into an important albeit "supporting role". For those who have followed the "strong, silent, mysterious Pike" through various Elvis Cole books.....we are finally offered a glimpse at Joe's military experiences, his time as an L.A.P.D. cop, and his relationship with his father. Joe may not be a guy brimming with emotion, but his quiet nature is perfectly fitted for this compelling character.

Recommended by his old police force partner Bud Flynn, Joe is hired to protect Larkin Barkley, the beautiful, spoiled and largely ignored daughter of a real estate tycoon. Joe must utilize all of his accumulated training and experience (as well as his Colt Python and Kimber) to keep both he and Larkin out of the reaches of assassins as well as government agents.

During the first few chapters of the book, I was so aggravated with the shallowness of the Larkin character, that I could have killed her myself.....or at least slapped the daylights out of her. (Crais must have used the antics of Paris Hilton, Lindsey Lohan and Brittany Spears for inspiration when developing this character). As the book progresses, Larkins behaviour is modified and the reader, like Pike and Cole, begins to relate to her. Larkin aside, I loved the pace, plot structure and language of this novel. It's an edgy thriller filled with enough action, plot twists, and body count to satisfy all lovers of suspense and daring exploits. Pike's appeal is his uncanny ability to anticipate the actions of his foes, and then out-plan and out-maneuver them.

Fact of the matter is that Crais talent with the written word creates vivid pictures in your mind that would translate beautifully onto the silver screen. I can see any number of actors as Joe Pike. Bruce, Harrison and Arnold are getting a little "long in the tooth" for this sort of action, but how about Daniel Craig, Gerard Butler, or Clive Owen? Check out The Watchman and see if you don't agree? If not, do your own casting......it's a free country and your entitled to your opinion too.

The Watchman is a remarkable book.......2007-09-21

Robert Crais' The Watchman is a very inventive change from his novel focus on Elvis Cole to a stunningly intense focus on Joe Pike, Elvis Cole's side-kick and chief muscle. By developing a book in which Pike has to protect a young woman who is wanted by a relentless team of criminal killers, the book moves you straight into a world of non-stop violence, steady commitment to survival by doing whatever it takes and the virtues of a highly trained, very skilled person doing what he does best against bad people trying to do the worst they can. If you want an evening of forgetting everything else and going along for the ride, The Watchman is a remarkable book.

Seriously disappointing.......2007-08-27

After reading all of the Elvis Cole novels I thought a Joe Pike novel would be great fun. It isn't. Rather its about Joe babysitting a stupid society brat who is full of herself. She has to hide, has almost been killed a couple of times and she is still whining that she wants to go home. Joe makes her cut and dye her hair but lets her keep wearing her $500 jeans. Please give me a break. She runs off to dance half naked on a table in a bar showing the dolphin tattoo on her butt. Surely somebody has to recognize the halfwit. Joe however forgives her. This isn't the Joe Pike we have seen in earlier pages. Lastly Joe actually falls in love with this piece of trash. Perhaps Crais thought we wanted to see a kinder gentler dumber Joe. He was wrong. Oh finally the plot is garbage equal to the rest of this disappointing effort.

Ugh.......2007-08-17

I've read all of Mr. Crais's books, and for the most part have been quite happy with the characters and plots. This thing seems to be either the manifestation of writers block or a contractual obligation left too late. So all you Elvis and Joe fans, you have no problem with the fact the the female lead is a fictionalized Paris Hilton? Or what happens with her and the other characters (trying not to be a spoiler here). The whole point of these type of books is to get a couple of inetersting and familiar characters and have them have an adventure. in this one, you can't really believe their actions, and the plot seems to be thrown together around the bad premise. Whatever, the guy has written some really good ones like "Demolition Angel;" this seems completely throwaway.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books