Scan barcode
mbpartlow's review
4.0
I'm a total sucker for the Peter/Rina series, and I love most of them. This one is one of my favorites, because it allows development of some of the secondary characters (mostly their kids) without it feeling forced. I thought the mystery element was quite twisty. Would recommend to mystery fans without hesitation.
lgpiper's review
3.0
I think I read the first in this series, or an early one at least, some 15 years ago, and rather liked it. The series being the one about the cop who took up being an Orthodox Jew so as to get the woman he loved. So, remembering this, I picked up this book from a book table at a church fair.
I didn't like this book nearly so much. I didn't like the main character and I didn't like the subject matter. It was all too crude for my tastes. This is an ok book if you are on a plane, get it free (or close to free) and have nothing better to do but read it. I doubt I'll bother seeking out anything else by Kellerman.
I didn't like this book nearly so much. I didn't like the main character and I didn't like the subject matter. It was all too crude for my tastes. This is an ok book if you are on a plane, get it free (or close to free) and have nothing better to do but read it. I doubt I'll bother seeking out anything else by Kellerman.
vdavy001's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
stefaniefrei's review
3.0
Ignore the Text on the Inner Cover…
The crime is solved scratch-up. While different guests are dining at pricey Estelle’s in Los Angeles, a man with a green jacket enters mostly unnoticed. That is, until the shooting starts. In the end, many of the diners are dead, and so is the man with the green jacket, gun close to his hand. Everything is solved? Well, there are some lose ends. A job to be done by LAPD Lieutenant Peter Decker and his team.
This case where everything seemed obvious took some good 60 pages to captivate me – well, it would have been way more, had I not read the text on the inner cover sleeve. Why the heck is it that some publishers have it to try and ruin it with this weird thing of going for a better pitch that just gives away too much? Anyway, this is a police procedural, so it is pretty OBVIOUS there is more to the killing – I just wish that where you are as a reader after the first quarter of the book would not have been spoiled on the book’s cover.
This is REALLY police procedural with emphasis on procedural. You wonder if anything is ever going to happen when actually you know who committed which crime from the beginning and what is really behind it from the cover summary (or from after the first quarter of pages). So, yes, it is probably realistic in as far as investigations might be dull – but is also is dull to read, at least some of the pages. Then, when it gets you to fast-turn the pages, it is also a bit of a far-fetched plot – that dual setup and the whole of the Decker’s involved etc.
There are references to the book before this – without explaining, so this cannot really be understood without having read book number 9, “Prayers for the Dead“ – not needed for the solution of this case, but still mentioned more than once. Oh, yes, and the exlamation marks. I read that in some other review and thus could not help seeing them. Faye Kellerman is big in exclamation marks and italics eg. page 202 But she is also big with a certain humor like when talking about preferring to be a cop rather than with the Feds: ‘...I really want to solve crimes, not wear sunglasses.‘ p 119
So does that make up for it? Not completely – I do not like having to go halfway through a book before it gets to me and then, what gets to me is a bit too much, and a large bit of it.
3 stars.
The crime is solved scratch-up. While different guests are dining at pricey Estelle’s in Los Angeles, a man with a green jacket enters mostly unnoticed. That is, until the shooting starts. In the end, many of the diners are dead, and so is the man with the green jacket, gun close to his hand. Everything is solved? Well, there are some lose ends. A job to be done by LAPD Lieutenant Peter Decker and his team.
This case where everything seemed obvious took some good 60 pages to captivate me – well, it would have been way more, had I not read the text on the inner cover sleeve. Why the heck is it that some publishers have it to try and ruin it with this weird thing of going for a better pitch that just gives away too much? Anyway, this is a police procedural, so it is pretty OBVIOUS there is more to the killing – I just wish that where you are as a reader after the first quarter of the book would not have been spoiled on the book’s cover.
This is REALLY police procedural with emphasis on procedural. You wonder if anything is ever going to happen when actually you know who committed which crime from the beginning and what is really behind it from the cover summary (or from after the first quarter of pages). So, yes, it is probably realistic in as far as investigations might be dull – but is also is dull to read, at least some of the pages. Then, when it gets you to fast-turn the pages, it is also a bit of a far-fetched plot – that dual setup and the whole of the Decker’s involved etc.
There are references to the book before this – without explaining, so this cannot really be understood without having read book number 9, “Prayers for the Dead“ – not needed for the solution of this case, but still mentioned more than once. Oh, yes, and the exlamation marks. I read that in some other review and thus could not help seeing them. Faye Kellerman is big in exclamation marks and italics eg. page 202 But she is also big with a certain humor like when talking about preferring to be a cop rather than with the Feds: ‘...I really want to solve crimes, not wear sunglasses.‘ p 119
So does that make up for it? Not completely – I do not like having to go halfway through a book before it gets to me and then, what gets to me is a bit too much, and a large bit of it.
3 stars.
disabledreamer's review against another edition
4.0
A well plotted novel. Characters have a well worked psychological base to their actions. A well planned and executed novel.
pepper1133's review
4.0
Jeanine makes for a good villain. Hope she makes a reappearance in the series in the future.
vaderbird's review
3.0
5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
ruby_reads1's review
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
fallchicken's review against another edition
4.0
Liked this better than the previous one or two. You know the person responsible for the murders almost from the beginning, the big question being if they'll be able to charge the person. Maybe a bit of deus ex machina to get to resolution. Interesting look at Decker's family life, with most everyone contributing to the case in quesion one way or another.
More...