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boleary30's review against another edition
2.0
Great idea for the start of a book, but it went downhill from there...
readinggrrl's review
4.0
This was a great book, it really captured me from the start. Because I have ties to the adoption community I found this book to be even more intriguing. Throw in some Jim Jones and you have me hooked. I am always fascinated by cults and how or why people just do strange things like force their kids to drink the Kool Aid and then drink it themselves. Fascinating stuff. The search for Wyatts birth parents and his feelings about it only made it more real. I think I found myself a new author to catch up on!
martyfried's review
4.0
I rounded up to 4 stars because I'm a John Lescroart fan boy, and I've read all or most of the books in this series, so I know the characters and this filled in a lot of background for one of the lesser-known regulars, the investigator used by Dismas Hardy.
The story was fairly interesting, including a tie-in with Jim Jones and his group, but by itself, the story wasn't that exciting. Only the characters and the writing of John Lescroart made it interesting.
I'd recommend reading the first two book in the series first so you'll know all the players. If you already read them, then you will want to read this one regardless of what I say.
The story was fairly interesting, including a tie-in with Jim Jones and his group, but by itself, the story wasn't that exciting. Only the characters and the writing of John Lescroart made it interesting.
I'd recommend reading the first two book in the series first so you'll know all the players. If you already read them, then you will want to read this one regardless of what I say.
caitlinxmartin's review against another edition
4.0
A lot of people weren't pleased when John Lescroart started writing a series about Wyatt Hunt, a San Francisco private investigator. After all, his Dismas Hardy/Abe Glitzsky books are so imminently satisfying who else could we want to know about?
I like Wyatt Hunt. I like the interconnections between the characters in both series. I like the acknowledgement that Dismas and Abe are aging, their lives are changing and settling down, and it might be time to tell some new stories. Since this is one of my all-time favorite series, I was happy to see that rather than letting the series wander off into insignificance and no fun, Lescroart expanded his world a bit, reached out into other characters with other stories. This keeps all of the characters and their stories fresh and prevents Lescroart of going the way of so many series writers who run out of ideas and turn their characters into caricatures (once again, Patricia Cornwell, I'm looking at you).
The Hunter is the third book in the Wyatt Hunt series and Mr. Lescroart is hitting his stride with these characters. He's always been one of the most talented of the writers of crime fiction combined with courtroom drama and has always been one of my personal favorite writers so I tend to like everything he writes, but can also acknowledge ups and downs. The Hunter is one of the best books he's written lately. Great characters, complicated and interesting plot that weaves together the protagonist's attempt to understand what happened to his mother and some 35-40 years of other interconnected murders. Once he throws Jonestown into the mix he's off to the races with you right along with him.
I recently read A Thousand Lives by Julia Scheeres. Ms. Scheeres got access to all of the newly released documents on Jonestown and wrote a book that fundamentally changed my thinking about not just Jonestown, but about other similar gatherings of people of different kinds of faith. She elevated her subjects from the dregs of gullible ignorance to real breathing people with fundamental values and beliefs and hopes to make a better world. It was pretty breathtaking. It also gave me a look into how much The People's Temple was woven into the world of San Francisco and its politics during the brief part of the seventies before the trips to Guyana became permanent and the end became a forgone conclusion. Lescroart's inclusion of this bit of San Francisco history interlaced with the more expected crime fiction makes this book. As always Lescroart's San Francisco is real, palpable, and set within its rich historic context.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommended highly to fans of crime fiction. Read this. You won't be disappointed.
I like Wyatt Hunt. I like the interconnections between the characters in both series. I like the acknowledgement that Dismas and Abe are aging, their lives are changing and settling down, and it might be time to tell some new stories. Since this is one of my all-time favorite series, I was happy to see that rather than letting the series wander off into insignificance and no fun, Lescroart expanded his world a bit, reached out into other characters with other stories. This keeps all of the characters and their stories fresh and prevents Lescroart of going the way of so many series writers who run out of ideas and turn their characters into caricatures (once again, Patricia Cornwell, I'm looking at you).
The Hunter is the third book in the Wyatt Hunt series and Mr. Lescroart is hitting his stride with these characters. He's always been one of the most talented of the writers of crime fiction combined with courtroom drama and has always been one of my personal favorite writers so I tend to like everything he writes, but can also acknowledge ups and downs. The Hunter is one of the best books he's written lately. Great characters, complicated and interesting plot that weaves together the protagonist's attempt to understand what happened to his mother and some 35-40 years of other interconnected murders. Once he throws Jonestown into the mix he's off to the races with you right along with him.
I recently read A Thousand Lives by Julia Scheeres. Ms. Scheeres got access to all of the newly released documents on Jonestown and wrote a book that fundamentally changed my thinking about not just Jonestown, but about other similar gatherings of people of different kinds of faith. She elevated her subjects from the dregs of gullible ignorance to real breathing people with fundamental values and beliefs and hopes to make a better world. It was pretty breathtaking. It also gave me a look into how much The People's Temple was woven into the world of San Francisco and its politics during the brief part of the seventies before the trips to Guyana became permanent and the end became a forgone conclusion. Lescroart's inclusion of this bit of San Francisco history interlaced with the more expected crime fiction makes this book. As always Lescroart's San Francisco is real, palpable, and set within its rich historic context.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommended highly to fans of crime fiction. Read this. You won't be disappointed.
terriep's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
4.5
good because the mystery centers around Hunt's biological parents and what happened to them; his father was tried for his mom's murder when he was a toddler. Now something causes him to find/relive/come to terms with his adoption, his past, his relationships. A more vulnerable Hunt but still a strong mystery.
rfwads's review against another edition
1.0
Very disappointed in this book! I had high expectations going in, especially with the reviews. I felt the story could've been cut in half and been better. It kinda went on and on and just rambled a good bit. I also didn't feel that it was really suspenseful. Maybe it was because I didn't care about the story line or what, but when you found out who really killed Hunt's mom, I was just like really?!?!? Plus the reason behind why she was killed, in my eyes was super lame. They could've really made the reason way better than they did. Overall, I wouldn't recommend this book unless you want to read the series on Hunt!
naturalistnatalie's review against another edition
3.0
A perfectly fine murder mystery. There was quite a bit of emotional distress displayed by Wyatt, which I found unusual in a male protagonist. Finding out about his birth parents required a major shift in his emotional equilibrium. I will say I was less interested in the "how do you feel?" parts and the developing relationship between Wyatt and Tamara than the tracking down of who-done-it. By the end, Wyatt knows who the culprit is but he has no evidence to present to the police. Then the bad guy goes and sets up a stand-off with the police. That's plenty of proof. There was no figuring out who the bad guy was before the reveal, though, because he wasn't even a character in the book until he showed up under suspicion. I much prefer to have a chance to figure out the mystery instead of having it all laid out at the end. But then again, I'm not a big fan of mysteries to begin with.
canada_matt's review against another edition
4.0
A great Lescroart novel, built on suspence, intrigue, and a little humour. The main character is dogged by a mysterious texter, who has him open his closed-off life, in the hopes that he will discover the dirty secrets of his past. Those secrets, in turn, open things wide and force the entire book to turn from a mystery into the search for a murderer. Who is at the heart of this and will everyone end up solving this 40 year old case?
While Lescroart uses his minor characters (you must read his entire collection of works to understand), their promotion to 'major' characters works well. The flow of the storyline and the suspence factor are not lost on me as I flew through the pages of this book. A more mystery-centred story than my preferential legal thriller by Lescroart, I had to focus on development of the plot and characters more than I am used to doing, but it all worked itself out.
Great work Mr. Lescroart. Dismas Hardy hiding there in your mind? Any ideas for putting him back in the driver's seat?
While Lescroart uses his minor characters (you must read his entire collection of works to understand), their promotion to 'major' characters works well. The flow of the storyline and the suspence factor are not lost on me as I flew through the pages of this book. A more mystery-centred story than my preferential legal thriller by Lescroart, I had to focus on development of the plot and characters more than I am used to doing, but it all worked itself out.
Great work Mr. Lescroart. Dismas Hardy hiding there in your mind? Any ideas for putting him back in the driver's seat?
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