Patti

Maybe I have been "reading" too many of her books lately, but they seem to be getting repetitive. Jodi Picoult has a way of getting in deep and telling all sides of a story, but the last three books I have gotten (Mercy, My Sister's Keeper, and now The Pact) have been all too similar.

Someone is dead (or dying). Family and loved ones are devastated. Someone has to be blamed and held responsible. Everything is portrayed in such black and white contrast that I cannot choose who is right and who is wrong. Reality is, that is life.

But Picoult holds it out there as if one has to either hate the "bad guy" or love them, not both. I don't agree.

I don't want to give up on this author, but I hope the other choices I have purchased have a different theme to them.

It took forever for me to get into this story, if I ever truly did. Then there were three times I thought the story was ending, and it didn't. I wish it had. The twists and turns were not credible.

The story line was interesting: a combination of child molestation killings and cop suicides that turn into murder. But the side stories were not interesting. The drama with the journalists family was a surface issue that should have been developed further. The love angle was full of too many contradictions to do anything but make you suspicious of it. And then the ending was impossible. The first two potentials made much more sense.

The narrator's voice was grating at first, but I got used to it. I can't put my finger on what made it strange, but he will not be a favorite of mine. Voice differentiation between characters was adequate.

Truly I am not sure why this author has been so popular. I won't look for his books again.

This was a new author for me. The story overall wasn't bad. The reviews (by both publisher and readers) gave away the most intriguing part. I did not care much for most of the characters. There was nothing real likable about most of them. No sympathy was generated, nor anything I could strongly identify with them.

The husband/detective who was murdered cheated on his wife throughout their marriage. She knew it and attempted to get confirmation from others, not believing their answers. She finds out he had a son by another woman (before they had even married) and that holds a key to discovering the secret behind his death. Why via that route? It made no sense.

The killer was a slimy fellow that the author I think really tried to make you like. It didn't work. In the end he did what was right but so what? He had obviously not done that much in his life which was why he was a slimy fellow.

The big bad guy in the story was truly a creep. But most of his actions are truly unbelievable. He hires a killer but then steps in to help things out along the way. And no one ever suspects him as a criminal. His wife is the biggest dope of all, discovering and confronting him with his sins, even though she has not done anything caring towards him in years.

The narrator definitely has a monotone voice throughout his reading. But oddly enough, this was the best part of the book. It fit better than any of the characters fit together, better than how the story unraveled.

A very strange combination that one could take or leave. I won't be looking to read anything by this author again.

I have just begun to enjoy John Lescroart's books. I stumbled by accident on one in the middle of the Dismas Hardy series and have been trying to figure out the sequence. I don't know where this title fits but it does not really matter. The story is a strong one wth good, solid characters. None are perfect, all are flawed. And therein lies one reason why the story is not only good, but believeable. Except for the ending. I do not want to give it away, but there is a little too much "fairy tale" in how everything turns out so neat and justified at the end. I would not call it a bad ending but I cannot imagne it happening in real life. Regardless, the joy is in the journey and most readers would enjoy this journey. The narration is solid, great differentiation between gender and characters. I am looking forward to more from this author and narrator.

Somehow I missed the fact that this was part of a series, no less #10 of 17. Regardless, I was able to manage the story, even though having the history would have made it more rich.

In fact, now that I know there is a history, it makes sense for my "complaints" about the book. The story of Aiden and Erin was very well done and captivating. Each of their characters are high-acheiving but with faults and cracks. They round each other out very nicely.

But I did not understand why the secondary details were so strong: one couple debating about whether or not to have a third child (via surrogate no less), the romance of a developmentally disabled young man, and ultimately the complicated delivery of a breech baby. Now knowing these secondary characters were all central characters in previous installments, I get it. Doesn't make me like it anymore, but I get it.

This is a good book for summer reading or when you just need a simpler reminder of life with humor and connections.

This was a nice change of, uhm, pace for Baldacci. The suspense and intrigue was not new, but the addition of the teenage character. That threw a new light onto the tough and rough legal hitman perspective. I guess I have to get used to Cassidy as the female voices. I must have a preference for one voice doing all. She must be growing on me as she keeps surfacing in Baldacci's books.

Even though this book may not be his best, it is still pure Baldacci and a good read (or listen). It twisted and turned a lot (maybe too mch). I dd not care for the female narrator or the sound effects. But the suspense outweighs it all.

I absolutely loved Nobody's Fool and was very dissappointed with The Straight Man. This was in the middle of those two. I appreciate Russo's tales for his male perspective. The story is still interesting to me, as a woman, as I can relate to many (not all) of the family, growing up quirks he describes. Families and marriages are never very simple and neither is this story.

I cannot add anything fresh or new to the positive reviews already written about this book. This is one long book in a long series of books that will kep you interested and wanting more. The narration is superb. Surprisingly for the length of these books they do not drag.

This particular story finds the Frasier's in North Carolina, just before the Revolutionary War. Claire and Jamie's daughter, son-in-law and grandson are present, as well as many other highlanders settling on Frasier's Ridge. Fascinating, realistic presentation of life in the 1770's.

I do think Baldacci has been putting out dissappointing stories lately. He is polific in the amount he writes, maybe he needs to slow down on quantity in order to improve on quality. All of the other reviewers have said it well. There are good and bad to the story. I did finish it, because I felt my respect to Baldacci deserved it. And that wasn't totally intolerable. That was in large part because I do enjoy McLarty as a narrator. But as others have said, most of the story line was unbeleiveable and inconsistent. His attempt in having strong female central characters was not successful.

I have enjoyed this genre and culture before but this book did not reach the level of those previously read. Certainly it is not reasonable to compare it to something like Memoir of a Geisha as it doesn't come close. But it isn't a bad choice.

The characters are developed, but they are not complete in their development. In fact, I think that is where the problem originates. We hear a lot about Cho-Cho, Pinkerton, and Nancy. But none of that was enough. It was not until the end of the story that Joey is featured. And at that point, it really is too late. Each of thse characters could have been the primary focus of the book and it would have been fine. Tryng to make them all the focus dilutes their value.

The narration was adequate. Her Japanese voices were acceptable, but her narration of Pinkerton was awful. It just did not ring true to his character.

And that was another main glitch: what was his charater about? Was he as Shapeless felt: a crass self-centered man? Worthy of either Nancy or Cho Cho's love? Did Nancy even truly love him? There were many fragments not answered by the tale, left hanging.

Overall, it wasn't a bad listen but it certainly could have been a lot better.