Brian H

A few of the stories were good, a couple were not.  What I find very frustrating with most of Deaver’s short story collections is that many or most of the stories were previously published, either individually or in another collection.  In this book, seven of the nine stories were in the last collections book, Dead Ends.  Three of the stories were in at least one other collection.  Beware future collections, check the story list before buying.  This book was not worth it for 2 short stories.  I still really like his books but wish he would stop this practice of including old work in new collections.

Just okay.  Not a lot of intrigue. Nothing new on the main characters.  Short and probably worth the time to read, just to read the whole series.

I thought the book was pretty good.  The story was different than all the other books in the series.  It held my interest but I wished that it had more art history in it.  Gabriel or anyone connected with him was never in any danger which is one of the reasons I don’t think this book was as good as most or all of the other books in the series.  The author’s dislike for the current American president comes through loud and clear again and I find it unnecessary.  While Gabriel is retired, i wish there was more connection to his past Israeli intelligence work.  Despite all that, I still recommend the book.

I listened to this book.  I think if I had to read it, I would have rated it even lower.  The story had no flow and not sure there was even a story.  Maybe if I read this book 50 years ago, I would have appreciated it.  I don’t recommend this book.

I very much liked the story despite the main crime of children being killed.  Cosby really made me understand and feel the ongoing racism in small Southern towns.  The main character, Sheriff Titus, was believable and I wanted him to succeed and overcome his past failures.  So, I would recommend this book but wish I could offer some suggestions to improve his future books.  First, I thought there were too many characters or too many that were not described adequately.  The bad guy totally comes out of the blue, not preferable for a mystery where the reader is always trying to figure out who done it.  Doesn’t seem like 3 sadistic people working together in such a small town is realistic, especially mixed races in a rural Southern town.

I really enjoyed reading this book. Couldn’t put it down, I think because it was fast paced, and I was rooting for the main character to survive. I could feel her heat and loneliness. I thought the book was fast-paced and held my attention. However, if I could give some advice to the author, I would say that the crazy strength and other survival actions from a non-in shape woman were unrealistic also reduce repetitive information, like that the Antarctic winters are so much more harsh than summer. I felt there were some personal agenda items from the author related to global warming and “the current president“ (implied) that I personally am tired of. Even with this, the book kept my interest, and I plan to read his next book.

Overall, I liked the book.  I liked that it did not spend much time defining the quantum computing technology, and it didn’t need to.  As a spy thriller, it was not action packed.  There was no super spy or anti-hero.  The side story of racism and discrimination in the espionage community was different for a thriller but it made me root for the main character and despise his superiors.  The author should consider a sequel but have the ending be less predictable.  Still, it was worth the read and I plan to read more.

Well, the book was pretty good in the end.  I disliked the two main characters, especially the husband.  I was routing for the detective.  Despite this, the story kept me interested and there were lots of surprises.  I especially liked the ending, definitely did not predict.  

While I had trouble getting through the book, it dragged on sometimes, it is a must read.  It is depressing but many concepts related to Big Brother watching and controlling all aspects of our life sometimes feel valid to current times.  Consider watching the movie, pretty good adaptation and much shorter.

The story revolves around Lachlan (Lockie) Kite, a poor kid from Scotland who somehow gets accepted at an expensive and prestigious boarding school, Alford.  He is recruited into Box 88, a covert US/UK espionage group while in school.  The book alternates between Lockie in school and his current middle aged version which starts at the funeral of his best friend from Alford. I found this technique very effective in holding my interest.  I also liked the way the story weaved in real life events like the downing of the plane in Lockerbie Scotland and fatwa against Salomon Rushdie in Iran.  The character development is outstanding.  The author clearly gets across how Lockie grows from a naive boy in school to a skilled spy.  I highly recommend this book.  Lots of suspense and it keeps you hanging for the next novel in the series.

Overall, I liked the book.  This story comes at a time when everyone is frazzled with all aspects of life, job, family, house etc. and artificial intelligence is now a reality.  Everyone is really afraid of this technology taking over so the story is very timely.  Hurwitz does a great job developing the characters and I especially liked his description of the autistic daughter.  The family decides to procure an advanced AI robot to solve all their problems.  The book kept my interest throughout, but my only complaint was the ending was too predictable.

This book was just ok.  I thought the characters were not developed early enough or in enough detail for me to be invested.  The main characters behaviors were inconsistent with what you would expect from seasoned assassins in their 60’s.  They behaved like teenagers which made the story less believable.  I also found the ending part of the story unbelievable.