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Graham B. (graysand) - Reviews

1 to 19 of 19
61 Hours (Reacher, Bk 14)
61 Hours (Reacher, Bk 14)
Author: Lee Child
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
  • Currently 4.1/5 Stars.
 327
Review Date: 8/7/2011


Reacher at his best. Shocker of an ending.


Any Given Doomsday (Phoenix Chronicles, Bk 1)
Any Given Doomsday (Phoenix Chronicles, Bk 1)
Author: Lori Handeland
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
  • Currently 3.7/5 Stars.
 167
Review Date: 12/7/2008


Bummer. I was expecting a police procedural with a hook, and wound up in a paranormal that reminded me more and more of Darren Shan young-adult novel....


The Breaker
The Breaker
Author: Minette Walters
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
  • Currently 3.6/5 Stars.
 78
Review Date: 10/22/2008
Helpful Score: 1


um....not bad. Quick read. Not as thrilling or suspenseful as many of the reviews made it out to be... but still....


Breathless
Breathless
Author: Dean Koontz
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
 135
Review Date: 1/20/2011


Totally agree with user Formor in her assessment of this stupid book.

I spent the whole story waiting for something to happen, right up until the non-crescendo, at which point I thought to myself "what a waste of time".

Between this one, and his previous 'You Heart Belongs to Me', it's beginning to seem that after his 30 year run of extremely good suspense/thriller stories, Koontz has completely run out of worthwhile plot ideas.


Decipher
Decipher
Author: Stel Pavlou
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
 148
Review Date: 2/3/2010


Scientists perform impossibly huge intellectual leaps of reasoning in astonishingly tight timeframes to discover Atlantis, decrypt messages from lost alien civilizations, create a quantum physics Grand Unified Theory, while simultaneously fighting nuclear WW3 against the Chinese and saving the planet and all life on it from the sun going supernova. Oh, and don't forget the romantic intrigues. All in a weeks work. Oh, too bad about Mercury, Venus, and the Moon.

Gimme a break.

Stooooopid plot, disjointed sophomoric writing, unbelievable almost from page 1.
Pavlou, you're off my list.


Equilibrium: Man is not disturbed by events, but by the view he takes of them"
Review Date: 7/5/2014


I was intrigued by the title, and synopsis.
However, I was unable to actually read the whole book.
This book was clearly self-edited by the author, and not spell-checked or grammar-checked. Aside from the grammatical errors, the author/editor also did not understand the difference between to/too/two, or there/their/they're and "defanately coudn't spell".
It was too painful to read.
It did however make very good kindling.
0 stars.


The Gabon Virus (TSI)
The Gabon Virus (TSI)
Author: Paul McCusker, Walt Larimore M.D.
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.7/5 Stars.
 9
Review Date: 10/13/2009


not a bad thriller, quick read...too many co-incidences to be believable (to me).
As a devout agnostic, i also found portions of it too preachy and just weird.


Gatekeeper (Joe Gunther, Bk 14)
Gatekeeper (Joe Gunther, Bk 14)
Author: Archer Mayor
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 14
Review Date: 6/8/2012


Overall liked it, unusual ending for a police-procedural, or whatever you call this genre. A somewhat less satisfying Joe Gunther than the others I've read so far.


Ice Hunt
Ice Hunt
Author: James Rollins
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 383
Review Date: 3/1/2010


Non-stop action, in places a wee bit farfetched, but overall a book I couldn't put down until finished....


Intervention
Intervention
Author: Robin Cook
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.6/5 Stars.
 61
Review Date: 11/2/2010
Helpful Score: 3


Stilted dialog. Wooden characters. Jagged dialog written with the agenda of sending a specific message, rather than building an entertaining novel. A 430 page lecture.
Stylistically unlike the other Robin Cook medical mysteries I've read.


Into the Deep
Into the Deep
Author: Ken Grimwood
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.4/5 Stars.
 7
Review Date: 12/26/2011
Helpful Score: 1


Picked this Ken Grimwood up after being blown away by his "Replay", but wound up not as satisfied with "Into the Deep" as with his later work.
The rationale behind this underwater Orca/Dolphin war & subsequent peace were never really outlined, and didn't really add anything to the plot at all, except a few descriptive action-oriented sections in a few paragraphs.
Putting that aside, not a bad read, liked but didn't love..


The Lovely Bones
The Lovely Bones
Author: Alice Sebold
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 2278
Review Date: 2/14/2010


Well written, engaging/tearful story. I did find the ending kind of open, with a lack of satisfying closure, so not the kind of book that leaves me feeling "well, that was really good". (And not the kind of book that imho would present itself well as a movie)
Nevertheless, evocative prose style and content of the first 150 pages had me riveted and on verge of tears.


Minutes to Burn
Minutes to Burn
Author: Gregg Hurwitz, Gregg Andrew Hurwitz
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
  • Currently 3.6/5 Stars.
 17
Review Date: 5/4/2010


Not-too-shabby action/suspense novel masquerading under eco-theme. Interesting writing style. The two different subplots taking place at distinct locales (Galapagos high-action and medical-containment-ward) remained unfortunately pretty distinct, and not really woven together by much plot development, as if Hurwitz glued one action novel and a medical thriller together with some binder twine.
A wee bit of deus-ex-machina and fully anticipated final page twist.
Nevertheless, a very decent read, and couldn't put it down.


Priceless (Kick Keswick, Bk 2)
Priceless (Kick Keswick, Bk 2)
Author: Marne Davis Kellogg
Book Type: Hardcover
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 14
Review Date: 11/28/2012


mindless, silly, sophomoric. Filled a rainy day...


Resistance
Resistance
Author: Daniel Kalla
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 19
Review Date: 2/8/2010


Combine a good police procedural with the best of Robin Cook, and you come up with this winner. Well written, good twists right up to the end. Couldn't put it down, can't wait to read more from this author :-)


The Soul Collector (Matt Wells, Bk 2)
The Soul Collector (Matt Wells, Bk 2)
Author: Paul Johnston
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.3/5 Stars.
 8
Review Date: 1/6/2010
Helpful Score: 1


Sequel to "Death List". The author states on his website about "Soul Collector" that "series are actually harder to write than stand-alone novels". No kidding.

I liked "Death List", and even gave it 4 stars, but this sequel is horribly written. Disjoint plot,unconnected events, magical leaps-of-reasoning, deus-ex-machina explanations, more than one plot error in which one character somehow has knowledge of an event that occured to a different character, and it concludes with a horrible segue to the inevitable 3rd book in the series. Unsatisfying to the max. Johnston is off my to-be-read list....


Steel Beach (Eight Worlds, Bk 2)
Steel Beach (Eight Worlds, Bk 2)
Author: John Varley
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.7/5 Stars.
 37
Review Date: 3/1/2010


Seldom, in my 40 years of reading SF, have I encountered a book that I didn't think was worth the effort of bothering to finish. After 150 of its total 560 pages, this one made the short list. Not my cup of tea.


Suspicion of Guilt (Gail Connor and Anthony Quintana, Bk 2)
Suspicion of Guilt (Gail Connor and Anthony Quintana, Bk 2)
Author: Barbara Parker
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.6/5 Stars.
 53
Review Date: 9/24/2010


A good legal thriller, lives up to the the genre. This is the first book by Barbar Parker I've stumbled over, will definitely read more. Ms. Parker listed as a former prosecutor, so she knows her stuff...

However, there was one aspect of this novel that I found very disturbing, and I certainly hope that is not reflective of Ms. Parker's life, or of the law profession as a whole: The main protagonist in this book is a single mother of a 10 year old daughter, and throughout the book the child is constantly ignored or disappointed by her mother constantly placing work-priorities ahead of her daughter, or the child is being scolded for being rude -- when in fact she appears to be simply attempting to call out to her mother for some minimal attention and perhaps at least one unbroken promise -- and the protagonist continually places job, romanitc love, and detective-work far ahead of her daughter. As a parent, I found this repeated theme extremely disturbing. What is also disturbing is the way in which this child-neglect is written makes it appear as if it is construed by the author as normal, and that the child should have just understood that her mother had no time for her. Appalling, in my eyes.

I hope Ms. Parker did not raise her own children in this neglectful manner :-(

Note that all of this is actually incidental to the story line,
but I did find it disturbing....


Tell Me Your Dreams
Tell Me Your Dreams
Author: Sidney Sheldon
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
 122
Review Date: 12/5/2010
Helpful Score: 1


Another Sheldon enjoyable non-stop read.
I did find that it sometimes felt like I was reading his initial outline-sketch for his planned novel, instead of the final detailed finished product....perhaps that's because he was trying to cram a lot of stuff/plot into a finite number of pages...


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