Rating: 
Summary: Far-fetched
Review: If you are a fan of the movie, "Twister" you will probably enjoy this thriller. There is a great deal of storm chasing involved as well as a lot of facts about tornadoes. However, if you are looking for a plausible murder mystery you may want to go on to another selection. I couldn't really enjoy this novel because the premise of how these murders was occuring was just too far-fetched. The reader is expected to believe that someone is murdering people in the path of an oncoming tornado. It's on the ground! Window panes are rattling, tree limbs are flying through the air and the victims are already in their "safe places." This person is able to predict (more than once) with deadly accuracy WHERE these tornadoes will touch down and not only does this person get there in time to commit the crime while the tornado is in progress but also walks away from the scene unharmed ( again, more than once.) If these murders were supposed to be committed by a supernatural being then I would say, okay, but that's not the case. I realize it is a work of fiction but I think it's very distracting that the premise is so unrealistic. If you have ever seen firsthand the devastation caused by a tornado (in my case it was an F5 here in Birmingham) you would understand that no one would just be walking around committing murders and rearranging bodies in the middle of one of these storms. And unfortunately, the technology does not exist to so accurately predict the exact location of a touch down.
Rating:
Summary: corny and stereotyped
Review: I know I stand out as being one of the few that hate! hate!hate! this book. Let me tell ya why. A few years ago I went storm chasing with a tour group. This writer didn't even come close to capturing the feeling of chasing a tornado. It's difficult and challenging and tedious and it's a very rare thing to run into a large tornado. But it is also very beautiful to drive through the plains and let it capture your imagination. I never experienced any of the subtlety or details in the author's story. And the characters are so stereotyped and corny I found myself skimming the book just to get it done. I especially found the main character, charlie, and his relationship with his father to be so predictable when they make up at the end just before the father dies. The female storm chaser is a lame attempt to show an independent woman chasing storms like the guys. It's reminds me of movie "Twister" equally bad. the author could have made her into a real person. If you really want to read a great book about storms on the plains read "Storm Country" by Pete Davies. He really captures the feeling of the landscape, the people, and the severe weather. This book dosen't.
Rating: 
Summary: The Killer is as Destructive as a Tornado
Review: At first it looked like the Pepper family had been killed by a tornado, yet Police Chief Charlie Grover, who is a single father trying to raise a rebellious teenage daughter, can't help but think that maybe it had been murder. Several of the marks on the bodies look like they could have been defensive wounds. Still it takes the discovery of the killer's signature in the lab - each victim had a tooth extracted and replaced with another - before he's convinced he's right. And since there is only one group of people who are likely to know when a tornado is going to strike, the storm chasers, the list of suspects is pretty slim. Included among the storm chasers are his own father, an ex-alcoholic who used to beat him and his mother, as well as the local bad boy his daughter is seeing. To solve the case and catch the killer, who he suspects is stalking him and his daughter, Grover goes on a storm chase with Dr. Willa Bellman, a scientist at the local wind research facility who also tugs on his heartstrings. On that chase he experiences the awesome power of a tornado. The risk is high, the tension drips, the killer has to be stopped and I predict you won't be able to put the book down, even if you do, as I did, figure out fairly early who the killer is. This whirlwind of a book has movie written all over it, so don't be surprised if you see it at your local cinema sometime in the near future. Alice Blanchard has written another winner. Review submitted by Katie Osborne
Rating: 
Summary: Just Okay
Review: There were good things about this book, and there were bad things. First of all, I found it very distracting that all of the characters were motherless. Every one of them. Was there a point to that? I don't think so, I think it was just bad character development. Too many of the characters were the same, the former football player cops, the child abuse suffered by more than one character. It also didn't ring true that Charlie would be so quick to forgive his father for the abuse he suffered.
I thought the murders and the mystery were interesting, and quite frightening, Alice Blanchard did a good job with that. But all in all, not a great book, I'm not even sure I would recommend it to friends.
Rating:
Summary: super entertainment
Review: I really enjoy reading Blanchard's books. They leave me with deep impressions of the central characters. I am so glad that I purchased this book and look forward to her next!
Rating:
Summary: Polished Pageturner
Review: Usually I find thrillers hard to finish due to cliched writing and lack of plausibility. This one swept me to the end with style. The set-up and action were plausible, interesting, and tightly written, and the characters were not stereotypes.
Rating:
Summary: Captivating!
Review: The Breathtaker was absolutely gripping! It was as much an education on the secret world of storm chasers as it was a captivating tale. I particularly enjoyed how well Blanchard developed the characters, and knitted the forensics together. Bravo!
Rating:
Summary: A literary page turner.
Review: This book is a real page turner, I couldn't put it down. It has such great detail you feel like you're storm chasing. You never see this level of writng with such an intriguing plot. The characters are so believable they come to life before your eyes. Read it, it will make you want to take a trip through tornado alley.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome!
Review: I've been anxiously awaiting Alice Blanchard's next book since reading Darkness Peering several years ago. The Breathtaker certainly doesn't disappoint! I couldn't put it down.
Rating:
Summary: Really great read!
Review: This was a great book. The plot is really excellent and all the characters I found to be interesting. Also, didn't figure out the villain and was totally surprised when the author reveals who it is. Good tech talk with the tornado chasers and it's the kind of book where you actually learn something while being entertained. I look forward to more books by this author.
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