Rating: 
Summary: One star is generous
Review: This book could have been boiled down to about 50 pages. There was no industrial espionage, as touted on the back cover, between UpLink and the rival outfit (I can't even remember the company's name - a great indication of how forgettable this "book" is.) Uplink, and its employees seem to play a secondary role as the author seems to be more interested in showing off his knowledge of the New York jewelry community's inner workings.The author also seemed to want to show off his walking tour ability of New York, and to whine about restrictive smoking regulations and where to get a good cup of coffee. The parts with Gordian erecting a rock wall (and no explanations of metaphors, please!) are complete throw-away scenes intended to pad an already over-long, meandering, almost stream-of-consciousness novella. The fact that the author can keep a stream rambling for pages at a time is testimony to the fact that he was not interested in the main characters in the least. An entire paragraph devoted to the inventory of a Chinatown shop? Come on! I like meat on my bone. This awful story left me starving.
Rating:
Summary: One star is generous
Review: This book could have been boiled down to about 50 pages. There was no industrial espionage, as touted on the back cover, between UpLink and the rival outfit (I can't even remember the company's name - a great indication of how forgettable this "book" is.) Uplink, and its employees seem to play a secondary role as the author seems to be more interested in showing off his knowledge of the New York jewelry community's inner workings. The author also seemed to want to show off his walking tour ability of New York, and to whine about restrictive smoking regulations and where to get a good cup of coffee. The parts with Gordian erecting a rock wall (and no explanations of metaphors, please!) are complete throw-away scenes intended to pad an already over-long, meandering, almost stream-of-consciousness novella. The fact that the author can keep a stream rambling for pages at a time is testimony to the fact that he was not interested in the main characters in the least. An entire paragraph devoted to the inventory of a Chinatown shop? Come on! I like meat on my bone. This awful story left me starving.
Rating:
Summary: If 0 stars were an option that would be my vote
Review: This book is not worth reading. I made the mistake of not putting it down despite the horrible condescending tone of the author, waiting for the book to get better, hoping the rambling, unconnected attempts at a plot would congeal into something of substance. IT NEVER HAPPENED. I don't think I have ever been so disappointed and mad at myself for wasting my time on a novel before. Indeed, I have never been driven to write a review before but hope I can save someone the pain of reading this poorly written, uninspired pulp. How can Clancy let his name appear on the cover? I am also going for another first here. I'm going to tear the book apart and throw it in the trash. It needs to be recycled.
Rating:
Summary: If 0 stars were an option that would be my vote
Review: This book is not worth reading. I made the mistake of not putting it down despite the horrible condescending tone of the author, waiting for the book to get better, hoping the rambling, unconnected attempts at a plot would congeal into something of substance. IT NEVER HAPPENED. I don't think I have ever been so disappointed and mad at myself for wasting my time on a novel before. Indeed, I have never been driven to write a review before but hope I can save someone the pain of reading this poorly written, uninspired pulp. How can Clancy let his name appear on the cover? I am also going for another first here. I'm going to tear the book apart and throw it in the trash. It needs to be recycled.
Rating:
Summary: Tom Clancy it is not!
Review: This book purports to be a Tom Clancy - it is not! It has to be the worst book I have ever read. The plot is convoluted to the point of boredom. The 'English' is dreadful and the structure terrible - no 'chapter' is longer than a couple of pages. I don't know which book Mr Nostrum read but it sure as hell wasn't this one! I will not be buying any more Tom Clancy - lesson learned! It is a disgrace that second rate authors should masquerade as well known writers - a clever selling ploy - it fooled me - once. If you want a good nights sleep, buy this book!
Rating:
Summary: Do not buy this book!
Review: This is an overwritten, poorly plotted attempt by J. Preisler to ride on Tom Clancy's coat tails. The fact that a great author like Clancy would allow his name to be associated with such trash is deplorable. At best, he should offer his longterm readers an apology as well as their $8 back. Preisler goes into agonizing detail about a myriad of confusing characters entwined in a plot which makes absolutely no sense. It's unclear at virtually any point in the book the identity of either the hero or the antihero. The fact that the ending of the book is the only action in the entire novel and covers roughly 20 pages should give you an idea of how agonizing a read this really is.
Rating:
Summary: Power plays Zero Hour
Review: To D-G-S from Chevy Chase: You're right about one thing: we must have read different books because the copy of ZERO HOUR I have in front of me, which has nearly 350 pages, consists of a total of eight chapters, all of which are quite long. If the book you read, therefore, has no chapters that are "more than a couple" of pages in length, simple addition indicates its total number of pages equals ten (10).That's preschool math, Mr D-G-S. Thus it seems you are in error. Either that, or your d-g ate the other 340+ pages before you got to them. Another thing. The book does not purport to be written by Tom Clancy. Its cover credits clearly read "Created by Tom Clancy and Martin Greenberg, Written by Jerome Preisler". This is true of all seven books in the Power Plays series. The fact that you did not recognize this before making your purchase speaks of no dishonesty by the store, publisher, Mr. Clancy, or anyone else but rather shows your skills in reading the English language to be the sorry equal of your mathematical ones.
Rating: 
Summary: The Book I Read
Review: To D-G-S from Chevy Chase: You're right about one thing: we must have read different books because the copy of ZERO HOUR I have in front of me, which has nearly 350 pages, consists of a total of eight chapters, all of which are quite long. If the book you read, therefore, has no chapters that are "more than a couple" of pages in length, simple addition indicates its total number of pages equals ten (10).That's preschool math, Mr D-G-S. Thus it seems you are in error. Either that, or your d-g ate the other 340+ pages before you got to them. Another thing. The book does not purport to be written by Tom Clancy. Its cover credits clearly read "Created by Tom Clancy and Martin Greenberg, Written by Jerome Preisler". This is true of all seven books in the Power Plays series. The fact that you did not recognize this before making your purchase speaks of no dishonesty by the store, publisher, Mr. Clancy, or anyone else but rather shows your skills in reading the English language to be the sorry equal of your mathematical ones.
Rating:
Summary: The book I read Part II
Review: To the anonymous reader from California: You crossed out all those sentences, huh? Must have lotsa time on your hands. But waitaminnit . . . wait just a gol-durn minute here! I see now that your "review" was of the AUDIO CD version of the novel. Wow, there's a really neat trick, crossing out those words on a CD, I mean! You'll have to patent that technique; bet it'll earn you a fortune. Also, I've never heard of nonessential (or "not essential", as you put it) characterization. Couldja explain the concept to us sometime? 'Cause I was kinda made to feel sorry for that woman you mentioned (whose murder -- as well as the fact that she had a kid in playschool -- was key to the plot in about a dozen ways). Yee-ee-eesh.
Rating:
Summary: The book I read Part II
Review: To the anonymous reader from California: You crossed out all those sentences, huh? Must have lotsa time on your hands. But waitaminnit . . . wait just a gol-durn minute here! I see now that your "review" was of the AUDIO CD version of the novel. Wow, there's a really neat trick, crossing out those words on a CD, I mean! You'll have to patent that technique; bet it'll earn you a fortune. Also, I've never heard of nonessential (or "not essential", as you put it) characterization. Couldja explain the concept to us sometime? 'Cause I was kinda made to feel sorry for that woman you mentioned (whose murder -- as well as the fact that she had a kid in playschool -- was key to the plot in about a dozen ways). Yee-ee-eesh.
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