Prayers for the Dead (Bookcassette(r) Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Faye's Finest!
Review: Along with the police suspense, search for the muderer story line which Faye always develops well, one continues to experience the trials and tribulations of Rina and Peter's marital and relationship issues. Here, they struggle with religious and moral limits to trust and committment and Rina, for the first time in Faye's books, falters a bit. Faye always balances the professional and personal/relationship aspects of her stories beautifully. Great reading

Rating:
Summary: Not for the fainthearted...
Review: As a frequent business traveler I first picked up a Faye Kellerman book in Paris airport in November '99, and am totally hooked. The author writes a tightly woven story with warmth and humor while retaining a real sense of tension around the central characters. The subjects of this series can be pretty disturbing, but the reader's revulsion is always mirrored by Decker's and one can only empathise with his family strife. Keep it up Ms Kellerman, I hate finishing your books.

Rating:
Summary: A little missing on the nuances
Review: As someone who grew up in an orthodox Christian home (read fundamentalist) I was amused by the heavy handedness of this novel. For someone who is so superb at writing the nuances and sophistication of orthodox Judiasm, I was surprised to see how little she understood orthodox Christianity -- or if she did not claim to understand it, why she would write about it. So many things were off -- the names, the language, the prayers, the culture. I didn't find it insulting as much as I realized she simply didn't know.

Rating:
Summary: A little missing on the nuances
Review: As someone who grew up in an orthodox Christian home (read fundamentalist) I was amused by the heavy handedness of this novel. For someone who is so superb at writing the nuances and sophistication of orthodox Judiasm, I was surprised to see how little she understood orthodox Christianity -- or if she did not claim to understand it, why she would write about it. So many things were off -- the names, the language, the prayers, the culture. I didn't find it insulting as much as I realized she simply didn't know.

Rating:
Summary: Family secrets
Review: Dr. Azor Sparks, a prominent heart specialist, is found brutally murdered. Lieutenant Peter Decker is called in on the case and he discovers that the doctor fathered some very dysfunctional children who stood to benefit from their father's life insurance policy. To complicate matters, Dr. Sparks was developing a controversial new drug, and several people had a motive to disrail his research. A third complication is Dr. Sparks' unlikely association with a motorcycle gang with whom he rode on weekends. As always, Faye Kellerman weaves disparate threads into an interesting pattern and intertwines Peter Decker's professional and personal lives. In this book Peter's wife Rina has an unusual connection with one of the murder suspects and this creates some tension between the two of them. This is another winner from Faye Kellerman.

Rating:
Summary: Family secrets
Review: Dr. Azor Sparks, a prominent heart specialist, is found brutally murdered. Lieutenant Peter Decker is called in on the case and he discovers that the doctor fathered some very dysfunctional children who stood to benefit from their father's life insurance policy. To complicate matters, Dr. Sparks was developing a controversial new drug, and several people had a motive to disrail his research. A third complication is Dr. Sparks' unlikely association with a motorcycle gang with whom he rode on weekends. As always, Faye Kellerman weaves disparate threads into an interesting pattern and intertwines Peter Decker's professional and personal lives. In this book Peter's wife Rina has an unusual connection with one of the murder suspects and this creates some tension between the two of them. This is another winner from Faye Kellerman.

Rating:
Summary: Her best book since the first ones
Review: Faye Kellerman's recent books have read like books that her publisher pushed her into writing. "Faye, baby, let's have another book quick while you're still hot. Just bang it out, and you'll sell a million."Prayers for the Dead, however, lets Kellerman develop her characters and her plot as threads as intertwined as the strands of the tzitsis. If you liked the early Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus books, you'll like this one. Read the description for the plot line, read the book for Kellerman's deft touch with a compelling read.

Rating:
Summary: Her best book since the first ones
Review: Faye Kellerman's recent books have read like books that her publisher pushed her into writing. "Faye, baby, let's have another book quick while you're still hot. Just bang it out, and you'll sell a million." Prayers for the Dead, however, lets Kellerman develop her characters and her plot as threads as intertwined as the strands of the tzitsis. If you liked the early Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus books, you'll like this one. Read the description for the plot line, read the book for Kellerman's deft touch with a compelling read.

Rating:
Summary: One of Faye Kellerman's best books.
Review: Having read three other Faye Kellerman novels, this one was by far the best. I found it difficult to put the book down, and was fascinated by all of the characters, twists and turns. I very much enjoyed the expanded "role" Rina had in this book and would hope to see more of the Decker's relationship in future books.

Rating:
Summary: This book kept me thinking
Review: I have never read Faye Kellerman before, and I expected something different from this book, because I had read her husband's work, which was not religious in any way. "Prayers for the Dead" did much to disguise the real killer. However, after wading through a lot of Jewish vs. Christian material, it was hardly a surprise to see that the UN-Christian, UN-holy bikers had perpetrated the evil plot. On Mrs. Kellerman's behalf, I can say that the book was very accurate on all accounts. However, the actual plot lacked "twist" due to the abrupt ending wherein those who hated gays were those who hated authority. Perhaps if I had more experience related to the Jewish lifestyle, I would more fully appreciate this work. Nevertheless, I read it until the end and was happy to see that the Catholic priest was innocent, despite his tragic death. Not much of a review, considering that I've told the whole plot...but, there you have it.