Dark Homecoming

Rating:
Summary: DARK HOMECOMING, TRULY SPELL BINDING
Review: A brilliant read, as Lew Croaker sets out to deal with his own inner turmoil of a broken realationship with his Sister, and the idea of killing a man in cold blood, for a chance of life for his 15 year old Niece whom he has only just met! He has killed before but only in self defence, so can he overcome the churning of a Police officer's instincts. The books plot takes turns sharper than a Swiss piste. The Character of Lew is very well written, and has appeared previously in the Nicholas Linnear novels by Lustbader. This book gives us a more intimate view of his character. We are also shown a very vibrant and intense side of Miami that some of us may not know exists. There are several nail biting moments, where we don't know if the hero will strike clean ground. If you enjoyed the Linnear novels, and also enjoy a slight twist of Native magic thrown in then this is a good read.

Rating:
Summary: A great read by a master talent
Review: After fifteen years as one of New York's finest, Lew Croaker is warn out so he moves to Florida for some rest and relaxation on a fishing boat. Because of the danger from his last case (he lost a hand), Lew feels his mortality more than most people. He truly wants to reconcile with his sister Matty, who he has not spoken with in years. He wants to meet for the first time and spoil his teenage niece, Rachel. ..... However, the first meeting between Lew and Rachel is an unhappy affair. Due to a drug overdose, Rachel is in a deep coma, desperately in need of an immediate kidney transplant. Hope suddenly arises when attorney Marcellus Majeur offers a deal that Lew cannot refuse. The lawyer's clients, the Bonita twins, want drug lord Juan Garcia Barbacena dead. If Lew kills him, a perfectly matched kidney will miraculously appear. The Feds are also looking over Lew's shoulder as the government apparently want to take the twins down. Though he may not like it, Lew knows what he must do (and the readers must read the novel to find out what he eventually does). ..... Lew Croaker, the transplanted New Yorker, is a great character haunting the streets of South Florida as he struggles to do what is right while being squeezed between a rock and a hard place. DARK HOMECOMING is the usual action packed, violent filled, and fast paced thriller that readers expect from Eric Lustbader, but this time around the book has two major story lines that leave the reader weary from trying to follow them. This chutzpah-laden, audacious fan-girl recommends the novel be rewritten into two books because the sum of the superb parts does not equal a satisfying whole. Instead it leaves a what if sadness because either story line, in of themselves, were quite worthy of standing alone. .....Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: A story where timing is everyhting.
Review: As always Mr.Lustbader can tell a good story with excitement galore. It does not, however, compare with earlier titles such as 'The Kaisho' and/or 'Floating City'. I would have enjoyed the book a lot more had it told us in parallel what exactly was happening in Barbacena's life as the action evolved.

Rating:
Summary: Croacker gets by without Nicholas Linnear
Review: Despite of the lack of exotic settings and having a more ordinary hero,this novel is still a page-turner, thanks to the complexity of its charachters. Croaker ends up being a much more intersting person than Nicholas Linnear (who is something of a demi-god by now), however, DH lacks the thrilling changes of location in time and space characteristic of former novels. It's on the whole a fine novel, but I would suggest Mr, Lustbader to improve his Spanish spelling and grammar, there are lots of mistakes which undermine the credibility of the Spanish-speaking characters.

Rating:
Summary: A Dark Dissapointment
Review: I have been a loyal Lustabder fan for the past 5 years and have read 10 of his titles. I have loved reading his incredibly descriptive style as he paints a pictue of political intrigue, family and spiritual ties and intense eroticism. But this book was not nearly up to par with his past works. The entire plot was overly confusing and too full of coincidences. If the Bonita twins were so powerful, why do they even need Lew Croaker, detective extraordinaire, to do a hit job for them? Especially since they ended up carrying it out themselves after all? Lustabder always has multiple charcacters, but in this title, they were all a jumble. The twins in their little white death truck seemed silly, and the severed heads and incestual sado-masochism was at some points was a little sickening. I was anxiously awaiting for this novel after Lustbader's hiatus, but this was definitely not worth the wait.

Rating:
Summary: ABSOLUTELY FABOLOUS
Review: I have to say that this book is one of Eric Lustbader's finest. He does a good follow up of Lew Croaker from the last book Floating City. This book is worth reading and buying for all the Lustbader fans out there.

Rating:
Summary: Ninja it's Not
Review: If you loved Ninja then prepare to be disappointed. None of the fascinating detail that made Ninja such a page turner. Minor moments when describing the world of Heta I, a South American healing art that stores power in stones. Lew Croaker's biomechanical hand has more of a personality then Lew, and is much more fascinating.

Twisted plot involving South American magic, South Florida sleaziness, black market human organs, and secret government agenices.

Although I read this book to the end, I can't say I recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: not for a lustbader fan
Review: the books of mr.Lustbader have something different from the others:a way of seeing things unusual.This book has nothing like this.By far his best ones were JIAN and SHAN.Anyway,i'm still one of his fans

Rating:
Summary: Good action book with multiple, complex plots.
Review: Well written and suspensefull. You never quite figure out the characters until the end.