The Broken Hearts Club: A Thriller

Rating:
Summary: Off to a good start.
Review: As debut novels go, this one was fairly good. The author introduces us to Conrad Voort, a police officer who comes from a long family line of law enforcement officers, and who also just happens to be the 'richest cop in New York'. Although Voort's personal relationship has just hit the skids, work must continue. He and his partner (who is also wealthy) must track down a killer who is leaving the initials BHC at each of the murder scenes. About half way through the book, the author throws in a wonderful twist as to the identity of the members of the Broken Hearts Club. The only real downside to this book is the author's continuing references regarding Voort's wealth in places where it isn't relevant to the storyline. When the author does this, it detracts from the storyline and the fact Voort is excellent cop with a sharp mind.

Rating:
Summary: Nothing original
Review: Dr. Bainbridge assembles a group of men who all suffer the same thing--they've been dumped by women they loved, and they meet each week to discuss their heartache. But then women begin to die in horrible ways. Is there a connection? Nick Voort is the extremely wealthy and well-dressed NYC detective assigned to try to crack the case of these gruesome but seemingly related deaths.

That sounds great except there isn't a great deal that's original about this story. The killer is typical thriller fare, the detective is tough with a sensitive side, and everything seems to pull together despite some rather large plot holes. Along the way, the reader is privvy to Voort's love life, a great deal of rather graphic, steamy sex--which might possibly be the best parts of the novel--and the inner workings of the killer or killers. Black also describes in great detail the expensive clothes worn by most of the characters. This along with my inability to buy into the idea of not one but two very wealthy NYC detectives who are supersleuths really annoyed me and made me want to throw the book across the room at times. I was also disappointed in the television version of the psychology used within the books; it seems to be pulled from every trite movie-of-the-week and pulp thriller that's out there.

So, why do I give this a higher rating than 1? I actually enjoyed reading the novel for the most part. Sure, it's not very original, but this is good summertime reading, and it helps to kill a few hours. I was able to read the entire book without giving up on it, so that scores some points in my opinion. Give it a try, just don't expect anything remarkable or original.

Rating:
Summary: Would You Kill that Woman Who Dumped You if You Could?
Review: Dr. Bainbridge is a psychologist in New York who started the Broken Hearts Club for men who've had bad relationships. These guys get together in the backroom of a steakhouse and fantasize about getting even with the women who have wronged them, sometimes they're a little loud and on occasion maybe even violent.

Then women whose names have come up in the meetings, women who've been fantasized about, start winding up dead, but the club guys all have alibis. Detective Conrad Voort, the wealthiest detective in the NYPD, doesn't see how these murders could be related, but they have to be, don't they?

I liked this book about four stars worth, maybe a little more. I read it in two sittings, when usually I start a book at around five or six in the evening and read till I finish, sometime around ten or eleven (no television, don't cha know), so I guess because I was able to put it down and go to sleep early is way I'm taking away that last star.

Reviewed by Vesta Irene

Rating:
Summary: This Is As Good As Detective Fiction Ever Gets!
Review: Fresh, original, imaginative, well-written...these words and other superlatives can be applied to the three murder mysteries written by Ethan Black. In this novel the members of 'The Broken Hearts Club' kill the women who "done them wrong." Conrad Voort, the richest detective on the NYC force, is in hot pursuit. What also makes for good reading is the private life of Voort whose family history and romantic/sexual adventures are woven seamlessly into the story. If you read one Ethan Black novel, you'll read them all. This is the first in the series.

Rating:
Summary: Great story...poor research and editorial review.
Review: I'm beginning to feel like a broken record. Ethan Black has written a very good book and then filled it with little inaccuracies. I've already mentioned in another review ("All the Dead Were Strangers") that Mr. Black seems fixated on .38 caliber handguns (both real and imaginary), even though virtually no law enforcement organization currently uses this caliber. In writing this book, someone has apparently told Mr. Black that Medeco (TM) locks are very secure. Therefore, Mr. Black makes virtually every lock a "Medico" lock, not even bothering to find out how to spell it properly. He uses "Medico" at least four times in the book. Folks, this may be small of me, but it is inconceivable that an author could put as much work and love into a book as Mr. Black does and then fail to catch such gross errors. And where are the editors? Any knowledgeable and experienced editor should have found this error. There are more examples, but....let's just say that the story is good, the writing is good, and the author needs to do a little more research (...).

Rating:
Summary: A very shaky start to a series
Review: The Broken Hearts Club is a small group of men who have broken up with their girlfriends and just can't seem to get over it. They meet every Thursday night with their psychologist in the back room of a restaurant where they discuss their failed relationships and try to offer each other support and understanding.

One night, after a particularly emotional meeting, the unthinkable happens and one of the men decides it's time to confront the woman who caused him so much heartache. The result is a most brutal murder and you get the sense that a monster has been unleashed on the streets of New York City.

Taking the case is Conrad Voort, a millionaire homicide cop, and his equally affluent partner Mickie. Their investigation begins perfectly normally although they are hampered by a distinct lack of clues apart from the letters BHC gouged into the victim's kitchen table. On the part of Voort and Mickie we are taken through the standard police procedure of tracking down known friends and enemies and paper trails. Progress is slow until victim number 2 is found.

Meanwhile, we're made privy to the build-up to each murder as we sit in on each meeting of the Broken Hearts Club and the emotion that starts to simmer as each man recounts his tale of woe at the hands of a heartless woman. The inevitability of the trip to each woman's apartment each week is terrible in the knowledge of how the visits will end.

As I said earlier, the premise of the book is good, but there are problems that I found annoying at first and then later had me just plain frustrated. To start with, Black has decided to include graphic sex scenes between Voort and his girlfriend which, while it doesn't offend me at all, was completely irrelevant to the story. Sex scenes are fine with me if they're in context with the story but the detail used here was reminiscent of some of the stuff found in Penthouse Forum - and about as believable too.

I felt coincidence played too large a part in the investigation, so much so that I found myself rolling my eyes as yet another improbable lead resulted in a home run for the police. I put this down to clumsy plotting and was just a little disappointed that it seemed unlikely that I was going to be wowed by the police work. The disappointment flowed through to the ending which I felt was built on glaringly obvious plot holes in an attempt to force the feeling of tension so much so that rather than build tension, I found that I was frustrated to distraction by the contrived nature of the final showdown.

THE BROKEN HEARTS CLUB is Ethan Black's debut novel, but apart from an interesting opening premise, it is hampered by clumsy plotting, needlessly graphic scenes and a twist that was revealed way too early in the book. All in all I was disappointed with THE BROKEN HEARTS CLUB. The idea of a wealthy homicide cop who has the means to circumvent authority has the potential to be quite refreshing compared with the majority of stories featuring over-worked underpaid cops who deal with personal issues that invariably lead to broken marriages and drinking problems.


Rating:
Summary: Rori says....
Review: They meet every week in the shabby back room of a bar in New York City. An unofficial group of men has one thing in common which they all suffer the wound of a broken heart. But soon their anger turns into hatred. The rejection turns into rage. And the Broken Hearts Club spins fiercely out of control exploding into murderous acts of revenge. Detective Voort has been assigned to the case and is determined to capture a mysterious killer who is always one death ahead of him and who appears to switch identities with each new victim. Then Voort falls victim to his own broken heart and as his ex-girlfriend unknowingly becomes the target of a frightening new type of serial terror. The story is placed in New York. I didn't really care for this book because it didn't really interest me. I'm not really into the whole mystery killer type of thing. I am more interested into the more humor books that make me laugh like not serious stories. Something that I learned form this book is that just one person can really affect someone else's life not only mentally but also emotionally as well as physically. When I was finished readying this book I learned something about myself. I learned that before I say or do something I should think about how that person might feel or how that person might react. I think this book is ok. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy reading mystery as well as romance.

Rating:
Summary: I am no prude, but...
Review: This is one of the most hideous, vile, pathetic parodies of mystery-thriller fiction that I've read in a long time. It is completely and utterly ...... repulsive. The .... between Conrad Voort and his girlfriend that is. But entirely doing away with the juvenile giggling-hand-in-front-of-mouth childishness of the ..... would do very little to improve Mr. Black's efforts. For the style in which this parody of literature is written is, at best, confusing and, at worst, totally incomprehensible. So, do yourself one gigantic favor and skip this book, and if you've bought but haven't yet got around to reading it, drive to your local secondhand bookstore and toss this puppy into the bargain bin and pick yourself up a Sallie Bissell or Ridley Pearson. Leave this reprehensible trash for the garbage man.

Rating:
Summary: just plain bad psychology
Review: This novel is not particularly distinguished-- the characters and settings are a bit too generic-- but what really got to me was the psychology. It is just bad. The details of the mental disorder that the killer suffers from are straight from a bad made-for-TV movie and have no relation to reality at all. He even gets the name wrong, using a distorted form of the old label for this disorder. To me, a good novel must first and foremost have decent psychology behind it, or else it doesn't work. Even comic book and fantasy stories must be grounded in good psychology in order to work and create a connection to the reader. To fudge on this undermines the story in a big way. Maybe he could have gotten away with this if he had gone into the mind of the killer a little more, but he doesn't, probably so he could create some half-hearted red herrings in the first half of the novel.

Also, what I found even more bizarre than the events in the book was a three-page interview at the end between the author and his fictional detective (!?!?!?). If an author wants to generate interest in a character, why not do it in the context of the novel itself? Thumbs down for me.

Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: This was a great pschological thriller. It contains sex, violence, lust, murder and much more. Black is a clever writer because the plot throws any reader for a loop, due to its unexpected results regarding the BHC. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys horror/thriller novels.