Whistler's Angel

Rating:
Summary: WOW!!!!!
Review: All of you Maxim readers are going to need afew more spaces on your "favorite characters" list. The new players Mr. Maxim has brought to us in Whistler's Angel are every bit as memorable as our old favorites from earlier Maxim books. Adam and his clever guardian angel Claudia, Whistler's father, the Twins, all marvelous new characters. And how delightful to run into some of our old Bannerman friends. Thank you Mr. Maxim for bringing us up to date with some of Bannerman's people. Was happy to hear that Paul and Susan now have a family. What do you Bannerman fans think Lesko had to say about that?? and can't you just picture the twins slipping behind the bar to give Billy a hand? Glad to see the Maxim "family" of characters enlarged. They will all get along just fine. Can't wait to see them in future books. If you have never read a Maxim try Whistler's Angel with acouple of warnings. Don't start it if you have other things you need to be doing because you will not be able to put it down and then be prepared to make several trips to your nearest book store because one Maxim is never enough! You will want to read them all. My only complaint with Mr. Maxim is that he could never write fast enough for me.

Rating:
Summary: WOW!!!!!
Review: All of you Maxim readers are going to need afew more spaces on your "favorite characters" list. The new players Mr. Maxim has brought to us in Whistler's Angel are every bit as memorable as our old favorites from earlier Maxim books. Adam and his clever guardian angel Claudia, Whistler's father, the Twins, all marvelous new characters. And how delightful to run into some of our old Bannerman friends. Thank you Mr. Maxim for bringing us up to date with some of Bannerman's people. Was happy to hear that Paul and Susan now have a family. What do you Bannerman fans think Lesko had to say about that?? and can't you just picture the twins slipping behind the bar to give Billy a hand? Glad to see the Maxim "family" of characters enlarged. They will all get along just fine. Can't wait to see them in future books. If you have never read a Maxim try Whistler's Angel with acouple of warnings. Don't start it if you have other things you need to be doing because you will not be able to put it down and then be prepared to make several trips to your nearest book store because one Maxim is never enough! You will want to read them all. My only complaint with Mr. Maxim is that he could never write fast enough for me.

Rating:
Summary: Exciting espionafe thriller
Review: Being a chip off the old block once felt great to Adam Whistler who followed his distinguished father into the eerie world of covert operations. However, Adam no longer has a taste for the work and simply wants to quit. The problem is no one in his line of work just changes professions and lives long enough to earn a different retirement. Adam needs a special kind of life insurance, which he negotiates by robbing damning documents about the activities of his nasty boss, Felix Aubrey.

However, in the middle of his protective documents, Adam finds himself holding something more damning and dangerous than just a bit of minor blackmailing fluff he planned to use to keep his own life safe. He turns to his legendary dad who sends him to Claudia Geller for help. Aubrey begins a deadly game to regain the document, leaving Adam and company turning to the great Bannerman and his cohorts as allies in a war between covert professionals.

Best selling author John R. Maxim stretches the maximum acceptance levels of a daring plot by his readers and somehow his talent turns it into a fast-paced story line. The plot never slows down as Adam tries to expedite himself from the business only to land deeper inside its darkest cesspool. Felix seems too nasty to be human yet his machinations make the novel spin forward so that the reader does not care. Throw in Bannerman's return even if he is not the star in this action-packed novel, thereby insuring that WHISTLER'S ANGEL is espionage at its thrilling best.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: He's Done It Again!
Review: For you John R. Maxim fans, he's done it again with Whistler's Angel. Adam Whistler and his guardian angel, Claudia lead the reader through a suspenseful and realistic attempt to leave years of jaded government service with an insurance policy in the form of a damaging ledger purloined from his former boss.

Characters return from earlier novels initially giving you the thought that the "old" JRM was back but then revealing a "new" JRM with a cast of background players reflecting a little age, a little mellowness but the same "help out a friend or family" attitude so well done in his Bannerman series. Those readers enamored of Carla Benedict and Molly Farrell from earlier yarns will have a difficult time putting Whistler's Angel down.

JRM again brings his characters to Hilton Head, South Carolina where they mix with the local population and cause you to wish you lived down the street or around the corner. The marina, complete with local watering hole called Jump & Phil's and a bartender named Leslie will remind readers of another place and time and cause them to wonder if there really is such a place and person(s) on Hilton Head?

The dialog in his latest novel reflects Maxim's tremendous sense of humor and will keep you enthralled from chapter to chapter. His extraordinary narrative skill will cause the fan to go back and read JRM's other offerings and the first time Maxim reader to haunt the bookstores. A great example is his conversation between Whistler's father and Claudia's mother, the single parents of his main characters:

"Want to marry me, Kate?" "Ask me again in two years. That's if I haven't murdered you first." "Fair enough." "Will you let me redecorate? Add some tuches of my own?" "Ask me again in two years."

I'll have a hard time waiting for the further adventures of Whistler and his Angel.

Rating:
Summary: Not quite Bannerman
Review: Fun, fast moving story. Not as involved as Maxim's other Bannerman books and a little bit sillier. The story has the typical Maxim confluence of coincidences upon coincidences that make it all rather unbelievable, but still an entertaining read.

Rating:
Summary: Good fun
Review: Fun, fast moving story. Not as involved as Maxim's other Bannerman books and a little bit sillier. The story has the typical Maxim confluence of coincidences upon coincidences that make it all rather unbelievable, but still an entertaining read.

Rating:
Summary: Typical Maxim, this "Bannerman redux" is a guilty pleasure
Review: I find it interesting to read all these gushing reviews of Maxim and the Bannerman series. Truth be told, Maxim is not at all in the same league as the 'big boys' whose books routinely outsell his, and for good reason. This is not Clancy, or even Ludlum or even, heaven help us, Custler (and yes, I've read everything by every one of them, as well as all of Maxim's other stuff.) The Bannerman series has silly plotting, unbelievable situations, premises and characters, and wooden dialogue. In addition, some of the books are lifted almost verbatim from others in the series. That said, if you happen to be one of those who likes this kind of thing (and if you're reading this, you probably are :-), you'll most likely finish off "Angel" in one or two sittings.

In the same way that Custler, Ludlum and Clancy have recently tried to spin off new series by semi-duplicating their core characters (albeit with other authors doing the actual writing in some cases), this book is the first in a Bannerman spin-off series that Maxim is writing himself. The characters of Adam and Harry Whistler, and their assorted friends and associates, are smudged carbons of the Bannerman gang (who themselves put in an appearance in the final third of the book).

So, although one can't honestly praise much about this book, the bottom line is that it's like eating salted almonds: you know there's no nutritional value, you don't really like the taste, you're not quite sure why you're eating the darned stuff in the first place...but that said, you will almost certainly finish the can [grin]. Same here.

Rating:
Summary: Not quite Bannerman
Review: I found Whistler's Angel enjoyable rather than outstanding. I loved some of John Maxim's other books, but would rate this one as OK in paperback, but I'm glad I didn't buy it in hardback. If it was a movie, I'd call it a rental rather than a movie to see in the theatre...Still, it's not a bad way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon and I'd read it again.

Rating:
Summary: Implausible Story Line
Review: I latched onto this author with Shadow Box, Haven and Mosaic, all enjoyable. I couldn't finish Bannerman's Promise and thought Maxim might redeem himself with Whistler's Angel. It could just as well been titled Bannerman's Angel. None of the characters were believable. The dialouge was straight from a "B" movie. The villains, a parody of "The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight." The only reason I finished this book was because I had no other book as a backup. Unless you're happy with the Bannerman character, I'd advise all to save their money, and I hope Maxim regains his touch.

Rating:
Summary: A Disappointing Book By A Good Author
Review: I normally like Maxim's books BUT - far too much of this book is taken up by some idiot who keeps saying, "Boss, can I kill him now, boss?" etc, etc. An improbable plot where almost everyone in the book is a killer or supervises killers. You are supposed to believe that the "good killers" are better than the "bad killers." The author never even suspects that killing (in and of itself) is evil. No, it is just that the good guys kill better than the baddies. In Maxim's world, as we find it in this book, maiming and killing are okay because the evil doers have asked for it. I'll normally go along with the author and try to "believe" but this story was way too much of a stretch. Try one of Maxim's other books.