The Angel Maker

Rating:
Summary: A NO-NO FOR ME!!!!!!!!!!!1
Review: I really enjoyed Undercurernts, the first book with Lou Bolt so I thought I would get the second one, The Angel Maker. Boy was that a mistake. It was way to bloody and gross for me. I may try the third one in the series but if like this one I will be through. The Angel Maker is bad, bad. I did not even finish the book and that is very unusual for me. When Dr. Elden Tegg cut the heart out of a man that was still alive and carried it, bouncing it like ball in his hand, down to the cages and fed it to one of his dogs, I left it. To much, way to much for me. If yo want a book full of blood and gore this is the book for you. If you don't, then pass this one by.

Rating:
Summary: What a bore!
Review: I tried to play dumb to read along, but since from the very beginning all the clues were so obvious, I really didn't know why I had to play sucker along with this poorly plotted dumbfounded book. I finally threw it away before the airplane landed. I put it at an obvious place and tried to suck another guy to bore to death. Ridley Pearson is another very unstable author, I could only recommend his first(?)book, UNDER CURRENT, besides it, I really didn't know why he kept writing boring stuff

Rating:
Summary: long, repetitive, mildly interesting
Review: I'd recommend UNDERCURRENTS, but not this one. A good first hundred pages, but the story congeals into a mass of repetitive cliche as you are pounded again and again with the same info, until it picks up pace again in the finale. Some interesting stuff, but this able craftsman stretches the story into boredom land.

Rating:
Summary: Morbidly fascinating
Review: Macabre in its details, this story has everything: subtle madness, dogged police procedures under DEADline pressure, forensic clues, psychological gaming, disgusting crimes, filth, action, desperation, and screaming tension. The pellmell pace is far greater than you'll find in, say, Agatha Christie, and the criminal is known to the reader even as the police grope in the wrong direction (contributing to the reader's tense apprehension). Appropriately for a wet place like Seattle, hydrological science has a critical role in this story, and even more so in its predecessor UNDERCURRENTS. (The third story in the Lou Boldt/Daphne Matthews series is: No Witnesses.) Pearson gives us characters with palpable depth, skillful writing to draw us into the story, and a good sense of place. The villain vet is creepy because he is so rational; you also feel his befuddlement when his humanitarian plans go awry. The moral of the story is that the maxim "the greatest good for the greatest number" is indefensible when a minority are forced to give something up for it.

Rating:
Summary: Stellar performance
Review: My first Ridley Pearson novel. Excellent characterizations and pacing. I loved Pearson's ability to draw the villain as an ancient witch doctor, offering up blood sacrifices, cutting out hearts and throwing them to the jackals. The mythic undertones make this novel really rock! I'll be reading more from this guy!

Rating:
Summary: Not the best
Review: Not so good. This is the second book in Pearson's Lou Boldt series and definately not the best. I found the plot (a rogue veterinarian harvesting human organs) to be a tad unbelievable and uninteresting, and the coincidence of one of the victims being the best friend of one of the main characters (a detective) bordering on the ridiculous. That being said, the book is a quick read, with plenty of action and very well researched details (Pearson is always good at that). Overall, I would say that this book is for Pearson junkies only.

Rating:
Summary: Not the best
Review: Not so good. This is the second book in Pearson's Lou Boldt series and definately not the best. I found the plot (a rogue veterinarian harvesting human organs) to be a tad unbelievable and uninteresting, and the coincidence of one of the victims being the best friend of one of the main characters (a detective) bordering on the ridiculous. That being said, the book is a quick read, with plenty of action and very well researched details (Pearson is always good at that). Overall, I would say that this book is for Pearson junkies only.

Rating:
Summary: I think Pearson can do better then this
Review: On one of the reviews the reviewer mentions that the first 100 pages were interesting, then the book became a congealed mass. I agree totally. I can see that Pearson has a lot to give to his reader, but he needs to improve on his stories. Details that matter are left out and ones that don't matter are put in. He is easy reading though and good for a fast ride.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding book - dynamite plot!
Review: One of the best thrillers I have read in a while. Tons of suspense, it constantly leaves you hanging, forcing you to read just a little more, and then a bit more still. Even though you know how it will turn out in the end, the interesting and original story will keep you plugged in all the way. Another excellent book that has a somewhat similar plot is Extreme Measures by Michael Palmer.

Rating:
Summary: Great concept
Review: This book compares favorably to Cook's "Coma." It's a great concept, wonderfully developed by Pearson.