Rating: 
Summary: A phoned-in performance
Review: It is said when talented actors give a bad performance that they have "phoned it in." Martha Grimes phoned this book in, and on a bad line. It is a story cobbled from all too many disparate fragments - part polemic, part on-the-road, part growing-up and most likely part boiling up a manuscript to fulfill a contract. Only rarely does the author's admirable ability to turn an apt phrase, make an astute observation, sketch a memorable character make itself evident. Usually I pass my "used" mysteries on to a friend but I am embarrassed to do that with this one. (I can only hope that Martha Grimes is equally embarrassed at having let this one escape to an admiring public. Come to think of it the publication of BITING THE MOON can be construed as a cynical act: Martha Grimes is too honest not to have recognized that this runt wouldn't hunt.) Having said all that, I will not give up on Martha Grimes. However, I will thoroughly vet her next offerings (even the latest Richard Jury books have limped a little) and borrow rather than buy until I have pro-rated my loss on this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Another superior side of Martha Grimes
Review: Martha Grimes is best known for her fantastic Jury/Melrose Plant (Plant, who is actually Lord Audry, but has given up his title) English mysteries. But in this book, she's broken off into a beautiful mystery about the south western and northwestern United States, with two fiesty young girls-incredible characters, taking risks. I recommend this book to all. It's a Grimes' success!Joanna Campbell, Author and creator of the Thoroughbred Series, and author of the first 14 books.
Rating:
Summary: Martha Grimes knows how to break your heart!
Review: Martha Grimes knows how to break your heart. In this wonderfully written, as always elegant prose, she provides a morality play. Equally wonderful are her characters, the return of Mary Dark Hope from the Richard Jury series, and the return of that "illusive" girl from Hotel Paradise. Some will say, "Too much." I say, "More!"
Rating: 
Summary: Beautifully written, but propaganda
Review: Martha Grimes would not be capable of anything but excellent writing, and this book certainly exemplifies that. But..... When an author is so closely identified with a set of characters and locales as this author is with the Richard Jury gang, it is a disappointment to find only a tenuous link with former books. It was hard to recall Mary Dark Hope's role in a former book, also Andi's part in Hotel Paradise, and there was not enough development there to satisfy my appetite for more about the village full of familiar characters of the last few books. The point of view of animal rights is so strongly expressed that it makes the novel appear as just a vehicle for getting Martha Grimes' philosophy across to her readers, and while I share her viewpoint, this is not what I look for in a mystery novel. Please, Martha, write fast, and let's have another one!
Rating:
Summary: This book was a major disappointment.
Review: Martha Grimes writes good mysteries. I have been a fan for years. She needs to stick to writing the kind of mysteries she is good at and read for. Biting the Moon is her podium for animal rights. I am a lover and owner of animals, too. I deplore bad treatment of animals. However, I do not want to pick up a Martha Grimes' book and find I am reading an essay on animal rights. If she wants to campaign, she needs to do it elsewhere. This book was very simplistic. There was no depth of plot, and the action was not believable. She certainly made her point about how she felt about animals. But, it will be a long time before I look forward to a Martha Grimes' book.
Rating: 
Summary: Once Bitten, Twice Shy
Review: Some plot devices require a greater suspension of disbelief than others. Amnesia qualifies for this category, along with the notion of two young orphaned girls hitting the road on an heroic odyssey. Instead of seeking help, the assault victim allows herself to be picked up again - by the same attacker! She doesn't recognize him, but that's okay cause he pretends not to recognize her either and simply gives her a ride. How many kids have both a wild animal as a pet and a scientific genius for a sidekick? Why river rafting, murder, pornography? While the mistreatment of animals is a worthwhile subject, it's oddly placed in this hodgepodge. I got the feeling the author had a file full of ideas that she decided to get rid of in one fell swoop. The result is an unnecessarily hard-to-swallow mishmash that does justice neither to Grimes' abilities as a writer nor to the issue of animal abuse. I've enjoyed her books in the past, but I'm not getting near the next one without a whip and a chair.
Rating:
Summary: AWFUL!!
Review: The first pages were okay, but the rest of the book is a huge disappointment. The characters are wooden, the dialogue creaky and while the idea of the story is a good one - the actuality of it is awful. It's rambling, incoherent, full of disconnected rants and in the end, totally unbelievable. I am a very big fan of Grimes' Jury series and I'm sorry I wasted my money on this "orphan." If you have to read everything Grimes writes, wait for this one in P/B, or go to the library and read it for free.
Rating:
Summary: MY FIRST AND LAST MARTHA GRIMES BOOK-A WASTE OF TIME
Review: THERE WERE ABOUT TEN DIFFERENT PLOTS GOING ON, WITH NO RESOLUTION TO ANY OF THEM. CHARACTERS ARE FLAT. WHO CARED WHAT HAPPENED TO ANY OF THEM? I HAD A MILLION QUESTIONS WHILE READING THIS..LOOSE END UPON LOOSE END. A FOURTH GRADER IN MY WRITING CLASS WOULD HAVE RECEIVED A FAILING GRADE FOR THIS ONE. SHE IS ALL OVER THE PLACE WITH THIS-MURDERS, DEATHS OF OTHER CHARACTERS, ANIMAL RIGHTS, CHILD ABUSE, GEE WHIZ....IS THIS WHAT ALL HER BOOKS ARE LIKE? I WAS SO MAD AT MYSELF FOR BOTHERING TO FINISH IT, BUT SINCE IT WAS ONLY A BEACH BOOK, I FIGURED WHY NOT? I COULD HAVE USED MY TIME MORE WISELY.
Rating:
Summary: Eh...blah!
Review: This book started out really interesting but then petered out towards the end. What a waste of time! Although my heart went out to the plight of the animals described in this book, I still found the book rambling, disjointed, and lacking. And what a lame mystery! Rotten ending. This book left me saying "blah"!
Rating:
Summary: A disappointment
Review: This book was a disappointment! I have come to expect more from Martha Grimes. Hopefully, her next book will be worth the wait, and Richard Jury will be back!
|
