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Summary: A Great Home Alone Companion
Review: It may appear that the main character Ben Bradford has it all, but in actuality, he has nothing. He has a boring career, a loveless marriage and kids he hardly gets to spend time with. In all of Kennedy's novels so far (The Job), he's designed characters who are stuck in a rut with all the trappings of so-called success. The story is their wake-up call (OK Kennedy, its time to move on to other themes).I hungrily plowed through The Big Picture in a couple of days. I was happy until the last chapter. The ending was weak.
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Summary: Contemporary thriller writing at its best!
Review: Gripping, well-paced, great dialogue & style. One of the best (perhaps the best) mainstream thrillers I have ever read. Maybe not grade A 'literature', but so what? This tale says more about human relationships, moral choices, values and loss than any dozen pretentious 'serious' novels. If I could afford it, I would buy copies of this terrific tale and give them away so that others could enjoy it as much as I did, but I can't, so you'll have to make do with this recommendation! Honest, it is THAT GOOD! Do yourself a favour: get out and buy a copy of this now. You won't regret it!
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Summary: Right up there with the best
Review: I just loved it and read it in a day. Great plot and moved along at an exciting pace. Thought the ending was a bit weak as if the author had got bored with writing it - but it satisfied me!
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Summary: Hackneyed, implausible plot dies under weight of bad writing
Review: This book is exciting in its depiction of gruesome details, but otherwise is burdened by amateurish writing and a creaky plot that finally shivers and collapses under its own implausibility. A bad guy does a very bad thing and gets away with it on ingenuity and pure dumb - and I mean dumb - luck. The protagonist is a creep of the highest order and does not deserve our sympathy. It is neither fun nor interesting to root for him, especially after he commits his crime and the true silliness of the plot takes over. Read it if you like munching on details - he does that well - but if you want to scream when characters talk nonstop in clichés like "I forked over the 20 bucks" then be afraid ... be very afraid
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Summary: Bubbling anxiety
Review: I finished this book in one night -- something I never do. This book is perfect for anyone with a devious mind. This book makes us wonder. If I earned $500,000 a year would I be happy? If I killed someone in a fit of rage, could I successfully cover it up? Could I change my identity? Ben Bradford does it all -- and the reader feels his anxiety every step of the way. What a book!
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Summary: Great for thriller lovers with a passion for excitement
Review: This is one of those books that just grabs you from the start. I wish all books were written with as much insight and passion as Mr. Kennedy wrote this one. This book is my all tike favorite. It is a murder, love story,drama, and comentary an the way things should be with ones life.
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Summary: Picture This: A Terrific Thriller.
Review: Douglas Kennedy's book, The Big Picture, manages to give readers two stories about the same man. The first one involves the deterioration of Ben Bradford's perfect life. With a high-paying job in New York, a beautiful home, a wife and two children, Ben seems to have it all. But life takes a nasty turn after he finds out about his wife having an affair. After a disastrous confrontation, Ben has no choice but to flee to Montana, where we are treated to the second story. Ben's life as a photographer. However, he soon finds out that the past is harder to forget than he ever thought. Both parts are well-written and exciting. You'll have a hard time putting this book down. If the ending seems a little bit soft, you can always remember how good the rest of the book was. A highly recommended book.
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Summary: Great page turner!!!
Review: This is a great book! A bookstore clerk recommended it and I love it. The way Kennedy goes into such detail about things that appear insignificant (but are not) reminds me of the same style as Bret Easton Ellis. Kennedy has a great knowledge of the technical aspects of this story, intertwined with quick story telling and good action. You can relate to the characters well. Great read!!!
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Summary: A little too comfortable and too easy to predict...
Review: The Big Picture reminded me of this or that as I was reading it. I thought that I must have read it before and I realized as I finished it that I had. This book was predictable at best and the main character ends by beginning again too eventually disappear again. I hope that this character dies so that we do not have to keep reliving his rebirths.
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Summary: Thriller about lawyer/family man on the lam after slaying.
Review: The Big Picture by Douglas Kennedy starts slow but gathers momentum, when Ben Bradford, successful Wall St. lawyer, murders his wife's lover, a struggling out of work photographer. In the blink of an eye Bradford's life is capsized. The author could be the fugitive in his own novel, a terrific read!
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