Rating: 
Summary: Listened to the audio version and was throughly entertained.
Review: A friend of mine let me borrow his audio cassettes of The Big Picture to keep me company on a long driving trip. It was a GREAT companion as it had me mesmerized. I hated having to stop for gas, and I couldn't wait to get out of restaurants so I could continue listening. Needless to say, I was throughly entertained! Get the book or the audio cassette version.
Rating: 
Summary: Better than a page turner!!
Review: I missed work and several meals reading this book. It was thrilling from page 1 to the very end...I even kept turning pages hoping for more. The plot does not stop fooling you or keeping you guessing. Just when you think the story has settled down for a minute...BAM...you're back in the chase. Don't start this before your next big meeting...you'll miss it.
Rating: 
Summary: A micro trivial story enlarged into a macro picture!
Review: Old wives' and housewives' blabbing, drive-you-nuts writing with a too ordinary subject which should be told in a 2-3-thousand-word short story. If you consider your life is an endless dream with a thick wallet, then enjoy it and give it a 10, no harm done, folks
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Summary: Quick read
Review: I have to agree with the bulk of the reviews here on THE BIG PICTURE. I read the book in one day and it flew by! But the characters were rather shallow (did everyone just despise Beth??) and there were alot of holes in the story. No one gets this lucky. That said, however, I did enjoy the book. It's a good, quick, relatively satisfying novel which is more than I can say for a lot of books these days!!! I would recommend it, but be sure to suspend your disbelief at the door
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Summary: This is a page turner????
Review: I found it difficult to empathize with the main character, Ben, a Wall Street lawyer, whose sideline is photography. He is self-centered & materialistic, then stupidity is added to the mix. Ben kind of accidentally kills his neighbor Gary, who has been cavorting with Ben's wife, then proceeds to disappear and become Gary (who, by some crazy coincidence also happens to be a photographer). After dismembering Gary (in gory detail)and disposing of the body in a firey boating accident, the new Gary takes off for Montana. There he gets a job as a photographer with the local rag & becomes famous (smart move); his photos are published in "Time & "Newsweek", etc. Does Ben/Gary think he can get away with everything...apparently so. The last third of this book is unrealistic, unbelieveable and practically impossible. Why did I persevere with it you may ask...because I knew the end would be unrealistic, etc. and I wanted to see how far the author would take this improbable tale. I was not disappointed in this regard. Mow the lawn, clean the windows, you're time will be better serve
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Summary: excellent rollercoaster ride that lasts throughout the book
Review: This thriller is about every man's worst fear, his wife having an affair and the severe repercussions he has created from dealing with the affair. It has excellent plot that is complex, yet incredibly plausible. From the moment I picked this book up, I could not put it down. A must read for anyone who likes fast paced, highly emotional books that deal with modern life
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Summary: One of the worst books I ever actually finished!
Review: The Big Picture is one of the worst books I ever actually finished reading. After very positive reviews in "Newsday" and the "NY Times," I kept reading with the expectation that it would get better. It had to. And for a brief moment it did. The story actually got interesting when it described the methodical "cover-up" of an accidental murder in which the perpetrator assumed the identity of the victim. After beginning with this promising premise, the author, attempting to write nothing more than a "page turning thriller," committed the worst possible offense; nothing happened. Page after page after page and nothing happened. Nothing interesting. Nothing surprising. When the plot periodically "thickened," it defied belief... even in a genre that relies on suspension of disbelief. As I completed the book, expectant up to the very last page that something would be there, something of interest or import, some final macabre twist that would explain the glowing reviews, I felt cheated - cheat
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Summary: Perfect "Summer Beach" or "Airplane Ride" Book
Review: Strange book because you sympathize with the main character one page and then think he is a total sleaze the next page. But of course this is what you want in a summer book, page-turning, non-thinking, and an enjoyable read. I must admit it was hard to put down and the plot was excellent. Anybody who tries to compare this with Grisham's "The Partner" is crazy, this book is much, much better.
The NY Times reviewer was right on but I would still recommend this book as a great summer read . . . Better read it before the movie is made!
Rating:
Summary: I could put it down - but not for long.
Review: Yes, it was a page turner, and yet not very satisfying.I thought Beth was a crud and ended up feeling sorry forBen even after all of his dastardly deeds. It was way past believable at every turn and yet I couldn't wait toget home from work and read some more. The ending wasdisappointing, but I'll be watching for this author's next project. What a dichotomous review--but I would recommend this book--sort of
Rating: 
Summary: A Grisham-wannabe and just as bad (spoilers at end)
Review: I should have trusted my instincts and put this book down after the first nine pages. Ben has just introduced us, in mind-numbing detail, to the costs of the contents of his closet and darkroom. Sure, Kennedy's point is to show how materialistic this guy is, but the writing is tedious, repetitive, and cheap. But I read on.
I must say, "Part I" of this book (the setup) is somewhat interesting. It reads a bit like "The Firm" but more intriguing. And there's only one moment where you feel as if you have to willfully suspend your disbelief.
But the remaining two-thirds? Yecch.
I don't want to spoil the experience for anyone who decides to read the book, so I won't give away any of the plot devices, so let's just say that the number of coincidences and contrived situations in the second part of the book are greater than anything I've read recently.
The New York Times reviewer hit it right on the nose.
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