True Crime : The Novel

Rating:
Summary: A breath of fresh air
Review: Any avid reader knows that every so often a novel comes along that feels like a cool breeze on a hot and stale summer day. True Crime from Andrew Klavan is such a novel. It's a wonderful feeling to know that it's still possible to inject freshness into the well worn crime/thriller/mystery genre. Not only is this novel a great and believeable story, the author's prose and word-play seem so fresh and welcoming. An intelligent author indeed, whom knows how to stir your every emotion without relying on tired and manipulative tactics. I thoroughly enjoyed this book from beginning to end and am happy to say that the author did not miss a single beat. My friends, this is an intense, moving and very rewarding novel that I would highly recommend to all crime/thriller fans, or anyone who is a fan of a well written story from an author who is in complete control of his craft. Simply, a stunning work.

Rating:
Summary: a book about a jerk who does one redeeming thing
Review: I found this book a real page-turner, although Klavan is much better plotter than writer. I love books like this for the same reason I like movies like "The Fugitive": the pace of the narrative carries me along. It's interesting to have a novel with a protagonist who's so unlikable (the person who wrote that Everett can't help the things that happen to him makes me mad; a man CAN keep his pants on, after all). And for depth on the death penalty issue, it's far outclassed by "In Cold Blood" or "Dead Man Walking." But it's a good read, especially for the beach, the plane, or the sickbed. Despite the flaws I found in this book, I just had my local library get "The Animal Hour" for me on inter-library loan.

Rating:
Summary: NERVE-RACKING
Review: I have cried at books before but I have never ever cried and shook. You always hear the critics say "A real nail-biter" about some books. Well, let me tell you, in this case it is true. You will not put this book down until the end. However, you may put it down momentarily to either throw your hands in the air in frustration or to compose yourself. I called my mom the minute I finished the last page and told her to immediately go buy a copy. I have also passed it around to my friends at work and watched them read it on their breaks throwing their hands in the air with groans. So it wasn't just me. I also called the bookstore and had them get me every book Andrew Klavan wrote, and they could not get allof them. That is why I am searching Amazon, which had all his books available. Thankyou Andrew Klavan and Thankyou Amazon.

Rating:
Summary: A wrenching death-watch thriller
Review: Klavan, known for well-written, gritty, edge-of-your-seat crime thrillers, takes these elements to literary heights with "True Crime."

The story is not new. With only 18 hours to go before a convicted murderer is scheduled to die, a newspaper reporter, narrator Steve Everett, finds reason to believe the man is innocent. His minute-by-minute account alternates with gut-wrenching death-watch scenes from the convict's cell.

Everett is yanked out of his editor's wife's bed for this assignment - by the editor himself, who already has plenty of reason to despise cocky, cynical, philandering Everett. This time Everett knows that even his old friend and boss, Alan Mann, who shares his view that "issues are what we make up to give us an excuse to run good stories" - even Mann can't save his job this time.

Everett needs a good story. But the "human interest" interview about the condemned man's "feelings" isn't it. Digging into the background, getting the details of the convenience store-clerk's murder, he uncovers some minor unanswered questions, which lead to more questions.

Juggling the vengeful editor and his own fed-up, straight-laced wife, who's sure to leave him once this latest infidelity is out, it dawns on Everett that proving Beachum innocent could be the single answer to all his immediate problems.

Meanwhile Beachum is saying his last farewells to his wife and daughter. A devout Christian, he is determined to act calm, resigned and unafraid. "But it did make him terribly lonely. To have her here, to hold her, to want to tell her everything that was in his heart - and to jolly her along like this instead."

The tension mounts, page by page. Everett's discoveries are tantalizingly inconclusive, every leap forward is confronted by an obstruction, a setback, a reasonable explanation. And the scenes in Beachum's stark cell grow more and more painful to endure as the man wrestles with his inner fears, the shattered hopes of a life, his anguish, impatience and dread.

Everett is not a nice guy. But the reader remains aware that this is his book, the powerful and disturbing insight of the Beachum chapters as well as the wise-cracking, cynical chase. And while we identify with Beachum's awful plight, we turn away from his unbearable pain, then turn the page to see what happens next.

Klavan has written a rivetting story which presents a devastating portrait of the real cruelties of capital punishment, not that it will change any minds.

Rating:
Summary: A wrenching death-watch thriller
Review: Klavan, known for well-written, gritty, edge-of-your-seat crime thrillers, takes these elements to literary heights with "True Crime."

The story is not new. With only 18 hours to go before a convicted murderer is scheduled to die, a newspaper reporter, narrator Steve Everett, finds reason to believe the man is innocent. His minute-by-minute account alternates with gut-wrenching death-watch scenes from the convict's cell.

Everett is yanked out of his editor's wife's bed for this assignment - by the editor himself, who already has plenty of reason to despise cocky, cynical, philandering Everett. This time Everett knows that even his old friend and boss, Alan Mann, who shares his view that "issues are what we make up to give us an excuse to run good stories" - even Mann can't save his job this time.

Everett needs a good story. But the "human interest" interview about the condemned man's "feelings" isn't it. Digging into the background, getting the details of the convenience store-clerk's murder, he uncovers some minor unanswered questions, which lead to more questions.

Juggling the vengeful editor and his own fed-up, straight-laced wife, who's sure to leave him once this latest infidelity is out, it dawns on Everett that proving Beachum innocent could be the single answer to all his immediate problems.

Meanwhile Beachum is saying his last farewells to his wife and daughter. A devout Christian, he is determined to act calm, resigned and unafraid. "But it did make him terribly lonely. To have her here, to hold her, to want to tell her everything that was in his heart - and to jolly her along like this instead."

The tension mounts, page by page. Everett's discoveries are tantalizingly inconclusive, every leap forward is confronted by an obstruction, a setback, a reasonable explanation. And the scenes in Beachum's stark cell grow more and more painful to endure as the man wrestles with his inner fears, the shattered hopes of a life, his anguish, impatience and dread.

Everett is not a nice guy. But the reader remains aware that this is his book, the powerful and disturbing insight of the Beachum chapters as well as the wise-cracking, cynical chase. And while we identify with Beachum's awful plight, we turn away from his unbearable pain, then turn the page to see what happens next.

Klavan has written a rivetting story which presents a devastating portrait of the real cruelties of capital punishment, not that it will change any minds.

Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down!
Review: The story is about a comdemned black man who is in death row and going to be executed for a crime he apparently did not commit. A journalist from a local newspaper wants to help him out and prove that he is innocent, will he find the evidence before this man is executed ?

The plot is terrific, the nail biting tension type mixed with quick action packed suspense. Once I started the book, I could not put it down. The story is so masterly written that I could not forget it so I decided to include it in my listmania.

Rating:
Summary: I WAS ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT!
Review: This is one of those rare novels where you don't know whether to like or hate the main character. Talk about self-destructive! I've always believed interesting characters is the most important key to hooking a reader to a story. And it ain't a bad story either! A reporter is assigned to cover the story of a prisoner condemned to die that day. If I say more, I'll ruin it for you. Just read it.

Rating:
Summary: Half a great read!
Review: When Klavan is writing from the point-of-view of newspaper man, Steve Everett, this book rocks...it would have ranked a ten if Everett's was the book's only POV. It's when the other voices kick in -- Frank Beachum, his wife, the warden, etc. -- that the novel crashes and burns, as if Everett himself were driving his beloved Tempo into a brick wall. A big disappointment.