Rating: Summary: Sandra Brown Is Great! Review: Even though this isn't my favorite Sandra Brown book it gets points for keeping me guessing. I really like the main characters and the pace of the book kept me going. I'd recommend this book to all Sandra Brown fans.
Rating: Summary: Great book Review: This was the best romantic-suspense I have ever read. Characters in the book are so established.It is a very moving book.You will not be bored reading this book.
Rating: Summary: Just Can't Get Enough Review: What an excellent piece of work. This is the first book that I have read by Sandra Brown and what a great selection. The story takes off like a jet from page one and keeps moving till the end. The twist and turns will stop you in your tracks. I don't know how many times I just wanted to scream. The story within a story within a story worked for me. It reads easy and you don't get lost. You are able to keep up with the characters. There are a few good suprises as well.
Rating: Summary: page-turner Review: Sandra Brown's novel Envy is suspenseful and well written. The plot contains many twists, which grasp the reader's attention and keep the pages turning. The story continuously changes mood, keeping the reader guessing what will happen next. The prologue features a manuscript for Envy, about a horrible and tragic accident that two college friends experience. The author of the peice leaves only initials, and does not include contact information. He sent the manuscript to Maris Matherly-Reed, chief editor of Matherly Press to be evaluated. The story catches her attention, and ahe decides to search for the writer whose initials are P.M.E.; she hopes to read more and possibly publish the manuscript. Throughout the novel, excerpts from the Envy manuscript are incorporated to help the plot come together. It turns out that P.M.E. sent his story to Maris MAtherly-Reed on purpose, to get revenge on her husband, Noah Reed. His manuscript turns out to be a true rendition of a past friendship with Noah, and betrayal which left P.M.E. disabled. The story uncovers Noah's secret life of manipulation and violence to get what he wants, with no regard to anyone involved, including Maris. In this novel, Sandra Brown really writes two different stories that come together to form a thrilling plot that definitely keeps the reader's attention. Right when the story seems to unfold, another twist in the plot changes the scene. Her writing style really grabs the attention of the reader to keep their interest. Envy is a true page-turner.
Rating: Summary: WHEN PAST AND PRESENT COLLIDE... Review: This book was a most pleasant surprise. It is well-written with just the right infusion of tension to keep the reader turning its pages. While many of its twists and turns are predictable, not all are. There are enough surprises for even the most jaded of readers. It is a wonderful story-within-a-story of friendship, envy, betrayal, greed, revenge, love, and redemption. Maris Matherly-Reed, an editor at prestigious Matherly Press, and scion of the head of this prestigious New York publishing house, Daniel Matherly, receives an unsolicited, anonymous manuscript entitled "Envy". Pulling it out of the slush pile, this manuscript consists only of a prologue, but one so riveting and beautifully written, that Maris is intrigued enough to want to speak to its unknown but supremely talented author. Leaving her husband, acclaimed author and fellow Matherly Press editor, Noah Reed, to mind the store, Maris decides to follow up on this mysterious, but intriguing, newcomer. Having only an address for an Island off the Georgia coast, she goes there and encounters the crude and rude Parker Evans, the author of this potential literary gem. Marist makes allowances for his behavior, attributing it to what she assumes to be bitterness over his being confined to a wheelchair. As she gets to know Parker and discuss his book with him, more and more is revealed to her about his novel. It is a story of two friends who, in the late nineteen eighties, go on a boat for a celebratory jaunt with a young woman, only to have it end tragically. As Maris begins to find herself attracted to Parker, little does she know that she is about to go on a voyage of personal self-discovery. Meanwhile back in New York, unbeknownst to both his wife and father-in-law, or so he thinks, Noah Reed is plotting and planning a takeover of Matherly Reed by a corporate giant. He is also not behaving as a faithful husband would. When Maris returns to New York, her old world appears to be falling apart. As the veil is torn from her eyes, she no longer sees her husband through rose colored glasses. She begins to wonder to whom she is really married, as Noah reveals more of himself than she cares to know. When Maris reads additional chapters in Parker's book, she gets a strong sense that the book may be a work of non-fiction rather than fiction. She also suspects that there may be a connection between herself and Parker that she had not before realized. As the story of the three young people on the boat develops, it becomes painfully clear that the past and present are on a collision course. The only question is whether Maris will realize it before it is too late, and the past collides with the present. This is an ingeniously plotted novel, and Parker Evans is a very interesting character. The other characters are also fairly well fleshed out for such a plot driven book. Only the character of Noah Reed seems to be a cookie cutter character. As the book, however, is primarily plot driven, it does not unduly detract from such an otherwise engrossing novel of suspense. Moreover, the literary contrivance of a story-within-a-story is very well done. The two parallel stories are both dramatic and interesting. Each serves to propel the book towards its climactic ending. All in all, it is very well done.
Rating: Summary: Very well done - the pages turn themselves Review: Sandra Brown has moved on from category romances (some of which were rather good and some of which were eminently forgettable). This is a fast-paced novel within a novel focusing on one man's legacy of exposure to envy without equal. Parker Evans is a man of many layers who has suffered a painful disability, humiliation, incarceration and disgrace but who, as a man of exceptional talents, ultimately finds the strength through love and self-acceptance to triumph over hatred of an old friend turned bitter enemy. Noah Reed is somewhat two dimensional as the villain of the piece and his wife, Maris Matherly-Reed is a little naive. However, both of them, along with Parker Evans, are necessary for the intricate and well realised plot to run its course. I don't understand one reviewer's comments about what happened to Howard the attorney because this episode was meant to portray the utter evil inherent in Noah - a true psychopath. It was a difficult passage but got the point home. I enjoyed this; it was a jolly good read.
Rating: Summary: What a wonderful story! Review: I just loved this book! I couldn't put it down. The story line of this book was very quick moving, you never got bored with the plots. Maris Matherly Reed was a great character, someone you could look up to, even though her husband thought she was stupid and a wimp. The story moves from New York City to Key West, Florida to an island off of Georgia. The relationship between Parker Evans and his male companion, Mike was really interesting and a great twist in the book. There are many unexpected twists in the book, which keeps the book flowing and interesting. If you like a book that has more than one story in it, than this is the one for you! Enjoy!
Rating: Summary: A explosive tale of revenge Review: When Manhattan publisher Maris Matherly Reed recieves a enticing prologue manuscript, she is intrigued by the plot, and is desperate for more. But the author, indentfied only by the initials P.M.E., has left her no way to contact him or her. But determined, she is able to find a name, Parker Evans, and an address on a miniscule Georgia island. When she gets there, she finds Parker, crippled and in a wheelchair, living on a ramshackle cotton plantation. And Parker, a handsome, talented, but sometimes surly man, is hiding his identity and his past. But Maris is drawn into his captivating tale of two young friends, and a bitter betrayal. And she is also getting closer to Parker than she would like to admit. But there is something lurking beneath the surface of Parker, and his all-too-familar novel. Envy is one of Sandra Brown's best novels. Perfectly plotted and written, she will keep you hooked until the very last page.
Rating: Summary: All I can say is Wow! It deserves 10 stars!! Review: This is by far the best Sandra Brown book I've read. I am in awe with her talent as a writer and if you're a Sandra Brown fan, she will not disappoint with this story. There were so many plot twists that I kept getting caught off guard. And I'd think, 'Wow, this is incredible.' The plot, the dialogue, the way she developed her characters was perfection. She absolutely does not disappoint with this book, not even for a minute. Brown can definitely spin a tale! Read it! Read it!
Rating: Summary: Fabulous Review: Envy" proves once and for all, as if anyone still needed proof, that Sandra Brown is much more than the purveyor of potboiler (but wonderful) romances. Her crossover into the mystery/thriller genre has been seemingly effortless, and "Envy," really two books in one, proves it beyond a doubt. It grips the reader on page one, and doesn't let go until the very last word of the very last sentence. And in my case, even though I had figured out quite a bit, it still had a few hot-punching surprises. Maris Matherly-Reed, the brilliant, sweet, and pampered daughter of the scion of Matherly Press, one of New York's most prestigious publishing houses, becomes obsessed with an anonymous manuscript sent to her offices. From the first word of "Envy" (which we get to read along with her), she is so hooked, she sets out to find the author. Her quest leads her to a tiny island off the Georgia coast, where she meets the impossibly cantankerous and outright rude Parker Evans. His rudeness is matched only by his incredible talent, and Maris vows to ignore his personality and help him through what she sees as the next great American novel. Meanwhile, back in New York, Maris's smooth, urbane husband, Noah Reed, is revealing himself to be the worst kind of snake as he plots to sell the publishing house out from under his wife and his father-in-law. It soon becomes apparent that there is some sort of mysterious connection between the so-called fictional characters of "Envy" and Maris herself. But what is it? And who IS this Parker Evans? Is he friend or foe? Why has he lured Maris to his island in what turns out to be an almost diabolical plot? The answers are slowly revealed as the two books, Sandra Brown's "Envy" and Parker Evans' "Envy," intertwine. What a terrific plot device, and how cleverly Brown makes it happen! In the unabridged tape version, Victor Slezak does a masterful job of capturing the essence of Evans--and his rendering of the slick and slimy Noah is simply perfect. All in all, this is a book not to be missed. I loved it.
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