Rating: 
Summary: A poorly written page turner
Review: "Chasing the Dime"... By page 86, I believe I counted at least eight references to the title. I guess the author wanted a reason to call this book "Chasing the Dime".
"Chasing the Dime", admittedly, is fast paced and holds the reader. But it's a lightweight piece of junk, and after reading it you'll feel the way you do when you cram down a half bucket of KFC. I have never read any of the author's other books, and after this one I won't be looking for more.
Rating:
Summary: A poorly written page turner
Review: "Chasing the Dime"... By page 86, I believe I counted at least eight references to the title. I guess the author wanted a reason to call this book "Chasing the Dime".
"Chasing the Dime", admittedly, is fast paced and holds the reader. But it's a lightweight piece of junk, and after reading it you'll feel the way you do when you cram down a half bucket of KFC. I have never read any of the author's other books, and after this one I won't be looking for more.
Rating:
Summary: And your point was . . . ?
Review: A friend lent me this book, and I just don't know why. I didn't buy the premise, found the characters unsympathetic, and was waiting for someone to grab the protagonist by the shoulders and tell him to get a grip. This is my first encounter with Michael Connelly. It would have been my last, but after reading some other comments, I think I'll try a book that features Harry Bosch. I'd also encourage other first-time Connelly readers maybe to do the same and avoid this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Not his best, but a decent effort
Review: Being a huge fan of Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch series, the few books he wrote that didn't feature the popular detective, to me were not his best work. Maybe that's just my bias though...Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy this novel, just not to the same extent. It just felt like it was missing the magic.In this book Henry Pierce is a chemist who owns a computer technology company that is working on a modern day innovation to the computer world that would have huge consequence. In the midst of his life-changing discovery, his longtime girlfriend leaves him, putting him in a bit of a tailspin. Always being a workaholic, but now knowing he has noone to come home to beings to affect him. This makes him react to a random wrong number to his phone in a very odd way. Suddenly he's getting wrong numbers in the multitudes for a girl named Lilly, who is obviously a hooker. Finding the mystery of who is Lilly and what has happened to her irresistable, before he knows it Henry is tangled up in a mess he may not be able to get out of alive. Still, risking his career and company that he's worked his whole life for- is something he's willing to do. It's an obsession. I do agree with some of the other reviewers in asking the question WHY Henry puts everything on the line for this woman he has never met. However, I do think the book goes at trying to explain that to some degree- whether you buy it or not. I did enjoy the character of Henry, finding him fascenating. And for at least over half of the book the story was pretty thrilling, keeping you wanting more. However, there were a few slow periods, that I think could have been fixed with editing. All in all, I'd say this book was worth the read, but if you really want to get into a great Connelly novel to also read Blood Work (the only non-Bosch book I truly enjoyed), Lost Light or The Last Coyote. Really- any Bosch novel you pick you can't go wrong!
Rating: 
Summary: Lackluster effort by one of the greats
Review: I am a huge Michael Connelly fan, and was incredibly disappointed with this book. Connelly takes the easy way out, creating tension by having his protagonist act idiotically throughout. The plot follows a lackluster formula used over and over again by Mary Higgins Clark and others of her ilk. The solution comes completely out of the blue, and elicits a big "so what." There is very little of the sense of character and place that usually makes reading Connelly such a joy. And, after the polished style of City of Bones, I was disappointed to see that this new offering is as poorly edited as some as his earlier books. (For example, Connelly cannot resist the urge to explain every reaction by his protagonist in excrutiating detail.) All in all, an amateurish effort by one of the most professional mystery writers out there. I wish I would have re-read City of Bones, one of the best mysteries of the last few years, instead of wasting my time of this one. P.S. The description of the technology is fascinating.
Rating: 
Summary: A Connelly Fan: This was a good one!!
Review: I have read ALL of Connelly's works except for 2. Connelly is exceptional! There is no doubt in my mind. This was a book that kept you wanting more. Isn't that the point? "A couldn't put it downable" as one critic said. This book flowed nicely and the ending had excellent resolve. I noticed the reference to a Pelecanos book "Hell to Pay" ( I just read it) I loved the reference to "Horton Hears a Who" I thought that was an ingenious idea to use the verbiage of a childrens book as a theme for Pierces' scientific ambition. There are references to Harry Bosch: The Dollmaker and the artist Hieronymous Bosch.(Harry's namesake)
For those of you ready for an exciting and quick read, I highly recommend this. If you like Connelly, you will like this. If you have never read Connelly, I bet you will be hooked after this one.
Rating:
Summary: Spend Your Time Reading Chasing the Dime
Review: I really like Connelly's stand alone novels and this like Blood Work, Void Moon and others is a sensational thriller. Scientist and computer entrepreneur Henry Pierce is about to revolutionise the world with a new invention, but sadly his long term relationship has fallen apart and he has just moved to a new apartment complete with new telephone number. He quickly learns the previous owner of the number Lilly, was quite a popular girl, that she is a prostitute and that she is probably in quite a bit of trouble. Pierce's sister was killed by a serial killer on the streets so he wants to track Lilly down and help her before it is too late. He is not opposed to breaking and entering, computer crime, fraud or anything else to find Lilly. Of course the type of lifestyle Lilly leads means she has associates who do not look kindly at their world being investigated. The police also do not seem to understand why a man like Pierce would be interested in a girl like Lilly who he has never met.
This is one of those sensational novels that you just do not want to put down until you have read the final page.
Rating:
Summary: Bosch takes a vacation
Review: It really says a lot about an author like Michael Connelly when he writes a book that I would probably put among his least interesting, yet it's still a great read. His latest, "Chasing the Dime," is one of the few books that doesn't revolve around his main character, Detective Harry Bosch, so the reader doesn't have as much invested in the characters here. Still, it's a fun ride, albeit a slightly implausible one. Henry Pierce is the young founder of a company that is racing against the competition to come up with the world's smallest computer (or something like that, I tried not to concentrate too much on the technical details). Anyway, he gets a call at his new apartment for a woman named Lilly. Then another. Then another. Apparently his number used to belong to her. Instead of just changing the number, the adventurous Pierce sets out to find Lilly, who is apparently missing, in trouble, or both. Of course, he gets in way over his head with online prostitiution, organized crime, and a lot more. All the while he has to prepare for a presentation with a big investor who can potentially sink millions into Pierce's company and make him the next Bill Gates. As a stand-alone, Bosch-less Connelly book, this is pretty good. Not one of his best, but definitely a nice little page-turner. The computerese is interesting and I'll have to take Connelly's word as to the accuracy level. But I do miss Harry Bosch.
Rating:
Summary: Great plot!
Review: Michel Connelly writes an thriller with an interesting plot twist and unlikely characters.
Henry Pierce works in a lab which is involved in a technological race to develop the first molecular computer. [There is real research on-going in this field interestingly.] If his company is the first to create such devices, he will become wealthy beyond his wildest dreams.
All of the hours in the lab have taken a toll on his relationship, and he and his girlfriend and fellow co-worker have split up. Henry gives her his home and moves into a condo where he is assigned a new telephone nubmer.
As soon as he plugs in his telephone, he begins to get calls for "Lilly" and from the nature of the calls, it becomes obvious that not only is Lilly involved in the sex trade, but that she has vanished.
Henry is intrigued and begins a quest to find Lilly which leads him through a series of more and more dangerous encounters which keep the reader on the edge of his or her seat.
A great read, with nice plot twists!
Rating:
Summary: Unconvincing
Review: Somehow a novelist has to convince the reader that the events described in the tale could or did happen. This is extremely important in a mystery/suspense/spy/action book. The writer utterly failed to do that here. Yuppie genius, Henry Pierce, on the brink of wealth and worldwide fame (dare we hope, a Nobel Prize?), receives some calls for a prostitute named Lilly on his new phone and rather than get his number changed, he races off to find Lilly and "save" her. Bah, humbug. His reason is that his own sister was a runaway, years ago, and was murdered because he failed to help her. This is supposed to be the psychological motive, I suspect. If one can accept that premise, the rest of the book is all right, I suppose, even if it is populated with several of the characters from "Pulp Fiction." Paranoia, I might add, is too facile in creating suspense. It has been used and abused in too many other works of fiction. Ludlum was/is probably the master of the art. That's why I quit reading Ludlum a few years ago. I couldn't tell one book from another. Pierce comes to suspect and distrust everyone, his business partner, his ex-live-in, his secretary, etc. It got a little tiresome, and when he finally got to the real villain, I no longer cared very much. I'll try another Connelly book, but I have misgivings after this one.
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