Writ of Execution

Rating:
Summary: A rare accord.
Review: A great thriller from the bestselling author of breach Of Promise. This tense tingling thriller is so well developed that you cannot put it down. A rare accord.

Rating:
Summary: their best since Breach Of promise.
Review: A real puzzler to date. It is the best since Breach Of Promise. Don't miss this well written book. Their best in a long list of great books.

Rating:
Summary: Consistent fun
Review: A story full of twists and turns. Its a very interesting plot, winning the big pot, was it a strike of luck or a bad joke from the devil? What deep dark secret can keep the winner from collecting what is lawfuly hers? These and more mysteries lead our picturesque team of the sensitive but persistent lawyer, the reliable with an almost frightening sense of protecting detective and his naive indian partner to play a who done it game with very powerful and dark charachters, that sometimes wear their angel disguises to perform their evil duties.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Continuation
Review: I have read all of the Nina Reilly books, and this is a good one, if not quite as good as its predecessor Move to Strike.

The story concerns slot-jackpot winner Jessie Potter, a young Washoe Indian and fomer Marine, who strikes a 7-mil plus jackpot at a local casino. It also includes her obsessive first-marriage father in law, her husband-of-convenience, and a casino-employed compulsive gambler. Motivations for behavior are as eccentric as the characters themselves, all of whom want something different for diverse and equally eccentric reasons.

There were a few small weaknesses. Jessie, so reluctant to trust even her attorney, embraces the chance to trust her stranger-husband. That hardly makes sense. Then, although the father-in-law issues are explained, they're not demonstrated in the story... he barely escapes paper-doll status as a character. Nina's relationship with pseudoboyfriend Paul van Wagoner hardly justify her hot and cold treatment of him... of course, series regulars get it, but would a series newcomer? There are lots of minor characters, and sometimes it gets inconvenient to have to recall everyone's role in the story... I bet some combining could have simplified matters.

However, authors Mary and Pamela make great strides in the area of literary cohesiveness, fitting together the components of this story with increasingly masterful ease. The character of Kenny (husband of convenience) is a terrific manifestation, and the authors' familiarity with the ins and outs of slot machines and Nevada's gaming industry are both interesting, significant, and (I'd think) illuminating!

I eagerly anticipated this book, and I was quite satisfied that my wait was worth it. I'm now awaiting the next installment!

Rating:
Summary: A chance meeting between clients
Review: Jessie Potter, a doomed young woman with a secret, and Kenny Leung, one of the more confused characters in fiction this year, leads to a casino jackpot and a need for Nina Reilly, in her seventh outing, to try to make sense of it all. Jessie defines the concept of self-sufficiency, and Kenny defines haplessness, despite his brilliance in the computer field, so their collaboration gives the book a light tone. The courtroom adversaries for Reilly are pretty ruthless, and used to a larger setting than what they find in Tahoe...it is hard to believe that Nina will prevail. Nina's independence, her relationship with her family (played down a little in this book), the spectacular scenery that is Tahoe, and the depressing world of casino gambling all play a role in this novel. Sandy, Nina's irrepressible secretary, is back, and is as feisty as ever.

I'm always fascinated by the concept of sisters who live at a distance (Pamela and Mary O'Shaughnessy) writing a series together. You really can't tell where one begins and the other leaves off, such is the seamlessness of their collaboration. Reilly has been incredibly entertaining in each outing, and although there are some pitfalls in this story, overall, it keeps you enthusiastic, entertained and happy with the outcome.

One issue with the series is the unresolved relationship between Reilly and Paul van Wagoner, her terrific investigator. This book continued the dance that is their life together. I'd like for O'Shaughnessy to resolve this one way or the other, and, at the end, it appears that a resolution may be under way for the next book.....but that is what you say each time you finish a Nina Reilly novel.

A really entertaining and worthwhile series with a great heroine!

Rating:
Summary: Nina Reilly strikes again.
Review: Nina Reilly seems to have a singular talent for finding trouble, or rather, for letting trouble find her. Just when Nina is ready to take that next step on the road to getting on with her life following her husband's death, to moving on to a new life with long-time paramour Paul, trouble comes knocoking on her door in the form of a scared but tough young girl with a somewhat befuddled and entranced programmer trailing after her.

The O'Shaughnessy sisters come back with another winner starring single mom Nina Reilly. In the now-familiar setting of Lake Tahoe, Nina's has a client with a unique problem: Jessie has won the lottery, but is unwilling to give her name or social security number to the media or even the casino. Once Nina starts digging into Jessie's past, it becomes clear that there Jessie was right to be concerned... and that she may have made some new enemies along the way.

A good read, though some of the byplay between Paul and Nina may be getting a bit repetitive. However, I think that anyone who's read the previous Nina Reilly books will enjoy this one, and those who haven't may want to go read the back catalog prior to reading Writ of Execution, as there is some character interaction that would certainly benefit from knowing the history behind it.

Rating:
Summary: Overplotted Confusion
Review: This book disappointed me, because I have become so spoiled by the O'Shaughnessy sisters' outstanding previous efforts. I wish I could have given it 3 and a half stars. It's not bad, just unnecessarily confusing.

The plot centers around a young woman who wins the ultimate jackpot on the aptly named Greed Machine, a slot machine at one of Lake Tahoe's casinos. Rather than jumping for joy, however, Jessie Potter seems terrified at her $7 million windfall. And the casino is not that anxious to award her prize either. In no time, Jessie is plucked out of her very private life and into real danger. By the time her case lands in Nina Reilly's lap, the young woman is in danger of losing the money--and possibly her life. And she's not the only one in jeopardy. A pudgy Chinese-American computer geek named Kenny, who happened to be sitting next to Jessie when she won the jackpot, becomes inextricably entwined in her problems.

And OUR problem at this point in the book is that neither Jessie nor Kenny are particularly likeable. It took me quite some time to care about either of them--a necessity in this plot-heavy novel. I was more concentrated on the sub-plot involving a compulsive gambler with a Glock and a murderous obsession with the jackpot he believes is his, not Jessie's.

A further subplot is the ongoing and at this point annoyingly frustrating relationship between Paul, Nina's indispensable private eye and sometime lover, and Nina, still mourning the loss of her husband. Paul loves Nina, Paul wants Nina, but as in all the other books, Nina isn't sure, and Paul can't take much more rejection. He's in for it, though--from Nina arriving in his hotel room, stark naked under her full-length coat--and then at the critical moment changing her mind, to a blithering series of coitus interruptus that began to take on the aura of the Keystone Kops. I found the whole thing annoying and insulting to both characters. This is NOT a Stephanie Plum novel, where that kind of thing happens all the time. t doesn't belong in the Nina Reilly series, and this reader, for one, is tired of it.

The book does pick up speed, however, as we become more involved with Jessie and Kenny, learn their secrets, worry about the danger they are in, and root for Nina to help them both. Near the very end of the book, a triumphant courtroom scene reveals a hidden secret that changes the course of several lives. It's a great ending, a thoroughly enjoyable and believable climax. Unfortunately...the book does not end there. It goes on for several more chapters as we follow the original murderer, still bent on claiming his jackpot. There is so much happening in this quasi-epilogue, it is intensely confusing. Then finally, in two pages, everything is wrapped up in a neat red bow, happily ever after. Except for Nina and Paul and the various murdered people and the murderer himself and the slimy despicable opposing lawyer, the hated Jeff Reisner.

Whew! It's exhausting just writing the review. Again, I love anything the O'Shaughnessys write, but this book is the weakest in the series so far. I hope it's an anomoly!

Rating:
Summary: SO SO...
Review: This is a mediocre legal thriller, and my first introduction to this author. While moderately entertaining, I probably will not seek anymore novels by this author, as the writing tends to be pedestrian and formulaic. I also found the character of the attorney, Nina Reilly, to be uninteresting and an embarrassment to women in the legal profession. Perhaps, this was in part due to the fact that I listened to the unabridged audio book, where the reader infused Ms. Reilly's character with a breathy, little girl voice, that made her sound just this side of stupid.

Still, the book had its interesting moments. The plot revolves around a young woman, purportedly of Washoe Indian descent, who calls herself Jessie Potter and has just won a seven million dollar plus jackpot at a Nevada casino. She wishes to maintain a low profile, as she has a deep, dark secret, so she retains Ms. Reilly as her attorney, seeking to collect the jackpot, while maintaining her privacy. Unbeknownst to Ms. Reilly and her client, someone else feels entitled to that jackpot and will stop at nothing, not even murder, to get it.

In constructing the plot, the author, through one of the secondary characters, gives an interesting account of how these jackpots are designed to work, as well as a bird's-eye view of the gaming industry. Moreover, the courtroom scenes are of some interest. Still, this is not enough to make this a top notch legal thriller, as the writing never rises beyond hack status. The plot was too pat and contrived, at times, and the characters remain two dimensional throughout. I found myself neither caring for nor very much liking any of the characters. This over rated book remains simply a quick, throwaway read.

Rating:
Summary: Beyond belief
Review: This was my first Perri O'Shaughnessy book. I got it free at the Bouchercon in Austin last October. I MIGHT read one of the earlier titles but it won't be first on my list. Perhaps it is the result of co-authors, but I found the writing to be difficult to navigate. Many times it was hard to determine who was talking. Too many thoughts to oneself interspersed with dialogue. Too many coincidences to make the story believable.

I admit I am not fond of the female in jeopardy genre. And this one had TWO women making foolish assumptions and stupid moves. I had little sympathy for either of them.

Nina Reilly is the single mom to a young boy. He is conveniently absent or accounted for often during the book, although Nina sporadically wrings her hands in concern for him. Her detective, Paul, seems to want to be with her regardless of her personal difficulties but he is often oblivious to those difficulties, too.

This book was just too PC for me. A little of everything was thrown in for good measure, along with a lot of editorializing on the favorite soap boxes of the authors.

Still, I finished it and did find it somewhat entertaining. The sisters need a good proofreader.

Rating:
Summary: I adore this series
Review: Well, Nina and friends are back. I have reviewed quite a few of Perri ?'Shaughnessy's books and in most cases have thoroughly enjoyed them. The main character, Nina, is a wonderful contrast of hard professional, soft motherly instinct and confused woman. Although I do enjoy Nina, what really blends this book for me is the thoroughly well presented legal battles in which Nina is involved.

The author's have an excellent way of incorporating all of the characters into the plot. I, once again, am left wishing however that the son would figure more prominently in the story and that we could have SOME resolution on the Paul Nina front. Still though thoroughly enjoyable.