Rating: 
Summary: A Hard Mess To Read
Review: "Hard Rain" is a waste of the paper its printed on. Even the basic "hook" of Picard saving the day as Dixon Hill is cliche. How many times can that holodeck malfunction and nearly destroy the ship before they write it off as a bad idea. The 'plot' is Data and Geordi make up a TREKnospeak whatsis to save the ship from a spacial anomaly(again!). They have to test it on the Holodeck. Then the Dixon Hill program comes on and 'someone' steals the heart of the device. It is lost on the holodeck. Dixon has to get it away from the mob. Why don't they just shut the thing down and pick it up off the floor? The author comes up with a weak justification at the end of the book which says. Anything taken in and not held when the program is shut off is destroyed. Even if that was the case in "Encounter at Farpoint" Data shows that he can see past the holo image on his own if he wants to. Lets not even bring Geordi into this. This book is before STTNG Generations but Worf is no where to be seen or even heard from or referred to. As well as other plot/tech holes big enough to drive the Enterprise through. Also the "Mystery" is no mystery at all half way through the book you'll be going. "Please no dont let it be" But it is. This is arguably the worst STTNG novel to ever come out. Hopefully a single aberration from the generally high quality of the new ST books.
Rating:
Summary: It was a hard read...
Review: "It was a read so bad that it made an eye chart look like an award winning novel..." Anyone who loves hack writing and horrible prose in the fashion of old pulp detective novels will adore this book.If on the other hand, you are looking for another excellent science fiction story written in the STNG world of culture and intelligent dialog, you should avoid this book at all costs. The story idea itself is bottom-of-the-barrel "first season" quality. The treatment (or lack thereof) of the STNG characters is embarassing. It's truly the most awful book I've ever read and you couldn't pay me enough money to suffer through it again.
Rating: 
Summary: STNG- A Hard Rain
Review: A Hard Rain by Dean Wesley Smith is an engaging Dixon Hill holodeck mystery. Jean-Luc Picard is playing the star roll as Dixon Hill a detective solving crime in the city by the bay in the 1940's. He is accompanied by the Luscious Bev (Beverly Crusher), Mr. Whelan and Mr. Data, all trying to find the Heart of the Adjuster. Its location is paramount in saving the Enterprise from certain destruction from an area of space known as the Blackness. As with many private eye stories, this has clues woven throughout the story, so be forwarned read it carefully and you'll solve this crime story before Dixon Hill realizes he has all the clues he needs. But time is short and Dixon Hill has a bevy of suspects to encounter in order to find the "Heart." This is a well written mystery, a few typos, but nevertheless a compelling story. The deterioration of the Enterprise by the quantum overlap (Blackness) is believeable and the solution found but will it work? We have gangsters with some really original names; Cyrus Redblock, Ghost Johnson, Benny the Banger, Harvey Upstairs Benton, Slippery Stan Hand and his girl friend Jessica Daniels. An intrepid Detective Bell is Dixon Hill's inside source as the book evolves and is Hill's best friend. But as Data said, as he took his gangster stance, "As Dexter Drake said, "The solving of almost every crime mystery depends on something which seems, at first glance, to bear no relation whatever to the original crime." Pay heed to these words and they will serve you well in solving this mystery. I enjoyed reading this book as it was entertaining and a fast read. But not everyone will like this book to them all I can say is... better luck. Those who want a deeper engrossing mystery, this is not your best mystery, but at least there are attempts at writing more mystery into the suspense of Trek.
Rating:
Summary: Lame, dull mystery
Review: Dull characters and a very slow-moving plot make this the worst Star Trek novel I've ever read. If the Dixon Hill books were this bad Picard would never have even finished reading one. As others have said the resolution of the mystery is unbelievably lame and painfully obvious. I donated my copy to a library book sale and felt guilty passing it on to an unsuspecting reader.
Rating: 
Summary: I'm Surprised at You, Dean Wesley Smith
Review: Hard Rain was a very disappointing book. I had looked forward to a Dixon Hill novel, but this left me very unsatisfied. First of all, only three members of the Enterprise crew played a part in either of the storylines. Geordi was mentioned, as was Riker, but neither of them appeared. Worf, Deanna, etc. were forgotten. All of them should have played parts, just as the characters in Deep Space Nine did in the episode Our Man Bashir. Secondly there were too many minor characters, and all of them seemed to be interchangeable. Not one stood out with the possible exception of Detective Bell (not really a minor character). They had silly names and silly personalities. Thirdly, there were some good pulp fiction writers--Cornell Woolrich for one. The story could have been written much better. Dean Wesley Smith is usually very good, but not this time. It's not worth the money or the time. And, yes, I figured it out before Dixon Hill or Mr. Data.
Rating:
Summary: Cover art easily the book's best feature
Review: Having never before read a Star Trek novel, I was a bit reluctant to buy "A Hard Rain". However, I like Dr. Crusher, and I like Picard, and I love seeing them play characters on the Holodeck, so I went through with the purchase. I wasn't expecting Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but I wasn't exactly prepared for a writing style seemingly aimed at preteen adolescents. Perhaps the most annoying aspect of the book was the author's overuse of similes. I just wanted to get through one page without something being "like a...". Additionally, the relationship between Crusher and Picard was never clearly defined. It appeared that the author wanted to convey a sense of romantic feelings between the two, but he just could not bring himself to do so. I wouldn't call the book a waste of time, but I wouldn't recommend it either.
Rating:
Summary: Cover art easily the book's best feature
Review: Having never before read a Star Trek novel, I was a bit reluctant to buy "A Hard Rain". However, I like Dr. Crusher, and I like Picard, and I love seeing them play characters on the Holodeck, so I went through with the purchase. I wasn't expecting Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but I wasn't exactly prepared for a writing style seemingly aimed at preteen adolescents. Perhaps the most annoying aspect of the book was the author's overuse of similes. I just wanted to get through one page without something being "like a...". Additionally, the relationship between Crusher and Picard was never clearly defined. It appeared that the author wanted to convey a sense of romantic feelings between the two, but he just could not bring himself to do so. I wouldn't call the book a waste of time, but I wouldn't recommend it either.
Rating:
Summary: A PC game in disguise?
Review: I am a fan of Piers Anthony's "Xanth" series, so the horrible cliche's and the many ways of saying "stolen" was amusing to me. "Xanth", by the way, is a world loaded with some very *bad* puns that can have you busting out with laughter on occasion. However, "A Hard Rain" suffers from excessive repetiveness. I got tired of reading the same lines over and over. Then there were the "clues" listed at the end of each chapter. I wondered if I was reading a children's book by mistake at first. Sometimes children's authors write things like that to help the young reader keep track. But then I got the idea that this is written like a PC game. You have the characters, the set-up, everything you need to play the game. Each chapter is a different section in the game that you can't get to until you gather up all the clues and can move onward. Unfortunatly, it didn't translate well into book form. The writing is too stilted and skimpy. Maybe the author should have gone on and made it into a game. It might have been more of a success.
Rating: 
Summary: Star Trek for mystery lovers
Review: I came at this book from a different angle than most Trekkies (Trekkers, for you young people). I happen to love he old mysteries by Chandler, et al., and I knew this was an homage to -- not a parody of, as some have suggested -- the detective fiction of the golden age of pulp before I started reading. Dean Wesley Smith clearly loves the genre as much as I do and cleverly worked in trademark touches from several writers of the period. Including Ellery Queen's summary of "clues" at the end of each chapter, some of which are red herrings. Even if you miss every little Easter egg and can't tell Sam Spade from Philip Marlowe, there's enough action, interesting characterizations and intriguing plot twists to keep you going. If your Trek simply must have planets exploding and Romulans conspiring and the Enterprise locked in deadly combat against overwhelming odds, this is not the book for you. If you're in the mood for a delightful variation on familiar themes -- with more than a bit of whimsy and humor -- this could be just what you're looking for.
Rating:
Summary: Lame, dull mystery
Review: I found this book delightful. A venture from the usual Star Trek tales full of moral delima and technobabble (which I like, by the way). If you're looking for something different that is seems more along the lines of fan fiction, rather than pro-fiction, this book is for you.
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