Rating: 
Summary: Perfect!
Review: I really enjoyed this book. I didn't think it was "implausible" at all (see other reviews). I couldn't put it down -- even when at the (granted, cold Marin) beach this past weekend. All the characters felt real, the pacing was great, and the way Mr. Carter used time was enjoyable. I especially liked his statement in the author's notes that one of the characters mis-described a Supreme Court decision.
All in all, I highly recommend this book. I'm tempted to start it over (if only I didn't promise it to my dad).
Rating: 
Summary: The result of one fatally underworked editor
Review: Interesting story, even fascinating in parts, if a little smug, but good grief, could it have been any more prolix?? Next time Professor Carter, get a sterner editor.
Rating:
Summary: A 250-page thriller in a 652-page bore
Review: I decided to read 'The Emperor of Ocean Park' because the story sounded exciting: a postmortem message from an infamous black judge to his son. Mysterious (and sometimes grisly) deaths, a beautiful and mysterious stranger, and the mysterious disappearance of a scrapbook of awful memories. Mysterious, eh?
The problem with this exciting tale is that it is buried in 400 pages of irritating commentary. The protagonist, Talcott Garland, is unhappy with everything: his allegedly unfaithful wife, the nasty politics and racial divide at the law school where he is professor, and just about everything else. Talcott has something snotty to tell us about every colleague and family member, and his self-pitying attitude makes him difficult to like. If you can stand the endless melodrama, you might be able to dig your way to an interesting mystery story.
Rating: 
Summary: Carter needs a better editor
Review: This too-long book kept me reading, but I was brought up short several times, wondering how a brillitant legal scholar could describe the PUPILS of someone's eyes as being colored; how his hero could dig through "sodden" soil to the ICE BENEATH; and his uncertainty about why the attic of a house is HOTTER than the first floor. But the ferocious WHITE RAT in the cemetery made me laugh out loud! Before Carter publishes another book, his editor should give him an elementary science book, and a word limit.
Rating: 
Summary: Yawn...
Review: I was extremely disappoited in this book. While it included some challenging vocabulary, the plot was convoluted and meaningless. What took 600 pages to explain could have been accomplished in about 200. The main character is a bore and, frankly, the reader is not invited to cozy-up to any of the characters. I do not believe that this book accomplished its mission (so I assume) to be a page-turning mystery. Instead, it was a mix between character study and at attempt at social commentary. I could not decide if I was reading an essay or a work of fiction. I do not recommend buying this book.
Rating: 
Summary: The Emperor of Ocean Park
Review: I don't know why someone gave the book a single star. The book IS a page turner, the first rule of a good mystery. It also offers a perceptive and interesting window into the academic legal community, Washington power politics and the black middle class of an older generation. The stories about the latter were just great. My issue with the book was its seeming lack of an editor. The relationship between the narrator and his wife, the narrator and his father, as well as the "hearings" which were disasterous for the father, are revisited constantly, with little added insight on the part of the narrator as the book progresses. Sure, it likely reflected the obsessiveness of the narrator's thought process during the events laid out in the book, but the repetitiveness just got in the way of the flow of the mystery and made the book at times a frustrating read. It sure was a fine mystery though, contrived or not.
Rating:
Summary: The
Review: Kimmer Madison, Misha's wife, is a character I'll not soon forget. She's many things a desirable woman isn't supposed to be: aggressive, selfish, and hard to please. Kimmer's lushly sexual (as opposed to being the "mindless wisp of sexuality" that Misha's brother, Addison, prefers); and she's got the nerve to top it all off with a natural. Kimmer's a bit of a modern day, upscale Sapphire, yet men can't get enough of her. Reverend Doctor Morris Young's counsel to Misha regarding Kimmer's possible infidelity (Chapter 25) is, I imagine, even more unacceptable to men than Ephesians edict of submission is to women. But does that mean it isn't true? Couples Bible study classes nationwide are gonna have a great time with this one. One thing bothers me about Kimmer: Wouldn't her secret have hurt her nomination chances more than Misha's activities? Kimmer was too calculating to take such a risk. All that said, The Emperor's tales of family and faculty ups and downs are more interesting that its mystery. I can't decide whether the ending was fair. Would the clues left by the Judge have led Misha to find the arrangements? I sorta think not, but maybe that's because I don't play chess. This is a "reader's" novel, so if you're not willing to stay with it for the first 300 pages or so, it might not be for you. If do hang in there, you'll find that it becomes a page turner about midway through, just as a good mystery should.
...
Rating:
Summary: Standing Ovation
Review: My first murder, mystery, suspense novel has me wanting more. "Emperor" was a superbly written novel that had me guessing from start to finish. Bravo Mr. Carter, BRAVO!
Rating:
Summary: I'd rather read the Cliff notes
Review: The writer has shown off his vocabulary - great. Great descriptions of places and characters and then it drags on the plot. He uses chess as a metaphor for life and to explain the plot - great, except for those us who don't play chess and now are made to feel guilty because we don't. The hero is very difficult to like which makes any book difficult to read because you really don't care if the hero ever wins. And... the entire book is so s....l.....o....w. Doesn't Prof Carter know that the world is speeding up - as soundbites everywhere get shorter and shorter? This is heavy and plodding, with no humor at all (do I just imagine that the main character is Prof Carter himself?) I know he has to write a second novel for his $4 million advance - I hope he will do it in half the pages.
Rating:
Summary: A Frustrating Read
Review: My advice to anyone considering spending 16+ dollars on this book is to burn it instead. this book is horrible. it seems as if it was intended for serial publication- it ends every other chapter with a hackeneyed "twist". and then there is the length. the author manages to drone on for 60 pages about nothing. when you reach the end (if you manage to) you'll kick yourself for wasting three days. my verdict- stay away!
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