Rating: 
Summary: Cleverly Credible !
Review: The path home from the jungle of Central America proves to be a treacherous one for Archaeologist Walt Gaines. And upon returning to the U.S., his bizarre behavior perplexes all who know him, or think they do.J.F. Freedman has a knack for taking the small things of life and developing them into insights and ideas that simply resonate with reality, for example, how fathers relate to sons, how wives relate to husbands about fathers, and how the least secure son reflects on life. "Fallen Idols" has a delicious series of twists and turns that are totally believable and the ending is worth the wait. Freedman has found a new venue and a new approach, and he continues to produce some of the most inventive and clever plots and realistic personality portrayals in American writing today.
Rating: 
Summary: Where Did He Dig This Up?
Review: This is my fourth Freedman novel, having read "Above the Law", "The Disappearance" and "Bird's Eye View" prior to "Fallen Idols". What I have always loved about this author's work is his ability to captivate me with a mystery from the start, then keep me guessing until the end. This book did neither.
The book centers around a renowned archaeologist, Walt Gaines, and his wife, Jocelyn. When Jocelyn is killed at the end of a dig, Walt and his three adult sons are devastated. After the funeral, Walt quits his job at the University of Wisconsin, moves to California and severs practically all contact with his family.
The sons investigate, and find a lifestyle that is inconsistent with Walt's means. As they investigate, they find that there may be more to their mother's death than they had been led to believe. This, coupled with Walt's mysterious new life spurs them on to discover all they can find out about the past.
While a fascinating character study, I found the book to be slow in places and missing the aforementioned formula that makes this author a favorite.
This one is far from being a priceless relic.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Read
Review: This is not ususally the type of book that I pick up (not very action packed), but it was still a good read. The things I liked best about the book were the characters and the decriptions of the locations (Central America). The plot was a little slow but was interesting. Overall it was different type of book then I am used to, but I enjoyed it.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Read
Review: This is not ususally the type of book that I pick up (not very action packed), but it was still a good read. The things I liked best about the book were the characters and the decriptions of the locations (Central America). The plot was a little slow but was interesting. Overall it was different type of book then I am used to, but I enjoyed it.
Rating: 
Summary: Too much angst; too little action
Review: To date, I have read all of J.F. Freedman's books and wish I had quit while I was ahead. This is like wanting to remember the dearly departed as young, healthy, and appealing instead of puny, wasting, later years. I hope the author returns to more likeable characters and more thrilling plot. This is NOTHING like "Bird's Eye View " It is a shame !
Rating:
Summary: A Search for the Truth
Review: Walter Gaines is an archaeology professor at the University of Wisconsin. He and his wife are on an important dig in Central America. Looting is a big problem at the site. Walter and Jocelyn are ambushed on their way back to go home. When the attack is over, artifacts are taken and Jocelyn is dead. After the funeral Walter leaves Wisconsin for LA and is virtually cut-off from his three grown sons. The sons find their father's behavior very strange and work together to try to uncover the truth of what happened in Central America. The deeper they delve in to the strange financial transactions they uncover, the more confused they become. I have enjoyed J.F. Freedman books in the past, but found too many contrived plot points in this book. Once the sons started unraveling the mystery, things just fell into place much too easily. Everyone they talked to was very forthcoming with information with barely any questions asked. It was as unrealistic as it was unconvincing. The ending had a twist, but again suffered in its predictability. I found myself flipping pages just to move the story forward. I wanted to like the book, but at the end it was not really worth the time it took to read it.
Rating:
Summary: An editor, an editor! My kingdom for an editor!
Review: What you have here is about 60 pages of material stretched out to 498 pages. I can't believe I actually read the first 350 or so. It's as if Freedman and his publisher colluded to create a massive waste of time. The story is set up early and then goes nowhere for an eternity. Finally, when you can't stand the pointless descriptions and stagnant plot, you might be tempted to skip to the end. Unfortunately, at this point, it becomes clear that the author never intended for you to figure anything out until you had read about 400 pages. The ending is not only clumsy, but of a very "deus-ex-machina" nature; that is, there was never any reason to suspect the true culprit except that there was never any reason to suspect the true culprit. (Yes, I know that sounds redundant, but then the whole novel is an exercise in repetition. My sympathy if you paid for the hardcover version.)
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