Rating: 
Summary: An Excellent Read
Review: Mr. Ridley has a wonderful way of describing the color of Seattle. This book was a gripper first page to last. This was my first Ridley, not my last. I have just ordered the rest of the ones I had not read.
Rating: 
Summary: Only o.k.for a plane ride or if you're in labor.
Review: Not enough character development, plot is replete with unanswered questions and coincidences. If Boldt's wife is so sick, why is he out running away from responsibility? Or is that what we do with all mysteries? Or with all life.
Rating: 
Summary: A better than average police/arson/murder thriller
Review: Often times, books that capture my attention, leave me eager to read more, and that entertain me make me quite happy. This book satisfied all those qualities and more. I found Beyond Recognition to be fast paced, gripping, albeit simple language. Pearson can craft a thriller well and left me eager to continue my read even if the book had a fair amount of predictability involved. If you enjoy thrillers involving police work you will be entertained by Beyond Recognition. -Angela Bernardon
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, but....
Review: Overall, I enjoyed the book. However, there were so many unanswered questions, and it seemed that Pearson often started on a new twist that he never finished. I spent too much time trying to figure out if I had misread something! And the bit about the scuba diver being dumped in the field...that is such an old urban legend. I can't believe Pearson seriously included that. That made me doubt his imagination throughout.
Rating:
Summary: A let-down
Review: Pearson knows how to create real tension and exciting situations. Some parts of this book are too drawn out, he often explains the obvious (at length), but overall it is quite an entertaining read. Minor problems for me are that the author describes Detective Boldt as extremely clever, yet somehow he misses a lot of clues. In addition, a lot of events are telegraphed, which for me is never really satisfying, but of course might be considered rewarding for other readers ('I knew this was going to happen..'). The worst part for me is clearly Pearson's naive and uncritical view of psychology and psychic phenomenon. This is not something I mind in fiction in general, but if a story is presented in such a realistic way, it just rubs me the wrong way. If you have a scientific background or are a critical thinker, this book will most likely be painful to read. Others will probably have a pretty good time.
Rating: 
Summary: One Of The Good "Thrillers"
Review: Ridley Pearson has been called the best of the "thriller" writers and he IS GOOD. Good characters, good plot, superior writing; Pearson has it all. Unfortunately he wrote a novel here that is too long for the plot. It gets tedious because the author STRETCHED the plot and spent much too much verbiage on a non-essential sub-plot of a troubled child. That is the only thing that stopped my giving this book five stars. If you are a reader of this genre, it is well worth your time. Tip: skip over a lot of the child stuff; you won't miss a thing.
Rating:
Summary: Beyond Recognition is beyond the ordinary crime tale.
Review: Ridley Pearson lights another burning success with this book about unexplained serial arsons in Seattle. More than just a plot driven mystery, Pearson develops further the interesting and complex web of characters he has introduced to readers in other Lou Boldt series.The story begins a bit slowly until it suddenly ignites into a fully engaging read. Police psychologist Daphne Matthews seemed a bit brittle in this novel but other characters expand and glow. The story itself taught me things I did not know I wanted to know about firefighting and arsonists - the sign of an excellent author! Ignore your mundane tasks and blaze through this visit to Pearson's world of crime fighting with very human characters fighting demons both within and outside the psyche.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant writing!!!
Review: Ridley Pearson's prose, the "fire" element, the construction of the plot and the realism of the characters make this book the ideal choice for anyone who desires a novel with a difference.
Rating:
Summary: Almost Unbearable Suspense
Review: Sergeant Lou Bolt is one of my favorite characters. Intricate and well rounded, he is surrounded by several other well defined characters. Ridley Pearson builds a magnetic plot and then draws it to an amazing conclusion at break-neck speed. With some conclusions left unresolved, I'm looking forward to the next installment in this series.
Rating:
Summary: Overwrought
Review: Sgt. Boldt plunges right into a frightening case full of the fear of fatally frying in fire, friends and foes alike. "Overwrought" for a Pearson novel, that is (Sgt. Boldt is immediately panicked by a nasty arson case but his reaction hardly seems initially [or finally] justifiable on the evidence presented). The story still doesn't hold a candle to the recent excesses of psycho-mystery writers Cornwall or Patterson. While Boldt and his devoted police psychologist Daphne Matthews are fully rounded characters, here they surely do have more than their fair share of personal problems, marriages threatening to break up amid other disasters of child abuse, disappearence, and psychic mummery. Several times you think Boldt has found his man, but then Pearson adds another jolting twist and the chase resumes. At times it is truly intense and thrilling.
The plot has a parallel story structure, but we see not the criminal, who is very well hidden, but a poor boy dreadfully afraid to leave his extraordinarily abusive father. Pearson has a wonderful ability to make a small observation-like a cleaned window-develop into bone-chilling significance. There are many fine moments here despite a story that starts too fast and ends too tamely.
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