Rating: Summary: A bit dissapointing Review: I have read most of Peter Abrahams' books and was so excited to have this newest work to read. While he is still a good writer, this is not one his best. This is not a book that I checked out of the library after being on a waiting list and was glad I did not purchase it.
Rating: Summary: Oh, what a tangled web we weave . . . Review: I love it when I have no idea where a book is going, which in a case like this is only possible if you don't read the blurb on the dust jacket. Stephen King's recommendation of the author persuaded me that the trip would be worthwhile, and it certainly was. Interesting characters, nail-biting suspense, and clever parallels among very different people - some smart, some terminally stupid - as they attempt to put Nietzsche's philosophy into practical use. A winner!
Rating: Summary: a nice voice, but... Review: I think it's rather a better book than some other reviewers do, but it does have some problems. What is very well done is the "mcmuffin," the plot device of the identical twins and their relationship with the narrator, and the trouble they get into. And the narrator, a very bright and admirable but equally very unsophisticated college freshman who ventures into the girls' world of the super rich is a quite likeable character. His naivete about this world provides nice little social insights and gives a texture to the novel about class and money in this country which works well. What doesn't work quite so well is the action of the novel. Except for the end, which is melodramatic to a fault, there just isn't enough done with the potentially bizaare twins, the low-life who stumbles into their lives, or even the setting, which is supposed to be Gothic, I think, but comes across more like a preteen's "Secret Clubhouse." Still, Mr. Abrahams writes very well, the minor characters are very well fleshed out, and the books is quite suspenseful for the first half. After that it slows and mumbles, but it's still worth a read. And it may worthily lead some readers back to Abrahams' very first 2 books, which are fine.
Rating: Summary: Nail Biting-- Not... But, a good story line. Review: I thought that this book was going to be a nail biter, a real suspense thriller, boy was I wrong. Stephen King needs to get out a little more. The characterization was done well and I grew to like them. The story line was pretty good and there were possibilities, unfortunately, Mr. Abrahams did not take advantage of them. The ending falls short and leaves the reader wanting so much more. It is a fun book, but not much more.
Rating: Summary: My first Peter Abrahams Book. Review: I wasn't sure I was going to pick this book, but, when I saw "My favorite American suspense novelist" -Stephen King on the cover, I decided to give it a try. The only reason I finished the book was because I took the time to start it. If I had to describe the book in one word, I would say, shallow. Don't waste your time or money. There are so many wonderful books out there. This does not happen to be one of them.
Rating: Summary: I couldn't put it down. Review: I'd purchased "Crying Wolf" for a friend at work. Because he was out of the office and I'd run out of books, I borrowed this from his stack. I actually went to work half an hour early the day after I started reading it, so that I could finish the book before he came in to claim his prize.I was looking for the suspense since, on the cover, Stephen King is quoted as having said that Peter Abrahams is his "favorite American suspense novelist." I really didn't find suspense. However, I found a good plot with likeable characters. While this book takes place in college - a boarding school, if you will - I kept thinking that Inverness was NOT Hogwarts... Nat is a young man who wins a scholarship that takes him from his working-class town to Inverness College. Freedy is a young bodybuilder thug. Their paths parallel but never quite meet until... Nat happens upon Grace and Izzie, very rich twin sisters who attend Inverness (and very different from Patti, his hometown sweetheart). The three students hatch a kidnapping scheme to try to obtain some much-needed money from the girls' father. However, as we learned as children, if you Cry Wolf often enough, when a crisis emerges no one will believe you. While seldom actually "suspenseful," "Crying Wolf" was nonetheless a good book and a good purchase. I do recommend it; and I will be looking for more books by Peter Abrahams
Rating: Summary: I couldn't put it down. Review: I'd purchased "Crying Wolf" for a friend at work. Because he was out of the office and I'd run out of books, I borrowed this from his stack. I actually went to work half an hour early the day after I started reading it, so that I could finish the book before he came in to claim his prize. I was looking for the suspense since, on the cover, Stephen King is quoted as having said that Peter Abrahams is his "favorite American suspense novelist." I really didn't find suspense. However, I found a good plot with likeable characters. While this book takes place in college - a boarding school, if you will - I kept thinking that Inverness was NOT Hogwarts... Nat is a young man who wins a scholarship that takes him from his working-class town to Inverness College. Freedy is a young bodybuilder thug. Their paths parallel but never quite meet until... Nat happens upon Grace and Izzie, very rich twin sisters who attend Inverness (and very different from Patti, his hometown sweetheart). The three students hatch a kidnapping scheme to try to obtain some much-needed money from the girls' father. However, as we learned as children, if you Cry Wolf often enough, when a crisis emerges no one will believe you. While seldom actually "suspenseful," "Crying Wolf" was nonetheless a good book and a good purchase. I do recommend it; and I will be looking for more books by Peter Abrahams
Rating: Summary: I couldn't put it down. Review: I'd purchased "Crying Wolf" for a friend at work. Because he was out of the office and I'd run out of books, I borrowed this from his stack. I actually went to work half an hour early the day after I started reading it, so that I could finish the book before he came in to claim his prize. I was looking for the suspense since, on the cover, Stephen King is quoted as having said that Peter Abrahams is his "favorite American suspense novelist." I really didn't find suspense. However, I found a good plot with likeable characters. While this book takes place in college - a boarding school, if you will - I kept thinking that Inverness was NOT Hogwarts... Nat is a young man who wins a scholarship that takes him from his working-class town to Inverness College. Freedy is a young bodybuilder thug. Their paths parallel but never quite meet until... Nat happens upon Grace and Izzie, very rich twin sisters who attend Inverness (and very different from Patti, his hometown sweetheart). The three students hatch a kidnapping scheme to try to obtain some much-needed money from the girls' father. However, as we learned as children, if you Cry Wolf often enough, when a crisis emerges no one will believe you. While seldom actually "suspenseful," "Crying Wolf" was nonetheless a good book and a good purchase. I do recommend it; and I will be looking for more books by Peter Abrahams
Rating: Summary: Crying Wolf is just a bad book. Review: I'm not going to pretend to be an educated, experienced critic, but like 95% of you out there I enjoy a good book. Crying Wolf is not a good book. Abrahams stumbles through the story almost as though he has put the first draft out there! At times it is almost painful to battle through. He continues to ask me questions and then answers them for me in the next sentence or paragraph. Mr. Abrahams, please please, let me, the reader, ask my own questions! The characters, especially Freedy, are terribly inconsistent and poorly brought together. Like 95% of you out there I don't want to waste time and I'm sorry I did on this book. With hesitation and much less patience I will try some of Abrahams others, they can't be worse than Crying Wolf.
Rating: Summary: Crying Wolf is just a bad book. Review: I'm not going to pretend to be an educated, experienced critic, but like 95% of you out there I enjoy a good book. Crying Wolf is not a good book. Abrahams stumbles through the story almost as though he has put the first draft out there! At times it is almost painful to battle through. He continues to ask me questions and then answers them for me in the next sentence or paragraph. Mr. Abrahams, please please, let me, the reader, ask my own questions! The characters, especially Freedy, are terribly inconsistent and poorly brought together. Like 95% of you out there I don't want to waste time and I'm sorry I did on this book. With hesitation and much less patience I will try some of Abrahams others, they can't be worse than Crying Wolf.
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