Heartstone

Rating:
Summary: BORING!! BORING!!
Review: Mr. Margolin, what were you thinking with this "novel"? I have read 2 books by Margolin, "After Dark" and "Gone, But Not Forgotten", and I must say that I had high expectations when I picked up this book, "Heartsone", as the other 2 were WONDERFUL. The plot was boring, characters were boring, and the setting was EXTREMELY boring! Again, Mr. Margolin, what WERE you thinking

Rating:
Summary: Not really that great...
Review: The book itself sounded interesting, but after I've started reading it, things started to get confusing. Too many characters appeared all at once, and half-way the book I couldn't understand what was going on at all. At one moment, I was reading about character X, and suddenly the story was shifted to character Y. The ending was rather sudden, yet surprising.

Rating:
Summary: HEARTSTOPPING HEARTSTONE
Review: The criminal justice system is given a once-over in this well-developed, and well-written mystery. Margolin gives us the murder of two upstanding young people on a November night in 1960. Richie Walters has just asked cheerleader Elaine Murray to go steady with him. Their love and hopes for a future together are gone before you know it.
As we examine this murder in depth, we find there are many people involved, and we find ourselves wondering, who really killed this couple? And why?
The immensity of characters doesn't overwhelm the book; you may stop and ask yourself, why are these characters introduced? But by the time the book is finished, you'll see why.
Although the lawyers and the suspected killers are certainly strong focus in the book, I found the heart of the book to be Esther Peglosi, the rather ... teenager who becomes the key witness in the prosecution's case. We first meet Esther as a rather well-developed young woman who doesn't have trouble bedding anybody, but we are also introduced to horrifying facts about her childhood and her parents. Later on, Esther is cunningly seduced by a cop obsessed with the case into being hypnotized, and here we begin to see how the power of suggestion breaks down this girl, and how her love for this cop propels her toward inevitable disaster. Esther's character is very, very well written and she holds the book together.
It's interesting, also, to see the development of young Mark Shaffer, the up and coming lawyer, who finds himself defending the accused Bobby Corbett. He starts out totally ineffectual and enamored with the defendant's live-in girlfriend, and ends up becoming savvy and accomplished. The denouement of this novel is shocking, in what happens to Bobby and Esther. Also, the deathbed confession of the titular character is a whopper.
Can't forget to mention the true villain of this book and that is officer Roy Schindler, who uses his authority to basically fix the case and use poor misguided Esther. Although Al Caproni is culpable, too, he is just another victim of the political schematics.
A STUNNING AND WELL WORTH IT BOOK.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Rating:
Summary: HEARTSTOPPING HEARTSTONE
Review: The criminal justice system is given a once-over in this well-developed, and well-written mystery. Margolin gives us the murder of two upstanding young people on a November night in 1960. Richie Walters has just asked cheerleader Elaine Murray to go steady with him. Their love and hopes for a future together are gone before you know it.
As we examine this murder in depth, we find there are many people involved, and we find ourselves wondering, who really killed this couple? And why?
The immensity of characters doesn't overwhelm the book; you may stop and ask yourself, why are these characters introduced? But by the time the book is finished, you'll see why.
Although the lawyers and the suspected killers are certainly strong focus in the book, I found the heart of the book to be Esther Peglosi, the rather ... teenager who becomes the key witness in the prosecution's case. We first meet Esther as a rather well-developed young woman who doesn't have trouble bedding anybody, but we are also introduced to horrifying facts about her childhood and her parents. Later on, Esther is cunningly seduced by a cop obsessed with the case into being hypnotized, and here we begin to see how the power of suggestion breaks down this girl, and how her love for this cop propels her toward inevitable disaster. Esther's character is very, very well written and she holds the book together.
It's interesting, also, to see the development of young Mark Shaffer, the up and coming lawyer, who finds himself defending the accused Bobby Corbett. He starts out totally ineffectual and enamored with the defendant's live-in girlfriend, and ends up becoming savvy and accomplished. The denouement of this novel is shocking, in what happens to Bobby and Esther. Also, the deathbed confession of the titular character is a whopper.
Can't forget to mention the true villain of this book and that is officer Roy Schindler, who uses his authority to basically fix the case and use poor misguided Esther. Although Al Caproni is culpable, too, he is just another victim of the political schematics.
A STUNNING AND WELL WORTH IT BOOK.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Rating:
Summary: I was very disappointed!!
Review: The first book I read by Mr. Margolin was Gone but Not Forgotten. Perhaps that was my mistake. Gone... was a fabulous book. I would rank it with my top 10 favorite books. (I will write a review for it as well to be fair.) I couldn't wait to read another book by this author. I made the grievous error of picking up Heartstone. I would rank it with my top 10 least favorite books of all time. Now, I'm afraid to pick up another of his books. I want the thrill of Gone... but if I wanted to be put to sleep by a book I would read a nursery rhyme. Little Red Riding Hood had more suspense.

Rating:
Summary: This Book Is FANTASTIC
Review: This is one of the best books I have ever read. It is well-written and has a plot twist that was brilliant. I just had to write this review because the review giving it a "1" was so hard to believe. I think he must have posted in the wrong place. I can't tell you how much I loved this book. I read it over a year ago and I still think about how great it was and wish I had an opportunity to read another book of that kind

Rating:
Summary: Wanted to Make Me Give Up Reading
Review: This was the worst book I've ever read in my life, worse than any of those horrible novels we had to read in English lit. in high school. I don't care how much sex you put into a novel; the only thing it does is drag an already laborious and tiring plot out and thicken the binding. This all goes without mentioning how disappointing the ending was; for all of the effort I put in reading the thing, one might think there would be a rewarding finish. Think again. . .

Rating:
Summary: Not close to Margolin's others
Review: Too many characters, moves to slowly, and the little twist at the end isn't worth the time it takes to get there. But don't let that stop you from reading Margolin's other great books "Gone But Not Forgotten", "Last Innocent Man", and "Wild Justice"

Rating:
Summary: Not close to Margolin's others
Review: Too many characters, moves to slowly, and the little twist at the end isn't worth the time it takes to get there. But don't let that stop you from reading Margolin's other great books "Gone But Not Forgotten", "Last Innocent Man", and "Wild Justice"

Rating:
Summary: NOT TO GOOD!!!!!
Review: Wish there was some way to get your money back when you did not like a book. The author has already made his by that time. I think Hearstone has to many characters and to many different stories going on at the same time. I was totally confused. The story is about who killed Richie Walters and Elaine Murray. Wasit the Collidge brothers, Bobby and Billy or not? Was the key witness told what to say? What about the prisoners who said they knew something. Of course the detective will do what ever to solve the case. The DA is looking out for him self and his future even if he holds back the truth. The last few pages of the trail were very good. The rest was not. I think the best thing I got was a line on page seven, "Getting into heaven was not going to depend on the size of his waistline." This is my second Margolin book may try another but doubtful.