Rating: Summary: Flawed but enjoyable Review: I always buy Stephen White's books--a habit that this book has not changed. Nevertheless, this particular novel is not quite of the quality I expected. My critique centers not so much on the foundation of the plot (scary!) or on White's writing (still great), but on the fact that he raises questions about patient confidentiality as an integral part of his plot, but never resolves the moral issue. I don't object to moral grey areas in my reading--in fact, I like them--but the fact that the protagonist struggles intensely with this issue, ultimately goes against what the law would probably say, and escapes the consequences of his actions through nothing more than plot-line acrobatics leaves me feeling cheated. White makes a lot of Dr. Gregory's inner turmoil, and yet his ethical conflicts seem to end as soon as the final action sequence begins, despite the fact that he had not predicted these occurances and his actions push the line, regardless of subsequent events. For perhaps the first time, I detect a bit of intellectual dishonesty in Dr. Gregory, which seems out of keeping with the carefully constructed, highly ethical character developed over so many novels. His choice isn't inconsistent with his character; his quick recovery from that choice is. On the positive side, White's description of Gregory's interactions and responses to his daughter, Grace, ring 100% true. When I was reading this, my daughter was about the same age, and I found myself nodding in agreement whenever Grace made an appearance. This is, indeed, a page-turner. Fans of White will not be disappointed.
Rating: Summary: Not his best, but he has set the bar pretty high! Review: I am a big Stephen White fan, who waits every year for his latest. Those of you new to Dr. White are in for an incredible treat, as you go back and read from the beginning. His books are intelligent, well-written, with complex plots and complete characters. Warning Signs isn't up to his usual offerings. For the first time ever, I got bored and didn't care who killed or why. This one strayed too far from the core characters for me and introduced characters for this story I didn't care about. You get a lot of insight into the psychological elements that motivate people to do bad things, as you would expect from a psychologist-turned-author, but the culprit was revealed too early for me. We knew where we were going, and it as no fun going there. Dr. White obviously spent a lot of time on research about explosives. His usual attention to detail is there, and there are a couple of curves thrown, but some aren't developed. I didn't get the impression that White was having a good time with Warning Signs, so how could I? Overall, I say if you don't know this author read some of the others first. You owe it to yourself---and him---before you read this. He's a great author. I am sure this isn't a warning sign that that will change.
Rating: Summary: A fast pace thriller.... Review: I couldn't lay the book out of my hands until I finished if to the very end.
This is a typical White's book with the brilliant psychological insights and the fast pace rhythm of the plot.
Dr. Alan stand in front of an ethical dilemma - whether to break the client-patient contract or to ignore the "warning signs" and keep his patients secrets with him even though his wife could be in danger for her life...
I enjoyed it a lot and can't wait for the next White's one.
Rating: Summary: Peaking Like The Rockies Review: I never thought I'd say this, but I now look forward to the Alan Gregory books as much as I look forward to the Alex Delaware books. White started out a little slowly, but his books have gotten better and better, to the point that I think this one was one of the best psychological mysteries/thrillers I have ever read. The thing that is most noteworthy about this book is that White managed to keep 3 plots -- any one of which could have been a standalone -- all going to tremendous conclusions. Even though I did guess the resolution of all the plots, that did nothing to detract from this book. In fact, it shows the book's fairness to the reader, since the story contained sufficient clues, and was internally consistent enough, to allow the puzzle to be solved. This is a great, great read, and who knows, next year I may even say that Alan is better than Alex.
Rating: Summary: Now This One Is Just Excellent! Review: I've been reading my way through Mr. White's novels and after a couple of the previous ones (CRITICAL CONDITIONS and HARM'S WAY), I was about to throw in the towel. Glad he AND I persevered! This novel is a keeper. He didn't do his usual "pile on too much ridiculously unbelievable stuff at the end" and in this one his final revelation of the killer made perfect sense. Mr. White is clearly growing as a writer right before our very eyes. Well done!! Unfortunately, I can still just barely tolerate Alan Gregory. Too bad Sam isn't the main character and then Alan could be a secondary he calls on occasionally when he needs to watch someone immerse themselves in a "Thirtysomething" type of whinefest. I am so sick of hearing Alan grizzle about confidentiality. He could have prevented Naomi's death if he had got off the fence much sooner. The woman was clearly in terrible crises, I couldn't believe he kept letting her just walk out of his office. Wimp. If he couldn't bring himself to protect her, he should at least have put his family first. He had plenty of latitude for some end runs around confidentiality. Especially when he has the trustworthy Sam to confide in. Whine, whine, whine. Oh well, Alan is the cross we must bear so I'll try to be gracious. The rest of the characters are so enjoyable. I loved learning more about Lucy, she's wonderful! And I completely sympathized with her feelings toward Ramp. If only he could have channeled himself in a more productive manner, he had much to offer. But he was so right about claiming the only way the world seems to pay attention is after mayhem. So many great topics touched on in this novel and by such compelling characters. Now if we could just kill off Alan in one of these catastrophes that keep attaching themselves to his family!! And Lauren could marry Cozy.........
Rating: Summary: Entertaining page-turner Review: It would be easy to mistake Stephen White's Alan Gregory series for Jonathan Kellerman's older and more established Alex Delaware books. Both involve pyschologists, both are told primarily in the first person, both have murder mysteries and both main characters have gruff police "sidekicks." The differences, however, are more important: while the Delaware books are declining in quality (for reasons best discussed in a review of Kellerman's books), the Gregory books remain consistently good. In this story, the district attorney of Boulder is murdered and the prime suspect is Gregory's cop-friend's partner, Lucy. Gregory's wife Lauren, usually a prosecutor, extends her maternity leave to help defend Lucy. Meanwhile, Gregory gets a new patient whose son may or may not be involved with the murder, and also may or may not be planning additional killings. There are suitable twists and turns in the story, but what makes this book (and the series) exciting is that no character outside the narrator is truly safe. White has no qualms about killing previously established characters. With a job that puts her often in danger and with an erratic but debilitating disease, even Gregory's wife is not safe from danger. If you are a fan of the Kellerman books (which tend to be better sellers), than you should enjoy these books as well. But these books are also good enough for any mystery fan to enjoy.
Rating: Summary: Warning Signs Review: See storyline above. Stephen White's latest is a psychological drama well worth your time. The characters seem real and the two subplots come together real well. There is suspense along with quite a few ethical dilemmas. A well-written and solid novel. Inside the covers: "All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That is his." A quote by Oscar Wilde Recommended
Rating: Summary: Another Great One by Stephen White! Review: Stephen White has done it again! I am one of his newest fans and wish I had found him sooner! What great works of art his books are! I really enjoy his style of writing; he keeps the reader on the edge of their seat and there are lots of twists and turns to keep you thinking.
Rating: Summary: Warning Signs is a warning; this can happen Review: Stephen White has taken a tragic event, Columbine, and written a murder/thriller/suspense story in its wake. Dr. Alan Gregory, a Boulder psychologist and old friend from previous books, continues to protect his patient confidentiality as he tries to help them. Warning Signs is filled with coincidences. Boulder's controversial Distric Attorney is found dead in his home while his semi-invalid wife is sleeping upstairs. After the initial investigation is conducted by Pam Purdy and Lucy Tanner, also old friends from the serial, Lucy's fingerprints show up throughout the house an the police believe that she had been there prior to the murder making her a suspect. In the meantime, Dr. Gregory has accepted a new patient who is concerned that her son may be involved with a plot to seek revenge on the people who raped his sister and caused his father to be convicted of assulting her rapist. Her obsession is with the parents of the Columbine shooters...the Harrises and the Klebolds. Should they have known what their sons were up to and should they have reported them. Warning Signs is a book that looks like an easy trip to an arrest, but there are so many different plots to be investigated along the way, that the end is a complete surprise. As the story moves from a single isolated murder to a series of violent events the suspense builds. Read the book !
Rating: Summary: One of the best thrillers I have read in a long time. Review: Stephen White has written a thriller that you just can't put down. I throughly enjoyed this book. Alan Gregory, the psychologist, has a dilemma in the ethical patient/doctor confidentiality when Noami Bigg relates some information that could result in the loss of lives, one of which could be his own wife, Lauren. The twists and turns as he tries to make a decision as to what he should do will keep you reading to the last page. I will defintely get more of Stephen White's books to read after this one.
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