Rating: 
Summary: An Amazing Thriller!!!!!!!!!
Review: I was extremely fortunate to get my hands on an advance copy of DERAILED from a friend who runs a bookstore. She gave it to me saying, "this is the best thriller I've read in years," which is high praise indeed, as she is acknowledged as our city's most discriminating and knowledgeable reader of suspense fiction. Her recommendations are gospel around here. Fortunately, DERAILED is as good as her word. From the first chapter, when we are hurled into the main character's dilemma, the book produces a powerful magnetic force that kept me riveted to its pages for the day that it took me to read it. Siegel's storytelling is masterful and his writing style is mesmerizing. This is the thriller that I will be recommending to *everyone* for months to come.
Rating:
Summary: A major talent!
Review: James Siegel's novel DERAILED is a breathtaking thriller.
What starts out as a story of a simple flirtation on a commuter train between two adults, turns into a nightmare of deception, blackmail and murder. After a midmorning tryst in a seedy hotel, Charles Schine and Lucinda Harris are robbed, beaten and Lucinda is brutally raped.
What follows is a complex examination of the human condition with enough twists and turns to keep the reader guessing until the very end.Cleverly crafted and very well written, James Siegel is a major talent and DERAILED is a book that should not be missed.
Rating:
Summary: Suspenseful listening
Review: Charles Schine is an ad-man who seemingly has everything, a loving wife and a teen-diabetic daughter who "makes" him late one morning, so he doesn't take his usual train, but one later. There he meets a beautiful woman and makes one bad choice after the other.
In the first third James Siegel mixes first- and third-person narration and the listener soon finds out that not everything is the way he/she thought it would be. The plot makes some more unexpected twists and turns that keep the listener, well, listening.
What adds to the suspense is that Gregory Harrison as the narrator does a terrific job. He captivates the listener and makes them "feel" with the characters. He especially does a great job with Charles'"inner monologues" and when Charles comments things around him just for himself.
I haven't read the first book by James Siegel, but I will now.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I was interested in this book since I read the flap on the hardcover. I was pleased when I saw it in paperback and picked it up. First off, from the beginning the dialogue is really bad. The flirting between the main character and the woman is really trite. The worst part of the book is halfway or 2/3 of the way through when something completely off the wall happens at the perfect time to save our hero. Throughout, cliches are used and acknowledged as though that forgives their use. It doesn't.
Rating:
Summary: "Derailed" a non-stop read
Review: From the first chapter of "Derailed", I was hooked. It was sexy without being obsene and gritty without being vulgar. Siegel's main character was a man the masses could love to hate; wealthy, with a high salary and position, perfect wife and family life. A chance meeting on the morning train upends his entire life in the worst ways possible and we can't help but feel sympathy for the man, at the same time thinking that he brought it on himself.
I'll admit that I did manage to figure out what the plot twists were before they were revealed, and once revealed, they aren't really an audience-gripping "6th Sense" momment, but I don't believe they were intended to be huge, staggering revelations to begin with. And at the point that these early twists come out, the reader is already too immersed in the very fast-paced suspence driven story to even consider putting the book down.
Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant start, but can't sustain its mometumn
Review: The premise is brilliant. A man falls into an affair, gets found out and blackmailed, and can't do anything about it without ruining multiple families. Unfortunately, while the first half of the book succeeds in keeping the pages turning, problems in the second half ultimately bring the book down to the level of an ordinary thriller.
As a previous reviewer stated, there are a number of improbabilities that hurt this book. While I know you have to suspend your disbelief to enjoy almost any thriller, Siegel asks too much of this, as too many unlikely events occur, and pieces fall too conveniently into place. It also doesn't help that we can see a twist coming shortly after getting into the novel - this could be forgiven, if only it was handled better.
As a cautionary tale against cheating on our wives, this one definitely succeeds. However, it's disappointing that there was such a letdown as the book went on, especially given its brilliant start. I'd still recommend reading it, especially given the dearth of truly good thrillers, but I don't think it measures up to his first novel. Nonetheless, I'm still looking forward to the release of Detour next month.
Rating: 
Summary: Over the top and too improbable
Review: Derailed is the kind of book that is so improbable, so impossible that you end up rolling your eyes with every page you turn. The book had the potential to become a good noir thriller, but instead, it fizzles into a mess of nonsense.
Charles is a middle-aged man who's life borers normality. There isn't any spark left in his marriage and his daughter is afflicted with a severe case of diabetes. He's not that happy with his job anymore, and he's just looking for something to bring back the excitement in his life.
He finds it in Lucinda, a woman he sees on the train. He automatically falls in love with her. He begins an affair with her, something that culminates in their going to a cheap, dirty, sleazy motel together. But their session is quickly brought to a stop when a man bursts into their motel room and assaults them.
The man isn't about to disappear from Charles's life. Of course, he comes back. Asking for money. Then asking for more. And then more? And Charles? Like the sad puppy that he is, he lowers his eyes to the ground and does everything he's told to do. Add problems at work and with the police to this scenario, and Charles's life is quickly spiralling down into a cahotic mess.
There are three major flaws to be found in Derailed. For one, Siegel chose to write the story in the first person. The first quarter of the book is actually written in the third person, and it had me going, keeping my interest sustained. But then the novel veers in a new direction, the narrative voice changes, and the novel takes a turn for the worse. Spiegel isn't able to find a true voice for his character, which makes the narration sound so much more vague and distant.
Another major flaw can be found in the main character himself. There is nothing to like about Charles. He keeps putting himself in horrible situations, keeps digging his own grave, and we're supposed to care for him. Is it so hard to go to the police and tell them you're being blackmailed? Especially when your life and your family are at stake? Charles deserves everything that's coming to him. After a while, I was even wishing for him to fail!
The last major flaw can be found in two major plot twists during the course of this story. Siegel must think his readers are complete idiots. First, you can see where this story is going from a mile away. And two, the last plot twist, the one that saves our main character from his inevitable fate, is so ludicrous and out of context that it made me want to stop reading the book right there and then.
What could have been a good noir thriller in the tradition of Cain or Double Indemnity is nothing more than a cheesy and ludicrous story filled with stock characters and unbelieveable plots. Skip this one, you'll be doing yourself a favor.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Read!!
Review: This was by far one of the best books I have read. I have recommended this book to all of my friends and they all agree. It is a phenomenal thriller that keeps you guessing chapter after chapter. Not at all predictable! I definately recommend this book with high enthusiasm. WARNING- This book is very hard to put down!
Rating:
Summary: Gripping!
Review: I won't bother with telling you what's it about. I read it in one day (mostly during train ridse to and from work no less!)because I simply could not put it down. I was on the edge of my seat wondering how this guy's situation could possibly get any worse and what he was going to do next. It sent me looking for other works by Siegel. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A great read
Review: You won't guess the ending of this one! There are a number of twists and they all add to the story. I need to read more of this author.
|
