Rating: 
Summary: Horrorific Reality
Review: Is the mother truly a distraught working woman of the 90's, incapable of dealing with the death of her beloved daughter? Or is the mother a monstrosity of the polictical arena who is only concerned with the "negative-impact" this will have on her career, loosing her prime political tool, her child?The ability of E.George to paint characters with subtilty and elegance, no matter how vile the person, is one of the things I most admire about her writing. Oh, yeah, and her driving, intriguing plots...!
Rating: 
Summary: characters, not logic games, make this book compelling
Review: The genius behind Presence of the Enemy is the in-depth and comprehensive character analysis. Too many mysteries are driven by a contrived puzzle or by a shoot-em-up mentality. The real mystery in Presence of the Enemy is not the mechanics of the situation, but is the complicated entanglements of men and women's hearts. Transcending genre fiction, it is a true work of art.
Rating: 
Summary: WHY??
Review: I don't get it. Why does anyone like this book? It is so bloated and boring I quit after 200 pages. The characters are totally static. They say the same things again and again. The mother is a total idiot. Then, on page 203 or so, when an entire new cast of characters is introduced, I couldn't believe I was meant to get involved with them, too. Who cares? It's back to Dickens for me. When he introduces a character, there's a reason and the character is fascinating.
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Summary: A Delicious Thrill Ride Indeed!
Review: From the first paragraph to the last, ''In The Presence Of The Enemy''is as delicious as a well-done T-bone steak and as thrilling a ride as an amusement park roller coaster, given its author's delightfully detailed work and its climb to dizzying high points before coming to rest on cliff-hanger pauses and rapidly dropping into spine-tingling twists. Besides, with graduations and Father's Day here again, surely there's a dad or graduate on your gift list who has dropped hints about their being a mystery nut!
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Summary: A George fanatic, is speechless with this brilliance!
Review: I have been an Elizabeth George fan since high school, as she is the wife of my former high school principal. She very simply blew me away, with this one. I was in the Phoenix airport waiting for my plane to take off in bad weather, when approaching the climax of this book. The passengers beside me must have thought me a fright, when I literally gasped a "Oh No!" This book had me so completely caught up in the moment, a freight train could have barrelled through the cab of the plane without a wince from me. I love the way Barbara Havers begins to come into her own here and as always, Detective Thomas Lynley is at his charming and sensual best. I have often said, the idea of a perfect man, is what Lynley possesses. Thank you Ms. George, for another wonderful glimpse into the Britain that I love so dearly.
Rating: 
Summary: The stupidity of the characters is astounding!!!
Review: While I normally enjoy George's books, the mother of the kidnapped child is so ridiculously stupid that I found the book hard going. I also found it difficult to believe that a sensible character like Simon St James could be so insensitive to the seriousness of the situation and not alert the police. As for Lynley, instead of apologizing to Simon and Helen for losing his temper, he should have carted them off to jail for their criminally foolish behavior.
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Summary: One of the best books I've read in many years!
Review: A four star book by a five star wrigthter. SUPERB! EXELLENT
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic novel. George is tremendous.
Review: This is my fourth George novel. I liked them all, but this book is outstanding. I stayed up all night turning the pages. Just when I thought I had solved the mystery, bam...another twist, another plot. "Missing Joseph" is still tops on my list, but this is a very close second!
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I've ever read.
Review: I read this book two years ago, and the characters still haunt me. Elizabeth George just gets better and better. I can't wait for her next book..it is the high point of my reading each year and I read over a hundred books a year. I feel as though the recurring characters are people I know and care about. They arre not perfect, sometimes aggravating...just like a lot of my friends!
Rating:
Summary: George's best book yet
Review: I've only read a few of the books in this series, but this is by far the best yet. I agree with several other reviewers here, who have said that there is absolutely no hint of how Lynley et al were able to determine who the kidnapper/murderer is, until the book's climax. One thing that I have to get off my chest, though, is the little critical blurb on the front cover of the paperback edition. It says something to the effect that this book combines "the eloquence of P.D. James with a story John Grisham would envy". I'll agree with the part about Ms. James - she's another excellent mystery writer. But John Grisham? Of course he would envy this story - that hack couldn't write his way out of a paper bag!
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