The Mighty Johns

Rating:
Summary: I'm Being Generous
Review: A couple of the stories are actually engaging. "A Sunday in January" and "Whatever It Takes to Win" are by far the best of the lot. I would like to have seen the latter flushed out into a full length novel, and I could actually see it being developed into a screenplay. The rest of the stories are barely readable. Baldacci's novella is nowhere near the level of his writing in his full length books.
PLUS, this is by far the WORST EDITING JOB I HAVE EVER SEEN. I am embarrassed for the authors that their work (as much as I didn't particularly enjoy the stories) appeared in this collection. Page 61 alone had four typographical errors, and it got worse from there. It seemed that every story had a different problem, from periods in the middle of sentences, to transposed 'that's and 'what's, to missing words, misspelled words, forgotten periods and appostrophes--it was atrocious. It literally made the book unreadable.
I wanted desparately to enjoy the stories, but the lack of effort put in by the oft-acclaimed Otto Penzler ruined the experience.
Do not buy this book. All it will do is infuriate you to think that the publisher and editor are profitting from such a shoddy product. Save your money. And if you have already purchased this book, spend another 37 cents on a stamp to send New Millenium Press and Otto Penzler a letter of complaint. But don't forget to proofread before you send it!

Rating:
Summary: Tackle This . . .
Review: After hitting the best-seller list shortly after it's release, "The Mighty John's" has proved itself to be one of the years few rewarding mysteries. Combining renowned writers such as Lawrence Block, Dennis Lehane and Brad Meltzer, this football frenzy with not only enthrall reader's, but has the ability to grasp into the depths of your mind and give you a vivid sense of the intriguing and complex story line. If you are up for abreathtaking pigskin mystery, then "The Mighty John's" is the way to go. New Millennium has scored again.

Rating:
Summary: Tackle This . . . .
Review: After hitting the best-seller's list shortly after making it's way to bookshelves everywhere, "The Mighty John's" proves itself to be an one of today's few intriguing mysteries that not only keeps you from closing the pages of the book, but actually attatches itself within the depths of your mind and draws you in to the ongoing and complex plot. Combing renowned writers such as Lawrence Block, Dennis Lehane, Brad Meltzer and Anne Perry, "The Mighty John's" is a must have for all. New Millennium scores once again.

Rating:
Summary: A John by any other name
Review: As a master plumber I thought I finally found a novel that I could relate to and really sink my pipe wrench into but alas this novel had nothing to do with john's.
It was a great book though just not what I expected.
I'm thinking of becoming a private eye and I'd like to get some pointers from a brother plumber and make my experience work for me. If anyone knows of any good mystery novels regarding plumbers I'd really like to hear from you.

Rating:
Summary: Who proofed this book???
Review: Baladacci's story was very good, although I don't think it is one of the "more remarkable stories ever written". About half of the other stories were good, the other half--terrible. What I cannot understand is how this book made it to published form with all of the errors and misprints. There are periods in the middle of words and sentences, words printed twice, mispelled words...and not just a few. There are many mistakes. It made reading a mediocre book much more difficult.

Rating:
Summary: Who proofed this book???
Review: Baladacci's story was very good, although I don't think it is one of the "more remarkable stories ever written". About half of the other stories were good, the other half--terrible. What I cannot understand is how this book made it to published form with all of the errors and misprints. There are periods in the middle of words and sentences, words printed twice, mispelled words...and not just a few. There are many mistakes. It made reading a mediocre book much more difficult.

Rating:
Summary: Parallel Universe?
Review: I bought this because of the blurbs on the jacket (from Publisher's Weekly and a host of celebs.) Since all of them pertained to the title story, it seems only fair to rate the book on that basis, even though the other stories vary from passable to, actually, quite enjoyable. But that first (title) story is, well, it's abysmal! The plot is inane! The dialogue resembles nothing spoken by living human beings anywhere on the planet! The prose is so many shades darker than purple that no sprectrometer could calculate it! And even the editing reflects all this. No less than three times is the word "though" rendered as "thought", several "the"'s become "he" and one assumes the printer ran out of "w" so left "was" as "as".
In short, this is either one of the most egregious examples of prose by a so-called professional I've ever seen, or I'm living in a parallel universe wherin the matters of style, substance, and grammar are reversed.

Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your time
Review: I couldn't have been more disappointed in this book. I am huge Baldacci, Meltzer, Green fan as well as a football nut, and I thought this would be a great read (similar to Tim Green's football novels). These stories are so bad, and paint football players in the worst light. Some of this is borderline racist in the way that these authors (Lupica, especially) try to write in the first person as "gangsta" football players. The editor needs to learn how to proofread, and also needs to make sure that the author information is accurate. If you are football fan and you love these authors, do not be fooled.

Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your time
Review: I couldn't have been more disappointed in this book. I am huge Baldacci, Meltzer, Green fan as well as a football nut, and I thought this would be a great read (similar to Tim Green's football novels). These stories are so bad, and paint football players in the worst light. Some of this is borderline racist in the way that these authors (Lupica, especially) try to write in the first person as "gangsta" football players. The editor needs to learn how to proofread, and also needs to make sure that the author information is accurate. If you are football fan and you love these authors, do not be fooled.

Rating:
Summary: Good Read , but did anyone proof-read this book ??
Review: I enjoyed the individual stories, but was really bothered by the quality of the final product. So many mis-used words,incorrect spellings,etc. The publisher did a terrible job of proof reading the material. I started reading with a pencil after page 50 because of all the mistakes. An elementary school student would not have made so many errors.