Rating: Summary: Predictable, disappointing Review: Talk about trite dialogue. Please give us some mystery. This book fell way beyond my expectations!
Rating: Summary: Smarmy Review: After reading the wide range of reviews - 10s and 1s - I decided to read the first chapter online. So my review isn't reflective of the entire novel. Nevertheless, the first chapter was so smarmy that I don't have any desire to continue. The author is too "cute" with the dialog; it makes you dislike the characters right off the bat.Too bad - the reviews sounded so promising.
Rating: Summary: Another Over-Hyped Piece Of Tripe. Review: I could not agree more with the reader in NYC who believes the glowing reviews for this book are plants from the publisher. All that glib crap about a great beach read and roller-coaster ride could not be more off the mark. I can't believe I even bothered to read it: it is as implausible, phoney, dumb and boring as his first effort. How does this guy keep getting published? Surely Generation X has more savvy, intellect and taste than this. If you want a legal thriller, try "Chain of Custody" by Harry Levy. The ending isn't as strong as the beginning, but it is worlds better than this crap. And shame on Amazon.com for featuring it on their opening screen! You can do better than this.
Rating: Summary: A porch, a beer, and a hell of a book... Review: I sat in my swing chair, cracked open a beer, lit up a cigarette and dove into Dead Even. A great way to spend a weekend. (Kids replace beer with pop and cigarette with gum) But when it became dark the book came with me to the dinner table, to the bathroom, and to bed. I couldn't put this book down. My wife is glad I'm through with it.
Rating: Summary: Stop the bullet train I want to get off Review: Why bother spending your hard earned money on this brain-dead "bullet-train" fiction? Why not just set fire to the $25.00 in your wallet? The flames would be prettier than the prose, the feeling afterwards would last longer than the story, and it would be over a lot faster. Hackneyed, lackluster, sold-it-to-the- movie-producers-before-I-typed-a-word Brad Meltzer is in it for the dough. And his work gives me more reason to HATE all lawyers-turned-writers. Slimy, contrived, and bogus to the core, "Dead Even" should be dead last.
Rating: Summary: Excellent book -- Move over much-over-rated John Grisham Review: Brad Meltzer's books are a refreshing addition to the legal thriller genre. Dead Even was extremely engrossing with a unique plot and interesting characters. I questioned the integrity of each character until it all played out at the end. A must read (as is The Tenth Justice).
Rating: Summary: The book displays a lack of plot and suspense. Review: The novel boasts suspense, mystery, and emotional thrill; none of which it shows. After about 15 pages you want the main character to die. Thats how boring it is. "Tenth Justice" is to "Dead Even" just like "Jurassic Park" is to a story about Barney the purple dinosaur. It looks like the two books were written by two different people.
Rating: Summary: Shallow, trite, ludicrous. Review: Never before have I been moved to warn fellow Amazonites to save their money, but this book did it. The dialogue is inane, the situations the characters tumble into are ludicrous. None of the characterization rings true, starting with the glaring clash of Sara's lack of confidence in her own ability which somehow exists coupled with a driving competitiveness to never never lose....gimme a break! And that Guff!! Why should he be so loyal? Does he have a trust fund or inherited wealth? I recall being struck by the peculiar relationship between the two clerks in "The Tenth Justice." The female has been in the office working for some time before the male (our hero) arrives, and three pages later, she is panicked and directionless and he leaps into the breach and tells her what to do, saving the day or project or whatever. At the time I thought that the author was indulging in a little male chauvinism, but the depiction of the characters in "Dead Even" makes it more likely that inept writing is the culprit.
Rating: Summary: Forget the Tenth Justice!!! Review: I liked the Tenth Justice alot but I didn't love it so I was a little apprehensive about picking up this one. But I'm happy to report that my money went to a good cause- supporting an author that has taken a big step up from his debut book. Dead Even is a much more mature novel with twists and turns that would leave Grisham spinning. You got me now for the long haul Brad... keep em comin!
Rating: Summary: Clever plot twists, witty characters, engaging storytelling Review: This is what summer fiction is about - dazzling, yet easily frayed, heroine; a fast moving plot with unexpected twists. As much as I enjoyed Tenth Justice - this was even more fun.
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