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Summary: This book blew me away!
Review: Mallory (she doesn't use her first name) is an extraordinary, complex character. Mallory, a New York City cop, gets tangled up in a very personal murder, which leads to the discovery of a series of potentially linked murders. OK. We've seen this before. Why should you read this? The enigma of Mallory rests in her lost childhood years. But Mallory is not a victim. Emotionally, she is an alien in this world, totally cut off from her humanity, relying on ancient cues of her foster parents to do the right thing. Think about what you would get if you combined the tenacity of a pit bull; a deadly aim; a brilliant hacker and laser sharp intelligence. Well plotted and written. A interesting of supporting characters. This book is gripping, as well as intriguing.
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Summary: Oh The Disappointment
Review: I read Judas Child, was gripped and promptly bought all the other COC books. What a let down this book was. The characters are one dimensional - even Mallory isn't fleshed out and try as I have I cannot picture her. The plot is ludicrously over convoluted and it isn't all tied up at the end - there are numerous holes. I'm dreading reading the rest in the series.
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Summary: Perfect weapon of revenge
Review: In the first few pages of this novel, I knew I'd encountered a formidable new protagonist, and, at the same time, a very talented author. Granted, Kathleen Mallory is a pretty cold character, but her singlemindedness makes her the perfect weapon of revenge. She reminded me of Burke, Andrew Vachss' character who crusades for children. Although I wouldn't nominate either of them for neighborhood babysitter, I'd definitely want them searching for a lost child. Mallory's Oracle is certainly dark, which will scare off many readers, but we do see glimmers of hope in Mallory's world. I, for one, will follow her journey eagerly.
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Summary: Taken by surprise
Review: To find one good mystery you often have to suffer 50 bad ones. Mallory's Oracle is so stunning, well written, inteteresting I would suffer 1000 book horrors to have found it. Her images make you laugh,cry and pull you into characters in a way only suberb writer's can and what a plot. Thank you for this gift of a book.
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Summary: Is there anything Mallory can't do?
Review: I have to be fair here, the story wasn't bad and I've read far worse. But I was half expecting Mallory to leap off a building and fly gracefully above New York, change into a cheetah in order to catch an escaping villain, or convert every criminal to a life on the straight and narrow simply by glaring at them through her gorgeous green eyes. She seems to be a highly unlikely hybrid of Jenny McCarthy, Margaret Thatcher, and Joan of Arc, all with the computer brains of Bill Gates. I have to say I liked Charles Butler, but even he failed to save this story.
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Summary: Bewildered
Review: I truly don't understand anyone's fascination with Kathy Mallory. What a shallow character! I plodded through this book seemingly endlessly because my book discussion group chose this as a group read. I did read "Judas Child" and liked it which was written by the same author, but "Mallory's Oracle" was definitely not the same caliber.
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Summary: Hunh?
Review: "Mallory's Oracle" is a dense, wordy novel that covers a lot of characters and plot threads (insider trading, seances, street life, magic tricks, computers, police procedurals). So much so that I was unable to keep track of what was happening. Many of the characters (Coffey, Riker, the old ladies and the "bad guys") are not fully fleshed out. The other characters, with the exception of Charles, Markowitz, Helen and the Rabbi (and two of them are dead) are unsympathic and humorless. The author tried to pull all the plot elements together in the end, but it got very convoluted. O'Connell has a talent for writing, but reading this morass of a novel was not an enjoyable experience.
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Summary: I COULD NOT WARM UP TO THE COLD MALLORY
Review: I work in a mystery bookstore and my co-workers, all of whom are extremely well-read and informed on this genre, raved about this book. By Chapter 2, I was feeling tremendous guilt over how much I was hating this book. The NYPD is a topic very close to my heart and I still didn't care. Kathleen Mallory was so narrowly drawn...O'Connell gave her so few redeeeming qualities that I just didn't care. I simply didn't get it....why we should love her or care about her. Frankly I thought the Louis Markowitz character was much better drawn and he was killed off in the first chapter! I have purposefully avoided the rest of the Mallory series because I was so put off by this book.
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Summary: A riveting mystery with startlingly original characters.
Review: This talented writer deserves to be at the top of the bestseller lists. Quirky characters, brilliant writing, surprising plot. Wow.
Rating:
Summary: I'm hooked!
Review: Reading Carol O'Connell's Mallory series has been my greatest reading pleasure since "finding" mysteries two years ago. O'Connell is insightful and tough, and Mallory is not the only well-developed character. All are thoughtfully portrayed--all the reader wants to keep up with in subsequent novels. I was glad all four were in print when I discovered Oracle!
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