Afterimage

Rating:
Summary: A great follow-up
Review: As a New Englander now reincarnated as a Texan, I have been reading up on the local authors. San Antonio is fortunate to have Jay Brandon in addition to Rick Riordan as storytellers with a local flavor. "Afterimage" is the second Brandon title to feature Chris Sinclair, a young District Attorney, and his lover, Dr. Anne Greenwald. In this book Chris hooks up, unexpectedly, with an old college girlfriend and discovers her/his involvement in a complicated crime. My only problem with the plot is the somewhat unrealistic portrayal of Jean Fitzgerald, the mother of two "lost" teenage daughters who happens to be the old college lover. Her "wildness" just doesn't ring true to this reviewer. Other than this minor quibble, I enjoyed the twisting plot, local color, and the ever unfolding relationship between Chris and Anne. Please tell us that this series will continue!

Rating:
Summary: The romance between Anne and Chris continues
Review: I began writing AfterImage almost as soon as I finished my previous novel, ANGEL OF DEATH. It's unusual for me not to take a longer pause between books, and it's also unusual for me to write a second novel about the same characters. But I enjoyed the characters of Chris Sinclair and Anne Greenwald so much, and was so curious about their relationship, that I wanted to write more about them. It felt as if I were just continuing their story. AfterImage is more personal a story, delving into Chris's past as it does. ANGEL OF DEATH was one of my favorites of my books, and several people who'd read them all said it was my best novel, so I've been surprised that early readers have liked AfterImage even more. Check the great cover quote from Bill Bernhardt, for example. I've just finished my next novel, which doesn't continue the series, but now I'm going back to Anne and Chris. This time a mystery arising from Anne's past...

Rating:
Summary: AFTERIMAGE by Jay Brandon
Review: I couldn't put this one down! Stayed up late to finish it...a chiller. Not easy to read because youngsters are in danger and one has already died. Some of the characters are not as they seem, and the D.A. Chris Sinclair has to figure it out before it's too late. Not only a young girl's safety is at stake, but that of Chris and his sweetheart.

Rating:
Summary: AFTERIMAGE by Jay Brandon
Review: I couldn't put this one down! Stayed up late to finish it...a chiller. Not easy to read because youngsters are in danger and one has already died. Some of the characters are not as they seem, and the D.A. Chris Sinclair has to figure it out before it's too late. Not only a young girl's safety is at stake, but that of Chris and his sweetheart.

Rating:
Summary: WOW
Review: I have read all of this author's books, as well as all of the books of John Grisham (both lawyers), and can say that Mr. Brandon's works compare very favorably with Mr. Grisham's; Certainly Afterimage is MUCH BETTER than Mr. Grisham's latest (THE BRETHEN)!. This is also J.B's best in that it will keep the reader involved from the first paragraph to the last. Much sentiment, very mysterious, much love, and many touching remembrances.Congratulations to Mr. Brandon!

Rating:
Summary: Great Beginning - And All Downhill From There!
Review: It's always difficult to write a bad review when one realizes the weeks and months that must go into writing a novel. But this book is just a waste. The idea for the book is good and it begins well. A woman is been found dead and the hero recognizes the face of his old love when he sees a reconstruction of the face of the corpse. But from that point the author does not know where to go. The plot limps along with a lot of pointless conversations, little action, and badly described emotions. It is difficult to maintain interest in the characters. I wish I had not read this book and - if you buy it - you'll be sorry too.

Rating:
Summary: Great Beginning - And All Downhill From There!
Review: It's always difficult to write a bad review when one realizes the weeks and months that must go into writing a novel. But this book is just a waste. The idea for the book is good and it begins well. A woman is been found dead and the hero recognizes the face of his old love when he sees a reconstruction of the face of the corpse. But from that point the author does not know where to go. The plot limps along with a lot of pointless conversations, little action, and badly described emotions. It is difficult to maintain interest in the characters. I wish I had not read this book and - if you buy it - you'll be sorry too.

Rating:
Summary: Top-notch suspense
Review: San Antonio D.A. Chris Sinclair is having a pretty good day 'til he pays a routine visit to the County Forensic Science Center and runs into a forensic reconstructionist carrying the reconstructed head of a murder victim he's been working on. The sight of the reconstructed face stops Chris cold, because she is the spitting image of his college lover, Jean Fitzgerald. Of course, it can't be Jean, since the expert explains to Chris that the victim was a young girl dead some 3 months and found buried in a shallow grave on the outskirts of town. As Chris starts to investigate, he learns that Jean is indeed living in San Antonio and has a missing 14-year-old daughter, Kristen. Jean tearfully confides to Chris that Raleigh Pentell, a local crime lord, has kidnapped her older daughter, Clarissa, to ensure her silence about Kristen's hitherto unreported disappearance. There are some holes in Jean's story, as well as in her past, but Chris finds, frees, and develops a relationship with Clarissa while building a murder case against Pentell. This novel is so intricately layered and subtly plotted with themes of sin and redemption, love and amorality, and right and wrong and the gray areas in between that it kept me guessing until the end. Did Pentell kill Kristen or did someone much closer to her, someone who's e-mailing Chris pages from Kristen's diary, set him up? I have long been a fan of Jay Brandon and I consider this one of his very best.

Rating:
Summary: A Creaking Plot
Review: The author gets a lot of his law right, but then wants us to believe that the DA does his own investigating, even doing a little b&e on the side. Too much to buy.

Rating:
Summary: A Creaking Plot
Review: The author gets a lot of his law right, but then wants us to believe that the DA does his own investigating, even doing a little b&e on the side. Too much to buy.