Rating: 
Summary: I do not recommend this book.
Review: A thoroughly dislikable book, with thoroughly dislikable characters, which made me thoroughly dislike the author. It is badly-written, with a contrived plot, and characters with totally unconvincing motives... for example, a woman who professes great concern that her ex-husband may be mistreating their 5-year-old daughter, nevertheless leaves her daughter with her father so that she can go to Italy with her lover for two weeks to "decide on their future". The protagonists are unpleasant, selfish and self-centred, hypocritical characters behaving behind a thin veneer of the appropriate moral values, who pay mere lip-service to the concepts of honesty and decency: these are the same characters found in "Degree of Guilt" (I bought the sequel by mistake). The book includes some totally distasteful references to child abuse, which made me cringe for anyone who might be personally affected by the subject. The author knows the tricks of hooking a reader, maintaining pace, and constructing a character. By these criteria, it is a reasonably good "thriller". But I'm not sure if I was hooked by interest in the story or outrage. And his literary ability, slight though it is, makes the book all the more insidious. I WAS on a plane with nothing else to read, but I wished them ALL dead by the end of it (except the little girl). What shocked me most of all, however, is that it is clear that the author has an admiration and liking for these people, which he expects the reader to share. Perhaps to Patterson's credit (?) I found the main characters to be believable insofar as they reflected a type of American character that does exist -- the product of the American dream gone wrong. If I were American, I would not be proud that a countryman of mine had produced this book. I should note that I am not easily shocked, outraged, or rendered vitriolic by amorality: one of my favourite films is "Pulp Fiction".
Patterson has no sense of moral responsability. I wouldn't let him babysit my goldfish
Rating: 
Summary: I am hooked!
Review: Although I have never been one for these types of books, Richard North Patterson has changed my way of thinking. I had this book read in two days...could not put it down. It does touch on the sensitive areas of child sexual abuse, which were difficult to get through, but the story line kept me coming back. Sadly, this is the world we live in.
Rating: 
Summary: Book o.k. but book of poor quality
Review: Courtroom drama is excellent but in the rest of the book the characters are overstated and false. The book certainly isn't up to the standards he set with Silent Witness and The Final Judgement.However the main reason I am writing is to comment on the binding of the book (I haven't been able to find where to make such comments to the author or amazon). This book began falling apart as soon as I opened it. Groups of 6 - 8 pages fell out with groups of 10 - 12 pages staying in. This is the second book by Patterson, published by Ballentine, that I have been deeply disappointed by the quality of the book itself; the other was Silent Witness. It will probably keep me from purchasing other books by this author as long as he keeps using this publisher.
Rating:
Summary: This book kills SUBWAY time.
Review: Excellent read by itself, but and outstanding read if you read Patterson's DEGREE OF GUILT, first.
Rating:
Summary: One of THE best legal-thrillers you could possibly read
Review: First off if you have picked up 'Eyes of a Child' and haven't read 'Degree of Guilt' go get it NOW. 'Eyes' is a partial sequel and even though it can stand on its own, it makes more sense if you have first read 'Degree' and besides, you don't want to miss out on another great read, too now do you? Okay with that said, 'Eyes' is FIRST RATE! Not just a legal-thriller, but a fantastic 'Whodunnit' as well. In fact we begin with a murder. Then jump to a cozy vacation with Christopher Paget and his former legal secretary. It is HER husband who get's the axe at the beginning. Does Christopher have anything to do with this murder? Why had he visited the deceased before leaving town quickly? Why did he donate the suit he wore when making this visit suddenly to a used clothing store? He looks more and more guilty as the pages fly, but as usual, things are not always as they seem. I have noticed a pattern with Mr. Patterson's books and that is for him to set the stage in the novel, and then we time travel back to events which happened to either set the stage for the situations we find ourselves in or to just give you an idea of WHY certain characters act the way they do. It is always important to the story, so do NOT let it distract you, it will ALL make sense in the end. Compelling is one word I would use to describe this great story. Although I had the culprit nailed long before the ending came, I wasn't 100% certain until it finally WAS revealed. I turned this one over to my wife and made her a convert to Patterson's books as well. This guy writes better than average legal-thrillers and a supreme step above Grishams stuff in MY opinion, too. If you wanna spend a weekend huddled in a reading room with a novel that will keep you vastly entertained for the entire duration of the book, 'Eyes of a Child' is definitely the prescription you are looking for.
Rating:
Summary: Draggy
Review: I found this book plodding and contrived. The characters were banal cardboard figures; the plot unbelievable; there were Harlequin romance scenes that were painful to read; and a ³political² subplot that was yawningly uninteresting. I must confess that I read it to the end, so I give Patterson a little credit. But not much. I can only recommend this book for a long plane flight when you really haven¹t anything else
Rating:
Summary: the best yet!
Review: I had never read any kind of thriller until accidentally picking up No Safe Place at a friends house. 5 books later and I am completely hooked. Eyes of a Child, though, had me mesmerised for 2 days. From the whodunnit factor to the court case; it really is impossible to let go. The way Patterson writes about the relationship between Chris and Carlo is particularly touching. I also enjoyed the fact that although you know Chris to be innocent you also know he's hiding something but what? Towards the end I had correctly guessed at the identity of the murderer and the child abuser but it was still a shock when written in front of me. I really felt a gamut of emotions reading this book and was close to tears on many occasions. An absolutely fantastic read!!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!!! An all nighter.
Review: I read this book within 1 day, unable to put it down. Christopher Paget is an imperfect hero, but great! Terri Arias' scumbag husband gets what he deserves, but Christopher is tried for his murder. Very suspenseful, and well written.
Rating:
Summary: Started Slow Good Ending
Review: I started to read this book and i was about to put it down but gave it another chance and im glad i did it ended up to be a very good book. This is the third book i have read of his and is becoming one of my favorit. So i give this book a thumbs up.
Rating:
Summary: I could barely get through this book.
Review: I think the only reason I finished this book is so that I could write a review of it in it's entirety. Well, that and my mother really loved it--so I wanted to see what she found so riveting! I have NO IDEA what kind of a person Chris Paget is. I don't know what's so lovable about Teresa Peralta. I did not want to know about the part of Caroline the lawyer's life that she kept private. Can characters be less than one dimensional? If they can't, I think Mr. Patterson has invented something new. I didn't like this book. I didn't like it. I didn't like it. There, I got that off my chest.
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