Rating: 
Summary: A truely original thriller!
Review: A classic Black and white movie holds the secrete to this thoughtful thriller. An old man has been studying this movie (Based on a real life hiest) for clues to the missing million dollars from real life hiest. When the old man is shot to death. The fiesty heroine Rune goes into action to track down the killer. Loved the Rune Character -- a very slick lady! If you are looking for something different this is iT! I also recomend: "A Tourist in the Yucatan" good thriller!
Rating: 
Summary: disappointed
Review: Although a Deaver fan, I found this to be an early work of his, tough to finish, a chore even on a five hour flight. Don't bother with this one.
Rating: 
Summary: A Tad Corny, But Still Fun
Review: Being a more recent Jeffery Deaver fan I was very excited to see that his first five novels where going to be republished. While "Manhattan is My Beat" is entertaining and has the usual surprises that Deaver throws in, I noticed a small lack of polish and some very corny parts. The story is about occupational drifter Rune (just Rune) who while working at a video store befriends an older customer named Mr. Kelly. While making a pickup for Mr. Kelly, Rune finds her friend murdered. She doesn't like the way the police are handling the homicide, so Rune takes matters into her own hands. Her first clue is Mr. Kelly's favorite movie which he rented every time he came into the video store. The movie is about an actual bank heist where the money was hidden and never recovered. Rune believes that Mr. Kelly had found the money through the movie, and that was why he was killed. So Rune starts her quest. The Rune character is likeable, but a little odd in many ways. She is not your typical Deaver character. In total the story moves along, and any reader should enjoy the plot shifts and twists at the end. For the Deaver fan this is not "The Bone Collector" or "Devil's Teardrop" but a nice look at what Deaver was like when he started out as a novelist.
Rating: 
Summary: First effot by a stand out author
Review: Deavers wrote this book under the name of William Jefferies. He also wrote another series under this name featuring a film scout. This character is a young punkish girl named Rune who is trying to get through her 20's and survive NYC. She is currently working at a video store and when a regular dies under suspicious
circumstances she becomes interested in the movie he rented numerous times. She becomes obsessed with plot of the movie as it is based loosely on a true crime. She thinks she can solve the case find the money and live happily ever after. This plot is hard to follow at times and sometimes I don't think the author is aware of what he wants the characters to do. I have read his later books and know he can write a good thriller. Too bad this book falls flat, I believe his publisher re-released to capitalize on his famous status. I will read more of the scout series and might try the next one in this series just because Rune is such a likable character.
Rating:
Summary: First effot by a stand out author
Review: Deavers wrote this book under the name of William Jefferies. He also wrote another series under this name featuring a film scout. This character is a young punkish girl named Rune who is trying to get through her 20's and survive NYC. She is currently working at a video store and when a regular dies under suspicious
circumstances she becomes interested in the movie he rented numerous times. She becomes obsessed with plot of the movie as it is based loosely on a true crime. She thinks she can solve the case find the money and live happily ever after. This plot is hard to follow at times and sometimes I don't think the author is aware of what he wants the characters to do. I have read his later books and know he can write a good thriller. Too bad this book falls flat, I believe his publisher re-released to capitalize on his famous status. I will read more of the scout series and might try the next one in this series just because Rune is such a likable character.
Rating:
Summary: DEAVER'S at his best!
Review: Fast Pace, wild full out read..... I don't think I've read a better mystery. Suspenseful, original, very entertaining. Don't pick this book up unless you have a wee bit of time. I couldn't put it down. Rune is a very interest & different "Hero", one I hope will be around awhile.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting but not Deaver's best.
Review: Having read the Lincoln Rhyme novels, I was anxious to get my hands on anything Deaver. While some of his other work was 5 star material, MANHATTAN IS MY BEAT left me a little dissapointed. Rune is a homeless girl squatting in a skyscraper and working in a vido store. She loves old movies and fairy tales. When picking up a tape, she finds a favorite customer dead. She believes that his killer and the location of a long lost million dollars is hidden in the film he rented so often. Her prying exposes her to a world of danger and she manages to bring her few friends into the mix with her. As with any Deaver tale, there are twists and turns, and plot flips. The ending leaves you with literary whiplash. The main character Rune's obsession with fairy tales leads to forced analogies and the book can drag as a result. The ending is too tidy as to be somewhat unbelievable. I do wish that Deaver would have devoted more of the narrative to the villain(s) as he does with some of his more interesting works. Overall, it is a quick read with a good amount of suspense and intrigue, but it falls short of Deaver's better novels.
Rating: 
Summary: Good for the "Quick Read" genre
Review: I bought this book purely on the strength of its being written by Jeffrey Deaver. However, less than 3 pages into this terrible novel it becomes very hard to believe that it was written by the same man who brought us The Bone Collector and the Coffin Dancer. The fact that it was written in 1988, before Deaver was established, may explain some of its mediocrity but there is no excuse for the fact that this is simply a terrible book. The basic plot is that Rune, a supremely annoying "punk" discovers a favourite customer of hers shot to death when she goes to his apartment to collect a video he has rented 18 times in one month. The film is a "true" story about a Manhatten bank robbery in which a police officer steals a million dollars which he hides away and which has never been found. In the biggest jump to a conclusion I have ever come across, Rune decides that the the depiction of what was done with the money in the film is real and that Mr Kelly found it, and makes up her mind to find it herself. The plot of the book probably could have been fairly good, but Deaver ruins the entire story with Rune, the most unrealistic and annoying "herione" I have ever read. She lives in a fantasy world that a 5 year old child would be too mature for, and has no concept of the real world whatsoever. Everything about her, from her appearance to her manner of speaking to her ridiculous inability to lie makes the reader want to punch the book as it's the nearest thing possible to punching her in the face. Another major problem with this novel is its glaring predictability. There are no twists and turns in it and if Deaver thought anything in it was going to shock the reader, then he must have been as naive as Rune herself. This book is chock-full of cliches that were probably old even in 1988. This book has nothing to offer the discerning reader and it probably better left to those who see reading as hard work and only do it to reassure themselves that they can once in a while. Complete and utter rubbish.
Rating:
Summary: Awful
Review: I bought this book purely on the strength of its being written by Jeffrey Deaver. However, less than 3 pages into this terrible novel it becomes very hard to believe that it was written by the same man who brought us The Bone Collector and the Coffin Dancer. The fact that it was written in 1988, before Deaver was established, may explain some of its mediocrity but there is no excuse for the fact that this is simply a terrible book. The basic plot is that Rune, a supremely annoying "punk" discovers a favourite customer of hers shot to death when she goes to his apartment to collect a video he has rented 18 times in one month. The film is a "true" story about a Manhatten bank robbery in which a police officer steals a million dollars which he hides away and which has never been found. In the biggest jump to a conclusion I have ever come across, Rune decides that the the depiction of what was done with the money in the film is real and that Mr Kelly found it, and makes up her mind to find it herself. The plot of the book probably could have been fairly good, but Deaver ruins the entire story with Rune, the most unrealistic and annoying "herione" I have ever read. She lives in a fantasy world that a 5 year old child would be too mature for, and has no concept of the real world whatsoever. Everything about her, from her appearance to her manner of speaking to her ridiculous inability to lie makes the reader want to punch the book as it's the nearest thing possible to punching her in the face. Another major problem with this novel is its glaring predictability. There are no twists and turns in it and if Deaver thought anything in it was going to shock the reader, then he must have been as naive as Rune herself. This book is chock-full of cliches that were probably old even in 1988. This book has nothing to offer the discerning reader and it probably better left to those who see reading as hard work and only do it to reassure themselves that they can once in a while. Complete and utter rubbish.
Rating:
Summary: A fun, fast page-turner
Review: I have to give 5 stars to any book that keeps me up reading past 1 a.m. (I'm not a late night person). This novel is very different from the Lincoln Rhymes series, but is entertaining in its own way. The protagonist is a 20-year-old free spirit in Greenwich Village, currently working in a video store. She becomes a "detective" after she finds a customer shot to death when she arrives at his house to pick up a video, and then decides that the police is not working properly on the case. Her character shows both naivete and incredible spunk. The case she stumbles into involves a series of Mafia hits, and places her in considerable danger. The plot is full of twists and turns; the ending ties together all loose ends. This is a fun read.
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