Rating: 
Summary: A fine line between desire and abuse
Review: I wanted to read this book because I knew that the author is actually two people - the British journalists Nicci Gerrard and Sean French. At first I was sceptical. How can two people write a novel that hangs together, I thought. Well, they succeed and only a couple of chapters in I had completely given up trying to guess who wrote what (an impossibility) and was entirely engrossed in the plot. There is just the right mixture of foreboding and surprise to keep readers turning the pages and burning the midnight oil. I stayed up till one in the morning to finish this, and the last half hour had my heart beating at twice its normal rate. Perhaps if you read a lot of thrillers the effect wears off a bit, but whether or not you read a lot of thrillers you should certainly read this one. A novel dealing with sexual violence could easily become either colluding or 'preachy', but Killing Me Softly avoids both these traps. The only qualm I have is about Adam's visit to Tara and Adele's parents. Why exactly?
Rating: 
Summary: On the edge of your seat
Review: It is true that women are intrigued by a mysterious mountaineer. I would consider myself one of those women. This book portrays a love between a everyday woman with a mountaineer, aka a hero. If you are at all interested in mountain climbing, you will enjoy this, it ties in a lot of mountain climbing into a obsessive love affair. It's a thriller and you certainly won't be able to put it down.
Rating:
Summary: 3 Stars for the Writing - Only!
Review: I'm only halfway through this book and will finish it because I finish books. However, in reading most of the reviews (great, etc!), I find the book a bit depressing. How can any intelligent woman become "obsessed" by a man she doesn't know? And...why would she stay with someone who brutalizes her? This type of rough sex and near strangulation would be a red flag for anyone. The book moves on its own momentum; however, the male character, Adam, is not fleshed out enough and seems distant to the reader. While I enjoy a great murder mystery or even a good "serial killer on the loose" mystery, this book is depressing -- depressing because I cannot fathom anyone doing this in her right mind. Obsession is something I really don't believe in. Intelligence should play a part in any relationship. When someone begins to hurt you, it's time to run!
Rating:
Summary: Compelling
Review: This is a far better book than I expected. I had read Ms French's Safe House a while back, a book which was workmanlike if not to say tending to the mediocre. However with this novel she has picked up the pace and demonstrated much more authority in her writing. It irritates me when reviewers in these pages confuse a review with a synopsis. Usually they give away the plot in an often hamfisted précis of the novel. This book, more than most, will suffer for any kind of summary of the plot. Suffice it to say that the picture builds slowly but convincingly and keeps the reader in some suspense, right up to the last act. There are some behavioural traits displayed by the heroine that frankly stretch the reader's credulity, but allowing for that, the novel is inventive and maintains the tension throughout. Killing Me Softly is an excellent summer read.
Rating: 
Summary: Good pace, but no feeling
Review: Kiling Me Softly is a suspenseful, page-turner, but that's all there is. The two characters, Alice and Adam exchange glances walking down the street, and it's lust at first sight. I was annoyed at the author's love-lust confusion, and never felt any of either reading about this sadist-masochist couple. But the plot was gripping enough to read quickly to the end. The prologue was mysterious but never really explained.
Rating: 
Summary: Recommended, though not the best of its genre
Review: The first half of the book is totally compelling and easy to relate to...once a corner is turned about 3/4 of the way through, you pretty much can figure out how its going to end. Excellent prose style by Nicci French, however, and the main character, Alice is sympathetic and believeable. For even better books about smart, intelligent women who really should know better but can't seem to help themseleves, I STRONGLY recommend "Velocity" by Kristin McCloy and "Topping From Below" by Laura Reese. "Killing me Softly" is a great weekend/beach book that you can't put down!
Rating:
Summary: PAGE-TURNING SUSPENSE
Review: Alice Louden leaves her devoted boyfriend for a passionate affair with mountain climber Adam Tallis. The affair quickly turns to marriage. As Alice's new marriage progresses, she finds a dark side to her husband. Curious to know more about the man she married, Alice probes Adam about his past, a past that Adam is very strong on keeping HIS past. After forcing Adam to give an interview (he saved some friends during a mountain climb that went bad) to a woman journalist, Alice and the journalist become friends. With the help of the journalist, Alice starts looking into series of mysterious letters that she has been receiving, as well as an act of savage violence inflicted upon her cat. The deeper she looks into her husband's past she finds that previous women involved with Adam have either disappeared or died. Are these just strange coincidents or something more sinister? Nicci French keeps everything moving fast, and the pages almost turn by themself to get to the outcome. I finished this novel in one sitting. Add this to your MUST READ list for good entertainment.
Rating:
Summary: Good but predictable
Review: If you like to read a good psychological fictional study of obsession this is the right choice. The book is very well written with Alice, the girl that is completely obsessed with Adam Tallis, never losing much of my sympathy, even though it is difficult to contemplate her actions in real life. As a thriller the book is less succesful and certainly not up to the standard of the first two books of this writer. The plot is, at the end of the day rather predictable, and contains little surprise. Nevertheless, it was a good read; Alice and Adam do not bore the reader for a single minute.
Rating:
Summary: Kept me in its grip the whole time!
Review: After having read 'The safe house' and 'The memory game', I knew that Nicci Frech' third book 'Killing me softly' just had to be good. And so it was. It kept hold of me from the minute I started reading until the last word. In fact, I would have liked it to go on for a couple of hundred extra pages. The main character Alice is a very smart girl who lives in a London apartment with her boyfriend Jake. Until the day she meets this mysterious stranger she is very happy with her life. After having met with this gorgeous looking man, things change drastically for the worst. French knows exactly how to get a grip on your attention and how to keep it. You can feel the tension rising and you know nothing is the way it seems. Things are bound to go very wrong indeed if no one is going to interfere! Therefore I found it extremely difficult to put the book down. If I did, because I had to, the story kept my mind occupied, I could hardly think of anything else. The book is thrilling until the lastbit, highly recomanded!
Rating:
Summary: I know it's a cliche, but you can't put this book down
Review: My mother recommended this book to me and my first thought was that this would be a "woman's book," since the author is female and the story is told in the first person by the female lead character. I picked it up anyway, and within a couple of pages I was thoroughly reeled in by French's writing. This is as good a psychological thriller as I have ever read, right up there with Thomas Harris's "Red Dragon," which is my all-time favorite. The plotting makes you want to read it in a breeze, yet every sentence has purpose, so you want to savor it at the same time. I finished this one in three sittings over three days, where the last sitting I was laying down on the couch reading for the first two hours, and I was so excited for the last half hour that I had to sit straight up. I was sympathizing with the thoughts of Alice, despite others here saying her actions were far-fetched, and could absolutely understand why she did what she did. The rough sex was disturbing, but essential to the story. This book gets my highest mark based on the enjoyment I got from it.
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