Rating: 
Summary: "A mesmerising masterpiece"
Review: I have just finished reading True Crime. Riveting is the first word that comes to mind.This is a five star thriller if there ever was one. It is truly one of those books that you hate to put down. I have to rank it right near the top of the best novels I have read and I have read a lot of them.I can't wait to see the movie!
Rating:
Summary: I never give a book 5 stars, but this was a great book
Review: I read "True Crime" a few months ago and absolutely loved it. Since reading it, I have read several far inferior novels like "The Winner" by Baldacci that made me realize just how good Klavan's novel was. This novel is a true rollercoaster ride, and I remember trying to finish it before my wife made me go to my in- law's house for Christmas dinner. I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. Do not miss out on this great book that keeps you guessing to the very end.
Rating: 
Summary: This thriller gives you an inside view of the death penalty
Review: I recently read an interesting book that gives some insight into the minds of the principal players in the carrying out of an execution. The book is True Crime by Andrew Klavan. In this case an innocent man is on Missouri's death row and the book takes you on a roller coaster ride of emotions leading up to the execution. While the book is a crime thriller it also has some elements of philosophical thinking with regard to life and the death penalty. An example of this is found on page 200 where the condemned man's wife sits in his cell shortly before the scheduled execution: "She saw the duty officer on the other side of the bars. Benson - he was watching her. Moving back to his desk, running his hand up through his shiny hair, he was giving her the side-eye as if he thought she might do something terrible. He sat down at his chair and picked up the telephone. He spoke into it in a low murmur. Frowning at her dangerously all the while, all the while watching her. In her strange envelope of queer, sizzling, hopeless calm, Bonnie nearly smiled at him. He's frightened of me, she thought. That big strong man. He's frightened of a hundred-and-ten pound woman locked in a cage. She felt, in her clear thoughts, that she understood why this was so. She felt almost as if Benson's mind had been revealed to her as she stood there. And he was afraid of her, she thought, because he was doing evil before her eyes. The killing of another person, a helpless person, was evil. No excuses; it was evil. In the heart of every human being, where the quiet mind could hear, there spoke a voice that said it was evil, and the voice was never untrue. Bonnie knew this and she thought the guard knew it but did not want to know it and so he was afraid of her. Because the guard wanted to do his job without knowing. He wanted to collect his pay, and feed his family, and do his job. His boss, the warden, had told him to do this. The courts had told the warden. The lawmakers of the state of Missouri had told the courts. And most of the people of the United States of America agreed with the lawmakers and elected them to do what they had done. So the guard wanted to think; it must be right to do it. But he knew that was not the truth. Truth, Bonnie thought in her electric calm; Truth is not a democracy. All the people of the earth crying out for Evil with one voice could not drown out that other voice, that still, small voice that spoke within the quiet heart. And so the guard knew. The all knew. And they were afraid before her eyes."
Rating:
Summary: One of top 5 mysteries for 1995.
Review: Klavan has created a "death row" book that is both suspenseful and very well written. Frank Beachum will be killed by lethal injection in just 18 hours if Steven Everett doesn't prove his innocence. Only problem is that Everett is such a loser in life, that no one will take him serious. Good to the very last word. Kept me up half the nght! I predict an Edgar nomination for this one
Rating:
Summary: A wrenching death-watch thriller
Review: Klavan, known for well-written, gritty, edge-of-your-seat crime thrillers, takes these elements to literary heights with "True Crime."The story is not new. With only 18 hours to go before a convicted murderer is scheduled to die, a newspaper reporter, narrator Steve Everett, finds reason to believe the man is innocent. His minute-by-minute account alternates with gut-wrenching death-watch scenes from the convict's cell. Everett is yanked out of his editor's wife's bed for this assignment - by the editor himself, who already has plenty of reason to despise cocky, cynical, philandering Everett. This time Everett knows that even his old friend and boss, Alan Mann, who shares his view that "issues are what we make up to give us an excuse to run good stories" - even Mann can't save his job this time. Everett needs a good story. But the "human interest" interview about the condemned man's "feelings" isn't it. Digging into the background, getting the details of the convenience store-clerk's murder, he uncovers some minor unanswered questions, which lead to more questions. Juggling the vengeful editor and his own fed-up, straight-laced wife, who's sure to leave him once this latest infidelity is out, it dawns on Everett that proving Beachum innocent could be the single answer to all his immediate problems. Meanwhile Beachum is saying his last farewells to his wife and daughter. A devout Christian, he is determined to act calm, resigned and unafraid. "But it did make him terribly lonely. To have her here, to hold her, to want to tell her everything that was in his heart - and to jolly her along like this instead." The tension mounts, page by page. Everett's discoveries are tantalizingly inconclusive, every leap forward is confronted by an obstruction, a setback, a reasonable explanation. And the scenes in Beachum's stark cell grow more and more painful to endure as the man wrestles with his inner fears, the shattered hopes of a life, his anguish, impatience and dread. Everett is not a nice guy. But the reader remains aware that this is his book, the powerful and disturbing insight of the Beachum chapters as well as the wise-cracking, cynical chase. And while we identify with Beachum's awful plight, we turn away from his unbearable pain, then turn the page to see what happens next. Klavan has written a rivetting story which presents a devastating portrait of the real cruelties of capital punishment, not that it will change any minds.
Rating:
Summary: A wrenching death-watch thriller
Review: Klavan, known for well-written, gritty, edge-of-your-seat crime thrillers, takes these elements to literary heights with "True Crime." The story is not new. With only 18 hours to go before a convicted murderer is scheduled to die, a newspaper reporter, narrator Steve Everett, finds reason to believe the man is innocent. His minute-by-minute account alternates with gut-wrenching death-watch scenes from the convict's cell. Everett is yanked out of his editor's wife's bed for this assignment - by the editor himself, who already has plenty of reason to despise cocky, cynical, philandering Everett. This time Everett knows that even his old friend and boss, Alan Mann, who shares his view that "issues are what we make up to give us an excuse to run good stories" - even Mann can't save his job this time. Everett needs a good story. But the "human interest" interview about the condemned man's "feelings" isn't it. Digging into the background, getting the details of the convenience store-clerk's murder, he uncovers some minor unanswered questions, which lead to more questions. Juggling the vengeful editor and his own fed-up, straight-laced wife, who's sure to leave him once this latest infidelity is out, it dawns on Everett that proving Beachum innocent could be the single answer to all his immediate problems. Meanwhile Beachum is saying his last farewells to his wife and daughter. A devout Christian, he is determined to act calm, resigned and unafraid. "But it did make him terribly lonely. To have her here, to hold her, to want to tell her everything that was in his heart - and to jolly her along like this instead." The tension mounts, page by page. Everett's discoveries are tantalizingly inconclusive, every leap forward is confronted by an obstruction, a setback, a reasonable explanation. And the scenes in Beachum's stark cell grow more and more painful to endure as the man wrestles with his inner fears, the shattered hopes of a life, his anguish, impatience and dread. Everett is not a nice guy. But the reader remains aware that this is his book, the powerful and disturbing insight of the Beachum chapters as well as the wise-cracking, cynical chase. And while we identify with Beachum's awful plight, we turn away from his unbearable pain, then turn the page to see what happens next. Klavan has written a rivetting story which presents a devastating portrait of the real cruelties of capital punishment, not that it will change any minds.
Rating: 
Summary: DON'T BUY THIS BOOK
Review: THE ACTION WAS MISSING. THE TIMING WAS PERFECT BUT THE CHARACTERS NEEDED MORE DEVELOPMENT. NEEDS MORE WORK ON DIALOG. DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS BOOK UNLESS YOU'VE GOT NOTHING BETTER TO DO.
Rating:
Summary: Unforgettable.. a time bomb !!!
Review: The story is about a comdemned black man who is in death row and going to be executed for a crime he apparently did not commit. A journalist from a local newspaper wants to help him out and prove that he is innocent, will he find the evidence before this man is executed ? The plot is terrific, the nail biting tension type mixed with quick action packed suspense. Once I started the book, I could not put it down. The story is so masterly written that I could not forget it so I decided to include it in my listmania. Go get this book as long as it in the shelves and before is too late, as in the plot,... time is running out !!!!
Rating:
Summary: Don't touch if you want to get some sleep!!!
Review: This book definitely keeps you awake. I was tired as a dog and tried and tried to put this book down, but no....had to finish it, had to find out if Beachum (on Death Row for murder) gets the needle or not. The book is not only gripping, but also packed with humour, which is, considering the dark theme, a really big plus! The only downside is, that it seems too easy for Everett (the journalist) to find stuff out! (don't want to go into more details here). If you're one of those readers who have to check out the last page, DON'T...
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!!!
Review: This book had me riveted from moment one...I have insisted all my friends and family members read it. I am looking forward to the movie but am going crazy that they are not setting it in St. Louis as the book is written. I am a local St. Louisan and that was the original reason I bought the book. It's disappointing that Hollywood doesn't realize other parts of the world exist besides New York and California. Oh well...at least they cast Eastwood. I definitely recommend the book...just be sure to have plenty of spare time to read it...it will be hard to put down.
| 
