Winner Take All

Rating:
Summary: One of the best commercial novels I have ever read . . .
Review: . . . and I've read a lot. This is Davis Bunn's third thriller for WaterBrook, an imprint of Random House. The first two, The Great Divide and Drummer in the Dark, were very good, but this book is really something special. There's a depth and richness to it seldom found in commercial fiction.

What really sets this book apart is Bunn's ability to seamlessly combine serious moral, spiritual, and psychological themes with an extremely fast moving and deftly plotted storyline. Others have written similar books--some of David Morrell's later work, Dean Koontz's last three or four books, David Lindsey (sans the spiritual element)--but few have been as successful as Bunn, in my view.

One of the great pleasures of this book is the contrast between the main female characters. Both suffer from major childhood/teen trauma. Both have experienced the highest levels of international fame and acceptance. Both enter adulthood badly wounded and desperately in need of true love and care. One somehow finds the courage to seek it out, while the other remains completely self-consumed. A key scene--indeed, one that the entire book hinges on--occurs when the two meet and one is able to resist the almost overwhelming temptation to fall back into her former life. This scene is simply marvelous and brings front and center Bunn's prodigious talent: fraught with hair-raising peril, depicting a world impossibly glamorous, and perfectly pitched, it is the kind of reader-friendly tour de force that many authors try to pull off, but few have the chops to absolutely nail.

Another thing I really liked about Winner Take All is the grand rogue gallery. Hamper Caisse (great name), Sephus Jones (another great name), and a third individual who shall go unnamed (not to spoil things for those who haven't read it but want to) are about as colorful and nasty a combination of characters as one is ever likely to meet. Indeed, I've read hundreds of commercial thrillers, and seldom have encountered such creatively malevolent characters.

My only complaint is that I had a little trouble getting into the book. You may experience this too. If you do, keep with it; things eventually heat up way past the boiling point. Plus, there are some very skillfully handled plot twists and character revelations that make for great reading pleasure.

All in all, I'd say this is a major advance for T. Davis Bunn in particular and religious-based commercial fiction in general.

Rating:
Summary: Prose that sparkles!
Review: Despite the fact that I had to go to work in the morning, I stayed up a tad too late in the hopes of getting to a "slow spot" where I could set the book down and drift peacefully off to sleep.

Regrettably, the book contains the ongoing, irritating flaw of ending each chapter in such a manner that it essentially compels the reader to continue on -- even if it is three o'clock in the morning and the reader truly does have a day job and the reader's spouse keeps mumbling, "Just go to BED!"

To make matters even WORSE, the plot took an explosive, unexpected turn at the absurd hour of 4:00 a.m. This left me literally no choice but to shake my wife vigorously and shout, "You will not BELIEVE what he just did!"

She immediately became airborne and shrieked, "WHO? WHAT?"

"I can't tell you or it will ruin the book," I replied.

The novel completely ruined her sleep. The poor woman had to drag herself into the living room and sleep on the sofa.

Bunn should be ashamed of himself.

In the future, he needs to make his books more dull. My wife will appreciate it.

Rating:
Summary: Quality Continues
Review: I have enjoyed every one of T. Davis Bunn's books. I've bought his books from the beginning. I continue to enjoy his books, and this one is great as usual. Without getting into details, Winner Take All continues to give me a very interesting, fast paced story with great characters.

Rating:
Summary: I hope there is a sequel...
Review: I was so happy to have a continuation of "The Great Divide" that I dove right into this book. While I did enjoy it, I was left with a sense of incompleteness. It did answer so many questions about Kirsten and her relationship with Marcus; but, it did not give the reader a sense of closure. It ended too abruptly and I was shocked to find that there was not another chapter or an epilogue to give a glimpse into the future. Yes, the reader supposes that Kirsten and Marcus have their long awaited talk about her past and the wedding then takes place. However, it would have been nice to at least have a page that simply skipped ahead to perhaps the day of their wedding and made mention of the attendants and a sentence as to how their lives had changed in the meantime. At least a page saying that the wedding was in fact taking place, such as the mention of the funeral in the epilogue of "The Great Divide".
Perhaps the author was just setting us up for a third in what would be a series about Marcus Glenwood. I certainly hope so. It would also be nice to have a third book where Glenwood has a better outlook and doesn't seem so defeated all the time. Now that he and Kirsten are together maybe he can stop being such a victim and stop obsessing about her so much.

Rating:
Summary: Glenwood is back!
Review: Marcus Glenwood is back! But as much as I hate to admit it, this does not hold a candle to The Great Divide. I learned about opera a little bit... YUCK! I was about ready at one point and time to give up until I was about 2/3 of the way done with it and I stuck it out. I enjoyed the ending, but this book could have been so much more promising. Believe it or not, I thought this book was maybe 3 3/4 stars, but not four. In my opinion, Bunn fell short because I really didn't see much of a witness all in all for Jesus. When Bunn puts Jesus in light of everything, then he scores a 5, but this time, AH, not quite. I still enjoy Bunn's work. I'm looking forward to the chance to read The Warning or The Ultimatum.

Rating:
Summary: Legal Thrills
Review: The saddest thing in the world is a mother who neglects her child. That sort of mother shares much in common with the animal kingdom - and female animals who eat their young.

In "Winner Take All," Erin Brandt has her own agenda. She's an opera star who kidnaps her daughter after having never bonded with her.

After seeing exceptionally talented lawyer Marcus Glenwood in action, Brandt's ex-husband, Dale Steadman, hires the legal eagle to help locate his baby daughter, Celeste. The lawyer begins to feel sorry for Steadman along the way, seeing through the exterior to his sad core.

The story details Glenwood's efforts to drag Brandt into court. He even sends his fiancée and his legal assistant to Germany to locate Brandt.

When Erin is found dead, all eyes look to Steadman, a man with ample motive for the killing. The story heats up with courtroom drama and cat and mouse play that will keep the reader entranced.

Rating:
Summary: Captivating
Review: This book is well- written with very clear details- particularly about location and sensation. I appreciate the use of olfactory sense- usually so overlooked.

The storyline was not as predictable as other novels in this genre have come to be. The characters were well-developed. I found myself curious about the motivations about a few of the plethora of secondary characters. However, for the most part, the loose ends were all tied up satisfactorily.

I was very intrigued by the story and had trouble putting it down. (It made me only a little late for work.)

Rating:
Summary: Fast moving
Review: This is a fast-moving story all right, and a nice, entertaining
one, but, unhappily, the complex aspects of the story line
fail to connect all the time.
The story is, basically, that of a lawyer who is hired to help a
troubled businessman get back his young daughter who was
kidnapped by the non-custodial mother and spirited back to a
Germany that refuses to honor the custodial judgments of other
countries.
The mother is a strange, ego-driven opera diva who never seemed
interested in this child, so the mystery deepens as the lawyer,
and his own troubled female assistant, search for the child,
and then who has to also search for the reasons for all the
trouble they encounter along the way.
We, as readers, travel from N. Carolina to New York, to several
regions of Germany, then to London, and we are plunged into
the nether regions of opera and its managers and practitioners,
as well as those areas of medicine affecting several of the
characters.
As said, a very complex story that moves ahead with a nice
speed that is only interrupted by some lapses in logic as the
main "good" characters frequently seem to lose all reason to
plunge into extremely dangerous situations with no regard for
their safety. These nice, smart, capable people suddenly race
into obvious physical danger, disregarding all normal caution,
and our own logic is challenged by their abrupt, impetuous
behavior.
Even "love" is in for some strange bumps along the way, as

these characters engage and disengage with each other as
the story progresses.
An odd mixture of a story, but one that moves along with speed
and interest.

Rating:
Summary: NOT TOO PLEASED
Review: This is my first book that I've read. I felt Davis was just too overly descriptive and found this book too boring. I felt that I kept missing something and had to ready the same thing over again. I hope his other books aren't like this.

Rating:
Summary: Mr. D I get a bonus
Review: Winner Take all is an awesome example of courage and boldness. The beginning for me was a little slow to get me interested but about half to three quarters of the way through it got more intense and exciting. Since Bunn is a christain author I do think that he could of added a bit more of Jesus, But to an extent he did show how much evil is in the world and how good always prevails. Even in the hard times. I would read another of Bunns novels.Definately