Rating: Summary: One Totally Compelling Story Review: Besides being a great thriller this book takes you into the land of the timber wars where people fight about trees. Because the main characters are believable the rest of the story works really well. The court room scene is fascinating as are the gut level issues behind the plot that also includes a good love story. As in Dun's first novel, Necessary Evil, the action is riveting and nearly non-stop. You turn each page wondering who will live and who will die and you keep wondering all the way to the last page.
Rating: Summary: An absolute winner.... Review: Dan and Maria are natural rivals. He is a cowboy at heart, concerned with property rights, trees for wood, and limited government. She is for saving the forests, denouncing greed, and believes big government is the answer to saving the world and in particular a certain old growth known in Palmer as the Highland Forest. For some reason as in many good stories these opposites attract. But of course they can't admit it and feel the need to deny the obvious for chapter after chapter. The action scenes are unrelenting and full of suspense, the character development is right on with believable people in trying times. You can't miss with this Dun's second novel.
Rating: Summary: Fast Paced! Review: Dan is a farm boy from eastern Oregon used to tough weather and hard work who leaves the relative isolation for law school and life as an attorney in the town of Palmer which we are given to understand is on the north coast of California. There he loses his wife and raises his son while practicing law for the timber barons. Maria is a girl who has walked away from her family's wealth, lived through tough times in Alaska and who becomes a lawyer to defend the wilderness and its treasures from the likes of Dan and his clients. These two opposites are thrown together in a thriller that is fast paced, sometimes funny and always exciting. The evil doers out to kill them are plenty ruthless and as might be expected they are almost too deadly to be believable. There is a very interesting twist in the story of the bad guys; some ruthless corporate types who attempt to manipulate a fanatic activist for their own purposes. After they help create this monster they have to worry about being added to her list of victims. I finished this book in three days and that is almost unheard of for me.
Rating: Summary: This is a great read... Review: Dun has written a somewhat thoughtful thriller that covers a lot of ground and kept me entertained every minute. It's a very fast read. I loved the story and would recommend it to anyone who likes mysteries or thrillers. Dun writes well, and got me very interested in the characters, particularly Maria a hard charging environmental lawyer and Nate son of Dan the hard charging industry lawyer. I thought Dan wasn't quite as interesting or well developed in my own mind but he makes a good action hero/sleuth. And the love story (on again off again) relationship between Dan and Maria works really well. Some of the most chilling action scenes involve Cory a monkey wrencher who goes about terrorizing the timber industry. A couple of the scenes are pretty hard-edged violence but they aren't drawn out. The underlying themes about cutting forests for timber and regrowing as opposed to preserving old growth are interesting and thought provoking although brief. As it is, it feels like a good exposure to some of the basic issues involving timber harvesting. Dun doesn't take sides and above all is very entertaining.
Rating: Summary: Dun Good - Again! Review: I loved Necessary Evil and I liked this as well. DD gives you a breathless read and never stops the tension! Dan and Maria were fun to watch. Corey was as evil as I've ever read. Is she gone - really? Maybe I missed something. Good 2nd book. Will definitely watch for the 3rd.
Rating: Summary: At The Edge of My Seat Review: I really liked Mr. Dun's first novel "A Necessary Evil" but "At the Edge" confirms me as a fan of his work. "At the Edge" is non-stop action with an interesting plot line and great character development. The author demonstrates a rare ability to tell us a story with an environmental theme, informing his readers of both sides of the issues in the "Timber Wars" without taking sides or preaching a particular point of view. I was captivated from the very beginning. He made us care about Dan Young, a widowed timber industry lawyer and his young son Nate. We're even sympathetic towards his beautiful and capable, and opinionated chief adversary, Maria Fischer, a conservatively raised lawyer turned avid environmentalist. Dun's use of a female "bad guy" who, it turns out is ultra bad and somewhat insane, adds a lot of interest to his cast of characters. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys a great, fast moving adventure with just enough romance to make it really interesting. Dun has set his hook and I'll be anxiously looking for his next book.
Rating: Summary: No Dinner for You Tonight Review: If you loved Dun's first book (Necessary Evil), you definately will not want to miss this one. The tension between the environmentalists and the timber industry provides the background for an action packed story. The descriptions of the forests of Northern California capture the mind's eye. I passed up a dinner invitation because I couldn't put this one down!
Rating: Summary: An Intriguing Mountain Adventure Review: In his second novel, attorney and mountain lover David Dun has conjured up a conspiracy in which a Japanese company hires some very nasty people to kill anyone who would threaten a secret operation they have developed in the northern California woods. This conspiracy is discovered by accident when two lawyers, one representing the timber interests and the other representing the anti-timber environmentalists meet secretly for a pay off and have their half million hijacked. While chasing the robbers they discover the secret Japanese operation, and from that point on their lives are in danger.The complexities of environmental-forestry emotions, the uses of the news media, the nature of the marijuana growing underworld of rural northern California, and the ruthlessness of people who make a living killing others all come together in a well told story. It is a little hard for me to enjoy a story in which both the hero and heroine are lawyers, but David Dun got me to do it. His characters are real enough; their personalities seem true enough, and their actions are realistic enough that I grew to like them even though both had passed the bar. A great second effort by an emerging action novelist of the first order.
Rating: Summary: Another fast-paced winner from Dun! Review: Mr. Dun's first book, Necessary Evil, became a best seller because it was a well written thrill ride full of interesting and nicely developed characters. With At The Edge, Dun delivers another excellent story, and goes a bit further, by adding a more complicated and nuanced plot structure. Dan Young and Maria Fischer, two attorneys representing opposing interests in the timber wars, find themselves thrown into life-threatening chaos when a third party steals a briefcase full of money meant for Maria's ecologically-minded client. In pursuit of the cash, Dan and Maria discover a secret compound in the forest, and are pursued by various individuals who will do most anything to ensure that their own plans are not exposed. Coincidentally, Dun's latest effort comes just weeks after the FBI disclosed at hearings before the U.S. Senate that various eco-terrorist organizations are at the top of the FBI's list of this country's most dangerous terrorist groups. (Yes, notwithstanding 9/11, you read that correctly). At The Edge is a thinking person's thriller that, among other things, presents an interesting character study of a fictionalized eco-terrorist that will send chills down your spine. If you haven't read anything by Mr. Dun, this would be a good place to start. If you've read Necessary Evil, you already know that you should read At The Edge. Either way, you won't be disappointed.
Rating: Summary: One of the best I¿ve read in a long time Review: This is an action filled and exciting tale about a pair of lawyers who can seemingly agree on nothing. Dan is an ex cowboy become lawyer who is both macho and smart with a young son, Nate, who is an interesting and delightful character, well conceived and brilliantly executed. Maria is an environmental activist who has escaped a conservative upbringing to badger the timber industry with her law suits aimed at stopping the clear-cutting of old growth forests. I liked the dialogue and the aspects of the plot dealing with Dan, Maria and the boy Nate. For a thriller it had a fair amount plot besides the bad guys chasing the good guys. The romance was well done. Not too much, not too little. Overall, like Necessary Evil, the book is an action packed thriller and I think it can fairly be called an amateur sleuth type story (somebody else said that and I thought it was a good description). It's one of those books that is hard to put down and leaves you thinking about the story and the characters. There are all sorts of plot twists and a good trick at the end. One of the best I've read in a long time.
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