Gatekeeper

Rating:
Summary: Very good entertainment
Review: After having read the incredibly boring Saving Faith this one was a pleasant surprise, A little weak on the ending and a tad bit predictable it is still a fast and enjoyable read.

Rating:
Summary: SURPRISED SHELBY DOESN'T HAVE MORE OF A FOLLOWING
Review: I was first introduced to Shelby when his first book, Days of Drums was touted by People Magazine. I bought it, enjoyed it and have since purchased Shelby's books as soon as they come out. He seems to stay true to his theme of the female heroine -- sometimes naive, but never, never stupid. In his first two books, his heroine was Holland Tylo. In this one, he kept the same four letters in the first name and gives us Hollis Fremont but towards the end of the book reintroduces us to his favorite heroine, Holland Tylo, once again. Hollis Fremont has four men in her life in Gatekeeper. Unfortunately, only one of them is ethical and the other three are even beyond being unethical -- they are disreputable and devious as well. Hollis gets enmeshed with a counter-terrorist group called Omega and danger follows. Another reviewer thought this ending was predictable....I didn't. It kept me turning the pages until the end.

Rating:
Summary: Utterly predictable
Review: In a musical version of The Planet of the Apes on the Simpsons, Troy McClure sings, "I hate every ape I see from chimpan A to chimpanze, No you'll never make a monkey out of me." Later in the song, however, after discovering that he was on earth after all, he laments, "Well you really made a monkey out of me!" Now how does this tie in with the Gatemaker? I read every last page of this book. I really should have stopped about 250 pages in, when I figured out the entire story. The beginning of the book took too long to develop. The plot twists where marked quite well, pages in advance actually. It was like driving down the interstate, in Nebraska, with a brand new map. Even a child can do it. However, this was supposed to be an "international thriller," a genre which lends itself to plot twists and turns which come upon you out of nowhere. The author gave too many clues too early, giving away the entire plot. He also rushed the plot along, revealed charater secrets usually saved for the climax and turned a climax of what could have been a treacherous mountain pass, with twists and turns everywhere, to a pleasent country road on a lazy afternoon. I felt cheated. The characters were not as well developed as I would have wished, nor did you really care it they lived or died. Although the idea was good, and the use of a heroine was interesting, the execution was not there. I did not feel my normal high when I finished this book. Instead, I felt stupid for not putting it down much, much earlier. Philip Shelby, you really made a monkey out of me!

Rating:
Summary: Utterly predictable
Review: In a musical version of The Planet of the Apes on the Simpsons, Troy McClure sings, "I hate every ape I see from chimpan A to chimpanze, No you'll never make a monkey out of me." Later in the song, however, after discovering that he was on earth after all, he laments, "Well you really made a monkey out of me!" Now how does this tie in with the Gatemaker? I read every last page of this book. I really should have stopped about 250 pages in, when I figured out the entire story. The beginning of the book took too long to develop. The plot twists where marked quite well, pages in advance actually. It was like driving down the interstate, in Nebraska, with a brand new map. Even a child can do it. However, this was supposed to be an "international thriller," a genre which lends itself to plot twists and turns which come upon you out of nowhere. The author gave too many clues too early, giving away the entire plot. He also rushed the plot along, revealed charater secrets usually saved for the climax and turned a climax of what could have been a treacherous mountain pass, with twists and turns everywhere, to a pleasent country road on a lazy afternoon. I felt cheated. The characters were not as well developed as I would have wished, nor did you really care it they lived or died. Although the idea was good, and the use of a heroine was interesting, the execution was not there. I did not feel my normal high when I finished this book. Instead, I felt stupid for not putting it down much, much earlier. Philip Shelby, you really made a monkey out of me!

Rating:
Summary: Gatekeeper is a keeper!
Review: Phillip Shelby has to be one of the best writers of our day! His writing style is superb. I felt as if I knew Hollis Freemont personally at the end of the book. It is a rare gift for a writer to be able to bring so much life to each individual character within the confines of a book of less than 500 pages. Additionally, there were moments while reading when I felt as if I could hear the sounds, smell the aromas, and feel the winds blow as Shelby intricately described each setting. The book is a page turner from start to finish. The action rarely relents. The plot twists are very clever. A must read. I will be anxiously awaiting all of his future works.

Rating:
Summary: Action Packed Book!
Review: This turned out to be an exciting book. Hollis Fremont works for the American consulate in Paris. She has chosen to work there
because her parents had been assassinated there previously.Her
lover and boss asks her to escort an old American back to the
United States to surrender to authorities. The old prisoner turns
out to be the legendary hit man the Handyman.Once in the United States the Handyman pull off a wild escape.Hollis Fremont becomes marked for death by the Handyman.She is saved by Sam Crawford who belongs to Omega, a group that hunts assassins.They
struggle to figure out who the Handyman is in the United States to assassinate.They are under constant danger because of the efforts of the Handyman.You have one exciting situation after the other in this exciting story.You wind up with a final confrontation at the Statue of Liberty.This is an excellent book
that you will find hard to put down.I have purchased "By Dawn's Early Light" so that I can follow the exploits of the Handyman.
Buy this book.It is great.

Rating:
Summary: Quite Entertaining
Review: Written in the John Grishim way, easy and fun to read.

A few things you will find about Shelby's titles:

1. His characters are more analytical than emotional. 2. There is always a super villian, a man, run by a powerful organization/person. 3. A woman who has a mentor and is the target of the villian. 4. Fast paced action with almost every form of killing imaginable included.

All in all, very entertaining. I enjoy Shelby. He keeps me up at night. His stories should be made into movies.

By the way, I liked GateKeeper more than Days of Drums.