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The Next to Die

The Next to Die

List Price: $6.99
Your Price: $6.29
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good read, but not like his last book
Review: For the last few years when I would go into a book store, I would always check to see if the new Kevin O'Brien novel was out because I loved his last book, "Only Son". So I was very excited to get my hands on "The Next To Die". However, even though I enjoyed reading it, I found it too preachy and one sided, with the villains very shallow and predictable. Yes, the relationships were believable and most of the characters were well developed, but I have to agree with one of the other reviewers who commented about the research that went into this book. I found a few things that were not correct. For instance, on page 387, a director of a movie calls "Roll cameras" when the clapboard has already been closed. As a filmmaker, it is common knowledge that the slate is closed only AFTER the cameras roll, in order to sync the sound to the picture. This might sound picky, but I found a lot of mistakes throughout the book like this. Maybe this is why the book was released only on paperback instead of hardcover, like "Only Son". Whatever the case, you can be sure I'll still be looking for O'Brien's new novel later next year. You can't make a perfect novel every time.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Gripping page turner with some holes to fill
Review: I enjoyed Kevin O'Brien's second novel, "The Next to Die," and found it to be a well-paced and nicely orchestrated thriller.

The basic premise is that a right wing group is knocking off people with "alternative" lifestyles. They end up targeting an actress that portrayed and lesbian and an actor that portrayed an abortion doctor.

The novel takes jabs at the entertainment industry, cheesy private investigators, white supremacists in Idaho and far, far right-wingers on television.

There were a couple gaffs and plot holes that could have been fixed. In one scene, a man is talking to a woman in her kitchen and a gun falls out of his pocket on to the floor, and she doesn't notice. She gets shot, of course. The worst one was a blatant lie of a red herring where a shadow character smiles into a phone for no other apparent reason than to be part of an evil plot. Later, this character is innocent. I felt cheated.

I hope the author will clean up some of these types of slips in his next work. He shows promise as a thrill-writer and I can see his novels being optioned for screenplays.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Will's ill review
Review: I enjoyed the book. Since the book was a thriller and a mystery, I couldn't put the book down. Where ever I went, the book was by my side. The book was full of non-stop action on every page. This book is recommended to anyone who loves mystery.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Enjoyable Reading
Review: My wife and I both read Mr. O'Brien's books and have enjoyed all three. While we both were glued to his "Only Son" we found that we were equally held by "Next to Die". Each new title has been an improvement over the last and we are happy that he has the ability to entertain us with his writing and imagination. Look forward to his new release next year.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Be glad you are not an actress or an actor.
Review: Perfect example of what a thriller should be. I will say what I can without leaving any hints, because everyone should read this book. This story is very action action packed. It will keep you guessing. This book has a very high number of characters and at the same time the plot thickens and stays solid. All the characters are very strong. If amazon.com would allow the readers to go as high as a 20 star rating, that is exactly what I would have given this book.
A lot of movie celebrities are murdered for the wrong reasons. The story is so fast moving and has a lot of twists and turns. This is the first book I read by Kevin O'Brien. I notice there are other books out by Kevin O'Brien that I have yet to read. It will be good summer reading material for myself as well as for the rest of the readers out there.
I highly recommend this book. I was only getting very few hours of sleep for a few nights because I was so mesmerised.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Be glad you are not an actress or an actor.
Review: Perfect example of what a thriller should be. I will say what I can without leaving any hints, because everyone should read this book. This story is very action action packed. It will keep you guessing. This book has a very high number of characters and at the same time the plot thickens and stays solid. All the characters are very strong. If amazon.com would allow the readers to go as high as a 20 star rating, that is exactly what I would have given this book.
A lot of movie celebrities are murdered for the wrong reasons. The story is so fast moving and has a lot of twists and turns. This is the first book I read by Kevin O'Brien. I notice there are other books out by Kevin O'Brien that I have yet to read. It will be good summer reading material for myself as well as for the rest of the readers out there.
I highly recommend this book. I was only getting very few hours of sleep for a few nights because I was so mesmerised.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: very racist
Review: racial language is unbelievable here. This writer uses very deroragotory words for African Americans and he didn't have to even state the character is black. Just glad it was a friend's book and didn't spend no money on this book to hear this language.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: very racist
Review: SUMMARY: Someone is murdering Hollywood celebrities who purport, or are even only loosely associated with, liberal political agendas. The bodies are positioned to be found in such a debasing and humiliating way, that any credibility the victims may have had is shattered, and they become mere fodder for the gossip rags. A successful actress with only tangential relationships with those slain is now being targeted. She soon realizes that she is ensnared in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with an ultraconservative political terrorist organzition, one with unlimited resources, and she may be powerful to stop them.

WHY YOU'LL LIKE IT: Taut, well-written action scenes, with a pulse-pounding, nail-biting sense of suspense throughout the work. A plethora of interesting characters, and a genuinely terrifying premise.

WHY YOU WON'T: You must be willing to suspend a considerable amount of disbelief in order to fully be absorbed into the story. While there are many unique characters, they number too many, and as a result, a depth of characterization is lacking, often rendering characters too innocuous or archetypal.

BOTTOM LINE: Good fun, well-written, and maintains a level of suspense not often found in recent thrillers. Doesn't reinvent the wheel, but is excellent for getting lost for a while.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: If you like thriller authors to tell you how to believe....
Review: than this is the book for you.

This book has terrific potential as a thriller, and has a very intriguing beginning. Unfortunately, the majority of the book is hampered by cartoonish portrayals of everyone from homosexuals to fundamentalist Christians. Plenty of offense to be taken by everybody!

At one point the author, who spends several pages talking about the evils of prejudice, describes a character by using a racial epithet. These types of contradictions abound throughout this book.

If you can get past the shallow characterization and moral high-handedness, the rest of the book is a fast-paced mystery that can be quite enjoyable.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: I don't like being lied to.
Review: This book was really fast paced until it slowed down to almost a complete halt! When I first picked this book up I loved it; it was like riding a lighting bolt; but about page a hundred I started realizing that all the surprises were so old and used they were like a piece of gum on the road that's been hit by every other Mac truck that goes by. By about page two hundred I saw the surprises coming so far ahead it made me feel like I was writing the book. Worse I found that the heroes's characters could be summed up as sexy but normal, plain, bland, boring huminoid robots. I got so mad I skipped to the epilogue read it. That's when I sat up in bed and said, "That's stuuuuuupid." I haven't finished the book and don't plan on doing so. The writer said some certain things in the book would happen, but they didn't. I'm not talking about a twist. I love twists; I'm talking about a narrative lie; and if you ask me, he cheated the reader; he cheated me!! And I'm mad!!


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