Icarus

Rating:
Summary: A Great Gym Book
Review: "Icarus" has one of the most disturbing, unsettling and downright breathtaking openers I've ever read. It reminded me of the frightening opening sequence in the Stallone movie, "Cliffhanger." What makes this so remarkable is that author Andrews accomplishes this without the visuals. The scene of course is the one where Jack Keller's mother meets her fate in a high rise building at the hands of a madman. Wow, goosebumps upon goosebumps in that scene. There are two other scenes in this book that almost match it: the bizarre shootout in the Charlottesville restaurant (where you keep saying, "No, no, don't let this happen..", and the final climactic scene on the terrace of Keller's own high rise.
While the characterizations are nowhere as sharp as others like Greg Iles and Robert McCammon, Andrews manages to weave a tale of mystery and intrigue. A lot of sex, so if that bothers you, you might flinch a little. Although the book is well crafted, and you're never really sure who is doing what, I had my suspicions about the killer, and even though author Janet Evanovich felt it was impossible to detect, somehow through all the red herrings, I figured it out. Pat on back for the year!!!
The supporting characters including Kid Demeter, Bryan Bishop and Dominic are all well developed, and the whole novel is intense and brooding, but a heck of a good read! Would make a tremendous film!!!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Gym Book
Review: I had run out of books to read on the stairmaster and found this one on the book swap shelf at the gym. I couldn't put the book down once I got 100 or so pages into it. I read solely to be amused, and ICARUS did just that. The story was great, and while the character development may not have been as detailed as some people like, the use of the many characters was first rate. The plot twists were very good.

Rating:
Summary: Good Story - Too Much Panting
Review: I read Andrews' Aphrodite and enjoyed it a lot, so I got Icarus. Icarus isn't bad, but it is not nearly as good as Aphrodite. Icarus wastes time with too much heavy panting. Had Andrews taken some of the time he took describing sex with developing some of his charactors, it would have been a much better book. Don't get me wrong, sex ain't bad, but in this case too much of it crowds out stuff the book needs more of.

It is ironic that the book named after the goddess of love has less sex than a book named for a guy who flies too high and crashes while trying to escape from an island with his father.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting But Implausible
Review: It's never a good sign if I start another novel while I'm more than halfway through another novel. This unfortunately pertains to Icarus. There's just a little too many soap opera-type twists in the plot to keep my interest. And "Kid"? Having all these super-gorgeous women willing to kill to have him all to themselves? Not believable either. And calling them throughout the novel by nicknames? Annoying--and I just didn't buy it.

Andrews has a nice narrative style, and the hero tracking down all the possible suspects at the end was interesting and compelling. The above items just detracted from an interesting plot. Perhaps the most crucial flaw in the novel is the murderer. When she/he is revealed, it's just not believable that this character could be the one responsible for all the mayhem of the novel. The key to any psychological suspense is credible reasons why the antagonist would engage in such horrific behavior. Icarus is interesting, but it just doesn't work.

Rating:
Summary: Story Picks up Momentum
Review: Jack is a tough customer whose mentor is a cleaver-wielding butcher from New York City's meat packing district. As a child, Jack watches his mother die at the hands of a deranged murderer who hurls her body through the window of a Manhattan skyscraper, Nevertheless, he manages to make a success of his life: he acquires a classy drop-dead gorgeous wife and partner, cultivates a lucrative string of top-notch restaurants and still manages to maintain his loyalty to those he has met along the way to reaping the lavish rewards of his work. Basically he wants for nothing, even challenging his own fear of heights by purchasing a penthouse apartment several stories above ground level.
Problem? Yes. Disaster strikes a second time when Jack's wife dies exactly the same way as his mother and again Jack witnesses the entire event. Bereft and broken, Jack comes back to life with the help of a younger protegee, Kid Demeter, a personal trainer with a style both motivating and mysterious. Throughout Jack's recovery, he hears about Kid's edgy lifestyle, epitomized by the high-maintenance women in his life. The "team" as Kid labels them are chivalrously referred to only by nicknames, so when Kid himself is found dead after being thrown from his Tribeca apartment window, Jack does not have a clue as to how to convince the police that Kid's death was murder and not suicide.
By far, the most interesting aspect of this book was Jack's foray into Kid's nighttime world of private clubs and fast women. It is here that the author's minimalist's style really works to convey the multi-layered truths of the demimonde as as seen from Jack's skewed perspective.
This novel picks up momentum once the murders of Jack's mother and wife are recounted. There is little dialogue in this first portion of the story so the reader gets the false sense that the author's style needs an injection of life while I believe his intention is merely to supply background information for the real tale.
This is not great literature---however, it is the perfect read for a trip or a day at the beach where one wants to be moved along by an interesting plot and not the artistry of wordplay.

Rating:
Summary: Stop reading this review!
Review: Stop reading this review. Immediately scroll back up and buy this book - DO IT NOW! And while you're at it - DO NOT read any reviews that describe the story line, plot, don't even read the jacket cover, because they tell you so much that it takes away from the impact of the book's events.

That said, Russell Andrews (or whoever the actual writers are) has crafted the best book I have read all year - maybe ever! The story of Jack Keller is woven around a host of other charcters from his past and present. Keller suffers recurring and horrendous tragedy and the story tells how he moves on with his life, while healing and searching for a killer. Very creative, very clever, well written and believable characters, excellent dialogue, very easy read, fast-paced. I really could not put it down until I had turned the last page. Finally a book with an uplifting and poignent ending.

Climatic scene that makes up the end of the story is a bit drawn out, but builds well on the mystery and Jack's fears and hopes for the future. Bravo. This book is excellent. I am now scrolling up to buy Gideon.

Rating:
Summary: Overlong soap opera
Review: This book started off pretty good and had me glued to my chair waiting to see what would happen next. Then, it got bogged down in storytelling -- which should be a good thing, but in this case, it wasn't. The background story and build up of the mystery that infuses this book seemed to go on forever. You're taken through the typical life of a married couple who are trying to start a family and build a comfortable life for themselves at the same time. Not bad fare, but a little slow.

Then years later, their happy life is shattered by death. Jack struggles to regain his health and his outlook on life but again, death strikes. This time, Jack decides to find out why. And hence, the mystery kicks in as Jack searches for answers among a large cast of characters. To me it seemed as if the number of characters was just a way of justifying a longer book then seemed necessary. In some ways, their stories added to the book and in others, it was just filler material.

I had the ending figured out a little over halfway through the book, but I must admit that the author had me second-guessing myself for a while there. The mystery is decent -- because there are so many possibilities, and some of the characters are interesting, but overall, this book lacked excitement. Bottom line: while I wouldn't steer anyone away from this book, I also wouldn't recommend it. You're on your own.

Rating:
Summary: Great story, great characters, eh ending
Review: This was a very different kind of story. It's not your typical mystery, but it is still very suspenseful and well written. I had never ready anything by Russell Andrews before, and I was nicely surprised by his character creation, and his intricacies. I was a little disappointed in the ending - it didn't really fit, and it was kind of thrown together, but it didn't kill the book for me either. It was still worth the read!
So, don't expect fireworks at the end, but read it anyway - it's worth it - it's a great rollercoaster ride.

Rating:
Summary: "Un-Putdownable'!
Review: While some reviewers felt that the first 90-100 pages were slow moving, I found that I did not want to put this book down from the very first page. Icarus is one of those rare books that the less you know about before starting it, the more exciting, surprising and suspenseful it will be to you. While I know it's hard to spend money on a book without knowing what it's about, this is definitely a book that should be the exception to the rule. The style of writing is very easy to read, the plot is very fast-paced, the action is non-stop (particularly in the second half of the book), and the characters are very credible. If this isn't enough to motivate you to put Icarus at the top of your "To Be Read" list, than maybe this will do it for you -- you won't guess who the killer is. Even if you do, it won't be until towards the very end of the book, and by that point you'll have probably gone through a list of characters who you thought "did it." Icarus is the most enjoyable thriller I've read in quite a while. Do yourself two favors -- 1) don't read any reviews that describe the plot, and 2) go right out and get a copy of Icarus (and don't be tempted to read the inside flap. It will take away from some of the suspense!). Also, if you have a little more money to spend, get a copy of Russell Andrews' first book, Gideon.