Blindsided

Rating:
Summary: Blindsided by Clyde Phillips
Review: Blindsided was an extremely well written novel. This book was filled with superb detail and intense action sequences. This book is also loaded with suspense. Jane and Kenny (the two main characters) are strong and very realistic. They are strong but they have aweak side too. They're not invulnerable. Clyde Phillips throws a curve ball at the end of this one. It is a great suprise ending. So if you like mysteryies and action novels this is the book for you. Also if you like romance I suggest you read it. Overall it's a great book.

Rating:
Summary: Red Hot and Chilling
Review: I don't know when I've read a more compelling opening. From the first page, Blindsided grips you with the intensity of nightmare that both fascinates and holds you captive. Beloved inspector Jane Candiotti -- (Phillips'last thriller, Fall From Grace is a favorite) -- finally gets together with Kenny Marks, but their happily-ever-after is threatened by a maniac. One by one, San Francisco cops are being picked off and what unfolds is an unrelenting ride through the world of a viscious killer and his victims. Phillips handles it brilliantly -- never shying away from the tough stuff, he has made Blindsided not just action-packed, but full of the compelling details that bring the character of Jane Candiotti straight into your heart. She's so damned real, vulnerable, and brave. You won't want to wake up. Loved it.

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Summary: Fast-paced thriller, intense, action-packed
Review: I'm amazed that the SAME writer who created Suddenly Susan(the upbeat television show starring Brooke Shields) also wrote a book where the opening chapter contains a segment where a man's eyes are gouged out of his head with a rusty spoon before his head is shattered by a rock. Then again, maybe it isn't so odd, because this novel is written with a spare, tight intensity that keeps it moving along, eidted as tightly as those television shows made to fit 30 or 60 minute formats. The basic story involves San Francisco Homicide Inspector Jane Candiotti and her partner Kenny Marks, forced to take down a madman with revenge on his mind, a revenge he spent 15 years planning while locked away in prison. Although action, not character portrayal, is writer Clyde Phillips strong point, I did find Candiotti to be a compelling personality, a woman who is finally allowing herself to think of committing herself to a future that goes beyond her job (and involving, not so coincidentally, her partner, Kenny), a cop with a domestic side. Fellow cop Kenny Marks is equally compelling and figuring out who the killer is and what motivates him makes for an intriguing read - and a satisfying one.

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Summary: Leave no cliche unused
Review: Okay, you got your basic demented, psychopathic bad guy who gets his thrills from killing cops and carving them up. Of course, you have to plow through 300 pages before you understand his motives.

Add to this, you have your basic collection of TV cops: The uptight internal affairs creep, the good old boy target of the IA creep, the love affair between two unmarried cops, the cop and his son the cop, the Catholic family cops, the undercover cops, the cop gone bad etc...

There is a good story trying to get out, but it is mired in a lot of predictable dialogue and uneven pacing.

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Summary: page turner
Review: One of the best thrillers I've read in a long time. Couldn't put it down. Can't wait for the next one.

Rating:
Summary: mediocre
Review: Read Fall from Grace in one sitting and rushed out to get Clyde Phillips second book the next day. I was very disappointed in the Blindsided. I struggled to read it and finished finally but it was one of the most tedious books I have read in a long time.Funny how one author can write on of the best books I have read and one of the worst.

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Summary: Applause for Clyde Phillips!
Review: The vivid and shocking opening of Blindsided pulled me right into the vortex of this chilling drama about a madman seeking revenge on the San Francisco Police force. Once drawn in, I found it impossible to put the book down until I reached the last pate. Not only were the twists and turns of the story compelling, the characters came to life on the page through Clyde Phillips' extraordinarily tactilce prose; each a complex portrait of his own unique human condition. Without justifying his evil acts, the author reveals Jacques Carpenter's twisted motives by bringing us back to the place of his betrayal, where we see how a man can be moved to such sadistic fury. Thankfully, the tonic in this fast paced thriller is the relationship between Inspector Jane Candiotti and her partner Kenny Marks. In the face of terror they manage to breathe compassion into each other and make it possible to deal with the gruesome reality of their work. Also, Jane's tender feelings toward her father, Poppy, allow us to see her on yet another level. Blindsided is truly more than just a "page-turner." The author gives us characters we care about. I can't wait for the next episode.

Rating:
Summary: Couldn't Put it Down!
Review: What an exciting,suspensful book! The character development, intriguing plot and surprising conclusion combined to make this an excellent read. I loved "Fall from Grace" so I knew I would like "Blindsided", and I wasn't dissappointed! Anyone that loves to be swept up in a great story that they can't put down, should buy this book.

Rating:
Summary: Couldn't Put it Down!
Review: What an exciting,suspensful book! The character development, intriguing plot and surprising conclusion combined to make this an excellent read. I loved "Fall from Grace" so I knew I would like "Blindsided", and I wasn't dissappointed! Anyone that loves to be swept up in a great story that they can't put down, should buy this book.