Venom

Rating:
Summary: A Different Kind Of Killer
Review: Excelent book, along the lines of a Jeffrey Deaver novel, so much infact I wonder if this is a psuedonym for him. If it is not, there is now a great new author on the scene to entertain us between Lincoln Ryhme stories.

Rating:
Summary: Ignore Doug K!
Review: I'm going to keep this simple --- do NOT waste your money or time on this book. It is terrible. It was so bad, I kept thinking that perhaps it was a 'spoof.' However, I'm convinced the author was serious. He needs to keep his day job. I can only assume that the other reviewers tastes are far less discriminating than mine.

Rating:
Summary: Venom lacks bite
Review: There are many excellent novels of serial killers out there-- this is not one of them. In fact, it is not even a good one. The killer is not convincingly creepy, many of the police procedures are questionable, the action lacks suspense and strains credulity, and some of the characters border on stereotypes (the killer is physically deformed, the black hooker is straight out of a '70s exploitation movie). The only interesting aspect of the novel was officer Courtney Bedell's relationship with her drug-addicted sister! Were it not for this, the novel would be more reminiscent of bad pulp fiction from the '30s and '40s. I had to force myself to read the last 100 or so pages.

Rating:
Summary: Venom lacks bite
Review: There are many excellent novels of serial killers out there-- this is not one of them. In fact, it is not even a good one. The killer is not convincingly creepy, many of the police procedures are questionable, the action lacks suspense and strains credulity, and some of the characters border on stereotypes (the killer is physically deformed, the black hooker is straight out of a '70s exploitation movie). The only interesting aspect of the novel was officer Courtney Bedell's relationship with her drug-addicted sister! Were it not for this, the novel would be more reminiscent of bad pulp fiction from the '30s and '40s. I had to force myself to read the last 100 or so pages.

Rating:
Summary: This book was scary but had much too much bad language
Review: This book was okay by far not the best I've ever read! The language is terrible which you would I guess expect from this kind of book! The fiddleback is diffinitely and orignal serial killer who used brown recluse spiders to toture his victims!
All in all I would say if you have something better to read don't waste your time!

Rating:
Summary: Not Exactly Up to Par...
Review: This book, though nicely paced and just this side of believable, lacks something...I can't quite put my finger on it. I read this novel quite a while ago--almost a year has passed since my eyes graced Mr. Ames' pages--but I can tell you with absolute certainty that Jeffrey Ames has the capacity for harrowing, spine-tingling talent. But he just missed the mark with this book. The main protagonist, Dallas cop Courtney Bedell is a nice enough heroine, but she's no Clarice Starling. And the killer, the Fiddleback, is just a bit amiss, but nothing a couple of good psychiatrists couldn't fix. He injects himself with brown recluse spider venom on a regular basis and actually believes he is metamorphosing into a brown recluse. Mr. Ames, go back to the drawing board, let your mind flow, and here's hoping that your next book is just a bit better.