Desperate Summer

Rating:
Summary: A Great Suspense Read
Review: I completely agree that this is a very strong first novel. Keep up the good work, Joe!! The prose is tight, the pace is fast without losing the reader along the way, and the plot is well done. This is one that held my attention throughout and also a book that I did not have to spend a week or more trying to figure out what the author wanted to say. If you like suspense fiction in an easy to absorb time frame, this is for you. Try it, you'll love it.

Rating:
Summary: More than meets the test for a first novel
Review: I enjoyed very much this first novel by Joseph Haymes. I look forward eagerly to his next one. The plot built well from the first page and went on from there to keep my interest at a high level. His writing style is tight and the story compelling. It is no 600 page Clancy novel, nor should it be considering the story and plot, but is a well-paced, compact story which held my interest throughout. From start to finish this is a book that I could become involved in - - and did - - and I look forward to further books by Haymes. I hope he sticks with a foreign flavor to his work because he is obviously comfortable with it.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Book Made Better
Review: I have the good fortune of knowing Mr. Haymes, who possesses an easy writing style that often sparkles with a subtle wit. I have read several articles of his, only to end up chuckling - if not outright guffawing - at his prose. Now he's taken the leap of which many of us scribblers only dream: he's actually published something. And I'm happy to say that his first novel, "Desperate Summer", only took me one day to read but not because I wanted to get it over with. Rather, I was held by its plot, intrigued by his characterizations and thought that he handled his female protagonist with delicacy and precision.

Yes, the novel is short but one doesn't have to overburden points and descriptions when one trusts the reader. Reading - or, indeed, any effort into the visual or literary arts - is a two-way street, or should be. Think of Alfred Hitchcock: does The Master show us rivers of blood and gore in his films? No. In not spoon-feeding his audience, Hitch proved that what isn't shown or said is many times more horrifying or stimulating than what is. When the waters of a plot are unmuddied by excessive detail or laborious descriptions, the artist allows the audience to bring their own imagination along for the ride, making the film or book a truly memorable experience. Mr. Haymes' tight prose tells you just what you need to know and leaves you to fill in the rest as you will.

"Desperate Summer" is a strong first effort, and I'm happily anticipating his next novel, which I understand is being created even as I type. Go, Joe ... keep it up.

(By the way, a note to the reviewer above: Ian Fleming spells his name with one "m". Again, spare prose ...)

Rating:
Summary: A Good Book Made Better
Review: This book is good, but the second edition with extensive alterations and additions is better. Hard cover is ISBN 0-7388-1282-X, softcover is ISBN 0-7388-1283-8. Both were released in 2001, printed by Xlibris Corporation.