The Lizard and the Fly

Rating:
Summary: Jeepers Creepers!
Review: Don't get me wrong here. In general I thought the novel was good, and at least there were no mispells. The main characters were funny and the scenes were sometimes engaging. However it was the way the scenes were pieced together that threw me off. And I also couldn't get into all the cheesy characters that Levin paraded in front of me in a seemingly endless panorama before getting to the punchline. I felt way too much time was wasted on these peripheral characters before getting to the actual criminal and his double identity. Also, too many good characters were killed off, which left me feeling so frustrated as to want to shout at the whole story, "Why bother!" The intolerable killings of the main characters' women alone, were as much of a turnoff here as it was in King's "Bag of Bones." And neither treatment makes for truly engaging subject matter, even for a crime-horror setting -- being that it is too nihilistic in content. The final chapter (or was it chapters?) that was supposed to focus on the main criminal failed to focus sharply enough, making it look like something as seen through the Hubble telescope before it had undergone extensive repairs and modifications. The treatment would have been better if there had been an earlier disclosure as to who the killer was, the pevention of the cop's girl friend from being killed, followed by the escape of the criminal from this screwed up job and the subsequent chase, which could easily add more impressive weight to the ending and thus make for a more satisfying read.

Still, it's not a half-bad effort for a first time novel.

Rating:
Summary: Hated It
Review: I got a good look of Mr. Levin at a book signing and was quite taken. I then read his book, The Lizard and The Fly, and realized that all the while I was looking at him, I was looking at a genius. The man's imagination is quite simply brilliant, and I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fast-paced reading.

Rating:
Summary: GREAT STORY, BUT GET A DECENT EDITOR, PLEASE!!
Review: I, too, was contacted by the elusive Arlene, and finally I purchased the book. The story is great and Max and Beast are good characters, but as an English teacher I was consistently thrown off by the horrendous editing job that was done on this book. Other reviewers have listed these errors; I don't have to repeat them here. It takes away from both the readibility and the credibility of an otherwise promising author's debut. Voyage Books: you should be ashamed. By the way, the 4-star rating is for editing, not for content. That would earn a 5.

Rating:
Summary: Eeeeeeoughhhhh!
Review: Like everyone else that has reviewed this book I received an e-mail urging me to purchase this book based on another review I wrote. I personally thought that this marketing ploy was quite brilliant.

The book itself was good. The plot was interesting, the characters memorable and Levin really has a way with words. Many of his descriptions are unique and very effective. His charcter development is amazing (even if some of them were only around for a few pages) but I could not, in all good conscience, give this book a higher rating due to the MANY typos.

As a PR person who works with many authors I found these errors highly disturbing. For instance calling a glock a gluck and constantly changing tense in mid-sentence. The continuity problems also bothered me - in the beginning of the book they headed chapters that take place in the past by saying "five years earlier" but forgo this later in the book which made the read VERY confusing. Since Levin jumps back and forth so often it is hard to keep track.

Besides the basics of editing - this book was enjoyable and I would recommend it to others as long as you can overlook the proofing problems. If Levin could get "Lizard" or his next book picked up by a bigger publishing house or if Voyage Books put a little more money into the marketing (and editing) of this book it could have been a big hit. Reviewers like nothing more than a talented, creative new writer. Let's hope Levin makes the most of it and pushes for a second run with more PR

Rating:
Summary: Wihtout the typos it would have gotten 4 stars
Review: Like everyone else that has reviewed this book I received an e-mail urging me to purchase this book based on another review I wrote. I personally thought that this marketing ploy was quite brilliant.

The book itself was good. The plot was interesting, the characters memorable and Levin really has a way with words. Many of his descriptions are unique and very effective. His character development is amazing (even if some of them were only around for a few pages) but I could not, in all good conscience, give this book a higher rating due to the MANY typos.

As a PR person who works with many authors I found these errors highly disturbing. For instance calling a glock a gluck and constantly changing tense in mid-sentence. The continuity problems also bothered me - in the beginning of the book they headed chapters that take place in the past by saying "five years earlier" but forgo this later in the book which made the read VERY confusing. Since Levin jumps back and forth so often it is hard to keep track.

Besides the basics of editing - this book was enjoyable and I would recommend it to others as long as you can overlook the proofing problems. If Levin could get "Lizard" or his next book picked up by a bigger publishing house or if Voyage Books put a little more money into the marketing (and editing) of this book it could have been a big hit. Reviewers like nothing more than a talented, creative new writer. Let's hope Levin makes the most of it and pushes for a second run with more PR.

Rating:
Summary: WOW!
Review: This book is deliciously wicked... and I do mean, WICKED!

Rating:
Summary: WOW!
Review: why, oh why did this book not land on the bestseller's list? Why is it not there still?

Rating:
Summary: Bestseller!
Review: why, oh why did this book not land on the bestseller's list? Why is it not there still?