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Summary: silly
Review: I chose this as one of my ... free books, boy do I wish I could give it back. Silly inane dialog made up of sexual inunendos, dont' waste your money on this one.
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Summary: Running Scared had me just plain running
Review: I eagerly awaited Running Scared because of the fact that I loved Ms. Lowell's earlier works(Autumn Lover, Winter Fire, Untamed, Forbidden, Enchanted, Moving Target) just to name a few). She became an auto-buy for me. Until this one. I found that I couldn't even get past the first few pages. The characterization and dialogue were weak. Ms. Lowell was definitely "off" on this one. I recommend any of her earlier works like the ones mentioned above in addition to Amber Beach, Jade Island, Midnight in Ruby Bayou, To the Ends of the Earth.
Rating: 
Summary: Running Scared
Review: I enjoyed both Running Scared and its predecessor, Moving Target. The Author does a good job of exploring the senses and thought processes of her characters, as well as whetting the reader's curiosity about interesting topics such as antiquities. But buy the printed book, not the audio version; the Reader consistently mispronounces names, which drove me to give my set away after the first twenty minutes.
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Summary: Not as good as Moving Target
Review: I enjoyed Elizabeth Lowell's first entry in the Rarities Series with Moving Target, and of course wanted to read the second novel, Running Scared. I knew the protagonists would be Risa and Shane and that further added to my curiousity as they seemed really interesting in Moving Target. However, in reading the book, I found that Ms. Lowell did not do them justice. I found that most of the book centered more on the bad guys then the lead couple. You never really see their romance blossom until almost the middle of the book. I found there was very little characterization for the hero, Shane. You never really see what it is that makes him tick, why he was falling for Risa, or anything more except for the superficial. Risa was a little more fleshed out but on the whole I felt these two characters were left out in the cold. There is even a paranormal element in the book concerning Risa and Shane that simply was not elaborated on! Unlike Moving Target, where the evidence of paranormal and history is felt strongly throughout the book, and the growth between the couple is much stronger. More focus was needed on the romance in order to make the book more enjoyable.However, as usual, Ms. Lowell does her research and the information on Celtic gold and Druids was interesting. Even the mystery was ok, even though a little too neat. The appearance of old characters from older books was really welcome. All in all, I just think she should have balanced it out more, like she did with the first book in the series. Hopefully we will see more of this couple in the next book and see how there relationship has progressed. Definitely not her best, but I still look forward to Rarities #3.
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Summary: Running Scared
Review: I formerly enjoyed reading books by Elizabeth Lowell, but with her latest "Running Scared", I will not be spending money on her books. Frankly, the story line was so uninteresting that I didn't finish the book. The charactors were shallow and narrow.
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Summary: Running Scared is a Major Disappointment
Review: I have long been a devoted reader of Elizabeth Lowell books, and especially loved her intrigue and romance series on the Donovan family. Unfortunately, "Running Scared" was a major disappointment to this loyal fan. At least two-thirds of the book was devoted to describing the base thoughts and actions of several low-class criminals. The main characters in the book were virtually ignored. I barely felt that I knew them when the book was completed, and could hardly bring myself to care how their relationship turned out since it was treated as an inconvenient side-line in a story riddled with malignant cynicism and devoid of true meaning. This book lacks the sensual discovery, mutual passion, devoted love, honor, and beauty that has marked Ms. Lowell's stories in the past, and replaces it with cold and calculated lust that seems easily slaked although it "suddenly" turns to commitment later in the book, with no believable foreshadowing or explaination as to why. Give "Running Scared" a big miss and instead read her Donovan series for the kind of romance, intelligence and action that will keep you reading into the wee hours of the morning. Ms. Lowell should dump her current series and instead finish out books for the remaining two Donovan brothers.
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Summary: Boring
Review: I strongly felt that Elizabeth Lowell was only walking through this book for a paycheck. The sordid characters were stock, without any redeeming or quirky qualities that fleshed them out into human beings. The main characters were also stock - yet another brilliant and beautiful heroine, yet another brilliant and handsome hero. There was no real passion in this book, no in depth relationship between them. Lowell comes across as burned out and bored. I found that I was burned out and bored as I read this. I know this is a rather scathing review, but part of the reason I feel this strongly is that I think Lowell can do much better and has. I hope she will again in the future.
Rating: 
Summary: What happened to this book?
Review: I was expecting another excellent entry in the world of Rarities and the Donovan clan. After I finished the book I didn't feel the urge to go back and check out the high points that I usually feel. The books Running Scared follows, Moving Target and the Donovan books Amber Beach through Midnight in Ruby Bayou, all fit what I would call the 'suspenseful romance' category. A large part of the plot is the romance and a second large part is the suspenseful problem. However in Running Scared the romance is not a fully developed romance. Instead of seeing two people become attracted, encounter conflicts that stand in the way of their attraction, overcome these romantic conflicts and commit to each other - I saw Risa and Shane, who always resisted their attraction because she worked for him, until in this book, shrug, there are reasons to give in to the attraction and put aside the boss/employee problem. I would really have liked to know more about how and why Risa loved her job more than she wanted to chance getting together with her boss. I would also have liked to know more about Shane too. (All I ended up knowing about Shane was that he was the son of a rich SOB and was good with computers. Compare that to Ruby Bayou, whose hero was raised so poor that he hunted swamp varmints for food, dealt with a set of stepfathers until his mother sent him off to 'find his father', learned how to fly and run guns, lost his brother, and was ashamed of his lack of education.) But the book spends so much time concentrating on the actions of other characters that I feel as if the romance is between two secondary characters - they start off thinking they can't get together, then the important stuff happens, and suddenly they're together. Sort of a little romance for flavor in a book about something completely different. Well, if this wasn't a suspenseful romance perhaps it was romantic suspense. Maybe the plots, intended crime, and so on were supposed to be the interesting part of the book. (It is called a novel of suspense on the cover.) I found the suspense to be lacking as well. A large part of the book is spent watching Risa's old friend Cherelle and her two loser buddies as they try to get rich off an amazing treasure trove of Celtic gold they acquire (after Cherelle almost accidentally kills the previous owner fairly early in the book). The other dangerous people in the book are a bunch of casino owners who long for the Mafia days when Shane wouldn't have been able to run the most profitable casino around without sharing the wealth. These villains are pathetic compared to Ms. Lowell's earlier villains. I particularly remember the Russian Mafiya hit man from Ruby Bayou whose actions are merely hinted at here and there but always another victim popping up killed by a knife. There is no mystery involved in reading several chapters of Cherelle dealing with her not-so-smart untrustworthy buddies and popping into Risa's life to figure out how to make the most money off her golden windfall. I ended up wondering if Cherelle was supposed to be one of the main characters in some unusual twist - so much time was spent on her and her two friends. Overall I wish Ms. Lowell had told her publisher 'I need to do a major rewrite' and either cut the book down to a suspenseful short story or spent the time to fill in all the good stuff that she usually puts into one of her books. I only recommend it as a readable book that doesn't compare to Elizabeth Lowell's best work at all.
Rating: 
Summary: Less details, but terrific nonetheless
Review: Less detail oriented than Moving Target, Lowell's new book, Running Scared is still a tour de force! One of my favorite things about these books is the accuracy of details on the interesting and varied "backgrounds" (i.e. gems, gold, art, etc.). As with her Donavan series and the previous Rarities opus, Running Scared has it all -- and leaves you wanting more. Query for anyone: Could a book with April Joy as "heroine" be in the works -- there are a couple of "tells" near the end where Ms. Lowell shows Joy's human-side? And, could the hero be Ian? Don't make us wait too long, Elizabeth. Noiret
Rating:
Summary: Solid gold Title
Review: Loved the story line and especially the interaction between the characters. I just wished there had been more of it! This is more for the publishers but I would be willing to pay more for an extra two or three signatures of text. I found that I was craving more in-depth interaction between Risa and Shane. If you have read the previous titles in this series with Rarities and the Donovans then you have enough background to see why these two are in love with each other but I think the relationship by itself in just this book is not fleshed out enough. I want more textual foreplay I suppose.
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