Rating: Summary: Fun, yes...interesting, maybe...accurate, uh no. Review: No spoilers here...this book has an instant hook, very well done for a mystery novel. A priest in a small town in Italy hears a shocking confession that will rock the Catholic church to its roots. Cut away, and a grisly murder of mother and child occurs in a nice suburban home. How are the two connected (what like murder and religion haven't gone hand in hand for millennia? ooops, sorry). The rest of the book plays out more like "Law and Order: Criminal Intent" than a true mystery. We fairly quickly learn who is behind the crimes, but we don't learn why until the climax of the book...uh, sort of. Problem is, with a science background, I had pretty strong inklings on this about 1/3 through the book, and by half way it was disappointingly easy to figure out. But that doesn't completely detract from the book, as it was still fun to watch the scenario play out. This is not "The Grapes of Wrath" folks, and it's not to be held up to strong peer review criteria by anyone with a scientific background (eegads, no!). But it's probably worth the few evenings I spent with it as a fun ride.
Rating: Summary: A waste of time for people who know science Review: This book is a sort of fantasy based on the topics of bioengineering and Catholicism. But it is VERY clear that the author has no real understanding of either subject. The ideas and events that occur in the book are a joke to anyone with any sort of background in biological science. The only reason I read this book to the end was because I believed that the main theory of the book would turn out to be a red herring. But, no. The implications turn out to be the whole point of the book and, essentially, a huge disappointment.Unfortunately, the characters don't do much to redeem the book. The relationships that build between characters seem to be the result of events that are more convenient rather than realistic. And, in the end, none of the characters have any depth. They're simply two-dimensional figures that pose as the standard stereotypes: hero, villain, and damsel in distress.
Rating: Summary: A GREAT BOOK!!! Review: It was the best book I have ever read! It was a thriller, but very well written. I have started to read his other books now because of his great work! It is a mystery, so you do have to think, but over all it's a great book! It is a bit comfusing at the begining, but if you keep at it you will love the end!
Rating: Summary: DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME! Review: I can not believe that this book gets the reviews that it does. It is terrible. I finished reading it for the same reason that I might look at a traffic accident, morbid fascination. I could not believe that someone who made themselves rich with their investigative abilities would forget for much of the book that they possessed a letter that explained everything. Or the investigator that does not notice the warning signs and is beaten to a pulp in his own hotel room. It is terribly frustrating when the reader is constantly a quantum leap ahead of the hero. Also, although the idea is a very good one, the science is all but missing. A part of one chapter late in the book is all that is devoted to the science and you will have guessed what is going on long, long before anyone in the book has a clue. Complete with hokey, easy ending. I could go on and on and on.... Oh well, maybe next time.
Rating: Summary: predictable, but entertaining Review: Although I figured out the plot much earlier than I had expected, Case's storytelling kept me interested. It's a definite page-turner, and a good read.
Rating: Summary: Thrilling look at ethical dilemnas of the coming age Review: I stumbled upon this book and am glad I did! Case examines the potential ethical ramifications of modern scientific investigation. While it's true the reader figures out the mystery before the protaganist does, I was kept on edge wondering how it would all pan out. Quite a good treatment of a difficult and troublesome topic.
Rating: Summary: Amazing thriller Review: Anyone who writes a bad review for this book must have read it with one eye closed, because this was one of the best books that I have ever read. It starts out with a bang and keeps you guessing until the very end. You know this person did something, but it isn't revealed until about 200 pages into the book, and even when it is that isn't the end. For anyone that loves mysteries, this is a book that I couldn't put down until I finished it.
Rating: Summary: Terrific Premise, Mediocre Execution Review: Joe Lassiter, a high-powered D.C. private investigator, loses a sister and nephew to a fire. The culprit, himself caught in the fire, is unwilling to speak despite the fact that he is caught dead to rights and his extensive injuries. As Lassiter begins to unravel the mystery, he uncovers a plot that takes him across the country and around the world. I enjoyed the premise behind this book. Not to spoil anything, there have been other books and movies on similar topics, and you will figure this out well in advance of the protagonist in this book. There are three problems with this book, and two of which are related. One, in the first 50 pages, one character tells another character a secret, essentially what is going on. The reader does not learn the CONTENT of that conversation until the end of the novel, although we know what the hearer does in response and how he is troubled. This is a similar plot device to "The Simple Truth" by Baldacci and "The Pelican Brief" by Grisham, and it drives me up a wall. I just wish that authors would either tell us what's on the proverbial piece of paper or don't even mention it until you are ready to have the characters read it to us. Second, as mentioned in other reviews, the protagonist receives a message that explains what's going on, and then travels to several other countries and conducts a separate investigation before reading it. Again, it would have been so much better for this type of information to have come along at the time when it was read. Another complaint, some of the characters do very dumb things, especially the protagonist. Things happen to him and he literally needs someone to walk up and say "That guy you trusted? He is in cahoots with the bad guys." After a while, that method of plot advancement gets old. All of those complaints aside, Case does a good job with characterization. Most of the characters come off the page and seems real and, more importantly, have understandable motivations for the acts they take. If you can get past the limitations I have identified here, you'll enjoy this book.
Rating: Summary: Great entertainment Review: After reading the other reviews I decided that there are too many untalented people in this world who insist on being overly critical about something that they know little, if anything, about and most probably could not even do half as well. This, for me, was a great read...at some point in every book or film you realise the obvious - the direction of the plot...the final outcome. I love to read good books...ones that are constant page turners...and this did the trick for me. I am a slow reader and devoured this one in 2 days! That says a lot. Enjoy reading for reading...get as much out of a book as you can...don't start reading it with a critical mindset, be open to anything...you may just learn something or actually enjoy the book. It doesn't have to be Hemmingway to be good.
Rating: Summary: run away! Review: What a spectacularly mediocre book. For a plot that dabbles across fields as interesting as international private corporate investigation, papal politics, and genetic manipulation, popping to fro between italy, DC and Switzerland, it nonetheless falls on its face. The Boys from Brazil plot is transparent from the beginning yet tortuously dragged out as our moronic protoganist (and possibly the author as well?) is dumbfounded by any scientific term more complicated than DNA. The descriptions and revelations of spycraft, travel, and gene play are generally superficial; only if you were living under a rock for 30 years would they have the cutting-edge, revealing quality that the plot requires. Like many other reviewers, i kept flipping the pages all the way to the end: case does have the sentence-to-sentece storytelling that kept me hoping against hope that this book might redeem itself... but it doesn't. skip it.
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