Voices Carry

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing :(
Review: After reading and absolutely LOVING "Brown-eyed Girl," I waited for a year for the story of John Mancini and Genna Snow, FBI agents and ex-lovers, with great anticipation, but I was sorely disappointed by this book.

Unlike BEG, "Voices Carry" falls victim to the classic romantic suspense blunder. It tried too hard to be both a romance, and a mystery, and so did neither very well. The romance worked well in the beginning, creating a convincing tension between Genna and John. He left her to get his life straightened out after a brush w/ a serial killer, but he failed to tell her where he was going, or why. Genna has her own issues with abandonment, and she was crushed by his leaving. At the beginning of the book, we find them struggling to be friends and co-workers again. There is no bitterness, just a wary feeling between John, who loves her deeply, and Genna, who is cautious about getting involved again.

Then, in the middle of all of this, we follow the characters though a series of unrelated cases, none of which ends up having ANY bearing on the book later, losing any hope for a passable romantic tension. 3/4 of the way through the book, we finally pick up the main suspense plot, and the romantic angle resolves itself abotu fifty pages BEFORE the end! The entire conclusion was both anti-climatic and flat.

I was so impressed by BEG, I will give Mariah Stewart another chance, (though I might not rush out to by the next one new) and I hope that she is still getting an angle on romantic suspense. If she writes another like BEG, she will indeed be the new star of the genre, but she'll have to do much better than this one.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing :(
Review: After reading and absolutely LOVING "Brown-eyed Girl," I waited for a year for the story of John Mancini and Genna Snow, FBI agents and ex-lovers, with great anticipation, but I was sorely disappointed by this book.

Unlike BEG, "Voices Carry" falls victim to the classic romantic suspense blunder. It tried too hard to be both a romance, and a mystery, and so did neither very well. The romance worked well in the beginning, creating a convincing tension between Genna and John. He left her to get his life straightened out after a brush w/ a serial killer, but he failed to tell her where he was going, or why. Genna has her own issues with abandonment, and she was crushed by his leaving. At the beginning of the book, we find them struggling to be friends and co-workers again. There is no bitterness, just a wary feeling between John, who loves her deeply, and Genna, who is cautious about getting involved again.

Then, in the middle of all of this, we follow the characters though a series of unrelated cases, none of which ends up having ANY bearing on the book later, losing any hope for a passable romantic tension. 3/4 of the way through the book, we finally pick up the main suspense plot, and the romantic angle resolves itself abotu fifty pages BEFORE the end! The entire conclusion was both anti-climatic and flat.

I was so impressed by BEG, I will give Mariah Stewart another chance, (though I might not rush out to by the next one new) and I hope that she is still getting an angle on romantic suspense. If she writes another like BEG, she will indeed be the new star of the genre, but she'll have to do much better than this one.

Rating:
Summary: Predictable
Review: Extremely predictable on all fronts -- who the killer was, what his motive was, how and why the crimes were happening. Not even one little twist or red herring to spice things up a bit. And the main characters just didn't come across as very bright to not pick up on any of this until it was too late.

Rating:
Summary: Neat Ending
Review: Genna Snow and John Mancini are FBI agents who share a past. They were once deeply in love until John was emotionally destroyed by a case he was working on. He left Genna without a word until he could get his life back together. When he felt ready to resume their relationship, Genna opted not to take him back due to issues from her past that she had never really dealt with. Now they are assigned to work on a case together. Twelve women are missing. Twelve ordinary women who have families and jobs and no known enemies. There doesn't seem to be a pattern, the crimes don't happen in the same city, let alone state. Nothing makes sense.

I was thrilled when I found out these characters were from Ms. Steward's previous novel, Brown Eyed Girl, a novel I really enjoyed. However, I didn't feel satisfied with this story. The book is label romantic suspense. There is more suspense than romance, which is fine. The killer's identity is revealed early on and that wasn't a problem since we see Genna and John struggle to make the connections. For some reason, this story just didn't jell for me. Maybe there was too much thrown into the plot, or maybe I just wanted more romance with Genna and John. While there are wonderful secondary characters, some of the subplots have a tendency to drag the story down. I will give Ms. Stewart credit by saying the ending has a neat twist to it.

Rating:
Summary: VERY disappointed!
Review: I enjoy thrillers. Given all the hoopla about Ms. Stewart's previous book, I picked this up with a tingle of anticipation. Boy, did that fade quickly!

Her writing isn't that good, and the FBI -- including the unbelievably mixed-up hero and heroine -- came off looking like a bunch of stupid amateurs. The last third of the book would've never happened, since the investigators would've homed in on the location of the abducted women right away. I got the sense that the contrived ending was just so the heroine could be placed in jeopardy One More Time.

I've read a lot of great romantic suspense, BLIND FAITH by Christianne Heggan leaps to mind, and this falls far short of "good." I may look for her previous title in a used book store, but I won't pay money for it.

Rating:
Summary: Fast and exciting
Review: I have read 'Brown-eyed Girl' and loved it, but I felt the story was over too quickly. Believe me, 'Voices Carry' is even better. I have read the book in one day. The plot is more complicated than in Brown-eyed girl and thus is the book a satisfying read with a nice twist in the end. Recommendable!

Rating:
Summary: A great page turner!!!
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed Voices Carry. The development of the characters was excellant--the author made me care about them. I thought John was just flawed enough to be human and Genna smart enough not to resume their relationship without question. I really liked the way Genna's past literally came back to haunt her. All in all, I think Voices Carry is Mariah Stewart's best book to date. In fact, I think she just gets better and better. I can't wait for her next release.

Rating:
Summary: Another Winner
Review: Let me say first, I love Mariah Stewart. I'll read absolutely anything she writes, and I devoted the better part of an entire afternoon to 'Voices Carry'. After enjoying 'Brown Eyed Girl' as much as I did, I couldn't wait to get my hands on this one to see how Genna and John's story would continue. There was lots of action here and a few twists I never even suspected. Thats the great thing about Ms. Stewart - she keeps you guessing !

I thought 'Voices' had just the right blend of suspense and mystery and, of course, romance. Ms. Stewart writes characters you just can't help rooting for. It might be good to read 'Brown Eyed Girl' first just to get a feel for the characters, but 'Voices' will stand proud all on its own. And while you're shopping, if you happen to see any other books by Mariah Stewart - grab 'em! You won't be dissappointed !

Rating:
Summary: Another rivvting work by tomorrrow's superstar
Review: Near Bricker's Lake, Pennsylvania, nine-year-old Genna Snow attends the Shepherd's Way camp run by Brother Michael. She gets in trouble for sneaking wild flowers to her ailing sister. Michael tries to punish her by sexually abusing the child, but Genna escapes. Schoolteacher Patsy Wheeler finds the battered girl and obtains help. All hell breaks loose and soon authorities learn that Michael abused more children.

In spite of her parents' condemnation, with the loving help of Patsy, Genna recovers and becomes an expert on abuse for the FBI. While Genna returns to the Amish country on a drug laundering case, her former boyfriend, Agent John Mancini, works what appears to be a serial killer case. John loves Genna, but when the Woods investigation got inside his gut, instead of turning to his beloved, he fled to cleanse his soul. He feared destroying Genna, but now he wants her back permanently. She loves John, but believes he will just leave again. As his serial killer case seems to somehow tie back to Genna, he realizes he must keep her and Patsy safe not because of duty but because of love.

Highly talented Mariah Stewart provides her audience with a taut romantic suspense thriller that will provide the awesome author with new readers. The serial killer angle fits quite well with the elements of romantic suspense, as ultimately Genna is a target with John willing to die to keep her out of harm's way. The fast-paced story line is filled with action from page one with only romantic interludes to give the audience an occasional breather. Ms. Stewart provides her fans with another winner.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: 4 1/2 Read from a 5 Star Author
Review: On the heels of THE BROWNED EYED GIRL, this new book by Ms Stewart was much anticipated and she didn't disappoint. The suspense was richly developed and believable. The story at times was alarmingly evil but then Ms Stewart is a master of evil suspense. The only draw back was a bit too much time was spent on back story for our couple, bogging the story down at times and it really wasn't needed ( hence no five star rating).

It is hoped Ms Stewart will continue to develop stories rich with strong heroines and supportive heroes: be they contemporary love stories or her current trend toward evil suspense. Having been a fan of her earlier work, it is hoped she will continue to help set the standard in Romantic Suspense: few have her touch in developing heart stopping evil intent. You can't go wrong with any books by Ms Stewart. She deserves her growing body of fans!