Rating: 
Summary: Nelson let us down for the first time!!
Review: zzzzzzzzzz Sleeperville would be a better title. Hold onto your wallets til the paperbooks come out. I spent the extra for hardcover because Nelson Demille has written some excellent books but this is definately not one of them.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: As a die-hard Nelson DeMille fan, I found some of the elements I love in Spencerville - an intelligent, sexy hero, a situation which required his expertise, a romance, a scary protagonist, and some very witty writing. Alas, the witty writing was not as frequent as in some of his other stories, and the romantic situation was, at least to me, unbelievable. The fact that our hero is willing to give up a life that challenged and intrigued him for so long (even though he's world-weary when we meet him), and hook up with a high-school sweetheart, who has done nothing with the past 25 years besides create a cozy home and stick it out with an abusive husband, is too unrealistic even for my romantic soul.And what's up with the ending? Did Nelson just want to get the darn thing written and overwith? The last few chapters are predictable and necessary, but the cheesy sentimentality comes out of nowhere - "Welcome Home, Keith". For someone who writes with such dry humor that I find myself laughing out loud, the ending was disappointing. And dumb.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining and Captivating
Review: I found "Spencerville" to be a well writen novel. The character development was superb and the fabric that held the characters and story together kept me interested. The plot is a little difficult to swallow, but after-all, it is a novel, and I found it to be very entertaining. I found myself having difficulty putting this book down.
Rating:
Summary: No indifference with this book. You either love or hate it.
Review: I loved the characterization in this novel, the compelling internal conflicts and layers of experiences that shaped these characters into the people they've become. The suspense is more subtle than in some of DeMille's other novels, yet it's perfect for this plot and these characters. DeMille has a tight grasp on the fears and doubts that motivate people, and in this novel he shares those insights magnificently with readers.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but boring
Review: This book was very boring in the beginning and took a while for me to get into it. Finally I did and it was a good love story. A love story that you hear about but never witness. This book was also very good mystery. I never knew what was going to happen. I would recommend this story to people that like mystery and a good love story.
Rating:
Summary: Dissappointment from DeMille
Review: I could and did put Spencerville away between readings. Dissappoiting...yet, only because I had such high expectations. I found myself on a rollercoaster throughout the book. Brief moments of drama and suspense interrupted by pointless flashbacks and morality checks that never allowed the story to maintain momentum. Nelson DeMille ceartainly did not show his usual self in character and plot development. A fine book for a short afternoon; once you skip through the dribble you won't need any more time than that. Even the final climax felt more like a feather than a hammer when it was all said and done.
Rating:
Summary: The book is awful
Review: I never made it to the end of this book. It simply bored me to death. I kept asking myself, "What is the purpose of this story?" The reader follows the main character as he returns to the town he once left. Never was it explained (to my satisfaction) why this return is even worthy of a story. I kept asking myself, "Why is the author telling me this?" There simply appeared to be no purpose to the story at all. Finally, after continually asking myself, "Why am I wasting my time reading this book," I had to put it down. I could not sustain my interest in the book any further. As an author, I love Nelson DeMille. I read The General's Daughter and couldn't put it down. The book is excellent. I therefore couldn't understand how a man who could write such a great book as The General's Daughter could produce such a poor work as Spencerville. I haven't lost faith in Mr. Deville. He's still one of my favorite authors. I'm looking forward to reading Plum Island.
Rating: 
Summary: Intense!
Review: By far, the most intense book I have ever read. There is true fear in this book.
Excellent love story.
Very likeable protagonist.
Unsatisfying ending.
Truly terrifying bad guy
Rating:
Summary: A book that you can root for the good guy & hiss the bad!
Review: I truly enjoyed this book. I had recently read the General's Daughter and found this book a departure from his usual subject matter. Enjoyed the small town return of our main character and felt that the rotten cop that ran the town was realistic. I couldn't put it down at the end! Maybe some don't enjoy a story with an old-fashioned storyline where the good guy ends up with the girl; it is not a romance novel by a long shot
Rating: 
Summary: I don't think DeMille likes women.
Review: Everything negative that happens in this book, happens because the primary female character did something spiteful and petty. She marries a sociopathic bully to spite her high school and college sweetheart when he goes and leaves her to go to Viet Nam. The fact that he was drafted, and had very little choice in the matter doesn't seem to affect her motivation. She stays with this monster of a husband for reasons not explained, and when the two lovers finally meet again after some 25 years or so, leaves their designated meeting place in a snit when the hero is delayed by the small matter of a meeting with the President. She behaves in a totally inexplicable fashion, and her only redeeming quality seems to be her willingness to have sex. None of the other females in the book fare much better. The hero's childhood friend is married to a woman that the hero is convinced with be offering herself to him sexually any minute, and he worries about how he will refuse. She's also a pretty bad housekeeper; "With friends like this, who needs pigs?" the hero's ex-boss asks when they are both in the friend's home. The heroine's sister is not too bright, apparently. "Clearly, not everyone in the Prentis family was sharp." our hero thinks to himself when he is talking to the sister on the phone. But those are supplementary characters. The really disturbing characterization is that of our heroine. It is novels like this that help to continue all the myths about spousal abuse. DeMille seems to be slyly suggesting to us that she really deserves what happens to her. The 3 points I gave it are because he is a good writer, despite the twisted subject matter
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