Always Six O'Clock

Rating:
Summary: A great read about second chances!
Review: Carl Rooney seems to be a lonely man who has had numerous failed relationships. Then his high-school sweethart shows up one night throwing pebbles at his window just like they did when they were in high school. He then finds that she has been in an accident and doesn't remember anything past the age of 16. This brings out the chivalry in him and he decides to help her and in the process attempt to rekindle their relationship and hope she will forgive him for past mistakes.

I found this book thrilling from the start and I really hope there will be a sequel to this book!

Rating:
Summary: A great read about second chances!
Review: Carl Rooney seems to be a lonely man who has had numerous failed relationships. Then his high-school sweethart shows up one night throwing pebbles at his window just like they did when they were in high school. He then finds that she has been in an accident and doesn't remember anything past the age of 16. This brings out the chivalry in him and he decides to help her and in the process attempt to rekindle their relationship and hope she will forgive him for past mistakes.

I found this book thrilling from the start and I really hope there will be a sequel to this book!

Rating:
Summary: A mystery/thriller with a human touch
Review: Everyone has something to regret in their past that they would love to be able to relive and make right. In the case of Carl Rooney it is having abandoned his high school sweetheart, Jesse, in a time of need, something he has regreted for seventeen years. When Jesse appears outside his window one night, throwing pebbles to wake him and as she used to do when they were in school, he finds himself falling for her again and confronting a mystery. Jesse has "lost" the seventeen years and actually believes they are still teenagers. The mystery of what has happened to her, where she has been and whether Carl has a chance to make up for his past mistake, set the stage for the story that follows. Phoef Sutton has crafted a genre bending tale that is part romance, part mystery/thriller, with a little comic relief to lighten the dark parts. Sutton, best known as the award winning writer for "Cheers", has a great facility with language and both dialogue and descriptive passages in this book are fun to read.

One might think that using amnesia as a plot device would result in something resembling a soap opera, but it is redeemed here because the reader, for Carl's sake, really wants to know what has happened to Jesse. The mystery aspect of the book works better than the thriller parts, which are predictable and not that exciting. It is really the human interest aspect of the story that keeps the reader's attention, and if Carl is something of a wimp, he's all the more human for that. Jesse turns out to be the stronger character and the story's resolution, while deliberately ambiguous, is really right for the people that Carl and Jesse have become.

One thing that puzzled me about the book is that since Sutton is a sitcom writer and chose to make his main character a sitcom writer, why did the plot have nothing to do with sitcoms or the entertainment industry? With his insider's perspective one can only assume that Sutton could write a trememdously interesting book with the TV industry as the focus of the story. Something to look forward to, perhaps.

I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone ready for something just a little different. I'm hoping that Sutton is working on another.

Rating:
Summary: It was a great mystery thriller for first time novelist.
Review: I not only found Phoef Sutton's book a great page turner, it also brought back feelings of nostalgia. He captures perfectly the emotions surrounding first loves and what would happen if they were to reappear. He then wraps this up in mystery/thriller. It was so good on some many levels. I recently discovered that Phoef not only wrote for Cheers but also has a new sitcom called "Thanks" coming out August 2 on CBS. I am truly impressed with this author's versatility.

Rating:
Summary: It was a great mystery thriller for first time novelist.
Review: This book starts with a great premise, and then wanders around doing nothing with it -- finally concluding with the obvious person having done the obvious thing. Too bad the author went the road most travelled. It could have been a really interesting romance and character exploration. Instead, the "mystery" and "thriller" aspects are a total waste. And lastly, the lead character just simply isn't that likeable. Disappointing at best.