One False Move (Wheeler Large Print Book Series (Paper))

Rating:
Summary: not up to par
Review: I was letdown after impatiently waiting about a year since her last book has come out......Found the book to have no depth, especially those dealing with the characters....choppy and predictable....Yes, I easily and quickily guessed what really happened all those years ago.....there were no surprises, no edge-of-the-seat thrills her other books had..(although I don't think she'll ever surpass her debut book which I'm still talking about and recommending to everyone, A PERFECT EVIL....)
Way too many loose ends here, including some very important ones, such as what exactly was the hold Max had over Jared??? And what WAS the BIG plan????? (was it the botched bank heist? Don't think so...) What about Max's connection to the dead girl, his ex-lover? WHO murdered her and WHY? I can speculate, but I'd like the author to have given us some answers......
Only the author knows these things......Maybe she was rushed to finish the book???
Another detraction I felt was the constant use of the "F" word.....it never bothers me when I think it necessary, and/or adds to the story....what DID boyher me was that EVERY person spoke like that, including Grace, the prosecuting attorney! It seemed way out of character for her in my opinion.....
Will I buy the next h/c from this author? Of course! I just won't be in as much of a hurry as I have been in the past....

Rating:
Summary: missed Maggie O'Dell
Review: Book was difficult to get into. I was expecting a Maggie O'Dell mystery and got a twisted, unbelievable story centered on the 'bad' guys instead of the good guys. I finished it but kept wondering why I was reading this.

Rating:
Summary: Tarja, a Finn in Spain
Review: Having been an enthusiastic fan ever since I accidently got a hold of her first book I now have to say that I was somewhat disappointed on her latest book.

The characters were "ok", but the entity certainly lacked certain elements of suspense and thrill. I really look forward hearing more of Maggie!

Rating:
Summary: Psychological brinksmanship in a crime spree chase
Review: Jared Barnett, a convicted serial killer, released from prison through the talents of his lawyer, celebrates his freedom by stalking the prosecutor who put him away and killing the witness who recanted to get him out. He then hooks up with his sister Melanie and her teenage son, Charlie.

Melanie, whose guts tighten in fear at the thought of her brother, but whose bond with him is deep, secret and unbreakable, has brought up her son the best she can. She's taught him the little tricks of thieving and shoplifting that keep them financially afloat. But she's worried about Charlie. He treats it all like a game, a lark, not a job. And he idolizes Jared.

It's a bank job Jared has in mind for them and it goes about as badly as it can. With four people dead, the three are on the run, switching cars, disposing of witnesses and taking a hostage along the way. The hostage is Andrew Kane, a mystery writer who has always lived a rather passive existence.

Point of view switches among the various characters, but it's the byplay between Melanie, Jared, Charlie, and Kane that ratchets up the suspense - psychological and physical. Kava, author of the Maggie O'Dell FBI agent series ("The Soul Catcher," "At the Stroke of Madness"), delivers a fast, dark, nail biter, with an extra-special shocker saved for last.

Rating:
Summary: A Chilling Work from Beginning to End
Review: One does not immediately think of the flatlands as a hotbed of crime. Yet there must be something about the region that flips a switch, that causes madness to boil over. Bonnie and Clyde, Charles Starkweather...it doesn't happen often, but when it does, it occurs on a large and terrible scale. Two such eruptions inspired and propelled ONE FALSE MOVE, Alex Kava's latest novel.

Kava has achieved critical and popular acclaim with her Maggie O'Dell stories, so a stand-alone novel such as ONE FALSE MOVE would seem to be a bit of a risk at this point. Any question about whether ONE FALSE MOVE might impede Kava's momentum, however, is resolved within the first few pages of this breathtaking work.

ONE FALSE MOVE begins with convicted murderer Jared Barnett being freed from prison as the result of a successful appeal by his attorney, Max Kramer. Barnett, flush with an adrenalin rush from his undeserved freedom, immediately begins picking his life up from where he left off, drawing his sister, Melanie Starks, and her son, Charlie, into the evil vortex of his life. Melanie is a roiling mass of contradictions. She appears on the surface to be a victim, buffeted this way and that by Barnett's influence --- yet she has a quietly amoral lifestyle that is, in its way, almost as unsettling as Barnett's, even if her wrongdoings don't achieve the magnitude of his. Or maybe they do, given that she has drawn Charlie into it, teaching him the ways of theft and graft without hesitation or regret.

Charlie, already propelled down a dark path by his mother, easily falls under Barnett's sway, to the degree that when Barnett plans a bank robbery with Charlie's assistance, Melanie is the last to know. She grudgingly goes along with the plan, and accordingly finds herself on the run with her brother and son when things go horribly wrong. There is no turning back for any of them, particularly Melanie, who finds herself horrified as the violence around her escalates with each passing hour, drawing herself and her son deeper and deeper into the quagmire into which her brother is leading them.

ONE FALSE MOVE is a chilling work from beginning to end. Kava's portrayal of Charlie Starks is unsettling; the similarity of his name to the notorious, real-life Starkweather and their identical interests contrast with Starks's unwitting innocence and childlike demeanor. Melanie's dull-witted acceptance of her situation is all too familiar; she yearns for a better life, but lacks the desire to make the effort to change. The mix of personalities and situations leaves the reader wondering from page to page what will happen next. Indeed, Kava saves one of the most unsettling moments of ONE FALSE MOVE for the final page.

While Kava will undoubtedly continue to achieve well-deserved success with her O'Dell novels, ONE FALSE MOVE is a fascinating tale, darkly drawn and brilliantly told.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

Rating:
Summary: Very enjoyable
Review: Reading this book is a great way to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon. While it was a quick read, it was still very intriguing and suspenseful and I never lost interest. The story came together quite nicely and I was pleased with the outcome (including a nice little twist at the end.) This is the kind of book you could read while waiting in line at the DMV. Definitely recommend this one.

Rating:
Summary: A welcome change of pace for Kava
Review: Small time con artist Melanie Stark shares a dark childhood secret with her ex-con brother Jared Barnett, a secret that has formed a strong, if twisted bond between them that she can't ignore. Thus, it' not surprising that she allows Jared to bully her and her teenage son Charlie into robbing a bank. What is surprising is that the supposedly low risk heist turns bloody, leaving six people dead.

After ditching their car in the woods, the trio takes refuge in cabin inhabited by thriller writer Andrew Kane. Deciding to take him hostage, they force him to become their driver. As their situation becomes increasingly untenable, Melanie finds herself questioning her loyalty to her sadistic brother, who seems to have a secret agenda. Difficult choices lay ahead, life and death choices that will change the course of her life forever.

Kava sets herself quite a challenge in One False Move, as none of her well drawn cast comes off as particularly likable. This does not detract for the story, however, as Kava makes up for that lack with breakneck pacing, plenty of action, and knowing characterization. A change of pace for Kava after penning four Maggie O'Dell novels (A Perfect Evil, Split Second, The Soul Catcher, and At the Stroke of Madness), One False Move surely was liberating for the author, allowing her to experiment with her craft and explore new literary territory. It turns out to be a treat for her fans as well.



Rating:
Summary: A tense and wild ride...
Review: There is a difference between "not guilty" and "innocent". Crossing that fine line releases Jared Barret from prison, returning him to his sister's life, drawing Melanie and her son Charlie into a crime spree that results in murder. Now the three are on the run, guilty of murder, bank robbery, and hostage taking. Behind them, the police search for the truth, and nothing but fear lies ahead.

**** Going in a new direction from her Maggie O'Dell stories, Alex Kava takes readers on a tense and wild ride. Fans of Grisham or Turrow will appreciate this new dimension to her writing. ****

Reviewed by Amanda Killgore for Huntress Reviews.

Rating:
Summary: Kava is an author to watch ... she's great with suspense!
Review: This book is one heck of a ride from start to finish, very exciting. It is quite different from the Maggie books with an entirely different point of view, and I enjoyed this new direction the author took. I look forward to the surprises Kava will continue to have for her many fans in the years to come. She grows as a writer from book to book, and it's always rewarding to watch a writer get better and better.

Rating:
Summary: DARK SWITCH FROM MAGGIE O'DELL
Review: This is one of those books that's hard to judge. Alex Kava has proven in her Maggie O'Dell novels that she is a good writer, giving us complex plots and characters we care about.
In ONE FALSE MOVE, Kava leaves O'Dell behind and focuses on a dark story involving a mother and her son, who have been thieves all their lives, and her recently released brother, who had a fancy lawyer get him off death row for murder. We know that Jared Barnett, the killer, did kill the young lady, and now he's out to repay his lawyer's debt. Also involved is a prosecutor named Grace, a cop named Tommy Pakula and a writer named Andrew Kane. While the narrative is well written, ultimately one has to step back and admit that Melanie, Charlie and Jared are not likeable characters, and that's who we spend the most time with.
Once again, abused children are forgiven for their behavior because they suffered so much. And even with the "trick ending," we knew all along who was really responsible for the Barnett's father's murder. Melanie lets her brother control her; let's her brother ruin her 18 year old son's life; and stands by while her brother and her son murder innocent people. And then in the end, mother and son get off pretty easy, in spite of what they've done.
So, here you have a well written novel, but I can't agree with Kava's message here.
I look forward to her return to the O'Dell series.