The Great Divide

Rating:
Summary: You won't be able to stop reading this
Review: A gripping political thriller, this book is disturbingly timely. Opening with the US crippled by A Middle East oil embargo precipitated by an incompetent president who bombs Iraq...a nation deeply divided...and the story unfolds from there. All this and a charming love story, too. I'd advise waiting to start reading until you have time to finish it in one sitting, because you won't be able to stop.

Rating:
Summary: Good Deal
Review: A terrific book. Just saw Fahrenheit 911, and read this book in the same week. Really makes you think. A prescient, intriguing book, written with a lot of style. I loved it.

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Summary: A political thriller...
Review: A thriller with (too many!) parallels to what could happen in the not too distant future, depending on how the political winds blow... A great story and truly a page-turner!

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Summary: Fiction of the Moment
Review: Hard to believe that a book originally published 20 years ago could be so prescient. The parallels to the current political reality are uncanny. A great read!

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Summary: I read it in one night!!
Review: I could not put the book down. As the minutes ticked on into the early morning I kept telling myself one more chapter until I reached the end. It was the best book I have read in years.

Rating:
Summary: Above Average Book
Review: I generally liked this book. It was fast-paced and unpredictable. The idea of a new Constitutional Convention is interesting.

I agree with previous reviewers in that the book never gave any compelling reason why splitting the country was so bad. There were only two types of Western characters: evil schemers and the mindless masses who followed them. Surely there was at least one intelligent person west of the Mississippi who had logical reasons for seccesion.

On a side note, the editors review states this story is set in the late 80s, and even one or two other reviews here seem to think the story is 20 years old. There are references to the second president Bush and the second war in Iraq, so clearly it was set in 2005 or later.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting premise, ultimately unsatisfying
Review: I picked this book up in an airport based solely on the book's own description of it, and my desperation to find something to read before my plane's departure time. The idea of a modern day secessionist movement seemed like an interesting plot line, especially in today's world of sharply divided "Red" and "Blue" states. While this book did bring up some interesting points, I found it ultimately did not give the underlying issues the development I was looking for. Primary in this was its obviously one-sided viewpoint, and unwillingness to address both sides of the issue. Granted, most Americans are not willing to support any attempt to divide the country, but the book would have been much more interesting if there had been a more sympathetic character on the Western Secessionist states side that would have allowed us to get into those characters heads and there reasons taking the political sides they did.

That being said, the book was still a stimulating, if somewhat shallow, read. The plot moves along nicely to its climax, and provides an adequately satisfying conclusion. The characters are, at least on the Eastern side, agreeable and interesting, even if the one romantic plot line seems somewhat plodding ("Look, there's the Milky Way!!"). A decent way to kill a four-hour flight.

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Summary: From a teacher of American Culture...
Review: I teach American Studies to undergraduates at a major state university. I'm going to recommend this book to all my students. Besides being thrilling and prescient, it educates the reader about the real threats to our democracy and about issues that permeate today's headlines:

*Campaigns that undermine the constitution
*Powerful cabals of government and business
*And an oil crisis

I loved this book!

Rating:
Summary: The Great Divide
Review: I've finished reading The Great Divide, enthralled of course, and am now ready to send it on to a friend who will enjoy it quite as much, I guarantee.

But in view of my prejudice against the packaged penultimate-chapter detailed-penetration sex in so many current popular novels, I want especially to congratulate the authors on their handling of this requisite sex scene. Well and cleverly done!

Rating:
Summary: Good plot wasted
Review: The plot has so much promise, but it was all wasted on the antics of the protagonist, a journalist who single-handedly uncovers the plot, fights off death-squads and assassins, and still has time to get the girl. And the head villain is a one-dimensional stereotype.

Why the general population of the West should be on the edge of supporting secession before the book even starts is only given a cursory glance. And no good reason for not splitting the country is ever explored, other than it would inconvenience the big cities on the East coast.

Disappointing book in multiple ways.