Rating: 
Summary: Nice Change of Pace
Review: "Ransom" was not Danielle's usual fare. It was more suspense than romance. The story developed well and kept a nice pace throughout. If you are a devoted DS fan, as I am, you won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Nice Change of Pace
Review: "Ransom" was not Danielle's usual fare. It was more suspense than romance. The story developed well and kept a nice pace throughout. If you are a devoted DS fan, as I am, you won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad, but not her best
Review: As you're reading Ransom, you do get the feeling that yet again, D. Steel is trying to find some new magic to maintain her readership and capture their interest...give them reason to keep hanging on. Does she succeed? Not quite, but she doesn't fail entirely.Ransom is one of the first times that I can think of (after reading all 60 of her books) that she attempts a bit more of a calculated and complex storyline- merging 3 into one. She does ok at this, the central story line is about a family who's near poverty after the father lost his millions in the stock market and committed suicide-leaving the mother and her 3 children on their own. And with all of that to handle, the change from living as millionaires to saving every penny and selling off all of their belongings; now they have to handle the threat that someone is out to committ a crime against the family, testing them further. Of course, like any D. Steel book there's a bit of romance, but actually not too much compared to the suspense that she tries to create. She really does make an effort to make this book different from her others and she half-succeeds. Yes, I enjoyed the stories and the ending. I even liked the characters, but yet again, I just felt like something was missing. This book is not my favorite of hers, not up to par with her previous books Heartbeat, No Greater Love or Jewels. Perhaps in an effort to pump out a large number of books, she's sacraficed quality.
Rating: 
Summary: SHOULD NOT BE IN THE TOP 10
Review: HELLO, I HAVE JUST FINISHED THIS BOOK. THE BEGINING IS GOOD BUT THEN THE ENDING DRAGS ON AND TURNS INTO HAPPILY EVER AFTER. SHORT AND SWEET NOT WORTH READING.
Rating:
Summary: Need a New Editor?
Review: I am a writer and copy editor and read novels as a means of escape from my own head! Naturally, I notice the writer's style and pay particular attention to detail. Having said all that, one might wonder why in the world I would read Danielle Steel! I have no logical explanation other than the fact that her books have become a habit with me that I can't seem to break. Every time I read one of her books, I say that it is the last, but, when a new one is released, there I go again. I will say that "Ransom" is not as bad as her last few. At least the plot is different and presents a new twist to her normal themes. There is actually some decent character developement in this one and it held my interest. Hence, the three star rating. What I did notice, though, is that the editing of this book is even worse than the last. I am wondering if she might need a new editor - one who knows how to use punctuation correctly. Are they teaching punctuation in college anymore? Some of the sentences in this book have so many commas in them, I got dizzy reading them. Steel also repeats the same words over and over again until the reader can almost anticipate their appearance. I just don't understand how these books get published without going through the same editing process that most authors must endure. As a writer, I know how painful it is to have my work dissected and rejected. When I read a book by a respected author, I expect to learn something about the process. But every time I read a book by this author, I get more frustrated with my own writing. A reader should note have to edit a published novel. Once again I ask the question - Danielle, do you need my help? Please let me know. I am ready and have "Ransom" marked up, ready for the presses!
Rating: 
Summary: Wait until RANSOM comes out in Paperback!
Review: I read this author's books as soon as they are published; normally I preorder her books. This book, although good; it was not worth preordering; wait until it comes out in paperback.
This is very different; much like "The Klone and I". I would not recommend this book if you are wanting a good love story as Mrs. Steel is so famous for writing! Get this ONLY if you want a good suspenseful book to read.
Maybe her next will be better!
Rating: 
Summary: Truly great!
Review: I think this book is wonderful, allthough I think all of her books are great, she is one great writer for sure.
Let me also recommend another great book, one I would recommend to anyone and everyone, POETRY THAT HOLDS, STORIES UNTOLD, A must read for all!
Rating:
Summary: A quick read, but not her best
Review: I've read almost all of Danielle Steel's books and I don't think I've ever bought one brand new. I usually get them at Half Price Books for $2-$4. This one caught my eye at the store when it first came out and after reading the summary in the back cover, I bought it.
Its a quick read, I got through it in only a few days. Its a more diverse storyline than she's presented in the past, but the ending just wasn't believable. Most of Steel's books end with a "happy ending" and although most of us want that, sometimes it just doesn't make sense. The "meat and potatoes" of this book revolves around the tragedy that befalls a once-wealthy family. The introduction of the 'bad guys', the buildup of the plot, the execution and then finally the resolution. It seems that with 100 pages to go, Steel wants to toss in a romance. Doesn't work!
She doesn't build the romance at all, not in a believable way anyway. It seems one minute she's talking about a cop who's been with his wife for 17 years and "he'll never leave her" and the next thing you know...a week later he's in love with someone else!
Didn't like the ending, doesn't make sense. This book could have taken about another 100 pages to draw that out, and that's something we didn't need. Wait for it in the bargain bin.
Rating: 
Summary: Ugh! Don't bother with this one.
Review: I've read several of Danielle Steel's books over the years. It had gotten to the point where you just knew if you'd read one of her novels, you'd read them all. She rarely varied from her plot and character descriptions. So when I picked up Ransom and read the book cover, I thought she just maybe might have decided it was time to write a mystery or suspense novel. The brief description of the story on the book's cover was indeed enticing and I purchased this latest Steel novel. WOW! What a shocker! IF Danielle Steel wrote this book, then she's forgotten every rule she ever knew about writing. And IF she had this book edited, she should fire her editor. The story could have been a good one if the writing itself hadn't been so poorly done. I read "couldn't even" or "didn't even" so many times I couldn't believe it. And there was so much repetition that I kept going to read the entire book just to see how bad it actualy could be. I don't like to give book reviews like this one, but let's face it. Times are hard and money is tight for a lot of people that purchase a good novel for entertainment. And that's what they deserve. So, if I think a book is truly lousy and not worth the dollars, I feel I owe it to other readers to voice my honest opinion. If there was anything I could say to help this one, I would. But I think my review title pretty well says it all. In my opinion, this author needs to retire if this is the best she can do after all these years. It's like she had no pride in her work whatsoever. If she doesn't care, why should I?
Rating:
Summary: NOT TOO BAD.
Review: Lately I've found Danielle Steele's books to be a bit boring. Ransom wasn't too bad. It a totally different storyline than her other books which is probably why I bothered to finish it. But, I would wait until this book comes out in paperback or go to the library and take it out. It's not worth to spend the price of a hardback on it.
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