Rating: 
Summary: RUN MICHELLE OUT OF TOWN!
Review: I enjoyed this book. I had some problems with Kate. Like the tailor's children who run around naked, psychiatrist Kate seems oblivious to the problems she causes for herself and others.Kate's husband Larry is a gentle, self-effacing man who lets her ride roughshod all over him. I didn't like the way Kate tried to pick a fight with him over nothing. She said their daughter Sara's teacher called and when Larry understandably wanted to know what she [the teacher] had to say, Kate lambastes him for assuming the teacher is a woman. Turns out the teacher is female and Kate does not let up on Larry for the rest of the evening. She is a shrew and an impossible plague. Larry wisely did not take her bait. He was an adult to her tantrumming child. Michelle is a phony. I hate her. I hated the way Kate played favorites and treated Sara like Cinderella. She moves her mother into Sara's room, beats Sara instead of telling her that she knows Sara sneaked off to her aunt's wedding and waves Michelle in her face like a funky flag. Michelle is a goody 2 shoes and a phony creep. I hate her. Too bad Kate didn't catch onto her sooner. Michelle is about as trustworthy as a fox in a chicken house or a truck full of rats. She's devious and has a heart of stone and is always calculating some way to worm her way into somebody's heart and use them to her advantage. Michelle should be flushed away. Sara is a rebel, but that is part of her age. She is railing against the favoritism shown to stinky Michelle and she feels her aunt is the only person who cares about her. I didn't care much for Kate, but she was OK when she acted like an adult from time to time instead of trying to pick arguments with people.
Rating: 
Summary: All the characters were so lame.
Review: I found this book to be unbelievably ridiculous. Kate Sinclair is a family therapist but she is unable to handle her own family's problems. I disagree with the other reviewers who say she is stupid. I think Kate's sister, Jo Lynn, is stupid!! Kate totally does not have any common sense and she is weak, whines and is a total pessimist. She lets Jo Lynn and her teenage daughter, Sara, walk all over her. Kate over-analyzes everything, but she is unable to take any ACTION! She lacks control of her family. Thank goodness for her sweet, levelheaded younger daughter, Michelle. Kate, however, had incredible patience with her mother while her mother was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. And what about that lame husband?? He was good for nothing, basically. Talk about passive. I did not feel that there was that much in this book which involved the serial rapist/killer, Colin Friendly, and I thought that was the basis of this book. My mistake, I guess. The depressing tone of this book grew tiresome very quickly. I recommend that you read one of Joy Fielding's other books. This one missed the mark by far.
Rating: 
Summary: Missing Pieces . . . missing plenty.....
Review: I have read two of Joy Fielding's books in the past and I recall enjoying both of them, which is what prompt me to read Missing Pieces. I was very disappointed. No one, absolutely no one, is as stupid as Kate Sinclair and to add injury to insult, she's a therapist! How could she possibly counsel anyone! Her own life was a wreck and most of the cause was based on her inability to discern . . . constantly. She spoke against her sister's relationship with this serial murderer, but her actions supported it. She did not have to go to court with her . . . ever! She did not have to go to the prison with her . . . that was waaay to deep! She really did not have to tolerate her sister at all. Jo Lynn was a complete idiot. She was so self-involved, she was incapable of love. Kate allowed herself to be constantly manipulate by Jo Lynn and always acted shocked by the next thing Jo Lynn did . . . as if they had not grown up in the same household. She not only allowed Jo Lynn to draw her into her madness, but her daughter and other family members as well. Literally placing her own family's lives at stake. Jo Lynn even gave Kate's phone number and address to this man! Again . . . no one, particularly a therapist, could be quite this stupid! She was a so-called professional who could not even spot the signs of Alzheimer in her own mother. I can understand that when it is some time close to home, involving people we love, there are things that we refuse to see, but this is ridiculous and even that doesn't explain a therapist not recognizing obvious signs of a debilitating disease! Her mom was doing some pretty extreme things and only a fool could miss it and Joy Fielding wants us to believe that a "professional" did . . . come on! The level of disrespect that her daughter, Sara, showed her was unbelivable and she accepted it . . . again and again and again. As a parent no one could love their children more, but I would not accept that kind of behavior from no one . . . least of all my own child! The book was unbelievable and I found myself muttering "stupid" and "this is ridiculous" often. The only reason I finished the book was because from the start the reader was led to believe that the ending would be a "bang." It was equally disappointing. I know that this book falls under the category of "fiction," something that isn't true, but readers still expect to be fooled. Fiction does not literally mean "write it like it ain't true"! Shame on you Joy.....
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful book about life's bizarre twists and choices.
Review: I identified with Kate Sinclair. Caught in an imperfect world that she tries to make perfect, she fights to come up for air as she deals with an demented mother, rebellious teenager, troubled clients who expect fixes and her distracted husband. Heading her list of problems is her flamboyant sister who becomes the numer one fan for a serial killer. Reality is bizarre and cruel; Kate seeks a fantasy relationship with an old flame, Robert. Just as she decides to have an affair with him, Robert's wife shows up for counseling, a comic moment as well as a possible turning point. We long to save Kate and make decisions for her as she strives for ordered sanity but longs to be swept off her feet.
Rating: 
Summary: joy fielding is the best author ever.
Review: I just discovered her a few weeks ago at a local book store just happened across her books. I bought "don't cry now" and "see jane run" and I couldn't put them down "missing pieces" is equally as good as all her other books I have now read I just have to know whats gonna happen even if I lose sleep in the process. She sure can write great suspense novels.
Rating:
Summary: Diary of a Real Life Soap Opera/Little Mystery
Review: I knew from the first few pages, that something bloody would happen (someone is going to be killed or hurt badly). That knowledge kept me reading to complete the book in one sitting. I love mysteries & thrillers. I did not find much mystery in the book about what was going to happen; and, even tho we are dealing throughout with a gruesome serial killer, I did not find it a serious thriller. You might want to read the book to find out why. The book is loosely written as a soap opera diary, and for me it is too realistic about the day-to-day problems we encounter in real life. The book describes problems with Kate's children (not especially interesting children), problems with alzheimers of a parent, whether to have an affair or not, etc. I like a book that I can escape into that takes me away from the here and now and lets me experience someone else's interesting life. Kate Sinclair, the main protagonist, with so many personal problems which she does not handle well, is a therapist who I believe should probably have her professional license pulled. In reading this book, Kate's family problems (and even her patients' problems) are fairly common and realistic problems. So common, that I could not help but find myself considering my life experiences as it went along. Only briefly at the very end of the book was any there any mystery about the outcome of the book. Little surprise for me. I rate it 4 stars because not only did I finish it (always good for 3 stars), I found the book was good enough that I kept reading, and looking for the mystery & thriller, even while I was aware it would not be there for me. If you like well-written lifelike "Soap Opera" with little thriller or mystery, this book is for you. I know Joy Fielding can do better in the mystery and thriller department from past books I've read.
Rating:
Summary: excellent read
Review: I really enjoyed this book and couldn't put it down. Held my attention to the very end. Sure, the lead character is a therapist, but she is also human. What happened to her family could happen to anyone's family. Her sister is a real loose cannon that was just looking for trouble from day one. The climatic ending didn't dissapoint. I feel you won't be dissapointed either. If you have read Joy Fielding before, you will love this book.
Rating:
Summary: excellent read
Review: I really enjoyed this book and couldn't put it down. Held my attention to the very end. Sure, the lead character is a therapist, but she is also human. What happened to her family could happen to anyone's family. Her sister is a real loose cannon that was just looking for trouble from day one. The climatic ending didn't dissapoint. I feel you won't be dissapointed either. If you have read Joy Fielding before, you will love this book.
Rating:
Summary: Captivating
Review: I was browsing in a bookstore and just happened to pick thisbook up, it looked interesting so I purchased it. Once I startedreading it, I couldn't put it down! I am an adult survivor of child sexual abuse and am currently in therapy. I identified with Jo Lynn so closely that it was frightening. I will purchase more books written by Ms. Fielding. I'm hooked on her now!
Rating:
Summary: I really enjoyed this book !
Review: I've never read any of Joy Fielding's novels before, so this was a surprise for me. Ms. Fielding writes like a real person, her characters worm their way into your heart by the end of the first chapter. The plot was interesting enough to keep me wanting to turn the pages, and exciting enough to have me thinking about it when I wasn't reading it. I enjoyed her descriptions of life with teenagers in the house,and I even fell in love with her eccentric, almost-crazy sister. Who can NOT relate to how she feels when she almost has an affair? I just felt the author was down to earth, making the novel an easy read and a real bestseller in my book!
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