Rating: 
Summary: A mesmerizing story!
Review: I think that Susan Howatch is one of the most gifted of the
contemporary novelists. In this, her current work, we're given a main character by the
name of Carter Graham who's a skilled and successful lawyer.
She's learned to be tough and work in the masculine world of
high flyers. Carter shuns her real name, Catherine and all of
the nicknames that are used by her family like Katie and Kitty.
In the shedding of her old names, Carter feels stronger and in
control of her life. In her mid-thirties, she meets the man who appears to fulfill
her qualifications for marriage. Kim Betz is attractive, sexy,
dynamic and very successful. Carter falls in love and marries
Kim only to find out that he is haunted by his past. Kim's
life seems to be riddled with secrets. His involvement with a
psychic healer adds another twist to the story. This is a love story wrapped up in mystery and lies. The author has combined a walk into mysticism and the occult into a fascinating tale. The mixture of characters makes this
vintage Howatch.
Rating: 
Summary: Starts off great, but becomes the book that never ends
Review: I truly love Susan Howatch's writing style. She is delightfully articulate and her characters are all so well defined. I started off really loving the book, but after reading more and more of it, I began to feel as though she wrote this book on several different occassions and just couldn't figure out which direction to go in next. The characters became disappointing when they lost their credibility. I just couldn't buy into the whole tangled web after a while; it didn't sound at all plausible. I couldn't figure out why the main character, Carter, would feel anything other than repulsion for this man that was once her husband. He admits to horrific acts of vulgarity and violence, lies to her over and over and over, and then she mourns for the "Kim she once loved". I truly lost interest and only finished it because I had read so much of it, I needed to finally be done with it. I recommended this book after the first hundred pages. Now, after page four hundred and somthing, I would say don't waste your time!
Rating:
Summary: Words of praise for Susan Howatch
Review: I've read Susan Howatch's book since I was in my teens-I'm 38 now-and her books just get better and better. Her ability to really dig into her characters thoughts and actions and to see situations from so many different perspectives, none of them judgemental, amazes me. I cannot beleive that this is the same author who wrote the somewhat simplistic "April's Grave"! "The Rich are Different", "Sins of the Fathers", "Wheel of Fortune" and the whole Church of England series are the spellbinding works of a completely mature writer. If you haven't read any of the above I highly recommend them all. Ms. Howatch has such a remarkable ability to take extraordinary events in people's lives and bring them down to earth and show us the outcome of these events from several different perspectives. I am definitely a true fan and order her books from Amazon before they're even released!
Rating:
Summary: Howatch's subject matter never fails to capture my interest.
Review: I've read this book 3 times since it was published, as I do all Howatch's books. This novel gives us yet another twist on Nicholas and his coterie that is compelling and thoughtful, but also fun to read. Her books on the church consistently speak to me in a way that nothing else about Christianity does. Because of her, I'm becoming a "closet" Christian! I wish the Christians I've encountered were more like her characters -- real people with problems but also with integrity and commitment to something greater than themselves. When they are portrayed as rigid or stiff necked, the plot usually involves a BIG dose of humility accompanied by a change in perspective. These novels inspired me to expand my reading to include Farrer, Underhill, Julian of Norwich, and The Cloud of Unknowing. I check every week to see if she's got a new book coming out -- hope it's soon!
Rating: 
Summary: Greatly Disappointed
Review: Is this the same author who wrote the Starbridge series? I found this book to be contrived and overwritten--the story could have been told in half the space. There is a wearisome repetition of coined words; the dialogue is tedious as the main character examines her soul/values/morals at length with everyone who crosses her path. Enough!
Rating:
Summary: it held my interest
Review: It held my interest is the only positive statement I can make about The High Flyer. On the whole I was quite disappointed. I had loved several of Susan Howatch's books including Penmarric and Cashelmara so I was looking forward to this one. I found the main character to be shallow and short tempered. The dialogue was simple and frustrating at the same time. I will not be recommending this book to friends or family. Thank you for this opportunity to review this book.
Rating:
Summary: Howatch mesmerizes again with The High Flier
Review: My eagerly-awaited copy of The High Flier now lies on the living room floor, tempting me to read it all over again. As usual, once I started this latest novel by Susan Howatch, I couldn't bear to put it down! Set in 1990, this book is the latest installment in the Starbridge series and once again we see Alice, Nick Darrow, and the other denizens of the Healing Centre at St. Benet's church. This time, however, the story is told from the point of view of Ms. Carter Graham, a 35-year-old lawyer who nearly "has it all." Carter's life is following her plan perfectly, and her most recent success is her marriage to Kim, a fellow lawyer-barracuda. Things aren't what they seem to be, though, and Carter finds herself sorely in need of the healing powers of Nick Darrow and crew. As with all of Howatch's books, the emotional wrenching and soul-searching is so powerful that I found myself experiencing it on a personal level. Once again, the Ultimate Reality is explored and experienced, however reluctantly. And now I know that I will be forced to wait several more years until Ms. Howatch produces another novel. My name will be on the waiting list!
Rating: 
Summary: faith and mystery - perfect blend
Review: Nashville City Paper BookClub Column - May 27, 2004 I also really liked The High Flyer by Susan Howatch (Ballantine Books). Londoner Carter Graham's life comes crashing down around her and Howatch continues her tradition of resolving her characters' problems with a dose of religion. Nashville City Paper BookClub Column - May 27, 2004
Rating:
Summary: "The High Flyer" Soars!
Review: Once again Ms. Howatch, masterful author of her 6-volume Starbridge series and other novels such as "The Rich Are Different" and "Wheel of Fortune", weaves a thrilling plot and fascinating new characters together in her latest novel, "The High Flyer". I won't reiterate the plot, as this Amazon.com page will detail all one needs to know very well without my help. However, I will say that - once again - I'm having difficult tearing myself away from the book. I want to take this work slowly yet, as is always the case with Ms. Howatch, I find I can't stop once I start a chapter or a section. I'm happy to report the re-appearance (still in vital and believable form) of Nicholas Darrow, Lewis Hall and Alice Fletcher from the latter volumes of the Starbridge series. Seeing them again felt like a reunion with old friends. They may be familiar characters but they are as fresh as newcomers Carter Graham, her mysterious husband, Kim, and the intriguing and ever-so-sexy Eric Tucker. Being a writer myself, I know how difficult it is to create characters - then recycle them - as believable entities. With "The High Flyer" - as with all of Ms. Howatch's novels - I just stand back and admire and pray that someday my talents will equal one-tenth the writing skills she displays, once again, so well in this novel. Additionally, her Starbridge series and "The High Flyer" continue to bring me a spiritual depth of story on a realistic, rational and intellectual plane that I get nowhere else, either in novels or organised religion or philosophical debate. Her characters' lives are blown apart, only to come together again through ministry, faith and a continuing belief in the elasticity of the human spirit. As with all her other works, this one is one you shouldn't miss. (My only regret is having to wait 3-4 years between fixes!)
Rating:
Summary: Look out below!
Review: Susan Howatch has written one of my all-time favorite books, but this isn't it. While her exploration of the psychological and spiritual issues central to human behavior is skillful and thought provoking as usual, "The High Flyer" left me with a feeling of distaste. Maybe it was the lily-gilding of her central malevolent figure. I couldn't help thinking the insights into the nature of evil would have seemed more relevant had he not been portrayed in almost cartoonish proportions. Pick a sin, any sin, and he's committed it. Most ethical battles are fought in a gray area without the benefit of such a clearly delineated enemy.
Or maybe it was the grating repetition of cloying phrases like nutterguff, fruity-loops, tiger-thumper, fluffette, etc.
Most likely, it was the reduction of the strong female character to a quivering mass of uncertainty, an empty vessel needing to be filled with the beliefs of others - primarily men of varying degrees of sexual attractiveness - in order to find peace. Forcing her heroine to examine and reorder her priorities is one thing, but Howatch seems to condemn her basic strength and independence as well, and - for me - that just didn't fly.
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