Red, White and Blue

Rating:
Summary: Forced myself to keep reading until the end
Review: I should have known when I realized the book they were reviewing on the back cover as wonderful was her Lily White and not this one. I have read a few of her books which I enjoyed but this one put me to sleep. I could not keep track of who was who and tie it in to the second half of the story. I was glad to finally get it done. It all was very predictable at the finish.

Rating:
Summary: So many miss the point
Review: I'm disappointed not in the novel, but in seeing how horribly so many of the Isaacs fans before me have missed the point of this latest work. Red, White, and Blue begins as a tapestry of brightly woven character vignettes where the journey takes precedence over the destination, and ends with the assertion that American patriotism is something that develops not through espousing a political agenda but through generations of living and striving to make a life for oneself in this country.

I don't find it at all troubling that these characters descend from the same semi-reluctant immigrant woman, or that we know this at the outset while they do not. This bit of irony only underscores the novel's message about being American. It matters less how we identify ourselves (urban Jew, traditional western rancher) than how our history and shared cultural experiences through generations shape who we are at the core. As Americans so few of us have any grasp of our heritage going back more than a few decades, and what we do know is merely the product of what someone dared to speak aloud to the younger generation. Although we may not understand the actions or motivations of our ancestors on a conscious level, this knowledge imbues itself in our approach to the world around us and our response to adversities we face.

Isaacs throws geographic, ideological, and religious barricades in front of the protagonists, setting them on opposite sides of the country and sociocultural spectrum, then sets about demonstrating all that they share without a heavy-handed shared genetic material revelation. For this, I thank her. I thank her also for shaping once again a novel of grand proportions that doesn't sacrifice the humanity of minor characters along the way.

Rating:
Summary: So many miss the point
Review: I'm disappointed not in the novel, but in seeing how horribly so many of the Isaacs fans before me have missed the point of this latest work. Red, White, and Blue begins as a tapestry of brightly woven character vignettes where the journey takes precedence over the destination, and ends with the assertion that American patriotism is something that develops not through espousing a political agenda but through generations of living and striving to make a life for oneself in this country.

I don't find it at all troubling that these characters descend from the same semi-reluctant immigrant woman, or that we know this at the outset while they do not. This bit of irony only underscores the novel's message about being American. It matters less how we identify ourselves (urban Jew, traditional western rancher) than how our history and shared cultural experiences through generations shape who we are at the core. As Americans so few of us have any grasp of our heritage going back more than a few decades, and what we do know is merely the product of what someone dared to speak aloud to the younger generation. Although we may not understand the actions or motivations of our ancestors on a conscious level, this knowledge imbues itself in our approach to the world around us and our response to adversities we face.

Isaacs throws geographic, ideological, and religious barricades in front of the protagonists, setting them on opposite sides of the country and sociocultural spectrum, then sets about demonstrating all that they share without a heavy-handed shared genetic material revelation. For this, I thank her. I thank her also for shaping once again a novel of grand proportions that doesn't sacrifice the humanity of minor characters along the way.

Rating:
Summary: Loved it!
Review: I'm surprised this book didn't get more positive reviews. It was another excellent read by Susan Isaacs. I actually loved the generational background of both characters. What I find most pleasing about all her books is that her female characters are real women, with real emotions. Most male authors, Jonathan Kellerman, Stephen White, Leonard Goldberg, etc., have female characters that actually make me angry. (I still love their books however, even though all of their females are on the border of being witches to live with.) Why is it that so many male authors see women in this light? It's truly refreshing to read Ms. Isaacs books and have likeable female characters. She's a truly wonderful author to read and I'm always anxious to get her next book. The Jewish flavor and history in her novels is so delightful...I simply love it.

Rating:
Summary: Loved it!
Review: I'm surprised this book didn't get more positive reviews. It was another excellent read by Susan Isaacs. I actually loved the generational background of both characters. What I find most pleasing about all her books is that her female characters are real women, with real emotions. Most male authors, Jonathan Kellerman, Stephen White, Leonard Goldberg, etc., have female characters that actually make me angry. (I still love their books however, even though all of their females are on the border of being witches to live with.) Why is it that so many male authors see women in this light? It's truly refreshing to read Ms. Isaacs books and have likeable female characters. She's a truly wonderful author to read and I'm always anxious to get her next book. The Jewish flavor and history in her novels is so delightful...I simply love it.

Rating:
Summary: Red, White and Blue is great, both funny and serious.
Review: I've read all her books and I think this is her best yet. It's different for a couple of reasons. First of all, most of it takes place in Wyoming. At the beginning I thought "Wyoming?" But she's got it down pat (take it from one who knows) and Charlie Blair, the FBI agent, is a totally believable Western guy. Second, the crime isn't her usual whodunit murder. It's a hate crime, a bombing of a Jewish-owned store. But Charlie, along with Lauren, a New York reporter, investigate it and it is as exciting as any of her mysteries. I was fascinated by the family stuff, about where Charlie and Lauren come from...and how it turns out that even though they don't know it, they are different branches of the same family tree! The book is really about what is an American and I think she's done an amazing job. Also, she hasn't lost any of her humor. I think this is a winner.

Rating:
Summary: Red, White and Blue is mediocre effort.
Review: I've read all of Isaacs books, so was looking forward to this one. As I liked the family history through the generations of "Almost Paradise", I was hoping to get more of that good 'down through the generations' stuff. Sadly, there was not enough meat on the bare bones of these ancestral sketches. I found myself wanting more details of the interaction between family members. This would have helped explain the reactions of the children once they got out on their own.

Being a some-time genealogist, I found the idea that Charlie and Blair were third cousins quite plausible. There are more than a few family trees with knots in them, and I have myself become friends with distant relations without knowing until much later about the relationship.

'The Americans' portion of the book also left too much unsaid. While I felt I had a clear picture of Charlie and his motivations, I felt decidedly detached from Lauren. She came across as much more a cardboard character, possibly because it seemed she'd never had any real adversity in her life.

The depiction of the white supremacy group was almost too tame. Of course, I live in Michigan, where militia ranting seems to be at a much higher decibel level than portrayed in this book. Isaacs also cleaned up the language of her militants -- probably because the real thing is so shocking. The acts of violence she has these characters act out are not out of the ordinary for these people, either. Once again, however, it would have been a better read if the reader could have been drawn in more to how these people think.

All in all, while this was a good read, it could have been a great one. It wasn't.

Rating:
Summary: not up to snuff
Review: I've thoroughly enjoyed Susan Isaacs' previous novels which are marked by sharp and sometimes caustic wit, spunky and sympathetic protagonists and engaging plot lines. This one just doesn't compare. If this is your first encounter with Ms. Isaacs' work, I'd urge you to give her another shot.

Rating:
Summary: OK, not her best
Review: Like other reviewers, I am a die hard Susan Isaacs fan and when I noted on Amazon that she had one scheduled to be released, I made sure I got it almost while the ink was still wet. Maybe it's because my tastes have changed since her last book, but I found this one quite unsatisfactory. The women are all beautiful and vivacious and they all either get their men or get even or both. I enjoyed the family history portion of this book, but found the undercover part draggy. The way she portrayed Charlie and Lauren as American heroes left me quite unmoved. As far as I can tell, Charlie worked for the FBI and they both came from immigrant stock. Just like millions of other Americans. Also, the manner in which they immediately fell in love and into bed struck me as just a bit on the contrived side. Susan, please listen to your reviewers and write us another one!

Rating:
Summary: ISAACS RUNS A NOVEL UP THAT EVEN HER FANS WON'T SALUTE.
Review: RED WHITE AND BLUE Susan Isaacs HarperCollins $25.00 407 pp.

Bounteous wit and brainy women-untested but capable of coping with life-threatening dilemmas-have propelled us through the pages of numerous bestsellers by Susan Isaacs. Her latest book provides part of that formula, as a wise-cracking New York reporter falls for a Wyoming cowboy, and saves his life at the novel's climax. She's in Wyoming covering a white supremacy group named Wrath for the New York Jewish News; he's undercovering the same charming group for the F.B.I. Soon, they are both undercover(in more ways than one), building to a careening climax(in more ways than one.)

However, Isaacs has asked her conventional characters to do double duty here. These two did not just descend on Wyoming coincidentally; they descended from the same immigrant woman, according to the author's RED WHITE AND BLUE premise. Taking a sharp turn away from the plot early on, Isaacs traces the divergent paths taken by the progenitors of these distant cousins. She leads us from the Lower East Side of Manhattan to the plains of Wyoming, from the Upper East Side to the Catskills. Then she brings us back to the plot, setting up our "real" American diversity duo to do battle with Wrath, the evilly banal "fake" Americans.

Unfortunately, Isaacs has fetched her story a bit far. The villains are much more banal than evil, and both they and the narrative founder under all the patriotic bunting and banter. Always strong on the distaff side of passion, Isaacs doesn't create nearly the same credibility in her cowboy's feelings. And the ease with which the F.B.I. includes her in the undercover operation would have J. Edgar Hoover turning over in his closet-er, casket.

Isaacs has run that rare novel up the publishing flagpole-one which even her fondest fans may find hard to salute.