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Women's Fiction

Man and Wife

Man and Wife

List Price: $28.95
Your Price: $28.95
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent
Review: In New England, teenager Peter Blue loses control when he and his girlfriend Jenny Wilbur argue. Peter beats her up, steals a gun and money from the recycling center, and sets fire to a church. Police Chief Orrin Hunnicut arrests Peter, who is charged with arson, burglary, larceny, theft of a firearm, threatening a cop, and reckless endangerment. When Peter tries to hang himself in his cell, Father Fairfax asks highly respected psychiatrist Cal Bradley to evaluate the nineteen-year-old.

Cal lives a wonderful life loving his wife Marie and their two children, but he sees Peter as a fascinating look at the darker side of humanity. Cal quickly realizes that Peter is insanely enraged with a town visitor. Cal also notices his beloved spouse talking with this stranger in the nearby woods, but when he asks her about him, Marie lies to him. Cal begins to learn about Marie's past, which stuns him. Not long afterward, the stranger is found dead while Orrin struggles to uncover the identity of the killer.

MAN AND WIFE is an exciting thriller that works because the townsfolk seem real and Cal's first hand account allows a deep look inside his mind as readers see first hand his metamorphosis. Though a small town setting, the tale is fast-paced proving that global destruction is not the only background for the genre. As expected from Andrew Klavan, readers have a one sitting thriller that never slows down for even a paragraph.

Harriet Klausner

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Good Yarn, but....
Review: It's probably just my personal problem with this book, but did religion need to play such a large roll in telling this story? And why was Klavan so heavy handed in describing just how Christ-like Peter was? Some times I felt like he was leading me along because he wasn't sure I could get where I needed to go on my own. Because of Peter's religious bent, we knew where we were going anyway, so I think he should have eased up on all the symbolism. Otherwise a fast, energizing read that I will recommend to friends.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A fast paced suspense novel
Review: One of my favorite books written in the last decade is TRUE CRIME by Andrew Klaven. It was also liked by Clint Eastwood who made a film out of it. There was a strong sense of suspense, which grabbed the reader from the first page and never let up. Unfortunately, Mr. Klaven has been unable to recreate that sense of superb storytelling with his subsequent books and they proved to be not nearly as successful. He also left the genre by writing a ghost story. However, I am pleased to report that he is again up to his usual high standards.

Cal Bradley, a psychiatrist is happily married in a small New England town. Into his life step two men who threaten to tear his life apart. One is Peter Blue, a young man who, after beating his girlfriend, ran to a local church and set it on fire while threatening a police officer with a gun. Cal sees a lot of potential good in Peter and decides to take him under his wing at a local psychiatric hospital instead of keeping him in prison where Peter threatens suicide. The second is a shadowy tough figure of a man who may have past ties to Cal's wife, Marie. He may be the key to the unraveling of their marriage.

Andrew Klaven has written a fast paced suspense novel with just the right amount of surprises to keep the pages flying. Characters are very well sketched as is the locale. In returning to the crime fiction and suspense subgenre, Andrew Klaven has returned to the arena of his greatest success. I sincerely hope he decides to remain here.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A scary trip into the pysche
Review: Psychiatrist Cal Bradley has an uxurious love for his wife Marie, a simple soul, good wife and mother, but not his equal in intelligence and education. He has been mildly aware that her past had some hidden secrets but was unwilling to dredge up the past in case it upset the comfortable present. Cal is treating a troubled teenager Peter Blue, who claims to have a mystical connection to God and whose crazy actions have brought him into trouble with the law. Peter threatens to suicide if put in jail so Cal is more lenient in his treatment of him. As a consequence, a brutal man from Marie's past becomes involved with them all, bringing down tragedy and violence which will forever alter the course of their lives.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fantastic
Review: This is my second Andrew Klavan book, the first being True Crime. This one blew True Crime away. It was a great great great book. The writing was fast paced and well written.
The story line was exciting and original.
You will read this book in one day and it will fully satisfy you.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: TILL DEATH DO US PART
Review: With the opening of this psychological "thriller" by Andrew Klavan, you can pretty much figure out what's going to happen. Klavan is very reminiscent of Thomas H. Cook in this tale, but Cook has mastered the art much better. Cook doesn't give away his ending so early. There's a lot of merit in this book; Klavan's narrative skills are sharp, and there is much empathy for the character of Peter Blue. However, I found little empathy for Cal Bradley or his wife. Bradley seems immune to his surroundings and although he can help other people, he can't seem to help himself. To be married to Marie for so long and not realize what an emotional void she had, doesn't add much in the lines of credibility. By the time the book comes to its all too inevitable conclusion, I couldn't like Bradley or his wife very much. Peter Blue's fate is inevitable, but their lack of moral terpitude is unforgivable. RECOMMENDED ONLY FOR KLAVAN'S FANS.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: TILL DEATH DO US PART
Review: With the opening of this psychological "thriller" by Andrew Klavan, you can pretty much figure out what's going to happen. Klavan is very reminiscent of Thomas H. Cook in this tale, but Cook has mastered the art much better. Cook doesn't give away his ending so early. There's a lot of merit in this book; Klavan's narrative skills are sharp, and there is much empathy for the character of Peter Blue. However, I found little empathy for Cal Bradley or his wife. Bradley seems immune to his surroundings and although he can help other people, he can't seem to help himself. To be married to Marie for so long and not realize what an emotional void she had, doesn't add much in the lines of credibility. By the time the book comes to its all too inevitable conclusion, I couldn't like Bradley or his wife very much. Peter Blue's fate is inevitable, but their lack of moral terpitude is unforgivable. RECOMMENDED ONLY FOR KLAVAN'S FANS.


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