Rating: 
Summary: A Mystery? or Boring!
Review: No twist, no turns, actually boring. As others noted BTB suggested mystery about some of the English characters and never expanded on them. The mystery and ending were horrible. Everything was so easily pulled together. The first part of the book showed promised but the second half got continually worse until it just ended!
Rating:
Summary: Don't bother
Review: Now I know why this book was 50 cents at a book warehouse. I advise you not to spend so much on it. The first 106 pages are where the action is and are interesting, if tame. You can then skip from there to about 10 pages from the end, and you will have read the substance of the book. Better still, save time: Read the first 106 pages and then email me and I will tell you who did it and you can move on to another book! Such an otherwise good author, what was she thinking?
Rating:
Summary: Appallingly Awful
Review: Now I know why this book was 50 cents at a book warehouse. I advise you not to spend so much on it. The first 106 pages are where the action is and are interesting, if tame. You can then skip from there to about 10 pages from the end, and you will have read the substance of the book. Better still, save time: Read the first 106 pages and then email me and I will tell you who did it and you can move on to another book! Such an otherwise good author, what was she thinking?
Rating:
Summary: The Triumphant Dissapointment of Katie Byrne
Review: Oh, boy. You know, sometimes you read a book and hope that it turns out good, so you truck along to the end? Do you know the feeling when it isn't? The feeling that you've wasted your time reading fluff? If you like that, then I suggest "Katie Byrne" very highly. Taylor-Bradford drags the reader on a long stint of Yorkshire, mercilessly. To me, it seems that there will never be a point. This book is an undeserving murder mystery, man (or in this case, woman) vs. self imitaion of those books who pull of the trick nicely.
Rating:
Summary: Never again!
Review: One word to describe it - BORING! I will never buy another one of her books. I wish I could give it a 0 star.
Rating:
Summary: Awful writing....
Review: One would never know that Barbara Taylor Bradford published her first book as far back as 1979. One would think that more than two decades of experience would cause one's writing talent to improve, rather than be an excuse to coast.
This book reads like it was written by a fifth grader. The plot is spoonfed to the reader as if they couldn't figure out by context WHY certain people were afraid, sad, hurting, etc.
In the first part of the book, Katie finds her two friends in the forest, one friend has been murdered and the other is in a coma.
Then the author goes on to explain every time Katie cries, is quiet, not hungry, emotional, it's because of what happened. Big clue: a reader could figure it out. Several hundred words to justify why someone needed a hug, didn't want to eat was kind of redundant. We already had sympathy for the character and allowed her to get sad. I had a hard time finishing the book because of all the "[Character] felt [emotion] because [something I spent the last 2000 words reading] happened."
The day after the accident, Katie's mother is portrayed as being smart and no fool because she "can sense that there is a killer on the loose". Well, duh!
I'm very glad I bought this at a library discard sale for 50c.
Rating: 
Summary: Another triumph for this talented author
Review: Ten years ago in Malvern, Connecticut three teenage friends (Katie Byrne, Carly Smith, and Denise Matthews) dreamed of performing together on Broadway. However, the aspirations for two of them tragically ended in the nearby woods. Katie discovers the bloodied unconscious body of Carly while Katie's brother finds the raped and murdered corpse of Denise. Though having DNA evidence from the rape, Detective MacDonald never found the culprit.Now Katie, a poised actress on the verge of stardom on Broadway, remains haunted and lives in fear that the killer will finish the malevolent task by murdering her. Her dread of being number three has impacted her confidence. Thus, in London, when Katie meets caterer Xenia Leyburn, she accepts the kind offer of solace at the latter's family home where Katie can learn more about her upcoming role as Emily Bronte. Will Katie succeed or will she always look over her shoulder? THE first 150 pages of THE TRIUMPH OF KATIE BYRNE is some of the most eloquent and insightful descriptions of people coping with a sudden tragedy. The story line slows down a bit when Katie becomes more introspective in the latter half of the novel. Still, that segment displays how talented a writer Barbara Taylor Bradford is as the second half of the book is a well- written character study with touches of romance and police procedural events tied to the plot. Fans of the author will enjoy Ms. Bradford's latest triumph. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: A book of boring facts about Emily Bronte
Review: The book started off well, with close friends and a tragic event. But then Katie goes to England and more than half of the book is her learning about Emily Bronte. Nothing to do with the plot. Then, the mystery is solved in about 10 pages, and it's no one connected with the plot. Awful book. Not Barbara Taylor Bradford's style at all, try her older stuff.
Rating: 
Summary: Not so bad but.........
Review: There was a time when Barbara Taylor Bradford's books were a light piece of fluff and an enjoyable read. But her last few books were tiresome and I didn't really think I would ever read her books again. Then I found her new book, The Triumph of Katie Byrne, at the local library and being in between books, I thought, why not? The good news is it wasn't an altogether bad read, the bad news is it wasn't an altogether good read either. The Triumph of Katie Bryne is actually two books and if Bradford had published them this way, they might have been right on the money. The first book is concerned with three young women yearning to become actresses who plan on moving to New York City when they graduate from high school. But their plans are shattered when in a single afternoon, one girl is killed and another one is hurt so badly she lapses into a coma. The third woman, Katie Bryne, who was on her way home when the attack takes place, is understandably forever changed. Although an invetsigation takes place the guilty party is never found and the years begin to roll by. The second part of the book takes place 10 years later where we find Katie studying drama in London. When she is offered the role of Emily Bronte in a play about the Bronte family, a friend suggests, as a means of inspiration, that Katie visit the countryside where the Brontes lived and wrote their classic works. Katie then travels with this friend to the ancestral home of her late husband's family in Yorkshire where Katie spends time walking the moors, visitng the Bronte library and learning more about the Brontes from another guest in this home. And for me this was the more interesting part of the book and the one which I would have enjoyed continuing to read more about. The last part finds Katie returning home on the advice of a psychic who tells her she must be at home to help solve the mystery. And when Katie opens on Broadway to rave reveews she not only finds love but........and to find out what happens you will have to read the book. Known for her romance and family saga books, this is Ms. Bradford's first attempt at a murder mystery as she calls it or romantic suspense as I call it. But she included too many bits and pieces of irrelevant information for a book of this size and somehow all of this only detracted from honing in on the main plot of the book. I do wish somehow she could write another book like A Woman of Substance but perhaps that only comes along once in a lifetime. As for whether or not I'll read another Bradford book, I guess only time will tell.
Rating:
Summary: Booooooring!
Review: This book initially captured my interest because the plot sounded interesting. But it was not. Part 1 begins with Katie and her two 17 year old friends, Carly and Denise, as lifelong friends dreaming of acting on Broadway. However, these dreams are dashed when Denise is brutally murdered and raped and Carly is badly beaten and left in a coma. The two girls are found by Katie and her brother and this experience scars them for life. Yadda, yadda. Part 2 - race ahead 10 years. Katie is now 27 and living in London studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. She is offered "the part of a lifetime" acting as Emily Bronte in a new play (huh?). This part is made up mostly of Katie doing obscure research of the Bronte sisters in Yorkshire and telling people about her past. She meets many very flat, boring characters that are not explained. All this "mysterious" stuff is going on among the whole group which promises to be explained later, but never is. We know nothing about them, their pasts, their presents or futures, but who cares. She also meets a psychic who tells her that she must go "home" that her future is there. Whatever. Part 3 - move ahead a couple of months. Katie is rehearsing for her part in the play. You meet up with a few more bland characters including an ex of Katie's that has never been explained. Katie also meets up with a new man that for some reason she feels an instant connection with and falls madly in love with. Her performance is supposedly an instant hit, she and her lover work out all their supposed problems, the crime is solved and everyone lives happily ever after. Yeah, right. It almost seems as if the author was told this book had to be under 300 pages but she had to write all this junk in it. None of the characters make any sense, no relationships are explained at all, the plot is obscure and the book is really bad. The ending is probably the worst. I won't give it away, but when I read the solution to the crime, I was saying, "Huh???" It was completely implausible. Even though I am going to try to sell this used, I know I won't have any luck. Don't buy it! You'll regret it! My 5 year old niece could tell a better story and it would make a lot more sense.
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