Gray

Loved it.

Revisado: 09-14-23

The writing is wonderful, the pacing superb, and the storyline sufficiently creepy. Everything you’d expect from a Stephen King novel is there.

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Amazing second in a series

Revisado: 07-16-20

I absolutely loved this book and the first, “Cash City”. The story, writing, and narration are all superb. Thrilling, funny, and engaging. While it would be nice to start with a Cash City, just so you don’t miss a great book, you don’t have to. You won’t be lost if you start here instead. Anyway, loved it.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

I stumbled across this book quite by accident and am delighted to give it a hearty five stars.

Revisado: 07-16-20

This story grabs you quickly and you know it’s going to be a fun, engaging ride. The writing is amazing period but given that it’s his first book, it’s phenomenal. It’s thrilling, funny, and definitely addictive. I binged it, then advanced to the second book, which I just finished and loved. The narration was also superb. No sour notes anywhere! Now I wait for the third book (please tell me there’s a third in the works!).

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Oh, dear

Revisado: 07-04-19

I'm disappointed with both Iles and Hill, both of whom I've had good experiences with before. The story dragged and the narration dragged it down even further. The summary of the plot made it sound great but in practice, it stretched credulity just way too far for me. Paired with the narrator, who laid on the southern accent thick as mayonnaise, not to mention the squeaking sounds he adopted for the kid, Ben, it was a bridge too far. I made it to hour 8, but it was a hard slog. I'll be requesting my credit back.

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Only brilliant

Revisado: 11-16-18

This book is such a treat that I’ve read it three times. The layering, twists and turns, and the magnificent writing keep me coming back. The narration fits the novel like a glove. Overall, it’s one of my favorite books.

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A sad read

Revisado: 10-04-18

What a sad read this was. Gregg Hurwitz, a favorite of mine and someone who has rarely let me down, appeared to have sleepwalked through this novel. Even Scott Brick, also a favorite, was unusually subdued in his narration as if he couldn't quite get into this story either.

I won't go into the particulars of this story...you can read the summary for yourself. But you should know that while the body count is usually high in his novels, this story seemed to revel in the grisly details, including violence and the psychological torture against children. While I'm not squeamish, and I understand that Hurwitz wanted to illustrate just how villainous this particular villain is, it really was completely over-the-top...at least, it was for me. And there's always been a brilliance to his writing, which I found lacking here. He is obviously someone who does his homework, researching topics like martial arts, firearms, etc., so that when he incorporates those details they sound plausible. This story seemed chaotic and amateurish, only aimed at shocking the reader. So many of the escapades in this novel were just plain unbelievable.

I really hope he doesn't plan to turn this into a sequel. I would much rather he'd have shelved Jade Marlowe and written a fourth Orphan X novel instead. That series, along with "Don't Look Back", are, in my opinion, some examples of his finest work. I'd never have dreamed I would write a negative review of a book by this author, but here it is. Even Stephen King disappoints sometimes.

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esto le resultó útil a 160 personas

Cop-out Ending

Revisado: 11-26-17

Just finished this book and it's a NO for me. The ending was a blindside but not in a good way. Instead of tying up numerous loose ends, the author closed the door with an unsatisfying conclusion and made me feel cheated.

Based on the book's summary, I was expecting some fun cat-and-mouse adventure. That didn't happen either. There was no intensity in the pacing, no mounting suspense. Character development was miniscule at best, which is why, I suppose, the author felt she could get away with the ending.

I had high hopes for this novel based on the summary and the only review available. Huge letdown.

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It pains me to say it...

Revisado: 10-06-17

As a big fan of Mr. King's it pains me to say it, but this novel was a huge disappointment. The idea of the story was fantastic and original but the execution was dreadful. As with a lot of his lengthy stories, there was a huge cast of characters but I found myself bored with the lot of them and caring about none. Character development, particularly with the main cast, was sorely lacking and entirely atypical of a Stephen King novel. Additionally, to describe the pacing of the novel as plodding is being kind. It crawled. As for the narration, it was merely adequate. There was definition between characters certainly, so I'll just leave it at that.

The premise of the story held such promise, an alternate world for women only, save for a few male children born as the women, some of whom were pregnant at the time, fell asleep and awoke to a new world affectionately called "Our Place". As women all over the world fall asleep and become encased in living cocoons, chaos on Earth between the men ensues and warfare breaks out between two camps over the fate of the mysterious Eve, who is an exception to the rule...a woman who appears to be not a woman at all given her many supernatural gifts, and who is capable of sleep without being shrouded in fibers. Meanwhile, in the female-only realm where time zips by at a much faster clip than usual, women and girls form a new society devoid of male interference. The male gender, responsible for most of the violence, war and suppression of females visited on the world since the dawning of mankind, is missed in part but not by much by this new society. Eventually, the women must reach a consensus whether to remain in their largely peaceful new existence or to return to their former, male-dominated world.

At the conclusion of the story there is a narrative from father and son in which they discuss the origins of the original idea and the co-construction of the novel. The self-congratulatory parts of the dialogue were particularly painful to me given my own opinions of this book and my high regard for the vast majority of Stephen King's body of work. I'm still an ardent fan, and have high hopes for his next book. He rarely disappoints but no one's perfect.

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esto le resultó útil a 22 personas

Underwhelming

Revisado: 07-31-17

I hate writing bad reviews but this book and narration are begging for it. As to the book, the writing was lazy. It consists primarily of dialogue and is largely devoid of descriptive writing. The characters are stereotypical NR...everyone's young and beautiful, 'natch. But the setting is Corfu, a supposedly stunning Greek island. Might as well have been a tent in someone's backyard. As for the narration, it was cringe-worthy listening to the reader trying to mimic male and Irish accents. The whole package was just painful.

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So Renee is to blame for this?

Revisado: 07-14-17

In the book's dedication, Grisham thanks Renee for the story, so I'm going to blame her for this. In my opinion, Grisham's writing has always been a bit, um, uneven, but this is a real low-point for this author.

Several brief comments then I will be requesting a refund of credit. In a nutshell, the story is dull, the characters boring and one-dimensional, and the narration is lackluster and at times, really annoying. This is NOT a thriller, despite the claim. It is, in fact, the antithesis of thrilling.

I don't know what happened here. It reads like a first book from a mediocre novice. His inner circle really let him down this time. At the end of the day, even experienced novelists need to surround themselves with people who can be honest and tell you when you've screwed-up.

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esto le resultó útil a 5 personas