Tag Archives: suspense

Until Proven Guilty by J.A. Jance (1985) – BR00046 (2005) – 🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪

The PolyBlog
May 25 2005

Plot or Premise

Beaumont finds himself investigating the apparent murder of a little girl, five years old. When the investigation leads to the girl’s home, and the cult that her mother is part of, things start to get a little weird. Add in the fact that he is still getting to know his partner, and the introduction of a rich and beautiful stranger to J.P.’s social and professional life, and the story starts to get a little odd.

What I Liked

I liked the woman in the story, and her obsession with those who murder little children. She shows up at the funeral, and you can vividly picture her arrival from the excellent prose.

What I Didn’t Like

The bits with the journalist are a bit stale in this book in the series, and some of the “getting to know your partner” tension is simply boring. Unfortunately, too, the “cult” comes off rather comical without any real depth as to why people might have gravitated towards this life.

The Bottom Line

Not the best in the series but a killer ending.

The Punisher by D.A. Stern (2004) – BR00040 (2004) – 🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪

The PolyBlog
October 28 2004

Plot or Premise

Frank Castle is ready to move to London. He’s worked undercover for years for the DEA, now he’s ready to take a desk job and spend time with his family. But his last case goes a bit sour and an unknown newbie to crime gets killed along with Castle. But then the newbie turns out to be the son of a big-time gangster who wants revenge on the agent responsible for his dead son. And on the agent’s family. And on anyone who ever loved the agent. So, he exacts revenge but fails to kill the agent. Now the agent, Castle, wants revenge from beyond the grave.

What I Liked

I liked the premise, and as this is a novelization based on the film, a lot of the description is very visual. The pace moves along well and there is little time to worry about not enough stuff happening.

What I Didn’t Like

Neither the writing nor the story is first-rate. It moves along, from cliché to cliché, and there are lots of reasons en route to just stop reading. I didn’t and I kind of regret that as I don’t think this is a series I’ll follow. Love the character of Castle, hate this version.

The Bottom Line

Punishment for the reader.

Sanctuary by Jenny Carroll (2002) – BR00033 (2004) – 🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪

The PolyBlog
October 28 2004

Plot or Premise

Jess Mastriani got hit by lightning, and now she’s psychic. So she’s been calling in tips to the missing person line and telling the feds where to find the kids. The FBI wants her to do more, but she told them she lost the gift (which of course they don’t believe). And when a local kid shows up dead with strange militia markings on him, Jesse gets drawn into local militia groups and right-wing nuts in general, with the feds following along behind.

What I Liked

Not much — although it is good they still have Jess acting like a teenager.

What I Didn’t Like

While I prefer this characterization of Jess to the TV-series that has changed her into a kick-in-the-door, guns-blazing federal agent, this individual story is waaaay over the top. Like Hardy Boys meets the A-Team.

The Bottom Line

Way over the top.

Killing Floor by Lee Child (1997) – BR00036 (2004) – 🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪

The PolyBlog
October 5 2004

Plot or Premise

The plot is relatively confusing at the start. Jack Reacher is a drifter who gets picked up by the police in a small town as a suspected murderer. He knows he didn’t do it, so he is fairly cooperative with the lead detective. But when it starts to appear that some of the other people don’t particularly care if he did it, he is a little annoyed that their laziness is going to cost him a weekend in jail with someone else who confessed to the crime. Jack starts to draw on his past skills as an MP in the army to help out the investigation, and then it starts to get personal.

What I Liked

From the word go, Jack Reacher is a solid character. He comes with a lot of history and no baggage, which I understand is how the rest of the series unfolds as well. The characters read a little more stream-lined than perhaps a Robert B. Parker novel, without as much soul-searching, and the action keeps going.

What I Didn’t Like

There is a major “coincidence” in the novel, and I really hate novels that hang on coincidence as a major plot device to move the story along. Happenstance is one thing, such as Jack being in the town and subject to being suspected. But when it turns out that Jack knew one of the victims, in a town where he doesn’t know anyone, and there’s no reason for either of them to be there, it’s a bit of a stretch.

The Bottom Line

Great intro to a series.

Darkest Hour by Jenny Carroll (2001) – BR00031 (2004) – 🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪

The PolyBlog
March 28 2004

Plot or Premise

Suzannah is a mediator — she helps ghosts move on from this plane to the next. But when she’s not embracing her sixth sense, she’s earning money as a staff babysitter at a hotel/resort and dreaming about Jesse who haunts her current home. Then she meets trouble in the form of spoiled brat Jack who can also see ghosts, but doesn’t know that ghosts are actually real and is instead three steps away from a nervous breakdown. Suze has to help him figure out his own role with ghosts, at the same time that she tries to figure out more of the mystery with Jesse’s past life.

What I Liked

I really liked the idea of finding newbies who don’t know what they are supposed to do when it comes to ghosts — hey, didn’t they see the movie? I also still like the fact that Suze can actually interact with the ghosts (i.e., fight with them). The backstory for Jesse was cool, and knowing that Suze can move to another plane at least temporarily is really a good omen for future books. The interesting addition of negative mediators to counter-balance the good mediators is very Tru Calling-ish, and we’ll have to see how that plays out in future books.

What I Didn’t Like

Some of the repeated teenage angst might sit well with teenage readers, but it gets really repetitive fast for older readers.

The Bottom Line

Oh, no, it’s ghosts again!

Note: Also published under the title Young Blood.