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The Other Extreme
In the bestselling tradition of Dean Koontz.
400 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2001
6 people are currently reading
64 people want to read
About the author
T.J. MacGregor
66 books41 followersPatricia Janeshutz MacGregor. Also writes under the pseudonyms of Trish MacGregor, Trish Janeshutz, and Alison Drake.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 26, 2018
Solid and entertaining but nothing earth-shattering - these read a little like Dean Koontz and always seem to wrap up pretty suddenly instead of coming together over time. There was a bit too much astrological explanation here for me but the past lives were pretty fascinating, even if it was all a little predictable and overly coincidental.
March 17, 2025
The Other Extreme by T. J. MacGregor is a thriller-style mystery with a touch of paranormal, set on fictitious Tango Key in the contemporary Florida Keys.
Jay Hutchin is a judge, serving criminal court. He's married, yet has an obsessive desire for his young mistress. When he sees she's in love with another man, he can't control his rage: he kills her.
Kit Parrish is a successful defense attorney, single mom with beloved son Ryan, who means the world to her.
Ryan is tormented by nightmares, commanded by the voice of The Other. He doesn't understand what's happening to him, but tries his best to conceal his distress from his mom. He fears she won't want him any more if she thinks he needs psychiatric care. He fears she'll take him to doctors if he confides. His best friend and neighbor Becky is the only one who knows about his drawings. He's a superb artist, who has never seen the places and buildings he draws.
Before Ryan was born, Kit's brother Pete suddenly disappeared. His body was never found. FBI agent Ben Webster reopens the cold case; comes to interview Kit and anyone else who knew Pete. Ben witnesses a strange scene: Ryan running as fast as he can toward a deadly drop-off.
Jay must keep Kit, once his star pupil in law school, from proving the innocence of the man arrested for the starlet's murder. He must keep away from Ryan, who uncannily knows too much. Jay doesn't hesitate to hire thugs and commit additional murders to cover up his crimes.
This fantastic novel keeps up the suspense and grips the reader's attention all the way through, until all mysteries are solved. Thriller style, point of view frequently switches among Jay, Kit, Ben, Ryan.
Fave Quotes:
So for now, he tried to take each day as it came and to focus on what he had rather than what he had lost.
The skeptic's path was too easy, too convenient. 'Nope, it doesn't fit into my worldview, therefore it isn't true.' The tougher road was to investigate and draw no conclusion until the facts were in and the results tallied.
Jay Hutchin is a judge, serving criminal court. He's married, yet has an obsessive desire for his young mistress. When he sees she's in love with another man, he can't control his rage: he kills her.
Kit Parrish is a successful defense attorney, single mom with beloved son Ryan, who means the world to her.
Ryan is tormented by nightmares, commanded by the voice of The Other. He doesn't understand what's happening to him, but tries his best to conceal his distress from his mom. He fears she won't want him any more if she thinks he needs psychiatric care. He fears she'll take him to doctors if he confides. His best friend and neighbor Becky is the only one who knows about his drawings. He's a superb artist, who has never seen the places and buildings he draws.
Before Ryan was born, Kit's brother Pete suddenly disappeared. His body was never found. FBI agent Ben Webster reopens the cold case; comes to interview Kit and anyone else who knew Pete. Ben witnesses a strange scene: Ryan running as fast as he can toward a deadly drop-off.
Jay must keep Kit, once his star pupil in law school, from proving the innocence of the man arrested for the starlet's murder. He must keep away from Ryan, who uncannily knows too much. Jay doesn't hesitate to hire thugs and commit additional murders to cover up his crimes.
This fantastic novel keeps up the suspense and grips the reader's attention all the way through, until all mysteries are solved. Thriller style, point of view frequently switches among Jay, Kit, Ben, Ryan.
Fave Quotes:
So for now, he tried to take each day as it came and to focus on what he had rather than what he had lost.
The skeptic's path was too easy, too convenient. 'Nope, it doesn't fit into my worldview, therefore it isn't true.' The tougher road was to investigate and draw no conclusion until the facts were in and the results tallied.
August 7, 2017
** Review of Audio Format**
Sucks You In
From the first moments riding along with a boy experiencing a living nightmare and compelled to do things he has no control over to the disturbed thoughts and actions of deceived lover, this book draws you in and doesn't really let you go. I was fully invested in hearing to the end but enjoyed the ride getting there. I wanted to see what would happen next. I particularly enjoyed the characters of Ryan, Abuelita, and the FBI agent. All of the characters in this listen are complex and imperfect and make bad choices from time to time. They are very realistic. There is a paranormal aspect which I enjoyed but others may not be able to suspend their individual beliefs for.
The narration was decent on 1.5 speed but would have been annoying on 1. She spoke way too slow and enunciated too much (I know, not a normal complaint) on 1x speed but was OK on 1.5. Once the speed was dialed in, I enjoyed how she spoke dialogue and narrated.
I received this audiobook for free through Audiobook Boom! and am leaving honest feedback about the quality of the material.
Sucks You In
From the first moments riding along with a boy experiencing a living nightmare and compelled to do things he has no control over to the disturbed thoughts and actions of deceived lover, this book draws you in and doesn't really let you go. I was fully invested in hearing to the end but enjoyed the ride getting there. I wanted to see what would happen next. I particularly enjoyed the characters of Ryan, Abuelita, and the FBI agent. All of the characters in this listen are complex and imperfect and make bad choices from time to time. They are very realistic. There is a paranormal aspect which I enjoyed but others may not be able to suspend their individual beliefs for.
The narration was decent on 1.5 speed but would have been annoying on 1. She spoke way too slow and enunciated too much (I know, not a normal complaint) on 1x speed but was OK on 1.5. Once the speed was dialed in, I enjoyed how she spoke dialogue and narrated.
I received this audiobook for free through Audiobook Boom! and am leaving honest feedback about the quality of the material.
January 25, 2018
The Other Extreme by T J MacGregor is a thriller about Kit, a woman lawyer defending a young doctor charged with murder, a judge who committed the murder and is willing to kill again, and Kit’s young son who hears voices and knows things that only her dead brother could have known. Sparks fly between Kit and the FBI agent assigned to solve the crimes, and supernatural forces guide them to an exciting ending. I thoroughly enjoyed the novel.
October 5, 2020
Ms. MacGregor did a wonderful job with "The Other Extreme". From the very first page, i knew I was going to like this book.
I wasn't wrong.
Good ending, also.
I wasn't wrong.
Good ending, also.
April 28, 2021
I enjoyed this but just wish there was more astrology in it!
March 9, 2018
I didn't hate this book, but I didn't like it either. It didn't make me angry, so that's more than a lot of this genre has done lately.
I found some things interesting, like the main characters being 100% behind the supernatural stuff. It took out a pretty tired cliché of having to spend time coming to believe everything is actually happening. That said, if you find out your kid is having night terrors and hearing voices that are making him do things that could injure him, you get him to a freaking doctor. I don't care how much he insists he doesn't want to go. You're his mother. Grow a backbone. The fact that the kid was annoying as hell didn't help. When this first started is where I started gritting my teeth. Then there's the fact that the relationship kicked off after they met twice. Not just falling into bed/beginning to like each other. That makes sense. No, they were falling in love after that. That's fast, even for these books. These characters don't make sense. How they act makes even less sense.
The bad guy was the only interesting character, and that's because he was so despicable and such a hypocrite. He felt real, because we've always met those entitled bastards who think they own the women they claim as 'theirs'. That was well written.
I liked how I learned how the court system actually works. Plus side, I guess? Though they didn't explain the astrology enough, so I got lost whenever they were going into insane detail about reading. It felt like there was an assumption you knew what they were talking about.
Some spoilers from now on.
I hated, HATED, what they did with the male MC. I don't care if it happened to be the bad/evil guy that he was spying on- he's still a corrupt cop. That's not okay. He didn't even bat an eye when he was told to break the law for the personal revenge of another person. He only asked what he'd get out of it. He is so blatantly corrupt that I didn't actually want him to find anything, even if it meant that the bad guy got away with it for a tad longer (I don't like the feeling that I was half rooting for the sexist murderer made me feel gross). Also, the fact that the first answer was 'let's shoot the dogs' made me angry. I don't like these agents.
The one thing I really, really liked was the ending. I saw both the twists coming from a mile away, but I liked how it mirrored the beginning. The brother was just as much of an entitled asshole as the bad guy- he thought he deserved to be with his mistress because he loved her, even after she said to leave her alone (him via the kid screaming that the judge was a bad man wasn't because the judge had done anything bad about him, but for the sheer fact that he was married to the woman). He went to her and demanded she do what he wanted, just like the judge did. They were both the same, the only difference was that she was took that final step to end it this time. I did like that, though I feel it wasn't intended the way I read it. They played up the brother being a good guy too much for that.
I found some things interesting, like the main characters being 100% behind the supernatural stuff. It took out a pretty tired cliché of having to spend time coming to believe everything is actually happening. That said, if you find out your kid is having night terrors and hearing voices that are making him do things that could injure him, you get him to a freaking doctor. I don't care how much he insists he doesn't want to go. You're his mother. Grow a backbone. The fact that the kid was annoying as hell didn't help. When this first started is where I started gritting my teeth. Then there's the fact that the relationship kicked off after they met twice. Not just falling into bed/beginning to like each other. That makes sense. No, they were falling in love after that. That's fast, even for these books. These characters don't make sense. How they act makes even less sense.
The bad guy was the only interesting character, and that's because he was so despicable and such a hypocrite. He felt real, because we've always met those entitled bastards who think they own the women they claim as 'theirs'. That was well written.
I liked how I learned how the court system actually works. Plus side, I guess? Though they didn't explain the astrology enough, so I got lost whenever they were going into insane detail about reading. It felt like there was an assumption you knew what they were talking about.
Some spoilers from now on.
I hated, HATED, what they did with the male MC. I don't care if it happened to be the bad/evil guy that he was spying on- he's still a corrupt cop. That's not okay. He didn't even bat an eye when he was told to break the law for the personal revenge of another person. He only asked what he'd get out of it. He is so blatantly corrupt that I didn't actually want him to find anything, even if it meant that the bad guy got away with it for a tad longer (I don't like the feeling that I was half rooting for the sexist murderer made me feel gross). Also, the fact that the first answer was 'let's shoot the dogs' made me angry. I don't like these agents.
The one thing I really, really liked was the ending. I saw both the twists coming from a mile away, but I liked how it mirrored the beginning. The brother was just as much of an entitled asshole as the bad guy- he thought he deserved to be with his mistress because he loved her, even after she said to leave her alone (him via the kid screaming that the judge was a bad man wasn't because the judge had done anything bad about him, but for the sheer fact that he was married to the woman). He went to her and demanded she do what he wanted, just like the judge did. They were both the same, the only difference was that she was took that final step to end it this time. I did like that, though I feel it wasn't intended the way I read it. They played up the brother being a good guy too much for that.
June 18, 2016
3.5 stars
Mystery thriller with dash of paranormal.
Murder, cheating spouses, kidnapping, an innocent man, a missing brother, astrology, and a young boys "psychic/past life" dreams.
Jay Hutchin, a judge and murderer desperate to hide his deeds.
Kit Parrish a defense attorney, hired to defend Steve Poulten who is accused of killing starlet Diane Jackson.
Pete Beaupre, Kit Parrish's brother who disappeared 10 years ago.
Ben Webster, an FBI agent recently assigned to reinvestigate Pete Beaupre's disappearance.
Ryan Parrish, Kit's son who has dreams of things that he could not possibly know.
There are actually several different mystery's intertwined and connected to the main character's of the story. Although some things that happen are easy to figure out pretty early on, there are a couple of plot twists that you don't see coming and the story is told in a way that keeps it entertaining and interesting.
Laura Bannister did a great job with the narration. Nice even pace, distinct character voices, easy voice to listen to, her narration fit the story perfectly.
This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of audiobookboom.com
Mystery thriller with dash of paranormal.
Murder, cheating spouses, kidnapping, an innocent man, a missing brother, astrology, and a young boys "psychic/past life" dreams.
Jay Hutchin, a judge and murderer desperate to hide his deeds.
Kit Parrish a defense attorney, hired to defend Steve Poulten who is accused of killing starlet Diane Jackson.
Pete Beaupre, Kit Parrish's brother who disappeared 10 years ago.
Ben Webster, an FBI agent recently assigned to reinvestigate Pete Beaupre's disappearance.
Ryan Parrish, Kit's son who has dreams of things that he could not possibly know.
There are actually several different mystery's intertwined and connected to the main character's of the story. Although some things that happen are easy to figure out pretty early on, there are a couple of plot twists that you don't see coming and the story is told in a way that keeps it entertaining and interesting.
Laura Bannister did a great job with the narration. Nice even pace, distinct character voices, easy voice to listen to, her narration fit the story perfectly.
This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of audiobookboom.com
May 20, 2016
“This audiobook was given by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review via Audiobook Boom.”
This is the first book I have listened to by TJ MacGregor. We have murder, a decade old disappearance, unfaithful spruces, a young boy that has "psychic" experiences, and a female protagonist to find all the missing pieces. I enjoyed this novel, even though I figured out the big secret before the "ah ha" moment.
The narration was well done. The characters were excellently portrayed.
This is the first book I have listened to by TJ MacGregor. We have murder, a decade old disappearance, unfaithful spruces, a young boy that has "psychic" experiences, and a female protagonist to find all the missing pieces. I enjoyed this novel, even though I figured out the big secret before the "ah ha" moment.
The narration was well done. The characters were excellently portrayed.
August 20, 2011
I enjoyed this, even with the paranormal piece. I did find, though, that I kept waiting for them to find out that the judge was the killer. That wasn't a spoiler, by the way. It was right at the beginning of the book.
August 21, 2013
Been awhile since I stayed up late to read but this one did it for me. Want More like it! Thanks, Leigh, for sending it to me!
September 1, 2018
I didn't really expect to like this book, but it was a gift so I read it. I ended up being surprised! It is very much full of suspense, right up to the very good.
November 22, 2011
I enjoyed this book. Love this type of genre.
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June 13, 2017I enjoyed reading this book every much.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews