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Stephanie Patrick #1
În ritmul inimii
Nikita. Lisbeth. Iar acum Stephanie.
O femeie obișnuită încearcă să dea de urma celor responsabili de moartea rudelor ei într-un cumplit accident aviatic – iată premisa unui scenariu tulburător!
Stephanie Patrick este răvășită de moartea familiei ei într-un accident aviatic. Atunci când descoperă că prăbușirea aeronavei a fost provocată nu de o defecțiune tehnică, așa cum se specula, ci de un atentat terorist, tânăra devine stăpânită de un singur gând: acela al răzbunării.
Recrutată pe neașteptate de Magenta House, o misterioasă organizație secretă, Stephanie crede că a găsit mijlocul perfect de a-și atinge scopul. Conștientă că nu mai are ce pierde, tânăra se pregătește temeinic pentru a se transforma în „Petra”, o teroristă care activează în Germania, și în „Marina”, o femeie de afaceri din Londra. Contactul cu lumea spionajului internațional o face să își dea seama cât de amorțit îi este sufletul și să se bazeze doar pe intuiție.
Pe măsură ce misiunile ei devin tot mai sângeroase, iar riscurile, tot mai mari, Stephanie începe să pună la îndoială informaţiile aflate despre accidentul în care i-au pierit cei dragi. Oare organizația din care face parte chiar îi spune adevărul? Oare merită să-și pună în pericol viața pentru a-și răzbuna rudele?
O femeie obișnuită încearcă să dea de urma celor responsabili de moartea rudelor ei într-un cumplit accident aviatic – iată premisa unui scenariu tulburător!
Stephanie Patrick este răvășită de moartea familiei ei într-un accident aviatic. Atunci când descoperă că prăbușirea aeronavei a fost provocată nu de o defecțiune tehnică, așa cum se specula, ci de un atentat terorist, tânăra devine stăpânită de un singur gând: acela al răzbunării.
Recrutată pe neașteptate de Magenta House, o misterioasă organizație secretă, Stephanie crede că a găsit mijlocul perfect de a-și atinge scopul. Conștientă că nu mai are ce pierde, tânăra se pregătește temeinic pentru a se transforma în „Petra”, o teroristă care activează în Germania, și în „Marina”, o femeie de afaceri din Londra. Contactul cu lumea spionajului internațional o face să își dea seama cât de amorțit îi este sufletul și să se bazeze doar pe intuiție.
Pe măsură ce misiunile ei devin tot mai sângeroase, iar riscurile, tot mai mari, Stephanie începe să pună la îndoială informaţiile aflate despre accidentul în care i-au pierit cei dragi. Oare organizația din care face parte chiar îi spune adevărul? Oare merită să-și pună în pericol viața pentru a-și răzbuna rudele?
528 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
536 people are currently reading
8331 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 351 reviews
September 6, 2020
This book was a great story; I can see it absolutely killing it as a movie.
The Rhythm Section is a mashup of Bourne Identity and The Red Sparrow trilogy; Stephanie Patrick reminded me of a combination of Lisbeth Salander and Dominika Egorova.
Reading through the reviews, I recognize a few issues some people will have with this book.
1) I notice a lot of women read this and did not enjoy it. They found it "tropey" (because it was written by a dude, and apparently only women are allowed to write female characters?), and they found it "hard to understand." My guess is they weren't the target audience to begin with and actually came into it expecting a tropey, badass, unrealistic female lead (think Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider). They weren't expecting a realistically flawed female character with PTSD and a filthy backstory.
2) Many were offended at the terrorist stereotypes. But it's a book set in a world of highjackers and terrorist cells, sooo... again, my guess is if someone came into the story expecting it to be PC, they were not the target audience. The interesting thing is this book was written in the 90s. And the author basically wrote a story about 9/11...PRE-9/11. I was impressed, again, at the author's insight. He did his research. Maybe even had some premonition as a result of the research.
So essentially, a bunch of women read this book and wanted it to have a sparkly, clean female lead that can beat the crap out of men without regard to physics because feminism. Ironically, given that this book was written in the 90s, I personally was impressed with the author's propensity towards feminism with a strong, intelligent, flawed, unrelenting, female lead. But it appears, according to the feminism experts, I'm wrong on that front. Or maybe we're doing feminism wrong, ladies. I'm still confused about half the messages half the women out there try to send these days. I think they are too. #unpopularopiniontime
I'll be the first to admit, I'm learning to understand more of the vernacular and culture of the world of espionage, but I still can feel like I'm wading through this genre at times. I'm kind of learning as I go (I'm embarrassed to admit I had to look up what symtex was). This is my issue; this isn't the author's issue. And if a lot of the reviewers out there were honest, this was their issue too. Now that I've flagrantly pissed off a lot of people...
I'd rate this book an R for violence, swearing, drugs and alcohol, sex, and adult themes such as PTSD and grief and terrorism.
The Rhythm Section is a mashup of Bourne Identity and The Red Sparrow trilogy; Stephanie Patrick reminded me of a combination of Lisbeth Salander and Dominika Egorova.
Reading through the reviews, I recognize a few issues some people will have with this book.
1) I notice a lot of women read this and did not enjoy it. They found it "tropey" (because it was written by a dude, and apparently only women are allowed to write female characters?), and they found it "hard to understand." My guess is they weren't the target audience to begin with and actually came into it expecting a tropey, badass, unrealistic female lead (think Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider). They weren't expecting a realistically flawed female character with PTSD and a filthy backstory.
2) Many were offended at the terrorist stereotypes. But it's a book set in a world of highjackers and terrorist cells, sooo... again, my guess is if someone came into the story expecting it to be PC, they were not the target audience. The interesting thing is this book was written in the 90s. And the author basically wrote a story about 9/11...PRE-9/11. I was impressed, again, at the author's insight. He did his research. Maybe even had some premonition as a result of the research.
So essentially, a bunch of women read this book and wanted it to have a sparkly, clean female lead that can beat the crap out of men without regard to physics because feminism. Ironically, given that this book was written in the 90s, I personally was impressed with the author's propensity towards feminism with a strong, intelligent, flawed, unrelenting, female lead. But it appears, according to the feminism experts, I'm wrong on that front. Or maybe we're doing feminism wrong, ladies. I'm still confused about half the messages half the women out there try to send these days. I think they are too. #unpopularopiniontime
I'll be the first to admit, I'm learning to understand more of the vernacular and culture of the world of espionage, but I still can feel like I'm wading through this genre at times. I'm kind of learning as I go (I'm embarrassed to admit I had to look up what symtex was). This is my issue; this isn't the author's issue. And if a lot of the reviewers out there were honest, this was their issue too. Now that I've flagrantly pissed off a lot of people...
I'd rate this book an R for violence, swearing, drugs and alcohol, sex, and adult themes such as PTSD and grief and terrorism.
July 14, 2020
Translation widget on The blog!!!
“În ritmul inimii” este un thriller absolut captivant. Te face să trăiești la capacitate maximă fiecare pagină, să te lupți cu teama și conștientizarea faptului că finalul va fi același indiferent de speranțele tale.
Recenzia mea completă o găsiți aici:
https://www.delicateseliterare.ro/in-...
“În ritmul inimii” este un thriller absolut captivant. Te face să trăiești la capacitate maximă fiecare pagină, să te lupți cu teama și conștientizarea faptului că finalul va fi același indiferent de speranțele tale.
Recenzia mea completă o găsiți aici:
https://www.delicateseliterare.ro/in-...
August 24, 2017
I chose to read this because it's being turned into a movie. I can see why. It should be a fun action/spy movie.
November 29, 2017
I can't remember the last time a book had me and lost me and won me back in such a circular fashion. The main character is absolutely fascinating and makes up for not being James Bond by being something 180 degrees from him. All the sex and violence here is grimly realistic and played for grit not flash. Stephanie is such vividly dire straits, it nearly overwhelms the espionage plot, which is where a lot of the problems lie. Once her missions begin, the book gets bogged down in the kind of muddled density that recalls the worst of Fleming and Le Carre. This story works best when it's about Stephanie's struggle as the espionage plot is old hat even for 1999 when this was written. This could just be an IBooks thing but I was so confused whenever there was a time jump within a chapter. There was no mark or space to signify it so every time it was super abrupt. The origin story here is a bit like Full Metal Jacket but never feels derivative. The climax is incredibly tense but basically stops short and then we just hear about what happened, which is incredibly frustrating. On balance, I really liked the main character and the plot had lots of potential. I know this is a series so I hope the other installments realize all this potential.
March 15, 2019
I unfortunately lost interest halfway through. It was interesting at first, but then became much too confusing and frankly, drawn out in my opinion.
March 16, 2020
3.5 Stars
A solid spy-thriller, but perhaps not as impactful or as unique in plot today as it may have been had I read it twenty years ago upon its release.
At the very least, I look forward to seeing the film adaptation, simply to compare and contrast, and to see how Blake Lively brings Stephanie’s character to life.
A solid spy-thriller, but perhaps not as impactful or as unique in plot today as it may have been had I read it twenty years ago upon its release.
At the very least, I look forward to seeing the film adaptation, simply to compare and contrast, and to see how Blake Lively brings Stephanie’s character to life.
May 9, 2019
Overall I can see why this book is going to make a good movie, but reading it was painful. The main character is woman who’s written by a male author and it’s very obvious. I never felt connected to any of the characters, the main character especially. And at 400+ pages it felt like much of the content in the middle could have been cut out and distilled. Sadly, only the last 40 pages were my favorite part of the book.
October 21, 2019
Check out my blog at www.readingreckless.wordpress.com for more reviews and bookish content.
I was looking for something to listen to during my work day. I love suspense, thriller genre books but...
you have got to be joking with this one.
We start the book with a plane crash, and then we meet Lisa, a drugged out prostitute who needs to be rescued by a man to turn her life around. A journalist who started out by just trying to get her story and who helped her get sober from drugs. I have no problem with that in and of itself, but the problem with this is that it starts a pattern that goes on throughout this book. She's the only major female character in the book.
It’s riddled with cliches and plot twists that are seen from a mile away and the pacing for an action book is all wrong. It goes SSSSLLLLLLOOOOOWWWWW. The general idea of the story itself wasn’t bad but the editor needed to be a little bit more strict. Some of the description is just too long and the self reflection language is not needed if it is shown instead. Even the sex scenes were described as acts being done to her.
There are so many instances when she makes decisions and the author invokes her emotions, when they are framed as irrational for the long game. You can’t have your audience thinking your protagonist is a silly woman who needs saving. I was only rooting for her at one point, which was when she fell on the cliff and instead of quitting, she climbed back up the ledge with three broken fingers.
The word terrorist was used 33 times. 33 times, and they were Palestinian. We get a human story out of Reza Muhammad and In the first chapter, the journalist refers to Reza Mohammad as a Muslim but doesn’t know his name or where he’s from. So you know the man’s religion but you don’t know where he is from. Seriously?
Honestly, just throw the whole thing away.
You have the redemption story from the prostitute to Mary Sue Avenger but she succeeds in all of this by mercilessly murdering people and it’s just glossed over like it’s nothing because they aren’t white.
I stuck this out because of the challenge but I won’t be watching the movie version of this. This was awful. This was number 2 on best books turning into movies this year.
But let me tell you, thismess is not it.
2019 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge - A book becoming a movie in 2019
I was looking for something to listen to during my work day. I love suspense, thriller genre books but...
you have got to be joking with this one.
We start the book with a plane crash, and then we meet Lisa, a drugged out prostitute who needs to be rescued by a man to turn her life around. A journalist who started out by just trying to get her story and who helped her get sober from drugs. I have no problem with that in and of itself, but the problem with this is that it starts a pattern that goes on throughout this book. She's the only major female character in the book.
It’s riddled with cliches and plot twists that are seen from a mile away and the pacing for an action book is all wrong. It goes SSSSLLLLLLOOOOOWWWWW. The general idea of the story itself wasn’t bad but the editor needed to be a little bit more strict. Some of the description is just too long and the self reflection language is not needed if it is shown instead. Even the sex scenes were described as acts being done to her.
There are so many instances when she makes decisions and the author invokes her emotions, when they are framed as irrational for the long game. You can’t have your audience thinking your protagonist is a silly woman who needs saving. I was only rooting for her at one point, which was when she fell on the cliff and instead of quitting, she climbed back up the ledge with three broken fingers.
The word terrorist was used 33 times. 33 times, and they were Palestinian. We get a human story out of Reza Muhammad and In the first chapter, the journalist refers to Reza Mohammad as a Muslim but doesn’t know his name or where he’s from. So you know the man’s religion but you don’t know where he is from. Seriously?
Honestly, just throw the whole thing away.
You have the redemption story from the prostitute to Mary Sue Avenger but she succeeds in all of this by mercilessly murdering people and it’s just glossed over like it’s nothing because they aren’t white.
I stuck this out because of the challenge but I won’t be watching the movie version of this. This was awful. This was number 2 on best books turning into movies this year.
But let me tell you, this
2019 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge - A book becoming a movie in 2019
February 11, 2020
The sheer volume of improbabilities could club to death even the most robust suspension of disbelief. Plus the whole "drug addict/prostitute to elite secret agent in one year at age 22" training montage was wholly and completely ridiculous. I was planning to see the movie when it came out, but now I probably won't.
August 3, 2019
This was a slow read, and I'm not going to bother finishing it.
Hard to really like the main character - the author somehow felt the need to continuously remind the reader that Stephanie is a former prostitute which was repetitive, useless and just plain lazy. The changes from first to second person narratives were odd and clunky, especially when done mid chapter.
Skip this book
Hard to really like the main character - the author somehow felt the need to continuously remind the reader that Stephanie is a former prostitute which was repetitive, useless and just plain lazy. The changes from first to second person narratives were odd and clunky, especially when done mid chapter.
Skip this book
March 24, 2019
3.5 stars
I had the same experience as Ed states in his review below: it had me, lost me and then won me back. The story starts out very good and it had me interested in Stephanie from the beginning. But then all the characters and connections just became too much, getting me confused and less committed to the story. Now I must be honest and admit that possibly my letting other books getting in the way of reading this one regularly, may have contributed to that. The last part though won me back completely. A cool ending which had me invested in Stephanie again ánd curious about the movie that's coming out this year. Therefore I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt and will round it up to 4 stars.
I had the same experience as Ed states in his review below: it had me, lost me and then won me back. The story starts out very good and it had me interested in Stephanie from the beginning. But then all the characters and connections just became too much, getting me confused and less committed to the story. Now I must be honest and admit that possibly my letting other books getting in the way of reading this one regularly, may have contributed to that. The last part though won me back completely. A cool ending which had me invested in Stephanie again ánd curious about the movie that's coming out this year. Therefore I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt and will round it up to 4 stars.
February 15, 2019
Was hyped to read this book because reviews and even the dust jacket compare it to La Femme Nikita, which was a favorite TV show of mine in the 90s. But bratty Stephanie is no Nikita. We're told repeatedly that Stephanie is really really smart, but the author rarely lets us see her intelligence in action. Instead, she spends most of the book stumbling from one male character to the next, using them for a crutch or cashing in on their profession/reconnaissance via sex and threats. It becomes clear rather quickly that it's a female perspective written by a man (if I have to read about her staring at herself naked one more time...).
Despite the book's length, the spy agency hardly figures into the story at all, which is disappointing. I think 100 pages could've been edited out of the book without losing much of anything. Not sure if I'll read the sequels, maybe Stephanie hits her stride in them.
Despite the book's length, the spy agency hardly figures into the story at all, which is disappointing. I think 100 pages could've been edited out of the book without losing much of anything. Not sure if I'll read the sequels, maybe Stephanie hits her stride in them.
October 12, 2018
I'd read this 20 years ago. It is, at last, about to come out as a movie. Fortunately, in re-reading it, I remembered nothing, other than that I'd loved it. It is as good the second time around! The series of four Stephanie Patrick novels (or as I think of them, Petra Reuter novels) are as good as anything that LeCarre or Steinhauer wrote.
October 5, 2019
I loved how this book blended fast moving action with deeper exploration of love, sex and the effects of trauma. Highly recommended for lots of reasons
July 19, 2019
Really not my type of story. When it first started I thought I was going to like it but it is just not my genre and I was pretty bored and uninterested in the story. I really don't think I will bother continuing the series.
Blah read!
Blah read!
September 27, 2020
book started off well but got bogged down and got boring
August 6, 2020
5 Stars for The Rhythm Section: Stephenie Patrick Series Book 1 (audiobook) by Mark Burnell read by Elizabeth Knowelden. This was an amazing story. I’m really looking forward to the next book. This story is something like La Femme Nakita and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. I really enjoy these strong but flawed female lead characters.
Want to read
March 1, 2019The cinematic release of Christie's Death on the Nile has been pushed forward to 2020...
May 10, 2019
Didn't enjoy the characters, plot, or writing. The movie will likely be good though.
February 10, 2020
Originally published in 1999, Rhythm Section was recently filmed and released to great expectation. The film was a dismal flop. I haven't seen the film yet but plan to so I can decide for myself. The book is terrific and I will read the continuing series of books about the heroic character, Stephanie Patrick.
The plot line is surprisingly prescient in the light of 9/11: following the terrible events on 9/11, the author was grilled by the FBI, the CIA and other intelligence agencies. The author claims he had no special insight into that terrible day - it was just pure coincidence. I recommend this book - it takes a young woman who has lost her way as a result of her entire family having been killed in an airline accident - a flight she was originally scheduled to be on. The she learns - from a mysterious stranger - that her family's flight was not an accident - it was the result of a bomb. Stephanie emerges from her gritty and dangerous place and becomes a creature of vengeance; a bright and resourceful creature. Highly recommended. By the way, I was moved to read this book because I found the premise of the film to be of interest.
The plot line is surprisingly prescient in the light of 9/11: following the terrible events on 9/11, the author was grilled by the FBI, the CIA and other intelligence agencies. The author claims he had no special insight into that terrible day - it was just pure coincidence. I recommend this book - it takes a young woman who has lost her way as a result of her entire family having been killed in an airline accident - a flight she was originally scheduled to be on. The she learns - from a mysterious stranger - that her family's flight was not an accident - it was the result of a bomb. Stephanie emerges from her gritty and dangerous place and becomes a creature of vengeance; a bright and resourceful creature. Highly recommended. By the way, I was moved to read this book because I found the premise of the film to be of interest.
January 26, 2020
This is one of those books that I classified as "I tried, but No". I got halfway through the book and just could not muster the motivation to care about Stephanie/Lisa/Petra any more. I get that her family died in a plane crash that was really a terrorist attack. It sucks that it was covered up by various governments. But I just can't muster any sympathy for you; even after you become part of a secret assassin organization.
March 17, 2007
A reasonably capable thriller series championed by "The Economist." Think "Alias" with more sex and fewer gadgets.
January 3, 2019
Interesting read. I’ll be curious to see the movie
August 24, 2024
With thrillers, if they don't captivate me from page one, I find it hard to connect with the book properly and unfortunately this book was one of those cases
Just not for me I'm afraid
Just not for me I'm afraid
March 4, 2020
While I would be hesitant to call this a good action thriller, it is a great spy thriller. I found the conceit of the main character referring to herself as Stephanie, Petra, or Marina depending on which role she is playing and who she is playing to—even in her own inner monologue—fascinating. She is the most method of actors with her stage being the entire world and its many unscrupulous organizations.
I can’t say I’m huge fan of the narrative beats for the storyline, but the spycraft scenes and Stephanie herself are so remarkable that you forget how cliche the story really is. I’ll probably end up getting to the rest of the series . Yet I’m in no rush.
Hopefully installment two improves on this novel’s many strengths.
I can’t say I’m huge fan of the narrative beats for the storyline, but the spycraft scenes and Stephanie herself are so remarkable that you forget how cliche the story really is. I’ll probably end up getting to the rest of the series . Yet I’m in no rush.
Hopefully installment two improves on this novel’s many strengths.
April 21, 2020
Take some Le Carre, a touch of Charles Cummings, stir in some Jason Bourne and a pinch of Liesbet Salander and stir.
Enjoyed this book, especially since the book was published two years before 9/11.
Enjoyed this book, especially since the book was published two years before 9/11.
April 2, 2020
De fiecare dată când văd un thriller, ceva mă atrage să îl citesc. La fel a fost și cu romanul „În ritmul inimii”, a cărui descriere mi-a atras atenția. A durat puțin cam mult să îl citesc, însă mi-a plăcut povestea. Acțiunea este interesantă, chiar dacă modul de scriere este ușor static. Mi-ar fi plăcut ca finalul să fie mai clar, eroina chiar merita să aibă parte de un final pe măsura poveștii sale.
https://www.randurileevei.ro/2020/03/...
https://www.randurileevei.ro/2020/03/...
February 16, 2020
Calyn and I read this book so that we could watch the movie together. We missed it in theaters since it had such bad reviews. Sad about that since the book was so good. We really enjoyed it.
Stephanie Patrick is fierce! I absolutley love her character development. I enjoyed being in her thoughts and hearing her cares. I also really liked Frank and their love entanglement.
This book was very interesting since it was written before 9/11.
I also went into this book knowing it was a series. I didnt think I would be interested but man the ending makes me want to continue.
Stephanie Patrick is fierce! I absolutley love her character development. I enjoyed being in her thoughts and hearing her cares. I also really liked Frank and their love entanglement.
This book was very interesting since it was written before 9/11.
I also went into this book knowing it was a series. I didnt think I would be interested but man the ending makes me want to continue.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 351 reviews