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Quantum Leap #17
Quantum Leap: Heat Wave
Summer, 1955: During one of the most brutal heat waves in recent memory, Sam leaps into a sheriff in small-town Oklahoma. A young white woman has been viciously murdered, and the only suspect is black--an honest man who stands to lose everything if convicted. Sam must move fast to prove the man's innocence--while keeping the peace in a town about to be torn apart by racial violence. Meanwhile, the real killer is watching Sam's every move.
235 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 1, 1997
90 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 3, 2024
Meh. It's a competent mystery, though I think the historical aspects are weak and unrealistic. It's set in 1955, but Kent only pays lip service to the way African-Americans and women were treated. Overall, it's eminently forgettable.
August 19, 2025
Another great instalment to the franchise as Sam's racing against the clock to clear a young man of a crime he didn't commit. The shenanigans back at the project were a little bit of a let-down, big build-up but little pay-off. The main story was solid though.
May 23, 2017
good who-dun-it mystery. Although, Sam was a bit on the creul side in some scenes and Al was a little more letcherous than usual
February 17, 2012
I love Quantum Leap (have all the DVDs, and the books) and only have a couple of the books left to read, which is sad an annoying. So I look forward to reading these books when I do decide to take another one off the shelf. The previous QL book that I read, Foreknowledge, was spectacular. It brought back everything I loved about the show.
This one . . . not so much.
The basic premise of the book is that Sam leaps into a sheriff in a small Oklahoma town where a young woman has been murdered and another young African-American man is accused of the crime. He, of course, didn't do it and it's up to Sam to find the real killer. It's 1955, so there are overtones of racial tension. The murder victim wasn't from the best part of town and had a "reputation." And of course the town mayor wants the case resolved immediately.
The plot itselt isn't really the problem here, although I do sort of feel that it wasn't anything that we didn't see during the course of the show. There were plenty of racial tension episodes, and plenty of "find the real killer" episodes. So it didn't cover any new or interesting territory there. But it was a decent plot regardless and that's the only thing that kept me reading. Although I did figure out who the real killer was within the first 50 pages.
My main problem was that the writing just wasn't up to par. I mean this on a basic level, but also when it comes to the characters. I didn't feel like Sam and Sam and Al and Al. Their personalities and their schtick just wasn't quite right. It was off, and of course that's half the fun of the QL series--seeing Sam and Al play off of each other.
So in the end, it was fun to experience QL again, but I'm hoping the remaining few books in the series that I have left to read are better.
This one . . . not so much.
The basic premise of the book is that Sam leaps into a sheriff in a small Oklahoma town where a young woman has been murdered and another young African-American man is accused of the crime. He, of course, didn't do it and it's up to Sam to find the real killer. It's 1955, so there are overtones of racial tension. The murder victim wasn't from the best part of town and had a "reputation." And of course the town mayor wants the case resolved immediately.
The plot itselt isn't really the problem here, although I do sort of feel that it wasn't anything that we didn't see during the course of the show. There were plenty of racial tension episodes, and plenty of "find the real killer" episodes. So it didn't cover any new or interesting territory there. But it was a decent plot regardless and that's the only thing that kept me reading. Although I did figure out who the real killer was within the first 50 pages.
My main problem was that the writing just wasn't up to par. I mean this on a basic level, but also when it comes to the characters. I didn't feel like Sam and Sam and Al and Al. Their personalities and their schtick just wasn't quite right. It was off, and of course that's half the fun of the QL series--seeing Sam and Al play off of each other.
So in the end, it was fun to experience QL again, but I'm hoping the remaining few books in the series that I have left to read are better.
May 8, 2015
Not a bad mystery, though a little too predictable. I'd have liked the twist to be that the killer was the person Sam had leapt into, but that was never going to be the case.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews