The Next To Die

by Kevin O'Brien

Everyone Has Something To Hide...

The virile, all-American husband. The brainy golden girl. The happily-wed bi-coastal couple.

Someone Is Watching...

Someone who has uncovered their darkest secrets. Someone who is hell-bent on making them pay for their sins...

No One Suspects The Truth...

Now there is no escaping the shadowy jury that watches their every move. Infiltrates every part of their lives. Stalking. Judging. Condemning. Punishment will be swift...severe...final...death.

Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Suspense, Audiobook, Mystery Thriller

436 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2001

Reviews

[Joe Hempel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I thought it was going to be...I thought it was going to be a sort of horror story....turns out it was thin thriller about "stars" that have "sinned" according to a certain group, who are out to kill those folks and make this world a better place.

Meh.

[Denise · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the ninth of Kevin O'Brien's books that I've read; the others were all excellent. I've no idea what happened with this one, but I really didn't enjoy it at all. The characters, and there were a lot of them, had the personality of lego people, and after a while, it became difficult to distinguish one from the other.

[Scott Mccoy · Rating 2 out of 5]

ugh

[Cindy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my favorite from this author - and very dated.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good not great. Not the type of book I was hoping for. Didn’t care for the political and culture aspects of the book.

[Patricia · Rating 1 out of 5]

HORRIBLE, Gave up on it!!! Can't even believe this is Kevin O'Brien's writing...

[Sunny (Kindles & Wine Book Blog) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very complex story that had many moving parts. At times, I found it hard to keep up with all the plots that were connected, but at the same time, all over the place.

It was an interesting tale, but not as enjoyable as I'd hoped, as I needed to concentrate too much on all of the various characters and storylines to keep straight who died, who killed who, who is still alive (but may be in danger), who is helping who, etc.

I really liked Joe Barrett (the narrator) as he had the perfect voice and characterization for this book.

Note: I received a review copy of this title courtesy of the audiobook publisher, Tantor.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story and still timely especially with all that is going on today. A liked the different stories woven together. However, difficult to follow because the story would change with no line break between paragraphs. Often I found myself saying “whoa, wait, where are we?” I got into the rhythm eventually but still found it frustrating. But still a good book.

[Bookish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Someone is killing celebrities who show support for anyone who doesn't march to the beat of a group believing they are morally superior. The murders are staged for maximum impact, to steer others away from the same path.

[Cindy L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book

Not sure how I have missed this Author. Really enjoyed the book. The only reason I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars Is how the story Jumped around.The flow could have been better.

[Nolan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story but had a little too much worthless filler in it. (SAAMO) Soldiers for An American Moral Order are killing and destroying liberal celebrities' reputations to clean up America and make it a better place for their children.

[Felicia Baxter · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not a fan at all. I lost interest in this book but finished it anyway. I feel the author could have went a different route. I understand he wanted to use a hate group but I didn’t care for the use of the N-word or the homophobic remarks.

[Marcie · Rating 2 out of 5]

My review is more about the narrator of the audio book than the story itself. Narrators can make or break a book, as is the case here. Only listened for about 3 hours and gave up. Someday, I might try the paperback version, as the story seems like a good one.

[trisha Imbembo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh the who's who of Hollywood is in for a friggin ride!! Don't judge, or you shall be judged!! Another outstanding story by Kevin O'Brien!! Gripping psychological Thriller, that really sucks you in!! 10,000 stars if I could!! Whoa that was intense.

[Patricia Valentine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kevin O'Brien is one of my favorite suspense authors, but this book was not my cup of tea. It's definitely different from his other books, and I hated the "policital" stigma in it. It's not my favorite, not a lot of good things to say.

[Albieglad · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 at best

[Kavita Favelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

The synopsis sounded decent but the book didn't grab me at all. Gave up three chapters in.

[Sandy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Almost didn’t finish. Just skimmed.

[Rainelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read. Fast pace. Kept me intrigued.

[Dale · Rating 3 out of 5]

New Author, Interesting.

[Marianne Stehr · Rating 5 out of 5]

My assumption is this is an early kevin o'Brien book. Different than his others but still a good story. It twisted throughout and easy day read at the beach!

[Paschalis]

elibrary

[barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

much different than his later books - but still awesome

[Regi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dnf

[Kelley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Frogged. So bad.

[Sara Sneed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite of his. Though on point with current political issues. Rise of white nationalism, homophobia and drug use. The action at the end was very good.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liberals vs. holier than thou ultra conservatives. The latter group takes their hate to new levels when they begin killing high profile movie stars who have "sinned" in their eyes.

[Christopher Hivner · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Next to Die takes advantage of the considerable animosity in the U.S. between conservatives and liberals. An ultra-conservative group, trying to bring their kind of morality back to the populace, takes it upon themselves to ruin the reputations of actors and musicians who support things like gay rights, gun control and abortion and if that doesn't work, they kill them in very public, very ugly ways.

This is a decent thriller that keeps the action moving and about half way through you have some trouble putting it down. The overall writing isn't much above pedestrian but O'Brien knows how to layer a story to keep you guessing to an extent and how to ratchet up the action without going overboard. Some of the dialogue isn't great and their are a few too many characters to keep track of but overall this is a solid suspense novel

[Frank · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book lost a star with the unnecessary "romance" in the latter half of the book. It was telegraphed from a mile away and was painful to read through when it became a focus of the plot. One of my major peeves about mysteries/thrillers is this kind of crap. If I wanted something like this I would read the billions of poorly-written bodice rippers on the shelves these days. When characters are written well and the relationship is necessary for the plot I'm all for it and I have read plenty of great examples but this was not one of them.
Other than that, the idea was interesting and worth the read. I will try another one of his later books as this was early in his career but that will be the last chance for him.

[Mysterious · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is an example when the holier than thou are allowed to pass judgment on those who do not lead a life up to their expectations. Not only are victims killed, some in a very brutal fashion but to add insult to injury their reputation is ruined and broad casted as the new topic on 700 club type TV show.
Not too much mystery, I would say it is more of a suspense thriller. I felt the rather long character list held me back from rating this any higher but I liked it alot.