The Pallbearers (Pol Proc-Shane Scully-So. Cal-Cont) - 9th in series - Stephen J. Cannell Corona – Ex – Really enjoyed it. She found it real easy and liked the way the information was brought out. The women were a little stereotypical but she liked the story and the author’s voice. Linda S – VG+ - She really liked it and was rather surprised she did as she’s not big on books set in LA and the whole surfer thing. But she liked the character exploring his past. Although the end was rather unbelievable, it didn’t bother her until she thought about it after finishing reading the book. The relationship of the character with his wife did annoy her. Linda did find bits of the story hit a bit close to home and, therefore, personally, hard to read, but she really liked the book overall. LJ – Okay – As much as I’ve enjoyed Cannell’s television shows over the years, I’d never read one of his books. It seems I’d have been better staying with television. On the positive side, Cannell does create an interesting cast of characters, providing background and dimension to each one, including the cat. He doesn’t assume you’ve read previous books in the series, which I appreciated. He links the characters by a common thread but doesn’t quite tie off all the ends, which I didn’t mind. I did appreciate not having Scully being infallible or supermacho, although there was macho there, such as being able to have sex after virtually no sleep for an extended period of time and having been beaten to a pulp. However, for the most part, his female characters are strong and very capable, which I also appreciated. Cannell’s writing can be characterized by short chapters that are very visual and action-packed. On the downside, there are massive coincidences, an entire chapter of portents—those of you who’ve followed my reviews know how I despise portents—and some actions by the protagonist that were completely unbelievable. There points where the plot progression was so deliberately telegraphed it made it predictable. I didn’t hate the book but even among airport books there are levels; those you deliberately take with you and those you’re stuck buying at the airport news shop of lack of choice. This is the latter but still an entertaining read to keep one occupied for a few hours.
Snow Job (Legal Mys-Arthur Beauchamp-Canada-Cont) – Standalone – William Deverell Marcy G – Okay – Because she like to read a series in order, she first read “April Fool” and loved it. She enjoyed the character, the setting, the humor and the mystery. Unfortunately, all the things she liked about “April Fool” were missing from this book. The story just went on and on and she found she really didn’t care about much of it. She really didn’t like getting hung out to dry about the DiPalma character. Marcy was very glad when the book was done.
The Shadow Woman (Pol Proc-Chief Insp. Erik Winter-Sweden-Cont) – 2nd in series - Åke Edwardson Marcy G – Poor – The premise was good but the protagonist was filled with darkness and angst. The worst part was that the protagonist had sudden bursts of intuition and knew what was coming next. It made no real sense. Marcy G also would never read this author again. Marcy S – Poor – In looking at the book, she was interested in reading it and she did read the whole book but it never went anywhere. It was such a letdown. She would never read anything by this author again. She felt as though he was trying to be obscure. She did read the whole books but, in the end, had no real idea what it was about.
Corona – Ex – Really enjoyed it. She found it real easy and liked the way the information was brought out. The women were a little stereotypical but she liked the story and the author’s voice.
Linda S – VG+ - She really liked it and was rather surprised she did as she’s not big on books set in LA and the whole surfer thing. But she liked the character exploring his past. Although the end was rather unbelievable, it didn’t bother her until she thought about it after finishing reading the book. The relationship of the character with his wife did annoy her. Linda did find bits of the story hit a bit close to home and, therefore, personally, hard to read, but she really liked the book overall.
LJ – Okay – As much as I’ve enjoyed Cannell’s television shows over the years, I’d never read one of his books. It seems I’d have been better staying with television. On the positive side, Cannell does create an interesting cast of characters, providing background and dimension to each one, including the cat. He doesn’t assume you’ve read previous books in the series, which I appreciated. He links the characters by a common thread but doesn’t quite tie off all the ends, which I didn’t mind. I did appreciate not having Scully being infallible or supermacho, although there was macho there, such as being able to have sex after virtually no sleep for an extended period of time and having been beaten to a pulp. However, for the most part, his female characters are strong and very capable, which I also appreciated. Cannell’s writing can be characterized by short chapters that are very visual and action-packed. On the downside, there are massive coincidences, an entire chapter of portents—those of you who’ve followed my reviews know how I despise portents—and some actions by the protagonist that were completely unbelievable. There points where the plot progression was so deliberately telegraphed it made it predictable. I didn’t hate the book but even among airport books there are levels; those you deliberately take with you and those you’re stuck buying at the airport news shop of lack of choice. This is the latter but still an entertaining read to keep one occupied for a few hours.
Snow Job (Legal Mys-Arthur Beauchamp-Canada-Cont) – Standalone – William Deverell
Marcy G – Okay – Because she like to read a series in order, she first read “April Fool” and loved it. She enjoyed the character, the setting, the humor and the mystery. Unfortunately, all the things she liked about “April Fool” were missing from this book. The story just went on and on and she found she really didn’t care about much of it. She really didn’t like getting hung out to dry about the DiPalma character. Marcy was very glad when the book was done.
The Shadow Woman (Pol Proc-Chief Insp. Erik Winter-Sweden-Cont) – 2nd in series - Åke Edwardson
Marcy G – Poor – The premise was good but the protagonist was filled with darkness and angst. The worst part was that the protagonist had sudden bursts of intuition and knew what was coming next. It made no real sense. Marcy G also would never read this author again.
Marcy S – Poor – In looking at the book, she was interested in reading it and she did read the whole book but it never went anywhere. It was such a letdown. She would never read anything by this author again. She felt as though he was trying to be obscure. She did read the whole books but, in the end, had no real idea what it was about.