James Oates > Recent Status Updates

First of all who wrote this book. It can't be the Martin who wrote all of the Hillary Greene books because there is NO comparison to the writing/plot characters to the DI Greene series.
This first J Starling book reads like a soap opera. Did Mr Greene kill Mrs Red in the Yellow room with the candlestick. If it didn't Faith Martins name on the book, I would have shelved it already. I will stay it with and HOPE

It's probably me and the fact I have not read any of the Louis Penney books .
However where I had BIG expectations, sadly I haven't seen it. In fact I find this book a very difficult read. Again maybe it's the characters, maybe because it's in Paris maybe it's french phrases that I don't know what they mean. I just don't know.

Hopefully the book will "grow" on me and I will feel different by the end of the book.

I have read the first three books in this collection (DI Karen Heath) and I would rate them a 3/2 stars in both plot and characters. HOWEVER what really bothered me was that a major plot that was part of the first two books never became part of the 3rd book in this series thus there was never a conclusion to the books. But still a good read.

I have just finished book 5 of this three book collection (i have read 1-4 prior) and without question the Angela Marsons (Kim Stone) are at the top of my list.

Most of her books are about serials killers and for the most part the books have great plots and are page turners, with always a gotcha ending. Can't recommend this series of books more. I would start with book1 and go forward from there.

A great read!

One thing about a book over and above the story lines is the main character(s). In this book the story is excellent, however the main character DI Angel just can't be liked. He's overbearing; arrogant and brutal to the people who work for him. DI Hillary Greene; DI Erica Foster or DI Beatrice Stubbs he's not . For that reason I find the book difficult to read. I hope he get's better as I have downloaded book2

I have read one half of the 210 pages that could have been written within 75 pages. Reading this book is slow torture and I will probably finish it by skimming the remaining pages. Reading this book is like watching paint dry. The surprising factor is that Sanders has written some very good books (THE CAPER by far the best). Read it at your peril

This collection is 4 books of this series. The first one being "fire from heaven" was just so so (3 stars). It started out good with a very unusual murder but quickly went downhill. This is the second book in a row of this series that has been just so so, while the first 7 were 5 stars. I hope Banner hasn't had writers block as I have enjoyed these books so much and will go on to read the book 10 of this series.

Book for book, this series is about the best I have ever read. I have two books left in this series and I dread starting them, as it means I'm close to the end of Erika Foster. I can't say enough about the Erika Foster series. (I will admit that the Hillary Greene series is very very close. Both series have given me immense pleasure.)

With the Erika Foster series start with book 1 and go forward from there.

Have read the first two books of this series and definitely worth reading should you like this genre (serial murder; detective). Previously I read the four book series with DI Grieco which I also thought was excellent.

One thing about Helen Durrant books is she can't just do a murder she has to do murder with an exclamation point. Her murder's are sadists in that the murderer has to destroy the body.

Hard to believe I bought these four books for .99cents. There just not good, there GREAT.

Book one and two of this series were page turners. I HIGHLY recommend this series.

Must read.

This a four book collection and I'm 25% through book one. I thought for .99 cents I was buying a collection that was marginal at best and I would read if had nothing else to read. WRONG.

At least the first book in the series is Excellent both with the main characters and the story line. This is very much a good read and won't be wasting your time buying this collection. Not DI Greene, but very good.

Deadly Game is 3 stars at best

Story line ok, but not all that plausible, with characters that had little substance. Not saying it was a bad book and will give book 2 of this series a try to see if it is better.

Not saying it isn't worth a try, but don't expect too much. It's a long way from DI Hillary Greene or the best DI Erika Foster book.

But then again what should I expect for .99

This was three book purchase. DI Foster books are about as good as they get. I can't say eneough of how good they are. Only disappointment I have is that it's only a six book series.

If you like detective/murder books you will LOVE this and all the other books. I would rate Bryndza over Connelly any day and I love the Bosch books.

What a mistake this book was. I'm a third way through and I would have had a better time watching Paint Dry. The plot is (not sure) and where it's going (not sure). About finishing the book (really not sure).

I have read Many of Sander's books and most are outstanding. However the past two have been real clunker's particularly this one. So don't bother even starting this one.

If I could rate all of Erika Foster (Robert Bryndza) books 6 stars I would. I have now read 4 of the 6 books in this series and EVERYONE of them exceeds all others in this category. The story lines, the characters (particularly DI Foster) make every book page turners.
If you decide to read this series, definitely start with the girl in the Ice (book 1) as it will set you up for the other books in this series.

I'm now about to start Book 8 in this series and without question every book is as good as the previous one. Not once in seven books have I been let down as to the story line/plot.

If you really want a group of books that grabs you and makes you part of the story Blake Banner books with Detective's Carmen Denton and John Stone will do it.

Read them. I do recommend starting with book 1

I started the Beatrice Stubbs series right from book 1 and have read through Book 7 of the series.

The first 4 books were 4.5 -5 stars and were an excellent read from all aspects; Characters and plots.
HOWEVER for whatever reason from going forward books 5,6, &7 in this series barely make 3 stars. I have no idea what happened as it's hard to believe that the same person (JJ Marsh) is still doing the writing

I bought this box set without knowing (or hearing about) the author as the characters look interesting. I was 100% rewarded in that the first two books of this series have been excellent. I have been so "sold" on these books that I went ahead and bought books 5 - 8 in this series.

If you like detective books, you won't go wrong in these book(s).

Good read, However because I have seen the movie so many times and the movie is very faithful to the book, the book just doesn't do it as it did so many years ago when I first read it.

Consequently I have put it aside and might pick it up later.

Interesting, but not page turner but not too far into the book, still getting a feel for the main characters. So No rating.

Read book 1 of this series and it was very good, enough that I will read book 2.
I liked the character the the plot line and worth the read. Fast paced a few area's of the book that were quite implausible and almost made me think of the old B movies from the 40-50's.

Just finished book one in the David Wolf series and though not a page turner, the story was entertaining.. The only problem in reading the first book in series is that you don't know the character and it takes me at least a 100 pages to get comfortable.

In the end the book was very good and I will definitely continue on with the series.

Not as good as I expected. First of all book was written in reverse of his life (ending to beginning) which is disconcerting. I am reading from the back of the book forward to establish some continuity to the story.

Also VERY technical far more than I think it needs to be. I expected more of his everyday life but still not sorry I bought the book.

I bought the first 3 books in this series. I'm about 15% into the first book and so far it's pretty good. The reviews were on the mark.

Could be me or maybe it's the book, but the book just doesn't "grab" me. Hopefully it will get better.

Good so far.