Customer Reviews

Adam And Evil

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Amanda Peppers, English teacher at a prep school, means well, but she just seems to always get herself into trouble and Adam and Evil is no exception. She is worried about the change in behavior of one of her students, Adam Evans. When she tries to discuss his problems with his parents, they become very defensive and accuse her of trying to destroy their son. And then to make matters worse, she takes her class on a field trip to a library, the librarian is murdered and Adam disappears. The headmaster at the school blames Amanda and hints that he is going to fire her. Amanda trys to solve the murder, find Adam, keep her job and her significant other, all why trying to keep from getting killed herself. This is a great take along book. It moves fast, is well-written, easy to read and is funny to boot. Amanda Pepper is a very likable character.

Gillian Robert's has given the best to date! "Adam and Evil" is a thoroughly intriging and honest work. The story's theme touched the heart of this high school teacher's experience and frustration when attempting to aid a student in crisis. Along with Ms. Robert's usual gift for brilliant writing, the reader is treated to an insider's view to the struggles a teacher sometimes encounters when stonewalled by parents in denial, the administration, and the law. From the first two chapters, those who know Mandy will be desperate to get to the end to discover the changes she may or may not make in her life. Brava to Gillian Roberts and I am eager to begin her newest work, "Helen Hath No Fury".

Once again Ms. Roberts tickles our social conscience without using a heavy hand. A bright and very human Amanda Pepper takes us down familiar streets with new twists. While reaching out to help a student she is sent alone into a spiral of confusion by the world's apathy and her life, both literally and figuratively, is in jeopardy. I would love to see Mackenzie take Amanda on a bayou adventure. Chaz?

As an English teacher, I relate completely to the problems of Amanda Pepper, and this one was especially true. If the average person knew how difficult it is to get help for a student who seems troubled, they would be shocked. Roberts handles the story with energy and style and the her descriptions of the library create a wonderful ambience. However, I think it's time CK and Amanda think about getting married. And maybe tell us his real name???

School's in! Just in time for a hot summer evening comes Gillian Roberts' newest Amanda Pepper novel. This young, thirty-something English teacher is every parent's dream--caring and involved despite a self-serving administration that worries more about image than education. In ADAM AND EVIL, Amanda faces twin dilemmas in both her professional and private lives when a troubled student is accused of murder and her live-in love, a homicide detective, seems willfully obtuse on both fronts. Gillian Roberts is a stylish, witty writer whose compassion shines on every page. I've read all her books and she just keeps getting better. Five gold stars and a big A+!

This series just keeps getting better and better. In this book, its wryly sarcastic protagonist, Amanda Pepper, has figuratively hit the wall, both at school and in her love life. But she keeps on truckin', solving a nasty murder, saving an endangered student, and pulling together the loose ends of her professional and private lives. Maybe only Janet Evanovich and Sue Grafton write with as much humor as Ms. Roberts, albeit hers is darker. A great read.

All too often, a series gets stale after a while. Not so with Gillian Roberts' Amanda Pepper mysteries! If anything, each is better than the last, and ADAM AND EVIL is no exception. Anyone who has taught high school English for many years, as I have, can relate to and appreciate the main character, her well-drawn students and the limited blustering administrator! - Well done - Can't wait for the next one (in which we'll learn what the initials stand for, perhaps, although I still laugh when I remember Amanda's attempts to decode them in the earlier books.)

I might add that I listened to the book on unabridged audiotape, and it was so well read that it enhanced the book, I think.

All books in this series use as a central theme a piece of literature that detective-English teacher Amanda Pepper is using in a classroom. In this book, the central theme comes from James's "The Turn of the Screw," in which a governess ends up responsible for the death of a cihld in her care. Pepper has concerns about a student named Adam, who seems to merit "professional evaluation," that is, she thinks he's got a serious mental illness. She tries unsuccessfully to make this happen but no-one wants to believe that there's a problem.

At a class field trip to the Philadelphia library (apparently a massive collection in a very large building), their tour guide (who turns out to be a friend of Pepper's sister) winds up dead and Adam is missing -- so suddenly everyone is willing to believe that Adam is as sick as Pepper had feared. Pepper doesn't think he's responsible but she needs to find him and get him in off the streets. Along the way, she gets involved in the murder investigation, to the annoyance of her homicide detective boyfriend CK. In the meantime, Pepper is having serious problems at work, thanks in part to Adam's parents and to the "all I care about is the school's image and financial well-being" headmaster, who doesn't want to hear anything remotely negative about the school.

I am getting very good at spotting the killer early on in Pepper's series, so I would have to say that this is, for me, one of the weaker parts of the series. But I love the characters and the humor in these books (there are some great one-liners for those who appreciate a dry wit). As I said, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

This series is really a lot of fun, and the setting of a not-so-prosperous Philadelphia prep school, plus the relationship between Mandy and CK is well done. This book didn't knock my socks off, and while it attempted to reach into the dynamics of a relationship gone a bit awry, it was just a little TOO unbelievable. Mandy's mid-career angst - do i really want to be an underappreciated, underpaid teacher - seemed real enough, but that she would actually give up without a fight(initially) over the potential of being sued by irate parents where there is absolutely no valid reason - doesn't make sense. Her overall depression and malaise - where did that come from? All seems well in the end - but maybe a little pre-marriage counseling to seal the deal would make sense, or some Prozac for Mandy... trying to get a real handle on who she is, and Roberts' balance between humor and pathos - seems a little off. Mandy resenting CK because he is doing research about schizphrenia in regard to Mandy's student - what's up with that? You don't have to be a mental health professional to figure out this kid needs serious medication - why is she so protective? Some of the story seems more than contrived to fit the mood - I have liked some of the other books in this series better -

This was the first Amanda Pepper book that I read and I have to admit I am not anxious to read another. The mystery plot was well written and had some surprises. This wasn't a page turner, sit and the edge of your seat suspense novel. It was ok for a mellow summer read.