Customer Reviews

Always Time to Die: A Novel

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

One of the best things about most of the books Elizabeth Lowell writes is her research, which can enhance her work enormously. In this case, however, the intricacies of genealogy weigh the story down at the expense of action and plot. While the characterizations start out strong, they also fall victim to way too many characters and genealogy threads.

I read about two-thirds of this book in a day, then didn't pick it up again for weeks because it simply didn't hold my interest. Having said that, if you are interested in genealogy, you will probably enjoy this book a good deal more than I did. But if you're looking for a good romance/suspense novel, you may well be disappointed.

The story begins with the murder of an old man, former Senator Andrew Jackson Quintrell III. No one really cared that he died. Everyone in the area knew the dirty old man had been a philanderer his entire life. If it was a human female, between the ages of puberty and menopause, the would bed her, even against her will. Back in his glory years people kept silent about such things. After all, he was a powerful man in New Mexico. The voting public would never believe a bad word against such a powerful and upstanding citizen.

Governor Josh Quintrell was the old man's son. Josh could care less that the old man was dead. Josh had his eyes on the White House. All he had to do was keep his family's dirty laundry hidden from the voting public for eleven more months. Then he could sell the ranch that had been in his family for centuries and stick his ailing mother, Sylvia, in a nursing home somewhere. Sylvia had not spoken to anyone or acknowledged her surroundings since the 1960s. She would never even realize that she was no longer on the ranch.

Winifred Simmons y Castillo was Josh's aunt, Sylvia's sister. Winifred was glad the dirty old man was dead. He never really cared for his ailing wife anyway. Winifred stayed by her sister's side, willing her to live each day. Winifred hired Carolina "Carly" May to write the Castillo family history. She was the last of the Castillo line. It was time to put their history into print for all the world to know. It was time to get vengeance for Sylvia's sake.

Carly loved genealogy. Perhaps it was because she was adopted, her file sealed, and she had no way to know her own biological family history. This time the family she wrote about was famous. Carly felt honored to be doing the Castillo-Quintrell family history. But no one in town wanted Carly to dig into the past. All of them had dark secrets. Many warned her to quit and leave. Help came in the form of mysterious Daniel "Dan" Duran, who was tight lipped about his occupation. All he would tell her is that he was on vacation for a few months. Dan had grown up in the area. He knew a lot about the families Carly was working on. He also knew that most of the locals were, in some way, related to the former Senator. Someone wanted the Senator's secrets to die quietly, just like the dirty old man had. Dan was determined to keep Carly alive.

**** This is a intriguing story filled with danger, suspense, and just a touch of romance. People interested in learning a bit about genealogy, how to find relatives via DNA samples, or how to figure out the dates of old photos will enjoy the details that the author goes into. If you are in no way interested in such things, you may find yourself skimming areas of the book because the author included a lot of her research on the subjects. This makes the story even more realistic to the readers. So does all the information the author added about the history of New Mexico. At some parts of the story I found myself sitting on the edge of my seat, trying to figure out who did what, when, and why, as if it was a CSI television episode. Author Elizabeth Lowell has a new fan in me! ****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

Since you already have reviewers who have given you the premise of the book I'll not duplicate. I never write reviews -- this book was so annoyingly poor that I was determined to say something. What happened to Elizabeth Lowell? Where's the author who wrote the other "Always" books or the "Only" series or the rest of her books?!! The premise was a good idea -- but I think she started to drown in all the characters that had to be brought in to make the premise work. And, one paragraph love scene, does not a Romance Novel make!! By the end of the book I couldn't have cared less about anyone of the characters -- I just wanted the book to be over! Do yourself a favor and wait for the paperback. The hardback was too expensive for the lack of pleasure you receive. Sorry Elizabeth, you're too talented a story teller to sell your public this lackluster excuse for a novel. I gave you two stars because you sat down and tried to write something!

Dumb. Too convoluted,the plot blew up at the end after pages and pages of exposition about the Governor, who was the murderer and who cares? The geneology was a mess, everyone was everyone else's mother and grandmother or father and grandfather and so inbred it's amazing they could see and walk. I'm sorry I wasted the time. One star is too many.

I have read every Elizabeth Lowell book since the early 80s; what has happened to her? I just re-read the series "only mine" etc., the Jade Island, Pearl Cove series, Autum Lover, etc. (plus all of the other wonderful & exciting novels she has written) and excuse me but what happened to the passion and romance between the two leading characters in her most recent books? They are just so boring; I can read about my own genealogy in my mothers bible - how excruciating and boring to read about it in Only Time to Die. I could barely bring myself to finish this book - what a terrible let down. Don't buy this in hardcover or paperback - wait for her next book I guess...she's like Linda Howard, Sandra Brown, etc. All were great in the late 80s, early 90s, but have fizzled out. Not worth the price of hardcover, that is for sure.

I cannot believe how slow, confusing and uninteresting this book was! I am a die-hard Elizabeth Lowell fan and this is the first book of hers I have not liked. I understand that she does not want to write novels with heavy character development anymore, but if she is not going to develop the characters, she should at least try to develop the plot in a more interesting way. It was all I could do to finish the book. This book is not up to Elizabeth Lowell's usual standard and I miss her old style of writing in which she develops the relationship between a man and a woman.

Unfortunately, Elizabeth Lowell has gone from writing excellent romance, to good romantic suspense, and now to only average straight suspense. The rich characterization that has generated such a large fan-base has been abandoned in favor of tediously dull "thrillers" that are anything but. As a fan, I do feel sold out by her past few books. This particular book plods through boring subject matter, with little action and depressingly one dimensional characters. Authors do grow and change, but Lowell's changes of late have not been for the better. After this book, I will no longer purchase her works, but wait for the library copies to free up.

This one kept me up late because I had to finish it! I have to admit that the ending got me a bit because I kinda liked the bad guy...but I did actually get it a few pages before the main characters, always a major feat for me! But I loved the two main characters!

I bought this book because it was about three of my favorite things; It was a murder mystery, about a genealogist, and Taos.
It became a mire of genealogy charts, DNA tests, families that had intermarried for 100 years, and characters that were dismally boring. Set in the winter, there was no taste of the Taos I know, none of the genealogy that I practice, and by the end I didn't care who had been murdered or who the murderer was!

I have read Ms. Lowell before and always enjoyed her writting. This book, however, is slow, slow, slow. I thought the characters were wooden and uninteresting. I also found the plot to be something like the snow and ice of the book, something to be plowed through. Overall, I would say that there are more interesting books out there and, if you are thinking of reading this one, you might like to take a pass.