46 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Black Jack leaves a bit to be desired, March 4, 2010
This review is from: Black Jack (Mass Market Paperback)
As the saying goes, when Lora Leigh is good, she is very, very good. When she isn't... well, it's frustrating to say the least. Books such as 'Wild Card', 'Mercury's War', and 'Coyote's Mate', are all fantastic, and are among my favorites. Others however, including 'Bengal's Heart', 'Maverick', and 'Heat Seeker', have left me dissatisfied. The problems that I have those books are ones that I have seen other reviewers repeat; female characters who should be strong and intelligent repeatedly and easily kowtowing to their "alpha" male counterparts; clumsy introduction of series-changing plot devices; and, of course, the repeated use of the phrase "damn you" in every love scene.
Thankfully, none of those problems are present in Black Jack. Travis is strong and protective, but Lilly is fully capable of protecting herself; they function as a team, helping and saving one another. The structure of the Elite Ops organization is introduced fairly smoothly, although more information would have been welcomed. And, with the exception of two short scenes, 'damn you' does not make an appearance.
Unfortunately, the book lacks the deep characterization and plot that I have come to expect from Leigh. We are given little information about Lilly beyond her title and a shallow look at her relationship with her family while she was growing up. We are told even less about Travis. That his wife is responsible for his death alluded to several times, but never explained, and no other background information is forthcoming.
The plot is similarly murky. The characters seem to do little investigative work beyond several short discussions. When revealed, the motives of the criminal were either quite confusing or amazingly shallow. Greed? Insanity? And just how did the terrorist connection come into play? I'm still not sure. In addition, the issue of whether Lilly's memory has or will return, and the subsequent consequences, is quite important, but it was never conclusively addressed. Like another reviewer, I was left wondering at the end whether I had missed something.
From any other author, Black Jack would be a credible effort, and a quick and mindless read for a train or plane ride. From Leigh, who is capable of so much more, I feel like I read the first draft of a book that has a lot of possibility, but a long way to go.
**Note- As some other reviewers have mentioned, I purchased an e-book version of this book, and it came without the 21 page prologue. After contacting the seller (not Amazon, but another major retailer), they immediately sent me a complete version. I also was curious whether it was also missing an epilogue or even chapters within the book that could fill in some holes in the story, but unfortunately it wasn't.
**Also note the short-story `Nighthawk', distributed free by Macmillan publishing is a prequel to this book, but is NOT the prologue which you may be missing.
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
A Downward Spiral, March 12, 2010
This review is from: Black Jack (Mass Market Paperback)
I have to admit that after the disaster that was "Heatseeker", I wasn't expecting much. Good thing, because in "Black Jack" we have another poorly edited mess of a book with yet another rushed and confusing ending.
Not content with ignoring the rules of English grammar (e.g.; "Myself and Night Hawk's commanders have come up with...", "She felt a wariness about bringing her suspicions to anyone...", and "She leaned a shapely hip against the back of the couch Travis sat in."), Leigh has now turned her attention to British nobility and has re-written the laws of primogeniture. In the real world, Victora/Lilly's brother Jared would inherit the title when their father was killed. However, in Leigh's world, while Victoria/Lilly is "Lady Victoria", her brother isn't "Lord Harrington" or even "Lord Jared" and the uncle/stepfather inherits the title. And don't get me started on the frequent mentions of lunch and tea with the Queen Mother (who, by the way, passed away in early 2002).
But those are just a few the many problems in this book. If edited properly and all the repetitive sections were removed, this would be a 200-page novella instead of a 350-page novel. Frankly, it would have been a much better, much more suspenseful read.
I'm a long-time fan of Lora Leigh, but I've been deeply, deeply disappointed in the past three books I've read "Bengal's Heart", "Heatseeker" and "Black Jack." It's as if she has lost her passion for writing and is now reduced to cranking out substandard pap to meet her contracted deadlines. As a passionate fan of her Breeds series, I've been awaiting Jonas' story for years, but I'm afraid that if that book (to be released in early April) is as bad as the past three, Ms. Leigh and I will be parting ways.
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