Customer Reviews

Blind Instinct (Jessica Coran)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

This book looked interesting. I enjoy reading Patrica Cornwell's books so thought it would be of the same quality (especially as a review said so).

I nearly stopped reading after 40 pages or so. I hardly ever not finish a book, so carried on - what a mistake. Basically the story is very good (or should I say could have been very good), but the characters are wooden and so stereotyped.

But by far the worst aspect is the constant use of English phrases, words and sayings. I think I am 'qualified' here, as I am from England but living in the US. It seemed like he had an old copy of an English slang dictionary, which he kept referring to. Now I know our two languages can be quite different, but please, most of them I had never ever heard before. He must have got bored in the middle because about 2 sides must have been copied from this dictionary, with the American translation.

One last thought - has the author ever been to London? I know it is quite costly to travel there, but if you are going to almost completely base a novel there and include sightseeing and experiencing life there, maybe it would be worth a visit first?

I don't normally like to criticise, especially as I am no author myself, but I wasted my time, plus its a waste of what is essetially a good storyline.

I'm glad I picked this book up from a used book store and did not pay full price. I have previously enjoyed the Jessica Coran books, but this one went way off the tracks. It had all the basic elements of a great crime novel, but Walker has distracted the reader with irrelevant trivia surrounding the location.

Walker must have had a brief trip to London and got caught up in the fact that the US and UK are "two countries divided by a common language". He wastes half the book explaining the language and cultural differences, so he must have developed a personal fascination and preoccupation with it. I say brief visit, because there are lots of factual errors. All of this totally detracts from the main purpose of reading crime novels - the Mystery. He has failed to create a real suspense that draws the reader into it.

I have come close to giving up on reading this book several times. I am only 60% of the way through, and it may yet end up in the garbage before I get to the last chapter. Reading the other reviews here, it would appear that we Brits come down heavier on the negative side (I have spent half my life on each side of "the Pond"). I wonder why? :-)

The comparison to Patricia Cornwell is very relevant - she went way off the rails in her latter books too.

I read Pure Instinct and thought it one of the worst books I've ever read but I figured he might have had an "off day," so I decided I would give him one more chance. Boy was I sorry I ever spent the money. Jessica is one of the most uninteresting, overblown characters I've ever come across. It seems the author wants to compete with Kay Scarpetta and has to make every villain the most bloodthirsty, "satanic," depraved killer to have come along since Jack the Ripper. Frankly, crucifying people till they suffocate just ain't that bad. The story goes on and on ad nauseum about good and evil and the author even includes quotes at the chapter beginnings from a book by one of the characters. There are red herrings everywhere (and they smell), the love story is inane and he rehashes a previous love interest ad infinitum. Finally, the topper--he makes this a travel book with Jessica sightseeing. And if that wasn't enough, he explains EVERY British turn of phrase and word difference (boot vs. trunk); in some cases, twice! Need I say any more?

I've read all of the INSTINCT books and must say that this is a very literary and well-written novel. This one is set in London, England and follows evil in a few disguises...the twist of who actually is behind the murders is good. The only bad part was the story of TATOO MAN, I don't think that should have been in this one, a waste of space. I'm glad Walker decided not to tell us who the killer is, like he's done in the past books. I like a little whodunnit in my suspense books I read.

Walker's knowledge of English terms and language is masterful, Jessica's dillemas are all to real and the outcome leaves me wanting more of this series.

I'm currently hunting down any and all of Walker's other books and look forward to his next one. Good stuff!

Blind Instinct wasn't exactly a book that I could not put down.
It was disappointing, cardboard in characterization, and it seemed like the author filled a lot of blank pages with good and evil philosophy just to lengthen the book toward its predictable end. There was no surprise ending here, and I know more than I need to about Jessica's heart and her past relationship with James Parry. Might make a good prime time movie, if you leave out all the intellectual conversations about evil. Real people truly do not converse in this way, or am I missing something? I'll stick to Tess Gerritsen and Michael Palmer for suspense!

This book is for a more mature audience that can handle a subject as serious as this. I thought that the book was written pretty well for the most part. He makes the characters easy to identify with. The main drawback on the book was when Walker returned to that first case back in the U.S. That was a horrible move in my opinion. There was no logical placement of this event. his whole focus had been on London, and he suddenly turned his focus towards the U.S. case for a couple of chapters. Jessica's friend solved te case and then back to the case on crucifixion in London.
The book had great suspense. He would let the reader think that one person definitely had to be the crucifier. Then all of a sudden he smashed that idea leaving you wondering who it actually could be. Jessica suspected Father Luc Sante several times. Then at other times, she thought he couldn't possibly be it. She even suspected her partner, Richard because he had a book about Crucifixion.
The thing i really disliked about this book was that it ended to abruptly. Jessica finally finds out who the killer is and Walker doesn't go anywhere with it. The ending is just way too short to be called a good ending. They figured out who the killer was and voila, they immediatley find him and that is the end of the story.
In the end this book was pretty fun to read. It is a book that does not contain a lot of action but contains suspense that will keep your reading for hours.

I found this book on a discount rack for a dollar. That should have been my first clue. What got me to buy it was a Clive Cussler comment, "Walker is Masterful." Well, Clive's books have been going downhill, so maybe I shouldn't have placed stock in his comment.

Amateurish would be a compliment for this writer, who displays from almost the first page his utter lack of understanding of the subject matter and a total lack of research into his chosen main location, London. Inaccuracies and errors abound (I found his reference to Sherlock Holmes living at 21 Baker Street to be particularly amusing). It looks like he bought a tourist book of London and freely quoted from it in order to flesh out his locations and descriptions. He used a phrasebook to get his London expressions right, and when he needed to fill out a chapter he just spent four pages defining English colloqialisms. By the way, Mr. Walker, using the word "bloody" this or that is particularly insulting in England, comparable to using the "F" word in America. If Sharpe used it that frequently around Jessica, he was being an unfeeling and insensitive cad to a visitor he was trying to get friendly with. The author also has no time sense, skipping merrily from morning to afternoon to evening with no continuity.

As for his lead character, Dr. Jessica Coran, it is obvious that Mr. Walker hasn't had a date with a woman in years. He handles his title character hamhandedly, and has her make stupid, loutish and suicidal decisions that would get her drummed out of the Mayberry Police Department by Barney Fife himself, let alone be a member of the FBI. Her personality is oafish and insulting, and she displays a total lack of compassion and intelligence. Let me give you a clue, Dr. Coran. I knew from his first appearance who the killer was, and only a blind, stupid idiot would have missed it. In addition, never go into a dark, unexplored cavern without backup and with your prime suspects both ahead of you and behind you. You deserved what you got in the cavern. I wish you'd paid for your stupidity with your life. It would have ended this truly banal series of books.

The book's supporting characters are shallow and unfulfilled. The relationship between Shape and Copperwaite takes wild swings even before their conflict. Their use of nicknames is inconsistent and confusing, with the reader never really getting a handle on their relationship.

I also checked out the author's web site, which looks like it was made by a seventeen-year-old who has seen too many episodes of "Tales from the Crypt". A truly low-class web site that proves that you get what you pay for; obviously not much in this case.

I've thrown this book away (a first for me) so that no on else will ever be in the least tempted to read it.

I have never been driven to write a review of a book before, but this book is so atrocious that I simply had to write. I noticed that there are six other paperback titles in this series, I will certainly not waste my limited time & money purchasing those titles.
Dr. Jessica Coran is an FBI medical examiner who is sent to England to help New Scotland Yard to catch the "Crucifier." What is wrong with this book? The characters are so stock they are stereotypes. The villain is obvious from introduction. The plot sinks like an anchor in spots. The many allusions to previous titles in the series certainly didn't entice a further connection with Dr. Coran. I can't believe I read the whole thing! In my defense, I am now cleansing my palate by reading Val McDermid's A place of execution.

To begin with, I purchased this in the Kindle format. The editing errors were terrible, from the gratuitous use of hyphens in words that don't require them to the terrible spelling errors. There were even places in the book that looked like editors notations. Several times, the perspective of the book changed between characters and there was no indication that it had happened.

The editing/spelling errors were the least of this books problems though. Jessica is a favorite character of mine, I have read all the books in the series through this one. In this story, she is incompetent. It was pretty obvious who the killer was early on. She is even drugged by him at one point in the book - yet never seems to connect the dots. Incredible.

The dialogue is horrible. It drags on, repeats, and added absolutely nothing to the overall story. Making the dialogue worse was the overuse of slang. I've been to London, and I don't recall anyone using the strings of slang words that the characters used. It seemed like the author had a book of British slang and was determined to use every word contained within. I think he may have achieved this goal.

I only paid $.99 for this book, and I still don't think it was worth the money.

This is the second book of the Instinct" series I have read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The story is good it is not overly gruesome and the plot keeps twisting back and forth to keep you on the edge of your seat till the last few pages. After reading this I ordered 2 more of the books in the series. I would also recomend Unnatural Instinct as a follow up to this book. Jessica Coran kicks butt.