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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"I'm Gonna Give You The Word, Lieutenant.", August 2, 2005
CAPE FEAR (formerly THE EXECUTIONERS, which was somewhat of a spoiler title and better changed) is one of prolific author John D. MacDonald's many classic thrillers. MacDonald, who brought the world Travis McGee, has written a short, taut frightening tale of a homicidal stalker.
In 1943 while overseas, JAG Lieutenant Sam Bowden stopped the rape of an Aussie Sheila and helped to convict one Sergeant Max Cady, sending him up for life at Leavenworth. But now it's 1957, Bowden is comfortably practicing law in the Hudson Valley and environs, and Max Cady's sentence has been commuted. Cady smashes Bowden's idyllic Eisenhower-era life to bits by beginning the slow and deliberate hunt of his wife and children, while Sam's beloved legal system is paralyzed by its own sense of fairness.
A phenomenally frightening book which was made into 1962's terrifying film CAPE FEAR starring Gregory Peck (as Bowden) and Robert Mitchum (as Cady), and 1991's remake starring Nick Nolte and Robert DeNiro, CAPE FEAR is one of those rare books that makes you shiver---and the Peck/Mitchum version particularly is even more effective, one of the best book-to-film translations ever. Well worth reading (and/or seeing) CAPE FEAR lives all the way up to its name.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable Read, August 6, 2007
This review is from: Cape Fear (Formerly Titled the Executioners) (Mass Market Paperback)
This is a good read and MacDonald has an easy to read prose style. This is an enjoyable but not gripping book. I liked it but it is not a grab you by the shirt collar suspense book.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable, but Minor, December 6, 2007
This review is from: Cape Fear (Formerly Titled the Executioners) (Mass Market Paperback)
CAPE FEAR is an entertaining novel written by John MacDonald in 1957. It's essentially a story about a civilized man whose family is being threatened by a murderous psychopath. The central theme of the book is how far the man will go to protect himself and the ones he loves.
MacDonald is certainly a highly skilled and intelligent writer, but CAPE FEAR left me somewhat cold. It's not very suspenseful or gripping, and I didn't feel the characters (especially the main character's children) were very well developed. A lot of the dialogue is pretty stilted. It's an interesting book on a thematic level, but I wasn't very engaged by it.
In short, CAPE FEAR is an enjoyable way to spend a few hours, but I wouldn't recommend it to a modern reader looking for fast-paced thrills.
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