Customer Reviews

Chain of Evidence

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Ridley Pearson comes up with some of the more original serial murder plots - in Chain of Evidence, a legendary forensic scientist turns rogue - or does he? - against those he thinks are helping criminals like his wife's murderer.

Hero cop Joe Dartelli has everything a fiction hero needs - weirdly abusive childhood, the choice of beautiful and brilliant co-worker or beautiful and brilliant ex, ... and an annoying range of physical reactions. In just a couple of pages early on, he:

feels a worming sense of worry twist his gut, feels the constant din of his internal voice nagging, feels his words catch in his throat, his mind reels, the worry burns inside him again, he felt the need to spill his guts, his voice becomes too tight to answer... I kept hoping for someone to put him out of his misery.

The circumstances of the original cover-up aren't that clear, the computer hacking at the end is ludicrously fanciful, and seemingly every location in the book is

described as too dangerous for whites to go after dark, far more so than any book set in NY or LA. In between all this murk, there are also flashes of Mr Pearson's talent as a snappy crime writer. Still, you might want to skip this one, and read Beyond Recognition instead.

Ridley Pearson really knows his stuff. What he writes is believable and well thought out. I found the book tightly plotted. I like all of his books. The only negative I found was the length. At times it dragged. Too many novels today are overly long and would really benefit from judious cutting. Other than that, good summer (or anytime for that matter) read

Chain of Evidence is an exceptionally interesting and detailed story in a poorly written book. The plot keeps unwinding in surprising directions, while the forensic and high-tech details are interesting and entertaining. It's a good read, and it would probably make a good movie.

But the attempt to describe the tortured soul of the protagonist never really works. His relationships with women and his former mentor are not credible. His angst winds up feeling like heartburn. If you read novels for characters, skip this one. If you want an exciting plot, buy it now.

Ridley Pearson has done it again. I began reading his books with the Lou Boldt series and then progressed to all of his others. I just could not put them down and often finish one in a night...much to my chagrin the next morning!!! Try him..you will love him!!!

I didn't like the prologue of this book.When I had first started reading it reminded me of a Jerry Springer show. So I dropped it to read something more interesting.
Two months later, when I was consumed by boredom, almost to the brink of insanity. I picked the book up.
The first part is, eh... kind of boring. The the investigation and the methods involved are real enough. His relationships are questionable and tad obscure; with his mentor, with his 'girlfriend'.
The main character isn't very dyanmic, but he has a very underplayed sentimentalism that will have 'the readers' sympathize with him.
The minor characters aren't very dynamic either, with the exception of his mentor walter Zeller, who might just be insane.
The book is comprised of mainly rising action, which is interesting, because after you get past all of the methodical investigating, relationships down played tension. It's just action, suprises, blood and glancing bullets all the way. The climax of this book is one of the best ever written and for just the climax alone I will rate the abook a five.
I highly recommend this Book.

Ridley Pearson is a competent writer, and never goes into 'blockbuster action movie-unbelievable' mode with his characters in this book. A deliberate introduction to the setting is interesting, but Pearson's ending ties up all the ends. I often wonder why books like this don't make it to the B-movie grate. It's a good story that's good in the bathroom, bedroom, or plane

What can I say ? Extremely predictable and unrealistic.

I have not read any other books by Ridley Pearson and perhaps I should. I am hoping that this book is not an example of his finest work. Perhaps it just slipped through or maybe it was published as a joke!

This is not to say don't read it. If you are looking for a way to while away the hours I would say reading Chain of Evidence scores above an evening of watching sitcoms on TV.

I'm sorry, but the characters were made of cardboard. Devices are thrown into the plot just to make it work. Dart, the main character just doesn't seem to have the motivation to do what he does. His relationship with his mentor and possible adversary is hollow. I have to admit that I started marking the book in the margins when things bothered me!

Here is one tiny example. One of the women in his life, Angie, also works for the Hartford Police (as he does). She is divorced with kids. The kids never appear in the book, as they don't have to. But instead of using a plausible excuse for them being absent (and giving Dart and Angie a chance to, ahem, get it on) she ditches them (with the neighbor, it's not really clear). Wouldn't it be more likely that she shares joint custody with her ex and they are spending the time with him? And don't ask me about the non kid friendly loft she lives in.

It's little things like this that make the whole story not ring true. It feels like the author either didn't take time to think things through or perhaps this was the treatment for a screenplay. I could see it made into a movie where Hollywood could gloss over the little details that have to be spelled out in a novel for it to work.

Also, the stereotyping of minorities borders on being offensive.

This is just my opinion. Please do read the novel for entertainment. I guess my expectations are just too high. Who do I read and enjoy? How about Elmore Leonard and Ed McBain?

Now I'm going to see if I can find another Ridley Pearson novel and give it a chance!

With cardboard cut-out characters whose logic and motivation never mesh with this reader's life experience, and a plot that is hackneyed and unbelievable, this book was a chore to slog through. I could never quite bring myself to care about the protagonist or his problems, and the "mystery" was so ridiculous that I just didn't care it the killer was caught or not.

Don't waste you time on this one.

Action packed. The ending was almost unbearably exciting