Customer Reviews

Charley's Web

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Charley Webb is a successful single mom with what many might consider a dream job - she writes a column for the Palm Beach Post. What those who may envy her position may not realize is that along with the column comes not only kudos but also a lot of criticism. To date Charley has handled this well.

After unhappy, almost traumatic experiences, with those who are supposed to be near and dear she has isolated herself emotionally. So, when she hears from Jill Rohmer, a woman on Death Row convicted of murdering three young children, Charley thinks she can handle talking to her plus the idea of penning Jill's biography is pretty appealing. It would be the first literary effort for Charley and maybe a bestseller.

In all probability she didn't realize just how tricky dealing with a sick criminal mind can be because she soon discovers that Jill had an accomplice in the killings, a man equally deluded and dangerous. He is referred to as Jack but where he is or who he actually is Charley does not know.

What she does know and what terrifies her are the anonymous letters she begins to receive and the threats to her son.

Another can't-stop-listening-to thriller from Joy Fielding, and one more award worthy voice performance by the always remarkable Susan Ericksen.

- Gail Cooke

And now I have to wait another whole year for her "latest." I finished CHARLEY'S WEB earlier this afternoon, and my heart is still beating fast. The author is a master at creating credible psychological suspense. Fielding's characters are flawed -- I didn't particularly admire Charley, certainly did not like her long-lost/recently found mother, etc., but as usual I could not put the book down. Fielding's characters STAY with you, and even if the mystery wanes, one is drawn to the characters. Suspense is the name of her game, and no one can build it, and certainly end it, like Joy Fielding.

Joy Fielding has done it again. This book, as with her previous novels, has just the right combination of suspense, romance, pathos and humor to keep you hooked from page one through to the end. A warning to the faint hearted: The details of a child murder committed by the prisoner that the protagonist interviews are grisly. It's a tough subject to tackle in fiction and I admire Fielding's courage in trying.

After a series of books that weren't very good (Lost, Puppet, Heartstopper) I wasn't expecting much from this one. I read this book in one day - it was very entertaining. I think it's her best book since Whispers & Lies. I liked the main character. I didn't think it would happen, but I'm glad she finally wrote about a character who had a great relationship with her kids. I wish the book was a little bit longer - I wanted to read more about Charley's father and sisters.

Joy Fielding has been one of my favorite authors for many years. I'm so happy she still continues to write good books. I'm looking forward to the next book.

This book caught my attention due to the name - who can't help but think of the old classic Charlotte's Web even though they are not related in any way or not of the same type of style. Charly's Web is about a Florida columnist and single mom at thirty, who has been battling emotional scars due to family turmoil. Her mother abandoned her family to start her own new one, leaving her emotionally distraught and setting her family further and further apart from one another.

She then gets an exciting new proposition, when she gets contracted by a woman on death row to write a biography of the crime, telling her involvement in the killings of three children and the promise of her telling something that has never been told before - the identity of the other murderer. This was a great chance and exciting for her. So as Charly Web gets interviewing this clever sociopath, learning dangerous details the closer she comes to the second killer, she's putting her own life in danger.

The two woman make for an interesting read. Joy Fielding has a way of writing thrillers and mysteries that keep you engrossed in the book. I really liked it and I think you will too.

"Oh what a tangled web we weave/When first we practice to deceive." -- Sir Walter Scott from "Marmion" "(1st ed. -1808) in re Flodden Field

Charlene (Charley) Webb is a reporter carved from stone and dipped in iron. Her job as a writer is her way of living up to her name. Her sisters are Ann and Emily and her brother, Bram (instead of Branwell) are named in honor of the Bronte family. It should come as no surprise that one of Charley's sisters has an illustrious literary career and the other a toehold in the acting world. Charley's mother has left the family for another woman and Charley and her siblings see neither hide nor hair of her for many years. The Webb children were aged 2-10 when their mother left their bitter father, a self-pitying, unloving man who is determined to wallow in misery for her partner in Australia.

Charley spoofs on her name as well, by linking the literary thread to "Charlotte's Web," a classic in children's literature. Her own two children, Franny, 8 and James, 5 have different fathers and Charley was not married to either man. She remains cordial with them. As another reviewer on the US boards pointed out, Charley is the object of every man's desire whenever she follows leads about Jill's case. That was very implausible to me. Readers are tacitly expected to table reality and buy into Charley's sexual magnetism that draws every man she meets like the magnet attracts metal.

Jill Rohmer, who is jailed for child molestation and murder contacts Charley as she wants a book written about her case. She directs Charley to a lawyer she feels can write a book about the case. Jailed and awaiting her 15 minutes of fame, Jill slithers throughout the book like a serpent. She drops hints that she had a partner whom she calls "Jack." Whether or not such a partner existed and who he might really be is Charley's job to discover.

As another reporter on the US boards stated, I was dismayed with Charley. I also didn't like the obvious dependence upon the Bronte family to prop up the identities and careers of these characters. Bram (as in "Dracula's" creator Bram Stoker) like his real counterpart Branwell Bronte is a substance abuser. He has the triplet challeges of alcohol and drug abuse and his own unresolved problems with their mother re-entering their lives. He has no memory of her as he was 2 when she left the family. Charley, on the other hand and to her credit was able to accept their mother and install her in their lives. Their mother was an especially doting grandmother to Charley's children.

As that same reviewer noted, most of the characters degenerated into stereotypes. The growling and snapping sisters; the precocious kids; the unfriendly neighbors and even Jill. A pure psychopath, Jill would stop at nothing to secure her goals, one of which was to draw all she encountered into her net of deception. She would also show a remarkable ability to survive in any environment, regardless of how adverse. She is like a diamondback, one of the more deadly serpents.

I thought this book was mediocre. The title, as noted by another reviewer is trite and just a way to keep reiterating that the characters were named after the Brontes. While I, too failed to find that clever, the story was like fiber and roughage - it kept things moving along to a fitting end.

Charley Webb is the product of a dysfunctional family who has somewhat made it on her own by authoring a newspaper column column, though she is still in the shadow of her more accomplished siblings. She has not had as much success in love, though her relationships did give her two children she adores from two different men with whom she is still friendly. Her writing attracts the attention of Jill Rohmer, a woman on death row for killing 3 children she was a caretaker for. Jill offers Charley the opportunity to interview her exclusively in hope of a book deal - Jill wants her side of the story to be told. Charley sees this as her opportunity to make it big, but when emails start arriving which contain threats to her children, Charley realizes that there is more to Jill's story than she has been told and she is in over her head.

This was the first book I have read by Joy Fielding. Though not exactly War and Peace, it is very good for what it is: a psychological thriller geared towards women. There are elements of romance, suspense, and family drama. The story is entertaining, the characters (especially Charley's troubled brother Bram) are interesting, and the subplots concerning Charley's efforts to repair the broken relationships between her siblings and parents keep the story moving during the sections that do not focus on Jill. I read this book in one day - Charley's Webb perfect as escapist fiction.

This is the first novel I have read by this author. I read another review that claimed this was predictable. I feel TOTALLY to the contrary!!!I am a fan of this genre and this book "blew me away." She has found a new reader. I am still in shock. I just finished the book and I am shaking my head in awe .

Charley's Web was a good book if you like suspense and mystery. I have read all of the books Joy Fielding has written though and I could tell pretty early who the partner in crime was going to be. I'm not sure if she's just getting that predictable or if I've just read too many books like this. I also found the details about the crime almost too hard to read; they were horrific. I didn't care a lot for the main character, Charley. Her only redeeming quality was that she cared so much for her kids and her brother. She was stupid in her choices for a mate (anyone who looked good), only wanted to see her mother when she needed something (a babysitter or a nice meal cooked), couldn't forgive her mother yet wouldn't really talk it out with her although her mom wanted to & made enemies of most people she met. She didn't get along with her neighbors until one day they all came together--too unbelievable. I did enjoy the book but it would sure be nice to have a main female character who was smarter and didn't need a man to save her.

I read thrillers and suspense novels all year every year and rarely am lucky enough to come across a 5-star one, but Charley's Web is one of those. I couldn't put it down. Highly recommended.