Customer Reviews

Charmed Circle (Gemstar)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book had me engrossed from almost the first page. The relationships between diverse characters from different parts of the world who once a year meet for a holiday on an idyllic Caribbean Island.

But all is now what it seems and as the years go by, the friendships grow, but the members of this little group start to die. Are the deaths anything to do with the group, or are they just random?

Carol Smith makes us care for all of these people. The elegant and kind American Judge and his ebullient and altogether charming and brilliant friend. The Southern Lady and her daughter who aren't quite as they seem. The young Doctor, who loves them all and gives encouragement and succour to all who need it, but what about her love life? Young music enthusiast, and orphan, trying t get to the top of her tree and to find real love, but so encroaching on other's relationships. And the upwardly mobile business woman who isn't quite as self contained as she seems.

All of them brought together by the magnetic Vincent and in the end find that friendship can survive almost anything.

This book is one which will have me thinking about the characters and what they might be doing now for days to come.

I thoroughly recommend it to any reader who likes to feel involved in the lives of the characters and especially who love a good whodunit with a twist.

I read Carol Smith's first book, Circle of Friends, and thought her second would be even better. I was sadly disappointed. A murder mystery that is dull and does not even have a murder until over half way through the book is hard to trudge through at best. The plot was thin, the characters weak and tiring. I found myself irritated for even finishing the book. If she tries this again I hope she learns from this major mistake.

I am so annoyed to have wasted my time reading this graceless novel that I feel compelled to alert potential readers to impending banality and completely cliched writing.

From stock, uninvolving characters to clunky prose: "From the very first moment they'd met at the Mill Reef Club, this pair had eyes only for each other. His chiseled Cossack cheekbones and slanting eyes complemented her more Caucasian features..." (I swear I opened the book at random to cite an example.)

This is Carol Smith's second effort and my first meeting. I can only surmise that her first effort was a superlative achievement and paved the way for this amazingly trite secondary effort. Or perhaps, since she is herself a literary agent, she has friends in the right places.

The unmasking of the murderer--the identity of whom is evident in the first one-third of the book--takes place atop the precarious roofline of London's Albert Hall. Gosh, I wonder what happens next?

There is a surfeit of well-written, engrossing novels now available at the bookstore. Don't waste your time with this embarassing clunker.

An older book that interested me from the back cover description. I was not disappointed.

The characters and the premise were captivating from the get go - so much so that I read it in one sitting. (Sunday afternoon to well after midnight) The plot moved from one to another character smoothly and at just the right speed.

Don't expect a murder right away. You are introduced to everyone VERY well and get to know them before one of the group is felled. The prologue is your clue as to who is first to go. You really need to pay attention to "the little things" that happen because they will be important later on. You know, those little clues that are hidden in plain sight.

This was one of those books that stayed with me for several days and was thought provoking enough to recommend and loan to a very good friend.

A collection of clicheed and unbelievable characters meets on vacation in the Caribbean. They have so much fun that they regroup in various combinations at various locations around the world... until various members of the group start dying, and the book turns into a convoluted whodunnit.

The plot is leakier than a sieve, and the cast is totally implausible. I almost decided to stop reading half way through, but finished it and quite enjoyed the over-the-top ending!

This book was also published in the U.K. under the title "Double Exposure".