Customer Reviews

Bad Client (Nick Teffinger Thriller 2)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is part of Jaggerworks 1 (Witness Chase, Bad Client, Lawyer Trap) which was riveting from cover to cover. The author's unique style of writing consists of alternating chapters among three POV characters, one of which is detective Nick Teffinger, one of which is the "bad guy" and one of which is another character, typically an attorney. At the beginning, the book almost seems like three disconnected stories. As the chapters click by, however, the storylines begin to weave together and intertwine tighter and tighter in a way that is almost magical. Don't ever think you know what is coming, though. The author always twists the ending in multiple ways that you never saw coming. When you finally turn that last page all you can do is shake you head and say, "How the hell did he do that?" If you're looking for very good writing joined with very good stories, this is an author you may want to check out.

The star of this little piece of perfection is an edgy little lawyer with a lust for life. I was rooting for her every step of the way. Jagger has hammered out another winner with this one. This book is definitely worth missing a few waves for.

This is an excellent read filled with great characters and a twisty plot that moves like a runaway freight train. Even the most picky thriller fan will be hard pressed to not love this book. I especially liked detective Nick Teffinger. He's got an edgy side that brings a certain something to everything he does and says.

Author R.J. Jagger has a style unlike any other thriller writer that I've come across. He doesn't insult the reader by over-explaining, talking down or sticking in filler words. It's more like he dares you to keep up with him. His plots are twisty and unpredictable to a fault and his characters are always fascinating. The female attorney in Bad Client is an edgy gal and a bit of a slut but you won't stop rooting for her to still alive when the final page turns. Bad Client is classic Jagger all the way. If you've read any of his other books, this one won't disappoint.

This is a great little read written in that hard-edged, erotic style that Jagger is so renowned for. As always, the ending was a shocker. Some day I'll figure out an ending before I get there but it hasn't happened yet. I never get tired of the Nick Teffinger books.

This is a book with real bite. It sucks you in early and keeps you there until the very last page. I was flipping the pages so fast it felt like I was holding a fan.

It's so like Jagger to put a first chapter in a book (this one involves a car accident in the desert), make it stand out like a neon island, and then ignore it page after page after page as seemingly unrelated events take place. You know it has to tie in at some point, but when and how?. Like the tease that he is, Jagger doesn't come back to it until the very end of the book when he stands the plot on it's head in that twisted way that only he can. Add to that a rapier wit, deep characters, spot-on banter and non-stop suspense, and what's not to love? For me, Bad Client is one of those little gems that I come across far too seldom.

First, let me say that I did like the book. On its own it's well-paced, keeps you reading, and has just enough twists and turns to throw you for a good ride without making you dizzy in the process. The characters are a little quirky and their parts are well-written. You get a really good sense of each character's personality and each feels like a real person. I like the way the author swiftly moves around between the different points-of-view. He uses "cliffhanger" chapter endings but he doesn't leave you hanging for long. Another plus for me is that he sticks to the story at hand. Other "thriller" authors - especially those with recurring characters - spend about half the book on the story and the other half working out relationship issues between the main characters and their ex-es or their attention-deprived children. This is good not only because that stuff is really not my cup of tea, but also because by avoiding it he makes it easier to read his books in any order you want.

So why only three stars? Well, I'm on my third Jagger book now and it's become clear that the author has found himself a comfortable formula and by-God he's sticking to it! Just a word of warning before I go on: I don't intend for my comments to be spoilers or give anything away but it's worth mentioning that I will be bringing up specifics - not so much for this book itself as for the author's tendencies in general. So if you want to read this story - or any of his others - without even the slightest hint of any specifics, you've been warned.

As for the chapter organization, the author's MO (just as described in other reviews) tends to be an alternating, 3-way setup between Teffinger, the bad guy, and the protagonist du jour (usually an attractive female attorney). This alone tends to make his books very similar. In addition, the main non-recurring characters tend to have very similar personalities across books. That is to say, each of the bad guys in his various books are fairly similar personality-wise, each of the main female attorney characters are similar, each of Teffinger's love interests are similar, etc. And speaking of Teffinger and romance, *every* woman is not only attracted to Teffinger but has no problem letting him know that in no uncertain terms. The way every woman Teffinger comes across in an investigation - I'm not even talking about his love interests now, I mean all random contacts - comes on to him or flirts with him (without him provoking it in any way) is a little over the top. And as for Teffinger himself, the whole interaction with his various love interests from book to book is a bit puzzling. On the one hand, Teffinger is a mature, sensitive guy that is not interested in a simple fling - he wants a deep, lasting relationship. And at the end of each book, he usually ends up getting just that. Until the next book when he is mysteriously free once again to fall hopelessly in love with the next smoking-hot, sexually uninhibited babe that throws herself at him. Now, OK, I realize that above I said I wasn't interested in the book-to-book relationship stuff. And I'm not. And carrying over a lover from one book to another would certainly ruin the "read in any order" dynamic. But the books do mention other "cases" (i.e. other books) and even other characters from those books. And the cases appear to occur no more than a few months apart. So what happened to all these great girls that Teffinger was so head-over-heels for? And why does he fall so hard for the next great thing every time? It's really just too hard to reconcile the whole dynamic of: (a) Teffinger is really a mature guy that wants a stable loving relationship, (b) Teffinger has to have a love interest for each story, and (c) Teffinger can't have the same love interest in multiple stories or else a certain order-of-reading would be imposed. The easiest way to fix it is to just portray Teffinger as a bit of a player. I mean, he's not finding a stable relationship anyway. And no attempt is being made to show that this is bothering him or that he is becoming frustrated at all these great relationships that apparently fall through pretty quickly after the case is over. So, just make him OK with recreational sex and go from there. He can still be a good, decent guy without trying to find true love in every novel.

Then, there's the issue of those cliff-hanger chapters. The chapter endings are fine and, as I said, he doesn't take too long to get back to them - in real (reading) time, that is. But he has a really annoying habit of leaving a character in a sticky situation and then picking up again with that character long after the issue was resolved. He'll leave the bad guy cooped up in some hiding spot with the cops (or some other force) closing in at the end of one chapter and then pick up again two chapters later with him sitting in a bar or back in his hideout. He'll usually (though not always) "back explain" - that is, tell the reader how the character got out of his/her jam - but you trade that in-the-moment excitement for a usually banal explanation. He doesn't do this with every cliffhanger, but he does it often enough to get on my nerves.

And finally, there is the one overriding omnipotent force driving every one of Jagger's stories: COFFEE! Either Mr. Jagger has a fetish-level obsession with the stuff or he owns stock in Folger's or something. It's a rare chapter indeed in which coffee is not treated like the elixir of life in some way or other. It's actually kind of humorous to a point. But eventually you can't help but think "Man, this guy (the author, that is) thinks about coffee WAY too much".

Whew. OK, that much more long-winded than I had planned. Anyhow, to sum it up, each of Jagger's works that I've read so far (this one included) on their own are quite good for their given niche. When you you start to read a few of them in a row, though, you start to see patterns that the author follows almost as if he had a book-writing blueprint. Overall, I'll probably read more of his works but I'll probably take a break from him after I'm finished my current book. Unless it ends drastically differently than I'm expecting.

Bad Client is fast paced and well plotted. While comparisons will be made with Turow, Grisham and Connelly, Jagger is a unique voice on the legal/thriller scene. I recommend you check out this book but be warned, you are not going to be able to put it down.

Silly and puerile. Can't believe anyone reads this tripe. Fast-forwarded to the end to see what happened. That, too, was a waste of time; the end was worse than the rest of the book. Ugh!