Customer Reviews

Contents Under Pressure

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

 

 

I am an avid reader of Edna Buchanan's books. Edna really tells it like is about life and crime in Miami. "Contents Under Pressure" is by far, my favorite Buchanan novel. As her first novel in the Britt Montero series, I think that it's her best. What a page turner it was! I had to ration the book so that I could make it last. "Contents Under Pressure" is also my favorite because as a native Miamian, I know the all about the Arthur MacDuffie case, the real story that the fictional D. Wayne Hudsen tale was based upon. This book brought back some unsettling memories about what Miami was like during that time. I love Britt Montero and the stories she gets herself involved in. Keep the great books coming, Edna!

Britt Montero, a seasoned 30-something crime reporter, works the seamy side of Miami for a major daily. If only half her tales are true of criminals and street people targeting tourists, I wouldn't want to go there, even for a day on the beach. According to Britt and her friends, the producers of the TV series Miami Vice (not actually named) spent millions upgrading dilapidated neighborhoods to make their level of degradation believable for TV audiences. In this stew of crime, heat, poverty, and traffic congestion, Britt uncovers evidence of racially-based police brutality. Pursuing such a story not only would sour her crucial relationship with the police, it potentially could divide the city. It's a trendy story, briskly written to pull the reader along. I couldn't say, however, that it stands out from the crowd of books featuring feisty single women, whose lives are full of people under 40. I listened to the recorded book, ably read by Donada Peters.

This is the second Britt Montero novel that I read from the series and find them enjoyable. The characters are well portrayed and I find Britt and her photographer Lottie to be likable. The action is non stop and the plot is far from predictable.

Edna Buchanan introduces readers to an intrepid protagonist in the persona of Britt Montero. CONTENTS UNDER PRESSURE is just what the headlines say, it is as explosive as a front page expose of crime in an exotic city.
Britt propels readers on a seat of the pants ride through the streets of Miami in her search for the truth and a front page story. She is a character that will draw readers to beg for more from a former ace reporter who knows her beat and her trade.
This is one title I will keep on my shelf to read a second time.
Nash Black, author whose titles are now available on Amazon Kindle.
Sins of the Fathers: A Brewster County NovelWriting as a Small Business

I had read a short story by Edna Buchanan in a newspaper Sunday supplement and it was very good. Went into my library and I had a book by this author--pulled it out and read. One of the worst books I have read in the past year! Thank goodness it was short! I kept hoping it would improve, it was like a blueprint for a novel in progress

Edna does a fantastic job with the details and actions in this book. The main character is portrayed as a strong individual. This is refreshing because too often female characters always need a man to make them, or they are airheads, etc. Edna created a great storyline which will have you sitting on the edge of your seat until the end.

Edna Buchanan is an insightful and intelligent writer. The strength of her Britt character and the other women was nice to read. I get tired of the hapless naives that are usually swooning for attention and support in other novels. It's good to see a woman with confidence, intellect, and scruples measure up to the job at hand.

I thought that the books which featured Britt Montero were very well written and fun to read... Miami is the beat for a Pulitzer Prize-winning police reporter Britt Montero. Blonde, green-eyed and game, Cuban-American, Britt knows the city's sleaze like her backyard. ¶ But now she's stonewalled. How did D. Wayne Hudson, a well-respected black, die? Did the cops do it? ¶ Her editor wants to play it down, but Britt is onto a story about excessive police violence. When it breaks, so does the fragile truce that holds the city together. Montero finds her very life at stake.

I enjoy the Britt Montero series. Britt is a focused reporter with a seemingly tough outer shell covering a very vulnerable woman. I have great sympathy for her relations with her mother and editor,Gretchen. I like the details Edna Buchanon includes about reporting and wresting public information from the police. My only complaint is that I was devastated at the senseless death ....