Death Qualified (Barbara Holloway Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Kate Wilhelm (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Veteran writer Wilhelm ( Sweet, Sweet Poison ) has produced another intricate, many-layered novel, in equal parts murder mystery, science fiction, psychological study and consideration of legal ethics. Nell Kendricks is charged with murdering her estranged husband, Lucas, who disappeared years ago while working on a top-secret experiment attempting to use chaos theory to change the observer's perception of the universe. Now it appears that Lucas had spent the intervening years drugged and amnesiac, a handyman at the university where the studies had taken place. Attorney Barbara Holloway, who is "death qualified" (i.e., legally permitted to act in capital cases), agrees to defend Nell, despite having left the profession, disillusioned by its practices. Barbara decides the key to the case lies in the chaos project and the mysterious death of one of the researchers. Facing a politically motivated, hostile prosecutor, Barbara is helped by a young mathematician, who becomes her lover. Wilhelm sensitively depicts her characters and their relationships, creating an insightful study of what is and what might be, ending in thought-provoking ambiguity.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
Noted for both her science fiction/fantasy novels as well as her mysteries, Wilhelm combines these genres in her latest fiction. The novel begins with an arresting first paragraph, and the intensity is sustained until the final page. Lucas Kendricks, an unwilling participant in a scientific study on the mathematical theories of chaos, is murdered, allegedly by his wife Nell. Lucas had suffered from an altered perception of reality as a result of being used as a guinea pig. The story gradually unfolds during the aftermath of Lucas's murder. The novel's title refers to the lawyer who defends Nell, who is "death qualified," i.e., qualified to conduct a case with a potential death sentence. It is difficult to describe the novel's many dimensions, ranging from tense courtroom scenes to the almost fantastic descriptions of the scientific study. Most astonishing is the author's ability to peel off one layer after another, revealing new ways of looking at the same facts. Highly recommended for general readers. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 3/1/91.
- Kathy Armendt Sorci, IIT Research Inst., Annapolis, Md.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 438 pages
• Publisher: Fawcett (May 23, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449221555
• ISBN-13: 978-0449221556
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,068,182 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 1 in The Barbara Holloway Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Amazon Synopsis is for a different Wilhelm novel!, February 22, 1997

By A Customer

Wilhelm's unique ability to speak from her character's minds has never been more striking than in this tense story which sweeps from a university campus in the rockies to the woods of oregon. This is a haunting story, chock full of complex, interesting characters carried along in a gripping plot. Buy this book! It will be reread..

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tries to do far too many things at once, July 26, 2000

By	Michael Huggins (Memphis, TN United States) - See all my reviews

"Death Qualified" is a very interesting and ambitious book--in fact, interesting in too many different ways, and ultimately, too ambitious.

It's a human drama about young adults and middle-aged people facing their conflicts and unfulfilled needs; cheating spouses, parents estranged from their grown children, etc.

It's a murder mystery. Who killed the long-lost husband in the woods? His estranged wife? Unseen enemies? An unlucky shot from a hunter?

It's a courtroom drama. Naturally, the defense attorney was once the lover of the prosecutor. Defense keeps hammering at an angle that can never be proven, and the prosecutor contests her every step. Will an innocent woman go to jail, and her kids be left without the care of parents?

It's a science fiction thriller. What was the pathbreaking experiment that went horribly wrong, and whose lives did it plunge into a nightmare of insanity and murder? This part gripped me the most, but it isn't really explained until about the last 50 pages.

Finally--and improbably--it's got a dash of "Celestine Prophecy." This part might be OK for atmosphere, but to use it to wrap things up is completely unnecessary and almost adds a note of unintended comedy.

To me, the best thing about it is that the author uses poignancy to heighten the sense of horror and dread that builds throughout the novel. The poignancy and the horror combine to make this more than just a formula novel or an airplane book.

I almost stopped reading before about 20 pages, because at that point, the author was writing too much like a city dweller who kept having to remind herself that if you don't live in LA, Chicago, or New York, you've got to talk "folksy." Fortunately, that distraction soon passed. However, the author should have avoided another distraction--that of giving characters last names like Dinesen and Belloc. If you're going to do that, you might as well name the local garage owner Cal Dickens and the local court stenographer Jenny Hemingway.

In any case, the author is telling 4 or 5 interesting stories, but they never really quite come together. Still, the book gives you something to chew on.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Chaos, December 16, 2007

By	Linda "katknit" (CT, United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Death Qualified (Barbara Holloway Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

I recently read Wilhelm's The Deepest Water, finding it flat and predictable. It was with great pleasure, therefore, that I found myself engrossed from the opening sentence of Death Qualified, in which the heavily sedated and confusing world of Lucas Kendricks is revealed. Page by page, the suspense builds until, about a third of the way through, the murder comes almost as a relief. From that point forward, the plot becomes ever more complex, as characters and circumstances, emotions and evidence, puzzles and solutions, emerge and rebound. Although I was able to identify the murderer fairly early, basing my guess upon information contained within a single sentence, the motive and methods were much more difficult to discern. Some scenes could have been eliminated (the pursuit through the woods, for instance, and one of the romantic affairs), and several loose ends were left dangling (just exactly did Doc's wife know?), but such flaws are minor enough to ignore when balanced against the novel's considerable assets. The excitement comes to an abrupt end in the final chapter, which is subtly chilling.
Intelligent and satisfying.