Customer Reviews

The Depths of Solitude

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I've recently discovered Bannister's Brodie Farrell series and now I can't get enough. Unlike other reviewers, I found this book completely engaging and full of surprises. For example, the major characters reveal complex personalities not portrayed in earlier books. I liked all the characters in The Depths of Solitude, including the bad guys, and I even enjoyed the sometimes cloyingly sincere Daniel.

Math teacher Daniel Hood and his friend Brodie Farrell, owner of Looking for Something, argued whether the former needed to kill the homicidal Daws children (see REFLECTIONS). Their spat led to the end of their friendship as Daniel, feeling betrayed, cut his ties with Brodie before vanishing. Though her business of finding things, raising a young daughter by herself, and dating Detective Superintendent Jack Deacon keep her busy, Brodie misses her buddy Daniel.

Used to locating the impossible, Brodie decides to find her friend and if necessary apologize because he means a lot to her. However, the difficult search turns dangerous as someone begins an assault on Brodie, which becomes increasingly more perilous. She talks with Jack insisting she has no enemies, but he says consider Daniel, who he detests perhaps because deep inside he deems the man a rival. Though with lingering doubt, Brodie rejects Jack's hypothesis while the frustrated cop struggles unsuccessfully to keep her safe.

Though the twists and turns never stop coming the stunners in some ways hinder the pace (think of several miles of a serpentine road twisting around a mountain). Still series fans will enjoy the refreshing change of Brodie in the lead instead of Daniel. The story line is action-packed as a series of mishaps assault Brodie with even her wondering if her former best friend from his hiding place could hate her so much. The final spin is clever and will surprised readers who will wonder what if the plot remained linear with a secondary theme involving Daniel as by the climax the brakes are worn down from all the meandering.

Harriet Klausner

Brodie Farrell is saddened that her friend David has abandoned her, driven away by her failure to understand the decisions he made. But when she attempts to find him, she suddenly finds terrible things happening to her. A brick hits her car as she drives under a bridge. Her purse is stolen while she's sitting at a pub. Then her car is firebombed. Could David be so angry that he'd kill her rather than face her? Certainly Brodie can think of no other enemy.

Brodie's problems escalate even after she finds David and persuades herself that her gentle friend could have nothing to do with the problems she's had. She's attacked in her house and her ex-husband, sent to guard her, is injured. Boyfriend and Police Detective Superintendent Jack Deacon, along with sidekick Sergeant Charlie Voss try to help, but Deacon starts to wonder whether Brodie really is the target. Could the attack on her be some sort of perverted attempt to strike at Deacon?

Author Jo Bannister creates interesting characters in Deacon and Voss. Unfortunately, I found Brodie less compelling. Her narrowmindedness proves annoying, but not nearly as annoying as her risk-taking behavior. If she clearly recognized the risks and then decided to move forward, I could have admired her for her courage. Instead, she seems blindly to walk into danger--for herself and for others. Fortunately, Bannister clearly tells us how lovable and admirable Brodie is. Without this, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have guessed.

THE DEPTHS OF SOLITUDE has its engaging moments and held my interest as a reader. Its flaws, however, make reading this story a mixed experience.

This book on TQM is among the most respected in the world. Many people seek out Dr. Holly O. Buchanan for advice on this topic and this book is the Rosetta Stone for the balance of her work. She deals with all her innovations in this one slim volume such as prolonged vacuum, extended
knees on the side, and even discusses innovations on eggless french toast. Book is recommended for beginners as the portion relating to Quarto and new office decor are abbreviated and can be found in her other works. Dr. Buchanan has revolutionized TQM concepts in cities such as Portland, Or.

The characters in this book were not particularly likeable, and the plotting was such that I picked up the big clues immediately and was way ahead of the detective characters about who and where == thought it was obvious. A few red herrings would have helped.

The plot involves a woman being stalked -- at first her detective boyfriend thinks it's just coincidences but then he begins to agree that a lot of bad things are happening to her in a short period of time. But who would be trying to terrorize her and why? Her boyfriend is trying to protect her (not that she's cooperating) while he tries to figure out who might be doing this. Personally, I had considerably less trouble figuring that out than he did. At any rate, there's a lengthy "clock is ticking" ending.

This book makes a lot of references to previous events (an earlier book?) and you get the sense of reading a volume in a continuing saga. I have read other books by Bannister (not in this series) that I liked better. I thought the woman being terrorized was really quite annoying, and her boyfriend wasn't a whole lot better. Characters don't have to be flawless, but I'm tired of novelists who make strong independent women characters stubborn and annoying as well.