33 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
New, different and a fun read, April 26, 2006
I just read a bunch of reviews and was surprised by the negative ones. First of all, this is a collaboration not a typical Crusie or typical Doherty.
It is fiction, not reality, so the timelines shouldn't be such an issue, nor the plot for that matter. Of course it needs to be somewhat believeable as far as characters staying true to themselves - which they do. People are complaining that the hero slept with someone other than the hero is interesting to me. In Crusie's Fast Women, the heroine slept with the hero's best friend/business partner/cousin before she hooked up with the hero. And I loved it because that was what would have happened to those characters under those conditions. Did Crusie lose readers for that? Are those the same readers that don't appreciate the hero in Don't Look Down sleeping with the actress first?
I am a fan of both Crusie and Mayer. Their collaboration hit the high point of both of their talents as far as I'm concerned. I read Don't Look Down in two sittings and immediately started looking for their next book.
This is the first effort by this team. As they grow together, I expect it will only get better. But the first effort was more than good enough.
Entertainment is subjective. It's natural that the book wouldn't appeal to everyone. Even loyal fans who want to see their author stay the same and not branch out into something new and different.
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35 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best of both genres, April 26, 2006
Complaining that Don't Look Down is not a typical Crusie novel is like saying that a triple rich mocha chocolate raspberry mousse with whipped cream and a cherry on top is not a Hersheys bar. Those who have grown comfortable with the formulaic girl meets boy, girl loses boy, girl gets boy back and lives happily ever after of the standard romance novel will perhaps have difficulty comprehending this delightful blend of witty romance and suspenseful action adventure.
Lucy, the heroine, is a competent, take charge, look out for everyone else kind of woman who is suddenly faced with a situation in which she can't protect the ones she loves. Is it an unrealistic situation? Sure, but this is fiction, meant to entertain. It is not a factual recitation of what happened last week to your neighbor down the street. JT is a refreshing change from the cliched hero who walks onto page one with his only flaw being that he doesn't immediately understand he is in love with the heroine. He, too, is a take charge kind of guy; he just wants to get the job done and go home. Instead he finds himself drawn into the lives and troubles of other people, and falling in love.
The secondary characters are finely drawn, from the heartbreakingly precocious Pepper, trying to be the grownup her mother is not, to the charmingly misbehaved LeFavre who, for all his recklessness, is the definition of loyalty and backs up our hero when needed.
Crusie and Mayer are to be congratulated for this well-written, highly entertaining blend of genres and voices. Nothing wrong with Hersheys bars, I love those too, but I'll eagerly await the next Crusie/Mayer creation. And don't forget the cherry on top.
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18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Not only a Charlie Foxtrot, but WTF,O?, April 9, 2006
Yup, just like the Special Forces hero in the book, I can also use those cute little "secret" euphemisms. Most of us can. That's one of the many problems in this novel. It is assumed we are all ignorant of Military terminology and procedures so we are treated to long lessons in how to handle a gun, run an effective search, survive in a bar, wear a uniform, sleep in the open, etc., etc. Of course, in this book, only Special Forces can handle such vital challenges. CIA agents are described as smarmy and stupid, SEALS are brave but completely brain dead when they are not in the water, former military personnel are mercenaries. Heaven only knows how any of us have survived without our own Special Forces officer to cover our respective sixes. Evidently, you have never watched a war documentary, you have never read a spy thriller, you have never been in the military, you don't know anyone in the military, we don't ALL have a family member or friend who has been to Iraq, or is still in Iraq. We are all just big dumb civilians who trip over our feet and land in the nearest quagmire (needing to be rescued). I'd say `bite me', but that would be rude.
If the condescending tone of Special Forces conceit doesn't offend you, the characters should. Our hero's brain goes effectively south the moment he sees a firm set of silicon implants. We are treated to this attractive personality trait often, and in his thoughts he thinks this is `manly'. He knows how to `sprinkle the infield' (buy drinks for all the drunks in a bar), but not how to order room service at a Westin Hotel. Our Heroine, Lucy, is so charmed by his aboriginal mindset she crawls into his bed without invitation or encouragement, proudly hunting him down in the dark. After a wild night of sexual bliss in the swamp, she is certain he will commit to her forever, even though he is twice divorced (I can't imagine why) and she is fully aware that just a couple of nights before he found the same sexual bliss with a blond bimbo who also crawled into his bed without invitation. In short, Lucy is missing a few rounds in her logic magazine. She is not alone. Everyone in this book is physically perfect, and emotionally or intellectually stupid, with the exception of the five-year-old girl, Pepper, and the alligator, Moot. When a child and a lizard have to carry the burden of interest and believability, you know the storyline is in serious trouble.
I'd go into the plot here, but I really never found it, it was all over the map, and more contrivances were added or deleted during each chapter. The kid wanders around putting herself in danger then pretending to be Wonder Woman, then getting kidnapped and pulling the `Ransom of Red Chief' cliché. The sister turns to drugs to keep herself calm, then stops (with apparently no side-effects), gives Lucy advice on love (go back to the ex-husband, no wait, go seduce the Special Forces guy). The ex-husband constantly changes his feelings for Lucy (possessive love one minute, apathy the next), his character transforms from mercenary to terrorist to crook to mental case. The villains morph from being thugs to IRA ex-patriots to Russians to Terrorists to Mercenaries to Common Crooks. Unfortunately, as silly as all this sounds, it wasn't, it was just annoying.
I buy Jennifer Crusie novels automatically, she is usually fabulous with her plots, characters, wit, and empathy. You can always identify with at least one of her slightly flawed but wonderful characters, you always like the hero and heroine, you get laugh lines that require wrinkle cream to get rid of, her love scenes are so hot and passionate you need a cold shower. Your biggest worry is that you'll lend one of her books to someone and never get it back, so you buy extra copies. None of that is going to happen here.
Like me, you absolutely have to buy "Don't Look Down", it's a Jennifer Crusie novel after all (it says so, right on the label). Copy that. We're only civilians after all, what do we know?
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