Customer Reviews

Don't Look Down [With Headphones] (Playaway Adult Fiction)

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(22)
2 star:		(29)
1 star:		(35)

 

 

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.

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.

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?

I am a huge fan of Jennifer Crusie books. I've read almost all of them, and really enjoyed them, albeit some more than others. But compared to her other books, this was awful. It was choppy. It didn't flow at all. About 3 chapters from the end they throw in a character's name that they had never previously discussed. Several times I even found grammar errors in the writing. My advise to Ms. Crusie: please ditch Bob Mayer and continue to write solo. My advise to the readers: read some of her other books. They are awesome (esp. Bet Me, Fast Women, Welcome to Temptation)!

Holy cow--I trusted this author and bought a HARDBACK book--me-- who doesn't even buy trade paperbacks because of the higher cost

and was I tricked! Jennifer Cruise is a great author and having read all of her books, at least one is always at the ready to read at the end of that rotten day for a happy ending. I don't know who THIS GUY is she felt she needed to write with, but he brings little to the party, but, I suspect, a higher cover price. Any of her books are a much better choice than this foolish story that perpetuates the worst stereotypes about "romance" books. One of the most annoying components was the deluge of characters introduced solely by dialogue in the

first 50 or so pages. That meant I had to constantly flip back and forth through the pages to see who was saying what to whom! Grrr! Buy three of her earlier paperbacks for what you spend on this hardback and have a much better time. This book is a mess!

I'm not a fan of romance in general, but I'm a big fan of Jennifer Crusie. She's a brilliant writer. What induced her to participate in this project? There are holes in this plot big enough to drive a truck through? Where shall I start? Let's see...Pepper is supposed to be five years old, but her vocabulary and general demeanor usually seem quite a bit older. Early in the book, she talks about alligators, how they're dangerous, how they should be avoided. She then decides to take a walk in the swamp looking for a "mole." I don't think so. Connor Nash seems startled and even hurt at Lucy's frrequent rejections. It's then revealed that he doesn't care about her at all. Then why ask her there? They needed a director, but they didn't need her. And if Connor is so egocentric, what of the frequently stated claim that he cares for and takes care of Daisy? And why does he do so? Is he Pepper's father? This fact is never revealed. A number of the actors are revealed near the end to be in on the plot. This makes no sense at all. They're legitimate actors, even stars. Their career opportunities (and earning potential) are obviously larger without getting involved in crime. And the plot itself...all this effort to justify a helicopter flight in order to rendezvous with a bad guy. Why not just rendezvous with the bad guy? In addition to the plot problems, the characters are poorly developed and the dialogue, while adequate, does not come up to the level of Crusie's former books. Bottom line--dump Bob Mayer. You're better without him.

I personally think both Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer are excellent writers. You could easily tell when Jenny was writing a scene and when Bob wrote one. I liked the differences in their individual writing styles.

It wasn't the writing, but the plot and story line that I just couldn't get into and I could really have cared less about the characters. The only one I really liked was Pepper. Everything happens within four days and it just seemed so rushed to me it was hard to follow.

I didn't get into the Lucy and J.T. relationship either. The fact that he sleeps with one woman one day and turns around and sleeps with Lucy two days later made me think J.T. was a creep. I'm not sure this was supposed to be a romance, though. If not, it succeeded.

I would like to give this book a "One Star," a "Five Star," and an "Other Star" rating.

"One Star" is for the steamy scene where the woman says "No" and the man (whose point of view we are hearing (surprise, surprise!)) provides a macho-"father knows best" rationalization for his failure to stop. You've reassured us that "no means no," Dr. Crusie, so why didn't you make him stop? You're our role model! If you couldn't convince Mr. Mayer that "no means no," what hope is there for the rest of us?

"Five stars" because, on its own merit, _Don't Look Down_ is one of the best books I've read this year. It was funny, fascinating, intriguing and an excellent read!

"Other Star" because of the grief I feel for the loss of the book Jennifer Crusie would have written if she hadn't been collaborating. Recently, I was too ill to read. Of the few books on tape/CD that could hold my attention, make me laugh, and block out the pain, the best were written by Jennifer Crusie in her own voice, i.e., prior to _Don't Look Down_.

I hope someone will tell Jennifer Crusie this for people like me: you do more than entertain us, Dr. Crusie, you help us get through the day and make us believe we can be whole again. You make our marriages stronger. Sometimes when the demands of a sick wife seem to be wearing my husband down, I borrow a line from one of your books and we laugh... So please don't stop! If you want his point of view, invite Mr. Mayer to your writer's group. We need to hear your undiluted voice--your powerfully healing, powerfully female voice!

I love Jennifer Crusie. She has written some wonderful, engaging books. This isn't one of them. I read the whole book and now wish I hadn't wasted my time. I had to read the first chapter twice just to figure out who all of the characters were. Anyway, between the weak character development (which is one of Crusie's strengths) and the macho military jargon to the Wonder Woman plot line, the whole thing was simply awful. I will not give up on Crusie, she's too wonderful, but this was awful.

When I saw Crusie's name as the author of this book, I was expecing a light, witty, romantic novel, in keeping with previous books by her that I'd read. This is more of an action/suspense novel (perhaps why she cowrote it with someone else), which I found satisfying; however, the emphasis frequently veers off the romance angle, so those for whom this is a primary interest may find themselves disappointed.

There were certainly humorous moments in the book, and in the main, the plot and characterizations were well done; but they seemed somewhat disjointed from time to time, and I found myself having to reread parts of the novel just to stay on track.

Bottom line: This is a good read, even though it may not be exactly what the reader is expecting.