Customer Reviews

The Eagle Heist (A Beauford Sloan Mystery)

5 star:		(71)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

1. this is a very bad book.
2. i came to this page and wondered why it got around 70 5 star reviews.
3. I checked the profiles of at least a dozen reviewers of this book... guess what, they were all fake accounts.
4. thus, its safe to say that in all likelihood, this is the only real review on this page.

Start my original review.

--This book has gotten waaaaaay to many good reviews:

The Eagles Heist is about as average as it would be possible to get for a genre mystery. The biggest deal here is the over-used running gag and identified reference to Wilford Brimley. Brimley is an old friend of the authors as it states in the opening page. I really don't care that the main character should be Brimley and it became bothersome that it was brought up so often. Knowing that Brimley is around 80 made me think of geriatric sex scenes when Sloan was wooing a widower. It was kind of off putting.

The author `Austin,' starts the book off with a scenario straight out of one of his average tv cop/private eye shows. I take it that he was a producer/director for several of the bigger tv series' from the 60's to the 90's including Magnum PI. An armored car is lifted off of the road and dropped into a river, the bad guys take 18 million dollars in diamonds. Lo and behold, seven months after the heist, Sloan takes one look at the scene and figures out what happens even though the local police and FBI spent thousands of man hours investigating and couldn't come up with squat. That is the way the book goes. Sloan is the wisest old man ever as well as the kindest.

What was most shocking to me is that when I arrived at the review page here on Amazon, I noticed that this book had received around 70 reviews with the average being five stars. This book is no where near that. I have read literally hundreds of books that I would recommend over this one. `Eagles Heist' takes no risks and is about as memorable as an old Magnum PI episode. It was not written very well or with a sense of panache. I don't know where all of these reviewers are coming from, we must have read different books.

When you look at the cover of "The Eagle Heist," the first of the Beauford Sloan mysteries by Raymond Austin, you will notice that the photograph on the identification card of Sloan looks a lot like Wilford Brimley. This would be because it is a photograph of Brimley, who writes the brief introduction for the novel and has known the author since they were stunt men together in the old days. Then Brimley went on to be a familiar character actor and Austin directed a lot of television shows from "The Avengers" to "JAG."

The running gag in the book is that Sloan looks like Brimley, but the chief advantage is that every time you listen to Sloan in the mystery you can hear Brimley's familiar voice (every time I read a play the female lead is Katharine Hepburn, adjusted for whatever age is required). Knowing exactly how the main character speaks is certainly an advantage, but you are on your own when it comes to the mental images you come up with for the sex scenes in the book (or the mental picture demanded by the book's final line).

"The Eagle Heist" begins with a rather ingenious way of making an armored truck carrying sixteen million dollars in diamonds and three million in cash disappear. All the authorities have to go on are a couple of bodies and some $100 bills and after six months the case has gone stone cold. However, Rosa Costello, the mother of one of the murdered guards from the armored truck is not willing to let the crime be forgotten and hires Beauford, an ex-Virginia cop turned private eye. Within hours he makes a big break in the case and almost as quickly people start dying. Clearly, our hero is making progress and there is somebody who does not like that at all. But once Beauford gets the bit between his teeth there is no stopping him.

Brimley says this mystery is "a great read," and that is certainly an apt description. The action proceeds at a brisk pace, the supporting characters are pretty engaging, and they are enough twists and turns in the mystery, some of which are not exactly happy ones, to keep you engaged from start to finish. One of the reasons it works this well as that Austin provides his hero with a complete back story that comes into play at various points. There is a sense of history to the character and his friends even if this is the first Beauford Sloan mystery. Fortunately I already have the next one, "Dead Again," in my possession, so I do not have to wait for the next "episode" (it is hard not to think of this as a television series, which is not a bad thing in this case).

THE EAGLE HEIST surprised me. I had formed an opinion that it would be "routine" reading (before I had even read it!) Was I ever caught by surprise. This book, after the second chapter, left me wondering what else could happen. Each chapter flowed into the next that I could not put the book down until I had finished it. Beauford Sloan had murder, surprise, hope, romance and mystery surrounding him, and still an unexpected end. Will hope this book is the first of many for Raymond Austin.

Loved reading about a character that has character and brains and not all looks. He is down to earth,believable and has a sense of humor. All the characters were excellent and the plot carried you through to a good ending. I hope we get a change to see a lot of Beauford and his crew in other novels from Charlottesville. They get my vote for a repeat performance.

What else can a man like Raymond Austin accomplish? He's directed some of the most successful television series in both the U.S. and in England; now he's given the world a bright new character: Beauford Sloan. And from what I understand, THE EAGLE HEIST is just the beginning of this exciting new mystery series, which will probably become a television movie.

I'm one of the fortunate ones who got their hands on an advance copy of this book. THE EAGLE HEIST is a quick, entertaining read with a great cast of characters. For those who know and love Wilford Brimley, the resemblence to Beauford Sloan is unmistakable. I have to agree with Booklist, THE EAGLE HEIST is "a great debut and a real find." I can't wait for the next installment of the "Beauford Sloan Mysteries."

Raymond Austin has created a great character in Beauford Sloan. The plot is exciting plot, once I picked the book up, I couldn't put it down. A good debut and a real find is Austin and his Beauford Sloan." Look forward to the next. I hope they make a TV show out of it.

This is just a mediocre book from beginning to end. The acutal "heist" itself is fairly interesting, but is over before it begins. The villains are uninteresting, the "mastermind" is poorly developed and I was able to spot him with 80 pages left to go. The fact that our "hero" is a) supposed to look exactly like Wilford Brimley and b) beds every attractive woman he meets is just ludicrous and makes the entire book almost farcical. The villain goes on a killing spree

I was totally captivated right from the start how the incredible "Eagle Heist" went down. You'll have to read to know what I mean! This book was fabulous! Right until the end I could not figure out who masterminded this incredible heist. Raymond Austin does an amazing job of creating a visual masterpiece in his first book. It must be made into a movie! I'm looking forward to the next in his series, "Dead Again."

This fast-paced story had me reading feverishly until I had turned the last page. Beauford Sloan is a loveable ex-policeman with a healthy dose of humor and a keen eye for a beautiful woman. Now that he has retired from the force, he has become a private investigator and can rely on the full co-operation of his old police department. The story of how Beauford solves an almost cold robbery case is full of unexpected twists and reversals and it isn't until the very end that the truth is revealed. A wonderful debut - I hope that Raymond Austin has another Beauford Sloan mystery up his sleeve!

An Eagle Security armored truck carrying sixteen million dollars worth of diamonds and three million in cash disappears. Although the three Eagle Security armored truck guards driving Eleven were well trained and experienced, they never had to contend with the precise assault of a military-like operation. They manage to make a may day call, but no help can arrive since they "vanish" and no one knows where they are. The truck, its contents of sixteen million dollars in diamonds and three million in cash, and the guards are missing. The FBI, the DC police, the insurance firm, and Eagle's security personnel find no clues until a few days later when a dead guard surfaces at the banks of the Potomac River. However, law enforcement officials make no other progress towards breaking the case.

Six months later, the case remains unsolved. Mrs. Costello, mother of the guard whose body was recovered, hires former cop turned private investigator, Beauford Sloan and his partner Sally Peters to investigate because she needs closure starting with her son's killers being caught. Beauford makes inquires that take him overseas seeking the brains behind THE EAGLE HEIST.

Raymond Austin writes a powerful private investigative tale that will excite sub-genre fans because a new talent has joined the ranks. The story line is fast-paved and never slows down for even a second. Beauford is a wonderful sleuth whether he globetrots around the world or relaxes in his Blue Mountain home. Sally adds depth so that the audience better understands Beauford. Readers will want Mr. Austin to write more tales starring that Wilford Brimley look alike, Beauford Sloan.

Harriet Klausner