Customer Reviews

The Edge (FBI Series)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(25)
1 star:		(35)

 

 

I have been a fan of Ms Coulter for many years so I was excited when I bought The Edge. She reintroduced previous characters from her other books "The Maze" (excellent 5 star book) and "the Target( an excellent 5 star book). I thought WOW I love these characters. But Ms Coulter tried a different style of writing this time. She wrote in the first person of Mac ( a man) So ok I can handle this. Ms. Coulter still showed the charming wit that made her so well liked. The story is going strong and then you have only 5 or 6 pages left and your wondering how is this going to end and tie up all the different stories. The problem it didn't address what happened to all the characters involved in the plot. You finish reading this book and the first thing I said was what about so and so. Maybe Ms. Coulter is writing a sequel to this book to answer all the questions....

Just one word of it "terrible"!!! I've read all her FBI/Mystery series and this is by far the worst. The story is all over the place and the characters are never really developed. It was very painful reading this one...really bad! One thing I'm finding with Catherine Coulter is a hit or miss with her books. The Maze was great and after reading The Edge, you will have a hard time believing it's the same writer.

It's not as bad as the reviews below say it is, but I'm glad I read them before I read this book. So, I didn't read it expecting great - if you want great read the previous 3 books in this series. If, on the other hand, you have a free evening and don't mind lightweight, almost mindless fluff, or you just want to know what happens next in the series, go ahead and read The Edge - and pretend it was written by someone else. I'm reminded of people's complaints & comments about James Patterson's When The Wind Blows (of course, I liked that book)...

The Edge is told from the first-person point-of-view of the main male character. He is amusing at times, but he doesn't have a great deal of depth - neither does anyone else. The main female character seems to have been put in the book because a female was required - not because she adds much to the story. Unfortunately, you don't get to know what's going on in her head - which is one of the main problems with first-person narratives. More problems: Their relationship doesn't really develop, it just seems to come out of left field - one day he's having sex with one woman, the next he's decided he's in love with another... the mystery & intrigue isn't really all that mysterious or intriguing... the psychic connection between the brother & sister isn't really developed... and the villian left a lot to be desired - so did the ending. The storyline had a good idea, but didn't follow thru on it - most of the book and it's characters are like that - they had potential, but...

I gave it 2 stars because:
1. I wasn't expecting great, so I wasn't as disappointed as some of the other readers appear to be.
2. The characters of Savage and Sherlock are continued from the previous books - they're my favorite characters.

So, if you want edge, read The Cove, The Maze, and The Target - in that order. And then consider reading The Edge with an open and forgiving mind.

Finally, I hope there is another book in the series, but I just hope Ms. Coulter goes back to writing like she did in the first 3 books of the series!

I ordinarily really enjoy Coulter's books (as far-fetched as they may seem). But I had a terrible time getting into this one because it's written in first-person from the male perspective. That and the story just didn't interest me. I read the whole thing anyway (how can you not?), but this is not one that I will read again.

I have read practically every Coulter novel written. She is a multi-talented, gifted writer but feel Edge was not up to par. It is the only novel I have never finished. After reading Target, Maze and Cove, I bugged the book store for weeks waiting on Edge. I was really disappointed. The storyline was good but I simply never could get into it. I quit reading right after Ford moved her into his house. Maybe I'll finish it one day. Maybe.

There are too many characters & not enough explanations. This book jumps so much that you lose yourself while you're reading it. Do yourself a favor, save your money and your time.

What a dreadful book. This is not the first book I have read by Catherine Coulter but it will probably be the last. I only read to the end because I have never been able to put a book down once started. From the beginning I was confused, first by who was actually telling the story then by the way the hero (?) Mac was able to justify the way he acted with Cal and then moved on to the supposed love of his life. Very shallow. There were so many other characters who seemed superfluous, I kept waiting for something to happen with them. And don't get me started on the whole being knocked out in Oregon and waking up in some drug lords compound in South America only to find their way to a resort! There are so many other things I found hard to take with this book that I'll leave it there.

It's the fourth in a series. This is the only one that's told from the first person point-of-view. The story's about a man who gets pulled into a mystery involving the illegal manufacture and testing of a drug which inhances sexual pleasure - but it has nasty side-effects. There's a sub-plot involving a psychic connection between him & his sister - it's kinda weak and doesn't really go anywhere, except it begins the mystery (but it never does explain why or how they're psychically connected or if it did I missed it). The main gist is: After Mac (the main character) has a psychic vision of his sister's accident he tries to find out what she was involved in. His search leads him to the drug, drug dealers, and a beautiful woman. At first he thinks she's one of the bad guys, but she's not quite what she seems. They join forces and then the chase is on to find out who's behind it all... The dialog was a little simple and the story was missing the intrigue that the other books had. I kinda liked the humor, but it could have had a deeper plot and a better mystery and the ending's kinda flat - without any flash. The reviewer below called the book 'fluff' - I guess it is in places - fluff & sex - but if you write a book about a sex drug I guess that's to be expected. Savich & Sherlock from the other books are in it. From the reviews I've read everybody seemed to find them their favorite part of this book - me, too. Though this book is separate in itself, you might want to read the other 3 books before reading this one. Each one seems to lead into the next. Overall, I thought it was OK, but very different from the others in the series.

I'm a big fan of Catherine Coulter's FBI Series. So far, I've read six books from the series and have loved all of them...except The Edge. While she does bring back her best characters (the husband and wife team of Savich and Sherlock), the other characters lack depth. The character of Laura (a DEA agent and main love interest) was predictable and I never thought that I found out enough about her. Also, I wasn't fond of the first person writing style she used in this one. While Mac (the first person) is a good character, there's just so much action going on in these books that I don't want to be limited to the view of one person.

As in the rest of the FBI Thrillers, the action was good. The storyline focused around the attempt to bust a plot involving the development of a dangerous new drug. But, some of storyline was a bit perverse to me. The effects of the drug seemed over the top and I never really thought of the two lead characters the same again after a particular scene involving a drugged-up Mac attempting to rape Laura while she was tied-up. I understand shock value, but this was a bit much for me. Plus, there doesn't seem to be a very good ending; there was really no closure.

If you're reading this to keep up with the series (as I was), be prepared to wonder where the magic of the other books went. It's not a bad read, but it definitely lacks some key elements.

Did I really bother to read this? Unfortunately, this is another example of what readers in America crave: fast paced, poorly written trash that can easily be converted to a TV movie of the week. It seems that even though all the rules of literature are disregarded, books of this type float to the surface of the mainstream, are touted by 'critics' and capture the public's attention. They are unavoidable, ubiquitously lining the best shelf space in bookstores, drugstores and magazine stands with their captivating jacket art, blatant reminders that publishers are out there to sell books, not provide the populace with good reading. The plot in this gem is unbelievable: the stereotypical FBI agent blunders into answers as crudely as he blunders into women. The reader may be careened down a bluff edging the Pacific Ocean in Oregon and then kidnapped to the jungles of Columbia, but somehow these spectacular locales fail to stimulate any of the senses. The supporting characters of the husband and wife FBI team, while sterling examples of love and commitment, lack real warmth, failing to move the reader other than to bore him. The author does her best to make Mac a 'regular guy' who loves his beer and falls fast for the hard-shooting gal DEA agent, but the reader gets the sense that Coulter is trying too hard . . . or didn't bother enough and should enroll in a remedial writing lab to relearn the basic literary elements despite the stupendous amounts of money she must make with such offerings. The mind peaking concept of the sex drug, while having intriguing possibilities flattens with its unfolding, coming off as contrived as a last minute twist in a child's bedtime story. I will say that the story does manage to compel the reader to read on, at least during the first ten or fifteen chapters. Afterwards? Mac and his DEA woman are transmuted into Rambo and Brigette Nielsen; they manage to courageously blast their way out of a jungle crawling with inept mercenaries while under the mind-altering and libido stimulating drug, all for the sake of millions of unsuspecting and (one could conclude) worthless substance-seeking American adolescents. Strains of the 'Star-Spangled Banner', please and while you are at it, slap my wrists for trying to make sense of this and then pass me anything written by Dickens or Bronte or Conrad or . . .