98 of 103 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not without flaws, but still worth a read (3.75 stars), August 3, 2009
This review is from: The Eleventh Victim (Hardcover)
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I will open by saying that I actually rate "The Eleventh Victim", authored by Nancy Grace-(yes, that one), at 3.75 stars. I wish Amazon would start allowing reviewers to give fractions of stars, but I digress.
For those unfamiliar with Ms. Grace's background, her fiance was murdered many years ago spurring her to study law and become a prosecuting attorney. She did so with a vengeance, thus becoming one of the most respected prosecutors in the business. Eventually burning out due to the grind of criminal law, she switched gears to become a personality on CourtTV. This led to the Headline News gig for which she is now famous.
The reason I mention this is because The Eleventh Victim is loosely based on her own life. Knowing that fact actually adds dimension and weight to the story. Instead of getting just another crime novel, we feel as though we're getting much more than that because the author has actually lived and endured much of what is on the written page.
The main character, Hailey Dean, motivated by the murder of her fiance, becomes a criminal lawyer to "put the bad guys away" and perhaps lay to rest the psychological demons that have haunted her since then. These "demons" are the central theme of the story, made that much more poignant because the line between the fictional Hailey Dean and the real Nancy Grace is blurred so well. This is without question the best aspect of the novel and is quite compelling.
That is not to say everything about the novel is compelling. The story is written in a rather unorthodox fashion in that there are multiple intersecting storylines, each having great bearing on the life of the main character. And while Ms. Grace does an exemplary job of weaving the seamy underbelly of the legal system, politics and business into her tale, the various interconnected storylines work in varying degrees. Most are fairly interesting and have merit all their own, but one or two others feel rather superfluous and serve only to slow the story down. This is not a fatal flaw however and is pretty easily overlooked.
A flaw that is not as easy to overlook is that the novel frequently jumps from one storyline to another, which unfortunately doesn't always work in the book's favor. Often the book will focus on a storyline or character for 2 to 3 pages only to shift gears to another. I can only surmise that this technique was used to give the book a fast paced feel. But what it actually does is frustrate the reader and stunt the momentum of the book.
Overall, I will say that I was very impressed with the novel, particularly given that fiction writing is not Ms. Grace's first profession. I have read far worse from authors who actually write for their living. While the pacing of the book is suspect at times and some of the sub-stories unnecessary, I would absolutely recommend The Eleventh Victim to those who love a good crime novel.
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40 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Better than I was expecting, July 31, 2009
This review is from: The Eleventh Victim (Hardcover)
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This is an effective crime drama. Nancy Grace clearly knows what goes on between prosecutors and police, cops and perps, victims and their families, the defense and the prosecution. That was interesting. The crimes were compelling and the character of Hailey Dean (based on Nancy, I'm sure) was believable. The doctor/patient subplot is interesting and revealing, too. There were another pair of subplots -- one concerning exotic dancers and another environmental activists -- that I thought slowed the book down. But Nancy Grace is better at building suspense than I thought she'd be.
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69 of 78 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Quick read but very entertaining, July 23, 2009
This review is from: The Eleventh Victim (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I didn't realize that the author of this book is also the same person that has the television show. I don't regularly watch Nancy Grace on TV but I've caught it a few times when I was channel surfing. Like when I've caught her on TV, I was glued to the book from the very beginning. This book gives plenty of visual details and the writing flows easily. It usually takes me a bit of time to warm up to a book and get to know the characters but this one had me from page one. It is a quick read being only about 350 or so pages so to me it is like a good suspense thriller movie. I am always looking for reading material to keep me on the treadmill and this fit the bill. I liked it!
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