Customer Reviews

Ellipsis: A John Marshall Tanner Novel

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This book is just another example of Stephen Greenleaf's ability to write a fast-paced, tight, suspenseful, and ultimately fulfilling mystery. If you haven't read any of his books yet, you can start here, or go back to his earlier works in paperback.

Our hero, Tanner, is great...Not to uptight or politically correct...Thank goodness he's not another recovering alcoholic! He's tough, takes a lickin, but lovable too...He's got his faults, but that just makes us identify with him that much more. The plot is great (as always), steeped in current issues and events. The pages turn too fast and the end comes too quickly..

Pick up this or any of his other books. Well worth even the hard cover price.

John Marshall Tanner is back as the reluctant bodyguard to a driven sucessful novelist whose life has been threatened. Stephen Greenleaf lays bare today's literary world with a parade of suspects ranging from the jilted ex-husband to the soon to be fired agent, and the cross-dressing devoted fan obsessed with Chandelier Wells. But as always with Greenleaf what appears to be a simple mystery is actually a very complex character study. Tanner is still struggling from the death of his best friend Charley Sleet, commitment issues with his new love interest Jill Coppelia, and a daughter from an earlier indiscretion. An honorable and principled though somewhat rusted white knight with an Oreo addiction Tanner continues to do battle in in an unscrupulous world. After twenty years he's come to realize that "other people's problems, particularly those brought brought on by stupidity or self-indulgence, which in my experience is most of them, seem to provoke my ire more than my sympathy these days." John Marshall Tanner may decide to retire with Elipsis. If so it will be a loss to the literary world equal to John D.MacDonald's Travis McGee. Greenleaf has expertly written a wonderful tribute to a dying breed. It will prove satisfying to even the most devoted Tanner fans. Thanks for everything, Stephen Greenleaf.

John Marshall Tanner, private investigator, tells his story of this case. His client is Chandelier, a super successful writer of romance novels. Her secretary is Lark. Tanner's girl friend is Coppelia. And the author surely has fun inventing names. Aside from that, he writes in clear, concise language, presents a tight plot that is well thought out. It is a book that is a pleasure to read because it is written intelligently and without the usual gimmicks. What more can one ask for? I highly recommend it.

After the death of his police officer friend two years ago, Bay area private investigator John Marshall Tanner is dating Assistant District Attorney Jill Cappanella. He also seeks cases to pay off his bills. Best selling and wealthy author Chandelier Wells is receiving threatening letters stating "If you don't stop it you will die." Chandelier may not know what the letters want halted, but she takes the warning seriously and hires Marsh to act as her bodyguard.

Initially, Marsh thinks the person terrorizing the author is a diehard lunatic of a fan, trying to get a rise out of Chandelier. He changes his mind when a bomb explodes in her car killing two people and injuring Chandelier. The MO seems like that of a pro. Marsh suspects someone close or formerly close to the writer as hired a hit man. As he steps closer to the truth, Marsh places himself and his loved ones in life threatening danger.

John Marshall Tanner is an extremely likable sleuth who at fifty remains vulnerable and compassionate, making him very appealing especially to women. ELLIPSIS is a fast paced but intricate work whose villains are shockers yet realistic. Stephen Greenleaf humanizes all of his characters within a fabulous tale that shows why his Tanner books have been award winners.

Harriet Klausner

This is the first book I've read by the highly recommended Greenleaf. Marshall Tanner, private investigator, is brash, sarcastic, quick-witted, and very human... He is hired to protect a suspense/romance writer who is then involved in a car bombing. Tanner's own personal life and the way Greenleaf ties the clues and different elements of the story together makes for entertaining reading that held my interest until the final surprise. His presentation of Tanner makes me want to go back and get to know him better. My guess is it will be just as satisfying as watching Michael Connelly's Hieronymous Bosch develop...

I wish I didn't know what "ellipsis" means.

I wish that the author had left a few strings hanging. The Tanner series never disappoints. I recently began reading the series from the beginning and it is interesting to see the development and growth of the character. Mr. Greenleaf has crafted a man who is an accidental hero, a man whose heroism has its roots in his fundamental sense of decency and his loyalty to those whom he cherishes.

The John Marshall Tanner series is worth discovering.

I enjoy Greenleaf's work for his plots and characters, and Ellipsis displays Greenleaf at his best. The focus character, Marsh Tanner, is approaching his 50th birthday, and the book shows Tanner taking stock of his life, finances, interests and career. The life of a P.I. may be interesting, but it is a poor career choice, and Tanner knows it. Tanner finds himself the reluctant bodyguard for a famous and successful writer, and the book is full of shop-talk about writers and the business of writing. Part of the fun is seeing how the frustration of the writing biz is perceived by a character all too aware of the frustrations of the PI biz. Yet once again, through asking questions, following up leads, and getting people to talk, it is revealed that the reluctant Tanner has the skillset needed to unravel the mystery of the threats and attacks on his client. Greenleaf addresses some of the threads and characters which came up in earlier books, which gives this book a very satisfying sense of resolution.

I used to love Stephen Greenleaf's John Marshall Tanner mysteries, but ELLIPSIS was tired, mechanical, and unconvincing. It reminded me of the reasons why Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels ran out of steam. For one thing, there is too much midlife crisis angst on the part of Tanner, too much relationship trouble between him and his girlfriend. For another, there are two different women of mature years who are raunchy and amusing and make Tanner blush -- one is plausible, two are excessive. For a third, the plot is warmed-over. I was reminded of Parker's LOOKING FOR RACHEL WALLACE. Again the p.i. bodyguards a major female celebrity writer. Of course, in the Parker book the writer was lesbian; here she's straight and a romance novelist. A promising plot development -- allegations of plagiarism -- goes nowhere. Another plot line, a carryover from a previous book in the series, becomes increasingly significant, but if you haven't read the previous book you'll be frustrated and put off by the too-neat tying together of disparate plot lines. Finally, the ending of the Tanner character study in this book depends on a "deus-ex-machina" ending that had me throwing the book across the room.

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