Failure To Appear [Audio Cassette]

J. A. Jance (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 1997

A shattering tale of tragedy and horror from top ten New York Times bestselling author J.A. Jance.

A desperate father′s search for his runaway daughter has led him to the last place he ever expected to find her: backstage at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. But the murders in this dazzling world of make-believe are no longer mere stagecraft, and the blood is all too real. The hunt for his child has plunged former Seattle Homicide Detective J.P. Beaumont into a bone-chilling drama of revenge, greed, and butchery, where innocents are made to suffer in perverse and terrible ways. And many more young lives are at stake, unless he can uncover the villain of the piece before the final, deadly curtain falls.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Child pornography and revenge figure into this well-crafted novel featuring detective J.P. Beaumont.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

From Booklist

Seattle sleuth J. P. ("Beau") Beaumont has reassembled his life after a painful divorce, the tragic death of his second wife, and a bout with alcoholism. All that's left to do is locate his runaway daughter Kelly, whom he tracks down at the Oregon Shakespearean Festival in Ashland. But Beau is in for a shock--not only is Kelly a bride to be, she's also quite pregnant. Then an old acquaintance of Beau's is brutally murdered after turning up at the festival, and there seems to be a definite connection between his death and a kiddie porn videotape featuring the festival's biggest star. Before the trouble ends, there's another murder, Kelly is seriously injured in a fall, and the house where the festival actors are staying blows up. Jance has written a well-crafted, entertaining story featuring a nice blend of humor and tragedy and some pithy comments on the ironies of life. But it's hero J. P. Beaumont--tough, principled, kindhearted, and well acquainted with the vagaries of human nature--who is the star attraction. Emily Melton --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Books on Tape, Inc. (October 15, 1997)
• ISBN-10: 0736640428
• ISBN-13: 978-0736640428
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6.7 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,763,115 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

J.A. Jance is the top 10 New York Times bestselling author of the Joanna Brady series; the J. P. Beaumont series; three interrelated thrillers featuring the Walker family; and Edge of Evil, the first in a series featuring Ali Reynolds. Born in South Dakota and brought up in Bisbee, Arizona, Jance lives with her husband in Seattle, Washington, and Tucson, Arizona.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A welcome addition to the J.P. Beaumont series, June 21, 2000

By 

Karen Potts (Lake Jackson, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Failure to Appear (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the first book of the series that I read and it hooked me and spurred me on to read the rest of them. Although the author, J.A. Jance is a woman, she writes very convincingly about a male character, J. P. Beaumont. We see the struggle between his personal and his professional life as he is summoned to a Shakespeare Festival where his daughter is pregnant and soon to be married. After his arrival, two actors are murdered and Beaumont uses his professional skills as a policeman to solve the murder while trying to be civil to his prospective son-in-law and his daughter's artsy friends. Beaumont has a wry way of looking at his own foibles which endears him to readers. If you enjoy this book, there are several more in the series.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't Miss this Book, December 21, 2003

By 

C. T. Mikesell (near Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Failure to Appear (Mass Market Paperback)

In "Failure to Appear" lone-wolf Seattle homicide detective J.P. "Beau" Beaumont finds himself a fish out of water surrounded by family in southern Oregon and on the outside of a murder investigation.

Quite often, when a mystery author tries to fit so much of a protagonist's personal life into a book, the plot drags to a halt and the investigation into the crime is treated superficially because the focus is on massive character development. Jance manages to keep things moving at a fast clip and provide a mystery that is as multi-faceted as her lead character's personal difficulties. Beau has a lot to deal with in this book: a daughter who starts out a missing person and winds up pregnant and about to be married, a re-married ex-wife and her husband, a new girlfriend, a murder suspect that awakens painful memories, the siren song of a bottle of MacNaughton's, and a couple police officers out to nail his hide to a wall - not to mention the book's three murder victims or the loved one Beau loses in the course of the investigation.

There are a few nits that could be picked (Oregon vanity plates don't have 8 letters, for instance), but the quality of the rest of the book more than compensates. All in all, a great read.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The book that hooked me on J.A. Jance, May 4, 2003

By 

Wildthyme "camip" (Ashland, OR USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Failure to Appear (Mass Market Paperback)

This was the first Jance book I encountered. I decided to read it because it takes place in the town I live and work in. As much as I enjoyed reading about the places and cities I know well what I really enjoyed was the character of JP Beaumont. He is an ordinary man (a Seattle Cop wih an extraordinarily inherited fortune) who is caught between his work and his family. The characters seem very real and Jance's writing gives them a life and humanity that appeals strongly and makes you really care about them. The story never lets up either and you will find yourself hard pressed to put the book down. I have read every book Jance has written now and she is always on the top of my list of series that I am waiting for the next installment of!