Customer Reviews

Fall from Grace: A Noir Thriller

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I have never really been a "mystery" reader but it was recommened to me by a friend, and now I am extremelly pleased I read it. The plot was amazing, and I never would've guessed the ending... If you haven't read it...get it immidiatly! Definatley well written, and intriguing from the first page. I look forward to reading any other novels from Clyde Phillips!

Fall From Grace has enough suspense to keep you hanging chapter after chapter -- believe me, if you're anything like me, you won't put it down until long after the sun comes up. And yet, even more compelling than the twists and turns in Phillips' plot is his heroine, Jane Candiotti, a shrewd detective with brains to spare but a heart full of longing. The combination of strength and vulnerability makes her one of the most absorbing characters you'll find in any mystery. I loved every delicious page of this clever, masterful thriller. Can't wait for the next one!

This book is barely passable as a mystery-thriller. But everything in it has been done before and better. It does show, however, what the influence of mediocre television has on the author. It also shows how even reviewers are so sated with mediocrity that they elevate the mediocre to a higher plane. I just don't get it.

This is a great, twisty little gem of a thriller, and ironically, one of the main "characters" in this book turns out to be the good old Golden Gate Bridge. It figures so prominently in the story that it almost takes on its own mystique and charisma. Needless to say, the Hitchcockian influenced climax on the GGB is stunning and terrifying, too!

Jane Candiotti and her partner Kenny Marks, are very interesting and credible police detectives, with a history of their own. Jane finds herself falling in love with a man accused of murdering his rich wife because she was going to leave him. This all happens by the husband mouthing off to a stranger he meets on the train about how much he wishes his wife were dead. Aha, "Stranger on a Train" revisited.

From there on, the plot takes several twists, turns and pseudoclimaxes before its breathtaking finale.

Phillips creates a very "noirish" feel to this well-executed first novel, following it up with an exceptionally good book called "Blindsided." Read them both---they're excellent!

Fritz, a friend of mine told me about Blindsided, but I found the paperback - "Fall from Grace" and decided to give it a try. I took the book with me to Ireland and didn't open it until late at night when I couldn't sleep. Well, I found myself unable to put it down. I eventually did, because I needed the sleep, but all in all this was a good read. The title makes it predictable, and I do tend to get annoyed by flawless characters who can do no wrong and know everything, but it is my understanding that this was a first novel and I really liked how it was written. I look forward to reading more of Mr. Phillips work.

Basically, the plot involved in this tale is good. However, I have to agree with another of the reviewers about the writing style: it just doesn't cut it! While Clyde may be a former screenwriter, a literary genius he's not. There are traces of "screenwriting" dialogue throughout the book. However, I give him credit for the plot and story and for the character development. As a writer myself, I was disappointed in the use of the English language. Read a P.D. James! When the English speak English, it's an art form! Clyde used words such as "scooched and hunkered," which really turn me off. I hate slang in prose. It's ok if the characters say it, but don't use it in the text of the book. Reading nowadays has led me to believe that the proper use of the English language in this country is a dying art. I would expect top editors (not only of this book, but of other best sellers or mass markets, as well) to really fine-tooth comb the manuscript for poor use of the language. Again, best wishes to Clyde for his first book -- the plot and story were very interesting. A writer!

The most unrealistic representation of police work I've ever read in a mystery book. Predictable plot twists, lame plot twists, outrageous plot twists. The dialog is wooden and stiff, as befitting one-dimensional characters. The prose is heavy-handed; at times it appears as if the author is simply trying to impress us with his knowledge of arcane words...anyone can buy a dictionary. Your system should be revised to include zero stars.

A debut mystery in the Hitchcockian noir vane. A combination of STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, VERTIGO, AND SERENADE. This is dark, noir suspense at its best.

An encounter on San Francisco's BART leads to murder. Depressed by his impending divorce from heiress Jenna Maxwell Perry, lawyer David Perry confides in lowlife mechanic Barton Hubble, who takes it on himself to make Perry a very rich widower. Perry refuses to acknowledge the favor and rushes to tell the police, but they don't believe him. Then Hubble begins to stalk Perry and his daughter.

Detective Jane Candiotti, coming off a bad romance of her own, is given the case. Candiotti finds herself becoming involved with Perry, which begins to compromise her case, and puts her own life at risk.

This book is filled with more twists than seems possible and climaxes, in pure Hitchcockian fashion, high above the bay on the Golden Gate Bridge.

If you are a fan of Cornell Woolrich, James M. Cain, Patricia Highsmith and Alfred Hitchcock, this is your book. A fine, fine debut.

Sheldon McArthur, owner MYSTERIOUS BOOKSHOP, WEST

I could not put this book down. Just when you think you have it all figured out, the plot twists and throws you for a loop.

David Perry is a high powered attorney, his wife wants a divorce and is daughter is stuck in the middle. While riding on the subway he meets mechanic, Barton Hubble, they talk and David tells him about his troubles. They run into each other a few more times and David is more upset with the pending divorce, tells Barton he would do anything to stop it. So Barton takes him up on that and kills his wife for him. Then he gets greedy and starts demanding money for his work or he will go to the police and tell them that David hired him to kill his wife.

Just as you start to feel sorry for David, his wife is dead, someone's blackmailing him and his daughter is having a hard time coping with her mother's death, the plot twists, things come out and make you second guess who the killer really is.

For a first novel this was a great book. I've read his second novel and it was just as good as the first. You won't be able to put this one down.

"Fall From Grace", Clyde Phillips' first in a series of psychological thrillers, is written like a well-plotted television show---which comes as no surprise springing from the mastermind of many long-running shows ("Parker Lewis Can't Lose" being one of them). This wham-bam shoot-'em-up is furiously paced and intelligent as well. It all seems to begin when handsome lawyer David Perry is told by his beautiful wife that she is suing for divorce. The following emotional battle degenerates into a hateful tug-of-war. Perry moves into a recently purchased condo, pining for more time with his only daughter, Lily, whom his soon-to-be ex-wife wants to deny him visitation rights with. One day, while taking a seemingly random ride on San Francisco's BART transit system, Perry strikes up a conversation with Barton Hubble, a self-proclaimed "expert" on foreign cars...which Perry finds to be fortuitous, since his BMW's recent mechanical problems are the reason he says he's been forced to utilize public transit. The two become unlikely friends when Hubble offers to fix Perry's car "free of charge", in exchange for some free legal advice. Finding a sympathetic ear, Perry spills his anger and bitterness about his wife...and suddenly finds himself in the midst of a murder investigation. His wife is kidnapped from her own house one morning, only to be found brutally murdered and buried in a shallow grave in a nearby park. Enter Jane Candiotti, one of SF's finest homicide detectives. Her and her partner Kenny are handed the investigation, on top of an already full case-load. What the pair don't realize is exactly how complicated their lives and their careers are about to become. When Jane falls in love with Perry, much to the anger and dismay of her partner, the story takes a series of astounding and thrilling twists.

Phillips knows how to pace his story and throw in just enough action and intrigue to make this not only a page-turner, but a page-burner as well! Believable characters, emotional depth, intricate plot twists, and breathtaking scenery conspire to make this a must-read book. I heartily look forward to reading the next in the series!