Customer Reviews

Fault Lines

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Fault Lines is the second in what I hope will be a long line of stories involving Dr. Michael Stone. This time Dr. Stone is really the main target in the story. No one has ben killed...yet. Within the first chapter we learn the our favorite sadistc child molester has been let out of prison on a technicality. This puts Michael in a dangerous position because after several "interviews" with Willy, many of which she has recorded, he has admitted to, and actually bragged about a lot more than was ever uncovered in court, etc. Obviously with the possibility of a retrial, her information could be damaging to his case. Her best friend Carlotta and her part time lover/police chief, Adam, would like her to run and hide. But, as anyone who has read her first book, Shiny Waters, will know, Michael does not take orders well. And she certainly does not "run and hide". There is a rather simplistic game of cat and mouse that Michael and Willy play via email, and the impending confrontation. There are also several important clients of Michael that play key roles in the story. Once again, we learn more about Michael and her psyche. We watch her friendships and relationships, grow and suffer huge violations of trust. You find yourself understanding her and why she does what she does and yet at the same time comiserating with her loved ones and their great desire to just shake her sometimes. The climax of the book does not leave us disappointed in the slightest. That's 2 for 2 for Anna Salter

Psychologist Michael Stone is being challenged by a man she had studied to learn about deviant personality when he was in prison. He is unexpectedly released and Stone's world is starting to turn upside down. From suspecting that her office is bugged to a number of other diabolical efforts to get under Michael Stone's skin, this taut mystery is totally engaging. This is an easy one to read from cover to cover in one sitting.

Psychologist Michael Stone (a female, despite the name)has spent quite a bit of time interviewing Alex B. Willy, pedophile and sadist. When he gets out of prison due to a technicality, she knows he'll come after her because she is the only one who knows the twisted way his mind actually works, despite his charming demeanor. We follow Stone as she tries to work through her out-of-whack personal life, some demanding clients and the omni-present threat of Willy. Interestingly, Willy is not fleshed out much as a character. This works well, in that Willy becomes more of an unknown threat to the reader - a man capable of anything - but we don't know where he is likely to come from or what he is likely to do.

The book is surprisingly well-done, (I say surprising because a lot of thrillers featuring psychiatrists tend to get bogged down in jargon) and Stone is prickly but likable. Her world is peopled with interesting, but not terribly well-developed characters. This is a part of a series so I'd assume that the characters will be better developed as time goes on.

If you follow the author's link at the top of the page you will find that Salter is well-qualified to write about the life of a therapist as has co-authored a number of books about recovering from rape and child abuse and trauma.

All in all, a great little read.

The writing is interesting, but the book should have had more depth. It's very predictable. What did i like? I liked the writing, I like the client stories, I'd like to see more of the character with a story that is less like a short story. Also, some of Michael's characteristics (like here pathological aversion to help from her friends) is annoying and makes you think she needs analysis more than her clients.

Forensic psychologist Michael Stone has received a detailed confession on audiotape of Alex B. Willy, a convicted child molester. The inside look into the mind of the psychopath has given Michael and her peers much needed information on profiling deviant behavior like that of a pediophile. Though she knows Willy has obsessed on her, Michael is not worried since the man will be incarcerated for many years.

However, Willy has been released from his imprisonment after a retrial due to a technicality. His obsession has become his target. Willy has set up a strategic plan of attack that the military would be proud to possess. He methodically invades Michael's professional and personal life. She knows that someday soon she will have to confront the monster who has changed her life dreams into a nightmare.

The second Stone novel, FAULT LINES, is an absorbing thriller that realistically portrays the role of forensic psychology. Michael is a redeeming protagonist, who is extremely intelligent yet a risk taker who sometimess takes stupid chances. As a counterpoint to her stands Willy, a truly vile vile villain. Though the story line starts a bit slow, fans of a genuine feeling abnormal psychological thriller will love Anna Salter's latest novel.

Harriet Klausner

Fault Lines and Dr. Michael Stone could lead to a television series. Why? Child molester, tried and convicted, exits prison after serving his term. He plots his course against Dr. Stone, who put him there in the first place, and her clients. Does he win, or does the Doctor? Developed client histories and background scenes of the forensic psychologist, Dr. Stone, would make for a very interesting and informative series. The book is both well written, and a "can't put it down until the end" story. Bravo to Anna Salter and let's put it on the screen!

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel by Anna Salter. I thought her character Michael was likable despite having some quirky almost neurotic character traits. I found that I couldn't turn the pages quickly enough towards the end.

Despite the fact that this storyline has been done many times (ideas seem limited among certain genres), Fault Lines offers a refreshing spin on this a tale of a released convict seeking out a shrink who knows too much about him.

Readers are introduced to Psychiatrist Michael Stone who fears that pedophile and sadist Alex Willy, recently released from prison on a technicality, will seek to harm her because she is the only one privy to his sick and demented thoughts. Attempting to continue her practice and help other patients while looking over her shoulder makes for great suspenseful reading and it all comes to a finale with an awesome twist!

This book kept my interest until the end- it was an anticlimatic conclusion. I will read other books by her because I may have been too harsh.

I devoured this book, reading it in its entirety in less than 24 hours. I wouldn't, however, make the mistake of saying that it was a masterpiece or even anything near that. Salter tells the tale of Dr. Michael Stone (for the first 50 something pages I thought this was a man, it's not!) a psychologist who's faced with one of her worst enemies, child molester Alex Willy, being released from prison and beginning to stalk her. Though the novel never lives up to its potential and Dr. Stone has some annoying quirks (a love of b-ball, her term for basketball being not the least of these) it's still a fun summer read.