Customer Reviews

The First Victim (Lou Boldt/Daphne Matthews Series)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I always look forward to Ridley Pearson books, particularly the Lou Boldt series. Wonderful characters and always a mesmerizing plot. The First Victim focuses on the illegal immigrant trade and shows us what their plight might be when hitting the shores of the country whose streets are paved with gold. Also a fascinating look at the press/news media and how it can either assist and defeat the best interests of all involved in this thorny problem.

This author just keeps getting better and I always look forward to his new books. He never fails me and is among my favorite authors.

Seattle police detective Lou Boldt is back and this time he's caught up in the illegal transport of Orientals into Seattle. When a container ship in Puget Sound loses a container full of illegal immigrants and three die, Lou Boldt along with John LaMoia are drawn into the case. To make it even more difficult, a Chinese-american reporter goes undercover and then goes missing while investigating the same case. Boldt and his crew must race against time to find where she's being held before she's killed.

Mr. Pearson is an excellent writer and plot spinner and even though this entry is not as strong as his others, it's still head and shoulders above most of what passes for mystery writing on the market today. I do admit I didn't find it as compelling as his "The Pied Piper" but it wasn't bad. The characters do seem a little less richly drawn than usual but the prose is still strong. You could do worse than read this book.

I enjoyed this book....it is the first one of this author's that I have read. The characters are believable (I'm a retired police officer) and the plot held my interest. I read the book over 4 days & could put it down for awhile & pick it right back up and easily start where I had left off. I look forward to the next Patterson novel.

I have been listening to audio tapes for several years and have never heard such a "bad read". Scott Rosema speaks extremely fast and without emotion. I was unable to get through more than one tape.

I am relatively new to thrillers in general, and FIRST VICTIM is only my second Ridley Pearson book, the first being the excellent (five-star) PIED PIPER. This was a real comedown in comparison. Another in the Lou Boldt series, FIRST VICTIM doesn't have half the character development of its predecessor. The story of Boldt's relationship with his wife and kids is perfunctory at best. We are told that he loves his kids above all else, which I suppose makes him unique in the world. Detective Sergeant John LaMoia, so subtly flesh out in PIED PIPER, is a cartoon cutout here. Daphne Matthews is nearly invisible, appearing only in cameo, and the licentious Captain Sheila Hill is AWOL.

The plot revolves around the underground industry of illegally importing aliens and making them pay for their passage by forcing them into slavery and prostitution. This is villany at its worst, but the cops never get beyond low-level goons in ferreting out the bad guys. The special guest star of FIRST VICTIM is TV anchorwoman Stevie McNeil, who in Scott Rosema's audio interpretation is given a stilted accent of no particular nationality. She spends most of her time fretting over the disappearance of her adopted Chinese "little sister," while at the same time trying to frustrate the attempts of Boldt and crew too find her. We are never really told why she is so uncooperative, except to the extent that journalists don't trust cops in general. Well, few people like lawyers in general, either, but when we need one, we don't hesitate to seek out the best. Pearson gives McNeil the obligatory sumptuous cleavage, blond hair, and shapely legs, but her sexuality never gets beyond that of a Barbie doll. This is the most chaste novel I have read in a long time.

There are problems with motivation, too. When we finally find out what happened to McNeil's sister, it is never clear why she suffered this fate. Further, what happens to the bad guy, or whether or not he really was a bad guy, is never resolved. The novel just ends, abruptly and unsatisfyingly.

Ridley Pearson reminds me of James Mitchner: he always does his homework. His latest work is another winner. "The First Victim" exposes the horrifying ordeal many endure to gain their freedom through a yarn involving my favorite detective, Lou Bolt. Centering on the expoitation of illegal aliens, Bolt and company work smart and fast in spite of the beauracracy and hidden agendas around them. This episode isn't as heavily entrenched in forensics as previous works but a few new scientific tools are employed to keep pace with the hunt. Instead, Pearson concentrates on the frequent conflict between the media and police along with span of control issues whenever the Feds are involved. This is "bigger" than the regular Lou Bolt yarn because of the type of story it is. Overall, it represents a nice change of pace. Loyal Pearson followers will see their favorite players but the storyline doesn't dwell on them as much as previous works. That seems to work well too.

It must be hard to keep storylines fresh when an author does a series around the same central characters. Pearson does the job and then some.

First Victim is an extremely well written and fascinating story dealing with illegal immigration, sweat shops and prostution. This is not a book to read if you are looking for blood, gore, lurid desciptions of torture victims, etc. it is a book that deals with the mind, strategy, trying to outthink the criminal as well as all the politics that go on behind the scenes of government agents - the in-fighting for credit, the hestitancy to work with each other or at least share information, the struggles of the police to make sure that they do everything within the law so that the criminal doesn't end up back on the street, and corruption. It is a treat for the mind. Ridley Pearson has given the main character Lou Boldt, police detective, a very well rounded character who tries to find balance between his love for his work and his love for his family. The other equally prominent characters of Daphne Matthews psychologist, Sergeant John LaMoia, and Forensic expert Bernie Lofgrin give the story added spice skillfully because of their extremely opposite personalities yet they blend well and compliment each other. The story line flows very well so there is no getting lost between one chapter and the next as can happen so easily in a thriller. One part of the thrillers I have always found fascinating is the forensic area of police work because no true police thriller is complete without it. Ridley Pearson has found a good balance in this area, there is enough detail when forensics is used in the book to keep someone fascinated in the area interested but won't turn off the reader who isn't and has it dispersed throughout the novel which adds to the suspense. This novel deals with the human spirit, the dark side of immigration, corruption and love. This was not the first Lou Boldt novel I have and most definitely will not be the last.

Although I have read all of Ridley Pearson's books, this was my first experience with one of his works on audio cassette. Once again, Mr. Pearson has created a wonderfully suspenseful plot, but one that is almost ruined by this narrator. From the very beginning Mr. Rosema's too-rapid delivery makes it almost impossible to absorb the many details which are Pearson's trademark. Rosema's chopped-up reading style results in dreadful enunciation (i.e. dijalcamra for digital camera) With the exception of Mama Lu, most of the characters are unbelieveable due to their speedy conversational styles. I was greatly disappointed. A greater disappointment would only have resulted had I purchased this audio instead of borrowing it from the library. I must now read the book.

I just finished The First Victim an hour or so ago and enjoyed it throughout. It had the good investigation work that Boldt is known for and a few surprises along the way. I read it in three days and was sorry to see it come to an end.

This certainly wasn't one of Pearson's best, but once you get past the first 100 pages, the book is pretty good. I had such a hard time getting through the beginning of the book, I actually thought I might just skip this one. Once the story finally got going the book was quite good. There was a lot going on, and the character's personal lives were not explored in as much detail as the past. Also, the constant references to past cases (i.e. the previous books) did not help the story much. Over all, the book was good, though not one of the best.