Customer Reviews

Fisherman's Bend

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is definitely a mystery meant for someone in just the right mood, or a particular kind of reader. That is to say, it has a slow, meandering pace that reminds one of the very sort of rambling conversation one might have when talking to a relaxed person from a small town in rural Maine. It includes a great deal of detail about how each fishing- and boat-related task is done, and walks its way stoically through each part of every day, whether detailing a near-fatal accident at sea or a thought-filled drive down a country road. Most of the story consists simply of Jane's internal monologue as she observes her new home and surroundings and tries to unravel the events going on around her.

The peek into life among Maine's fishing communities is fascinating. The details regarding lobster fishermen, their families, and the ways in which 'outside' concerns such as drugs begin to encroach upon the countryside are very real. Unfortunately, the law enforcement end of the story doesn't hold up as well. Jane is supposed to be a big-city cop, but she comes off as naive and amateur. She keeps believing the best of everyone even when you want to shake her and point out what seem like obvious inconsistencies, suspicious coincidences, ridiculous scenarios, and so on. Then, both the author and Jane cheat: when she does figure stuff out she 'hides' it from the reader, despite the fact that we're supposedly experiencing an interior monologue of her thoughts as she has them. I found myself being frustrated with her for not noticing or figuring something out, only to find out later that she had, but simply hadn't let the reader in on it. In addition, well, without giving too much away, let's just say the bad guy did a couple of all-too-convenient things in the finale that were straight out of Cartoon Villainy 101.

The material on the local community and the very unusual voice in which the story is told are absolutely fantastic. They give it a highly unusual feel and it's really nice to read something new. It's just too bad that the law & order parts don't match it for quality.

I am sorry to say that I did not enjoy reading this book. It is written in the first person style and that is something I usually try to avoid. This is the second Jane Bunker mystery, the first being SLIPKNOT. I kept waiting for the knot called the fisherman's bend to play some part in the story but it never did, that was a disappointment. Also, this author does not seem to be very interested in descriptive passages. Not of her main character, the other characters in the story or the landscape. I had hoped to revisit the wonderful coastal towns and villages of Maine through reading this story but it just never happened. Aside from one mention of the houses and forest along one roadway I got no descriptions to remind me of those wonderful days I spent in Maine.

I found the character of Jane Bunker to be flat and uninteresting. I think her frugality was supposed to show us an aspect of her past and her personality but all it succeeded in doing was to annoy me. Why did I have to read about her wrestling with herself over whether or not to fill up her gas tank? After all, she was going to be reimbursed for it. Many references were made to her adventures in the previous book but they were not actually explained. I also didn't like the fact that she looked on almost every man she met as a potential "suitor". The main word used to describe the captain of the research vessel is "attractive" and she wonders if he finds her enchanting. Enchanting? After meeting her two times? Good grief! Then there would be a mention of past failed relationships but not anything concrete. I kept feeling as if I had missed reading something somewhere. Yes, there are "quirky" characters in the book. For me, there were too many quirky characters. And most of their quirks were just plain irritating, especially the speaking style of Willard Kelley.

The positive side of this book comes about when this author is writing about boats and ships. It is obvious that she is very comfortable with those subjects and that is fine, she does a great job in that area. The mystery, on the other hand, was actually not interesting to me at all. In fact, none of the mysteries were interesting. I didn't care where they were leading because I figured out the main mystery when it was first being described. The reaction of one of the people who arrived at the scene was a complete give-away. And the ending was a shock. Not because of the revelation of the bad guy but how abruptly the story was concluded. Did the timer go off and someone shout "Time's Up"?

I would never recommend this book to one of my "reading" friends who likes to read mysteries. It was unsatisfactory for me.

As an Amazon Vine reviewer, I have taken my task seriously,completing giving much thought to each product. Until now. This book is just too painful to complete, although I gave it the old college try and made it half-way through. Admittedly, I have never read any of the Jane Bunker books before, but there is nothing about this character in this book that would compel me to read another. In this book, she works as an insurance investigator and a part-time sheriff, investing the same crimes wearing both hats. Perhaps it is my legal background, but I could not suspend my disbelief that this would actually occur, as it is a huge conflict of interest.

Jane is supposed to be a hardened police officer, one who has seen her share of sexism, yet approaches two men she encounters through business as if they may be potential suitors on their second meeting (dreaming of having babies with one of them!). The secondary characters are stock: the plucky waitress, the kooky neighbors, etc. One character's name is a play on two Beatle's name, which was mildly amusing the first time it was used, but lost its charm fifty times later.

If I do finish and change my opinion, I will update my reiew.

Fisherman's Bend by Linda Greenlaw

Since all the previous reviews seem to from the Amazon Vine Program -- whoops, forgot the TM -- I thought I'd chime in as a reg'lar citizen. And basically I agree with many of the reviews. A mildly interesting, though thin and predictable, plot (I figured out a good part of the resolution barely a third of the way in, though not every fillip). Lots of local color and nautical lore, though perhaps hard to follow in places if you're not an old salt yourself. A shallow and not very likable main character, given to ... not exactly introspection, since that would imply change or examination ... but, well, talking about herself, her habits, her history, a lot.

But the worst thing, and though I haven't read every Vine review I didn't see anyone else pick up on this, is the writing. All that local color and nautical lore, even her fawning over the handsome boat captain, could have been made much more interesting. But the first person narrative is stiff, almost leaden, and just doesn't sound like an actual person speaking, but like, say, a police report, the stilted style of someone perhaps smooth and glib vocally but uneasy setting words to paper. Jane Bunker is no Spenser. Plus Greenlaw indulges in a major sin for a fiction writer -- too often she doesn't show us, but tells us. We don't learn things from what Bunker sees or does, with maybe an explanatory aside, but through exposition. A Robert Heinlein can get away with this, even make it exciting, but few others.

I was oscillating between giving this 2* and 3*. On the one hand, once I got into the swing of speed-reading to get past the writing style, it did catch my interest a bit and was at least worth finishing (had to see if I was right about my plot predictions! ). On the other, there was the offensive and gratuitous stereotype of the scientist/techie type "Quasar," bumbling, disheveled, inarticulate, thickly be-glassed no less. Sorry Linda, two *'s.

This was an badly executed mystery that never seems to go anywhere. The only item that held my interest was the descriptions of the Maine countryside and fishing boats.

If Jane Bunker was developed further as a character it would have helped. However she wasn't and neither were any of the other characters; the book had a story line which was very poorly executed. The ending was like getting the last five minutes of a 70's TV Series-suddenly everything falls into place and the answer is revealed. However by this time the poor reader does not get much of a reward for finishing this book.....

This book offers little entertainment for mystery readers. Although there is a lot of nautical detail, the overall character development was lacking. The story progresses at a rather slow pace and then suddenly, in the last several pages of the book, everything is revealed in a fast and predictable manner. I simply didn't find the book very exciting and although it offered enough detail to keep me reading, it isn't a book that I would strongly recommend to anyone.

With all due respect to the author, I'm not sure why she decided to write a mystery series after her success with non-fiction. I really tried to get into this book, but found myself yearning for more of the great writing that I loved in "The Hungry Ocean" and "The Lobster Chronicles". In a life spent on the ocean, surely she has more engaging stories to share with readers without resorting to this particular genre.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It is unlike many of the mysteries I have read because of the manner in which the author constructs the story. There are no "red herring" false leads; the story proceeds directly to it's conclusion.

Ms. Greenlaw has a writing style that is very, very smooth. There is a lot of nice imagery in the book, and it is evident that she knows her way around small boats. I found her writing to be a refreshing change from the hard-hitting style of many mysteries - they often attempt to lead the reader into false paths, switching the main suspect, often several times. This story is probably more like an actual detective would work, following various leads to their conclusion, but not assuming guilt or causing the reader to move the focus to different characters. In hindsight, the bad guy was obvious, but only in hindsight. There was only one big plot twist, and even that seemed to flow into the story, rather than being startling.

I was getting towards the end of the book and began to wonder how Ms. Greenlaw was going to wrap everything up in a very few pages. In fact, the conclusion came together in only a couple of pages - and then the story was over. It seemed a bit sudden, but it works OK.

The story has a lot of descriptions; here is a sample (my own words, not a quote from the book): The story unfolds quietly, like the waves of the sea gently moving in and out in the sunlight.

Since the book is set in Maine, in the fall, there are plenty of great images to be described. But if this sort of writing is not your thing you might find it problematic. I enjoyed it.

I am very disappointed in this book. The story is just so-so, not that exciting & the ending is pretty predictible & unoriginal really. The style of writing, though, is what kills this book. This is the first time I've ever had to describe a book in this way - it is overdescriptive. It's as if the author used a thesaurus to find a unique way of describing things, and decided she liked ALL of the words the thesaurus gave her & thus decided to use them ALL !!!

To top it off, the story is so very slow to move along. I don't mind a slower moving book if there is something valuable to the book to keep my interest. If a story is entertaining, has great characters, or has some kind of charm to it, I don't mind. The whole thing, though, is just ho-hum, and it seems as if the author tried to dress it up using too many descriptive terms throughout the book. Either she did that to dress it up, or she knew how bad the book really was & decided she'd try to distract the reader by making the reader really concentrate on putting together a picture of something rather than focus on the story (what little there was of one).

The whole reading experience was a complete & utter let down. I love a good mystery, and love something beautifully descriptive. This book, however, had too little of one and too much of the other. I think even paying $1 for this in the last chance bargain bin would be a waste of money.

The reader, Sandra Burr, does a great job with the Maine accents and various characters' voices in this mystery, the second in a series, set in coastal Maine, with lots of local color, great characters, and wonderful descriptions. The detective, Jane Bunker, supposedly a former tough Miami cop, seems to make some strange assumptions and choices, and to be oddly naive and optimistic. The book needed an editor to chop some overly long scenes, but editing seems to be a lost art, as is well-known. Anybody who enjoys listening to mysteries set in unusual places with distinctive characters while driving long distances should find this book eats up the miles. I hope that there will be more of them. I'd love for Jane to get a little smarter, tougher, and more secure. The book suffers from a long meandering plot that gets resolved rather suddenly at the very end.