Customer Reviews

Frost the Fiddler

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

 

 

Quite an unusual combination!
Janice's book is well-written, has a good pace to keep you hooked, uses a lot of technical concepts and lingo, and almost without contradictions; some concept comes from sci-fi, but is treated as a fact. The spy-line is holding all this together with some (inevitable?) exaggerations, but, that is what keeps the reader interested! I am not convinced JW had seen spying in the milieu musical... but she certainly makes an impression that she knows the subject very well! No wonder she knows the musician's lifes part of the story: everything else remains a great achivement and shows how serious an author she is...
In addition, the book is funny, has a good love-sex line, very pertinent references to east-west relations (well, east of the 20-th century: communism and unification of Germany - not our-day terrorism).
I disagree with Arno Schaefer's review - everything really ties-up well, and danger to your life is sufficient justification for a spy to eliminate the enemy... The goals of the perpetrators are pointed to in a clear couple of sentenses leaving no doubt they are "bad guys". As for Chance - he is just "collateral damage". Sorry, Arno: we do not get to vote on the fate of fictional heroes: even the author does not have too much of a say here - that's just the way the cookie crumbles! Finally, given the technology of the era, the method of data transfer is very much logical too!
Well, I liked this book and recommend it to all thrill-lovers!

I think Janice Weber writes wonderfully fun novels. She gives us humor, and a bit of outrageousness. Nice change of pace to have a talented, woman musician/spy as the protagonist. JW has written other novels, all of them good. Too bad most of them are no longer in print.

Janice Weber is one of the most inventive writers out there, and her books are astounding for their originality and their strong female voices.

"Frost the Fiddler" is one of her best; Weber manages to combine Bond-esque espionage with the world of classic music. (For those that don't know, Weber is also a world-renowned pianist.)

The book does become a bit complicated and perhaps convoluted at the end; Weber novels rarely have happy endings. It may also seem a bit dated at this juncture (most of the spyspeak is now everyday lingo, unfortunately, with our changing post-9/11 world) but it's well worth the read, and readers won't soon forget characters like Leslie Frost, or Maxine.

Janice Weber's books always make me cry, "More! More!" Eva Hathaway had me in stitches, and Frost did much the same.

I just finished reading this book and I enjoyed it very much. I couldn't put it down. I loved every page of it. It's really fast paced and by the time you finish it, you actually believe that you know Leslie "Smith" Frost. I hope that she will return soon in another, just as exciting novel. Sincere congratuations to Janice Weber !!!

I have to agree with the reviewer who said the ending made no sense. I'm not going to put a spoiler in here, but will note that it appears Ms. Weber draws upon her own relationship history to create some dramatic and titillating scenes.

I read this book years ago and when I saw it available in hardback I just had to have it. I'm not a big fan of books about espionage but this novel is incredible. Janice Weber has a unique writing style and although I love all her books, Frost The Fiddler is the very best. There wasn't a dull chapter in the book. It has love, lust, murder, mahem, humor, suspense, and at times you might need a box of tissue. Great read!

The fast and witty but far fetched plot is blessed with an outrageously talented and beautiful heroine who doubles as an internationally acclaimed concert violinist. The backstage look at the life of the international concert star has the ring of truth. The author is a noted concert pianist and her husband is a recording engineer (though not as handsome as the fictional one). While not on the level of the heroes of John Le Carre, this heroine is a nice change from the Jack Ryans of the genre.

I recently picked this book up at a used book sale and just finished it. While it was well written and fast paced, just as a thriller should be, I was appalled by the ending (Warning: spoilers follow!)

First of all, I was not satisfied by the resolution. I still don't really get what the novel was all about. What did the spy ring intend with the satellite they were controlling, and why did they have to use such a convoluted way of transferring some data? What did the late husband of the protagonist have to do with everything? The novel does not really succeed in tying up all the loose ends.

However, what shocked me most was the utterly cynical ending. First one of the lovers of the protagonist Leslie Frost, who was apparently somehow involved with the "enemy" spy ring, dies in a car crash after his car was manipulated by the spy ring's female boss, of which Frost knew but did not warn him. Moreover, she had just overheard him say to said spy boss that he loved Frost and wanted to marry her, but she did nothing to stop him from driving to his death. It looks like she was angry about rumours (!) that he had an affair with another woman while he was dating her, something which in this novel apparently carries the death penalty. In the real world, this would probably be called "accessory to murder".

Secondly, Frost provokes a motorcycle/car chase with the spy ring boss, during which she intentionally lets her follower crash into an Autobahn pileup to die.

Even 007 with a "license to kill" usually needs some pretense of self defense for killing his enemies - not Leslie Frost.

Until then I was inclined to feel some sympathy for the tormented protagonist Leslie Frost, who is otherwise competently portrayed by the author, but the cynical ending ruins everything. I won't read the novel again and I can't recommend it.