Customer Reviews

Gonna Take a Homicidal Journey

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

 

 

In this fourth outing, Lauren Laurano, NYC private investigation, agrees to spend some time with friends at their new Long Island home helping to fix it up. Not exactly her idea of good time, but she's trying to mend fences with her lover Kip. When the opportunity arises for to accept an investigation into a murder ruled a suicide, she doesn't hesitate. Perhaps she should have. As Laurano investigates and discovers each new layer, things get uglier and uglier and even include an attempt on her life. She calls on Cecchi, a former NYPD detective with whom she is going to go into partnership, to help solve the murder. Kip, in the meantime, is still punishing her for an affair she had in the previous book. This has it all - good writing, a multi-layered plot, and good characterizations. Scoppettone is back in form! She has, unfortunately, also said that this is the last Lauren Laurano book - "I've said all I can about Lauren, Kip, and especially New York City." That's too bad. I'll miss Lauren, Kip, Cecchi, their friends, and Scoppettone's take on the Village and the City.

I have read all of the Lauren Laurano stories and enjoyed the new avenues that this book followed. Moving (part-time) out to Long Island, partnering with Cecchi, beginning to work out long-standing problems with Kip -- all of this gives Lauren more options for future exploration. Also, I liked the new plot device of revealing each of the "interviewees'" reactions to Lauren's questions about the case; it more clearly linked each of these characters to the murders that had been committed. Sandra Scoppettone has proved for over 20 years that she is an innovative and creative author and this novel is another example of her refusal to keep following a tried-and-true formula, book after book. Now, I just hope it won't be two years before the next one!

I suspect Scoppotone wrote this just to resolve the Lauren/Kip/Alex triangle which came to ahead at the end of her last book.

I hated the new format of each suspect revealing their fears after they'd been interviewed by Lauren and the ending seemed so abrupt - unless I missed something I was a bit bemused. The pieces of the puzzle just did not seem to fit together, it was a very shoddy denouement (if you could call it that)& not terribly plausible either.

I've always enjoyed the "Lauren Laurano mysteries", however upon reading this latest one it was apparent that the author has no plans to develop the series any further as she too has clearly become bored with Lauren & Kip.

Time to move on I would say & after having finished the book and read the interview at the back with Scopptone I gather that this is exactly what she plans to do.

Good and readable as Scoppetone always is. I think the relationship between Kip and Lauren hijacked the book, so that the actual plot events weren't as terrifying and dramatic as they could/should have been. Going by the last two LL books, SS has a very good book trying to get out - one that deals with midlife relationship changes and the whole problem of having to re-evaluate our lives constantly if we want to keep them satisfying. Her dialogue is brilliant - again, between Lauren and Kip, showing how conversation can degenerate into confrontation within the space of a couple of words.

Surprisingly after my review of this one, I received e-mail from Scoppettone who said she's moving on to new characters, probably under a new pen name. Good news is she'll still do crime. And if you've read any of her earlier (non Lauranos) you'll recognize the common wit and style. It will be fun to guess when her next ones come out.

Having read all the titles in the Lauren Laurano series, I was surprised at how feeble "Journey" was. Lots of driving around, very little action (mental or physical), shallow character portrayal, and hasty writing. The ending was pathetic, like a hurry-up job to get the manuscript to the publishers on time.What happened?

Once again one of my favorite writer had written a very good mystery! Scoppettone didn't disappoint! Even though I loved the mystery being set in a small town. I perfer Lauren & Co. in N.Y. City! I read this book with great pleasure! Now I'm going to have to wait another whole year for the next Lauren Laurano mystery. I had order Gonna Take A Homicidal Journey and received an autographed copy! :-o)!!

As always, I anxiously awaited the publication of another Lauren Laurano mystery. When we left off, Lauren was caught by her partner, Kip, in the arms of another woman. We all wanted to know how that and the other difficulties they were having would be resolved. But this is a mystery, folks! Kip and Lauren go with the Js to Long Island where Kip helps them remodel a house and Lauren finds herself a series of crimes and odd suspects to pursue. Lip service is paid to resolving Lauren and Kip's problems. And the crimes are a series of loose ends many of which are dismissed or forgotten all together. Compare this to "Everything You Have is Mine" or the others in the series and it appears that Scoppettone was racing to meet a deadline to get the book out. The painstaking detail of developing the crime and sorting out the leads is missing here. Scoppettone has the wit and the intellect to create a much more plausible and more entertaining story. I hope she hasn't become bored by these characters because she is one of the best in Lesbian fiction (and mystery) writers. I'm looking forward to the next one.

In the previous novel, her spouse caught New York City private detective Lauren Laurano in the arms of another woman. Months later, the Laurano relationship remains troubled, but Lauren and Kip are trying to save their marriage. Towards that end, they leave the Big Apple to help some friends renovate a house recently purchased in Seaview, Long Island. However, before they can recapture the magic that they seem to have lost, Lauren stumbles over a suspicious death.

To Kip's displeasure, the victim's mistress, who does not believe her lover committed suicide as the police have declared, hires Lauren to uncover the truth. Lauren soon learns that the seemingly tranquil town is actually a hot bed of violent crime that includes nine allegedly accidental deaths over the past five years. At the same time, she does not believe a sociopathic serial killer is systematically bumping off people. Instead, the answers are out there and it is a much uglier conspiracy than even Lauren expects to find.

Sandra Scoppettone is renowned for her intriguing Lauren Laurano mysteries and her newest entry, GONNA TAKE A HOMICIDAL JOURNEY, proves that very few writers compare to her. The use of flashbacks connects this novel to the previous one and aids the new reader in understanding the characters without alienating the old reader. Ms. Scoppettone's ability to provide her characters with human emotions, strengths, and especially weaknesses is awe-inspiring and is only one of the reasons they are fan favorites. This is must reading because it is more than an interesting mystery; the novel is good literature.

Harriet Klausner

I have read all of the mysteries in this series and my partner and I had looked forward to this new one for quite awhile. I had been pleased with Sandra Scoppetone's previous ability to delve into the relationship between Kip and Lauren, give colorful insight into New York life and at the same time present an intriguing detective novel. This novel was thin (I finished it in one night) and it just didn't have the character development, warmth and humor that I had come to expect in her books. For as long as we waited for it to come out, I had expected something a little bit more involved and complex. It was in many ways a one dimensional novel that left me unsatisfied. Scoppetone's previous books dealt with a myriad of issues that were truly thought provoking, everything from homelessness to drug abuse to infidelity. This time we had the murder mystery and the problems in their relationship - and that was it. And after awhile I didn't care about their(Kip and Laur! ! en's)problems anymore. This is in contrast to the other books where I was completely engrossed in their relationships and their friends. Frankly, this book just wasn't that interesting. I will however look forward to better from her in the future and I will buy the next installment.