Customer Reviews

Guilty Pleasures

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(30)

 

 

Family secrets, thats what it is all about, after all wasnt the entire USA captivated by the Bill and Monica saga, most were. Lets face it folks, if you like hearing about other peoples trash (and most do, Bill and Monica were a prime example) then this is a book for you.

Emmet Folsby founder, owner and CEO of Folsby publishing and Barbara have been having an affair for awhile. OK, so other men have had an affair, but not with their daughter. A bisexual son who marries in an attempt to get ahead in his fathers company and better his chance for inheriting the entire thing when his fathers time comes. Barbara sees right through this scheme and decides she must come up with one of her own. What these two wont do in an effort to get ahead. Both are obsessed with money and power and of course sex.

I chose this as an audio book and was not disappointed. Granted, it wasnt what I thought it was going to be, not my usual genre; however, one doesnt become more literate by confining oneself to a particular genre or author.

What I liked about this book, was the style of Mr. Sanders. He made the characters seem extremely colorful and with the help of Mr. Gaines (narrator) they were presented in a manner that really made you understand them.

I chose the abridged version of this audio book. Now, I wish I had selected the unabridged. It was obvious that many parts were omitted which were relevant to the story line. You could easily pick out where areas had been left out and you could tell that they were rather large areas.

In addition to the missing segments, there were no real breaks indicating the end of chapters or subchapters. Everything ran together and it was easy to get confused as to what was going on.

This was the first book by Mr. Sanders that I have ever had the opportunity to experience. I found it to be somewhat simplistic but gripping and at times even humorous. It was fun to see what the other would do next or what would happen to them. The book had a rather surprising ending but I wont give that away here.

As I said, this was my first Lawrence Sanders book and being one who doesnt normally read this genre, it would be unfair of me to attempt a comparison to other authors in this arena.

If you havent read anything by Lawrence Sanders dont hesitate to try. However, go with the unabridged version. Personally, I think this book had the potential for a higher rating had I listened to the unabridged version.

Seldom do I find a book which is absolutely devoid of any redeeming features. I can normally find something to like in just about anything I read. Well folks, this one fell right into the "seldom" section of my reading agenda. I was unable to find one reason to recommend this work to any individual I know.

Now do not take me wrong. I am no stranger to bad writing, sex, violence, poor plots, and general other disgusting material, but I have to admit I met my match here. I can also assure you that I am no prude..no, no, no..far from it, but I cannot even be sure if I could describe the story line the author attempts.

I think this is about a rather decadent family of rich people who are in the publishing industry and the wife of our protagonist is dying. The couple's children are very, very sick little puppies and the book is so disjointed and out of sync that even if I wanted to throw in a few spoilers, I would have difficulty doing so.

I suppose (trying to be Polly Anna here) that if you are into gratuitous incest, gratuitous bisexual acts, gratuitous interracial rutting...yes folks, I said rutting, which is a lot different that a nicely done sex scene. I could not show you one example in this book were any of the many sexual acts had anything at tall to do with the story...unless of course this author meant this to be one of those anthologies that were so popular back in the 70s which offered one strange bit of sexual activity after another with absolutely no cohesiveness attempted what so ever. At least with those old books you knew what you were getting when you bought them. I would quote some of the sex scenes here but I am pretty sure they would not get by the Amazon censors and I am also afraid that they are so poorly done that you would start giggling and not be able to finish this review.

I absolutely despise the term "character development" and seldom if ever use it in my reviews as I feel that it is a catchall term and much in this area lies in the eye of the beholder; or reader, if you will. But in this case I am forced to use it simply because it is absolutely and completely absent in this work and I know of no other way to say it. This entire work seems to be a series of cardboard figures onto which the author has hung a bunch of silly and downright disgusting sexual acts on and has done so to shock and make a few bucks. I must say that the dialong in this one is horrid too. It read like a Jr. High student was trying to sound adultish.

Now I understand that this work was published after the author's death. I strongly suspect that a bunch of greedy relatives or publishers took a few notes from the deceased author's desk and said "hey, let's try to squeeze a few more bucks out of this money sponge." How sad. Were I this author I would be quite displeased to have my name on the thing; even if I were dead.

If you have someone you really, really dislike I would suggest this work for their next present. Although you will have to use some other copy than the one I have here as mine now resides under a very wet clay pot full of geraniums to help save my wife's shelf top. I fear the book is no longer readable...which is probably best. I am truly embarrassed for the author.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

The book never developed into - anything. It's like a Seinfeld episode...only without the humor.

I think the title of my review says it all. I came across this book at a beach house where we were staying. Doesn't even qualify as a good "beach read." I derived no pleasure from this novel, guilty or otherwise. The only reason I kept reading was to see how many chapters it would take for a plot to develop. It never did. Stay away! Time is a too valuable a gift to waste.

I voted one star only because thats as low as it goes. I listened to this book on audiotape so I guess that is better than reading this garbage. It was stupid to say the least. Never again!

To Sanders fans and casual readers, this novel is a major disappointment. Still, I must admit to some amusement at the intensity with which other reviewers here are attacking this weak effort. It should be noted that this novel was published just after Sanders' death, and it is possible that he intended to work on it more but was prevented from doing so by ill health. Alternately it's conceivable that his declining health may have kept him from tapping some of his usually delicious ideas and left him with a potboiler that rarely bubbles. The Sanders style is here, but muted. A final McNally novel is scheduled for this summer, so let's keep our fingers crossed and hope that this one is closer to Sanders' usual standard. As for all those folks who exclaim that they won't read another one --- well, this is the last one. Too bad he couldn't have departed on a more graceful note.

I have been an avid follower of Lawrence Sanders' novels. I especially love all the McNally series. I have gotten to the point where I buy all his books sight unseen, as was the case with this new novel. What a sad disappointment I was in for. There was a great deal of build-up and foreshadowing, and you kept waiting and waiting for something to happen - but nothing does! The book seems as if it was published with half the book still unwritten. There is no conclusion to any of the individual storylines. It was an immense let down, and nothing was resloved. I cannot wait until the next McNally book. I will buy that one hardcover before it is even released! But I would not waste my money on this one.

This book is a waste of time, trite, predictable and sorid. Shame on the author for throwing many of life's ugly aspects into one book. You can't help but think he had a contract for a book and simply looked for the easiest way to compile titilating issues; homosexuality, aids, incest, biracial relationships, infidelity, illness, back stabbing greed, etc. Nothing redeems this book.

Not much of a story line. Just a group of people that were involved in 'controversial activities' such as incest, inter-racial coupling, convienence marriages, etc. Did not enjoy.

This shallow story left me very disappointed. It is a lifeless effort exploring the depravity and perversions of the family members of a publishing dynasty and some other one-dimensional characters in "supporting roles." I couldn't find a plot and feel that the story is a prop for sex the same way escargot is used as a vehicle for butter and garlic. There was little mystery to it except why I bothered to listen to the end. I kept waiting for something interesting to happen. It was somewhat predictable and disjointed. Lackluster.