Customer Reviews

Harm's Way (Alan Gregory)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Peter Arvin is brutally attacked while working late on a set at a theatre in Boulder. He dies in the emergency room of a hospital, the apparent victim of a ritual killing. Police Detective Sam Purdy asks Dr. Alan Gregory to create a psychological profile of the murderer. Peter's widow Adrienne also asks Alan to find out more about her dead husband's past. She realizes that there is so much she does not know about him.

The dark secret in Peter's background involved his work as a counselor at a wilderness camp for boys during the summer of 1982. Peter and two other young adults were leading a group of six boys on a survival experience. The group was caught in a wildfire and one boy died. The catastrophe converted Peter into a dedicated loner who seemed to have developed a total lack of trust in others. His sense of guilt became so severe that he built a coffin for himself with the date of the fire inscribed at eye level on the inside of the coffin's lid.

Alan concludes that there is a connection between the fire and Peter's murder. He sees the Denver murder as the act of a different person who probably committed suicide shortly after the crime. Detective Dale Hunter disagrees and argues that both murders were done by the same killer. Sam and Alan remain unconvinced and as they continue to follow their own leads, they begin to realize that they will be lucky to finish this case alive.

The author is a clinical psychologist whose greatest strength lies in the development of memorable chacters who come to life in his novels.

When Dr Alan Gregory's good friend Peter Arvin is found dying on the stage of a Colorado theater, suspicion soars that he is the second victim of a serial killer. Now the police want Alan to create a psychological profile of the murder. Peter's widow wants to know her husband's secrets. And Alan is desperate to know who killed his friend--and why. Did the guilty party have a sick taste for show biz? Was the murderer inspired by greed or by vengeance? Or by forbidden sex? Alan Gregory follows the trail of naked violence and hidden shame from Denver to the peaceful town of Boulder and to the wanton wonderland of Jackson Hole. He thought he knew his late late friend--but what he didn't know could kill him....

Stephen White has the courage to kill off a beloved recurring character in the first chapter! Another novel about beautiful Boulder, Colorado, fascinating lessons in psychology and a story that will surprise you with its ending. You won't be able to put this book down.

This isn't the best of the Alan Gregory series, but it's still better than most of the other books I've read in the past year. I learned more than I wanted to know about theatre, and having Peter gruesomely killed depressed me, but the mystery was top-notch.

I suspect that the novel would be less enjoyable for readers who missed the first three of the series, so buy the others, too. And don't stop here; the series keeps getting better with each new book. I've already pre-ordered Kill Me, number 14, to be released in March.

[...] Having read enough cozies in my life to still be able to count them on one hand, I have come to the probably erroneous conclusion that the main difference between the cozy mystery and the hard-boiled detective novel is that the investigator in the cozy is never in quite as much immediate physical danger as is the hard-boiled chap. Even if the chap in question isn't too hard-boiled.

Such is the case with Boulder, CO psychiatrist Alan Gregory, the hero of Stephen White's open-ended series of mystery/thrillers. regory spends his time getting shot at, beaten about the head, henpecked, and otherwise threatened by a bevy of adversaries and never enjoying it much. The best kind of detective-- an amateur who gets too wrapped up in his cases.

In this case, it's hard to avoid. The victim is Gregory's next door neighbor, a woodcraftsman who was designing sets for a theatre production in town. The murder is similar in some ways to a previous murder in Denver, and so the local police start thinking "serial killer." Gregory's PD pal Sam Purdy hires him on as an amateur profiler, and away we go.

Stephen White is a solid writer of thrillers, easily as good as any of the A-list names working in the genre today. His lack of widespread readership continues to baffle me. Harm's Way is of a piece with the rest of the Alan Gregory novels, and comes just as highly recommended from this camp. *** 1/2

The Alan Gregory series is one of the few mystery series that I've read over the years, eagerly awaiting the next new release. At the same time, my husband is just now reading them for the first time and I've been re-reading the old books so I can enjoy them with him. So, with the perspective of nine books, I opine that this is not one of the best.

It's an ok read but nothing that kept me up past my bedtime. I'm not sure what doesn't work in the book. After the high politics of Higher Authority, this book seems somewhat mundane. The victim, Peter, is interesting but not very empathetic. It's hard to care much about him and why he died. The book is a bit too scattered with too many deaths. Perhaps my lack of satisfaction derived from the ending which is far too skimpy and leaves many questions unanswered. Also, the usual poking fun at Coloradans (and Boulder in particular) is lacking.

Bottom-line: I'm still a big fan of this series. First time readers of the series are strongly encouraged to start at the beginning (Private Practices) since it is much more enjoyable to grow with the central cast of characters.

Well, as far as I'm concerned, Stephen White has done it again. He has provided me with another enjoyable and plausible whodunnit with just the right mix of psychological tension and everyday police work.

This is also a sad story because Alan happens to lose a man he considers his friend. What makes it worse, is that the friend he loses happens to be his next door neighbor and the husband of another friend, Urologist Adrienne Arvin.

Peter Arvin has been in several of the other Alan Gregory novels but this will obviously be his last. His murder is not an isolated one but rather, one that is part of a series. Or is it?

Stephen White provides the reader with additional history on Peter and background that explains many things, especially the relationship he has with his wife. If ever a pair appeared mismatched, Peter and Adrienne were. She is a successful urologist but also outgoing and sarcastic in an east coast sort of way. Peter is more introverted and a very gifted carpenter, almost more artist than craftsman. Now that is all over.

Behind him Peter leaves his wife, who to be honest, doesn't appear to be overly aggrieved by Peter's murder. He also leaves an infant son. White introduces us to the Arvin's au pair, Lisa who is more than she appears to be. However, Alan Gregory and the reader do not find out the whole truth until much later but Lisa plays a very significant role and is more than a nanny to young Jonas Arvin.

Throughout the book, Lauren Crowder, Alan's new wife continues to support him and serve as a sounding board for his psychological theories. She also shows an uncanny knack for playing the sexual tease just when Alan needs that outlet most. White does a nice job of writing about the Gregorys who, we find out at the beginning of this book are just married. That took me by surprise but then again, that's what you get for reading the books in this series out of order. I enjoyed this book as much as the others in the series and from here I head off to read CRITICAL CONDITIONS. I 'm looking forward to more time with Alan, Lauren, Sam Purdy, Adrienne, little Jonas and the dog, Emily.

I have read four of White's fiction novels. I would give the first three a combined rating of 9 on a 1--10 scale. Harm's Way was for me a very disappointing read. I thought the book started well with all of the elements of a great suspense novel. Then it was as if I was reading a college text on "Mechanical Theater 101". It was far too repititious with theater jargon through three quarters of the mid-book. The last fifteen pages were vintage White. So, to wrap it up, the book could have been one fourth it's length and been a very good piece of work!

I have now read almost all of the Alan Gregory series and really liked this one very much. The author writes very well and gives such detail to his assorted characters that you can't wait to see what happens to them all in the next book. I especially like the relationship between the main character, the psychologist, and the detective, who is always giving him a bit of a hard time. I want to keep reading about these people. And so will you.

CD/abridged/Thriller: This was book 18 of the Dr. Alan Gregory series, which I had never heard of. This book read more like a cheesy Patterson book. A bloody body is found dead in a theater and it looks like the killer may actually be a group of people enacting the murder on stage. Some may be watching the murder while masturbating; tho outlandish. Alan is brought to the scene and asked to help the police with a profile. Of course, Alan gets in over his head looking for the murderers. Just....skip it.