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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Too Many Disparate Plots, But Still Excellent!!!, June 5, 2004
This review is from: Killer Dust (Em Hansen Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)
I read the previous Em Hanson book as my introduction to Andrews' forensic geology novels. I loved it so much that I was disappointed when it ended. I was so happy to find Em's story continued in this new novel, Killer Dust. I also ordered her previous novels, which I haven't yet read, just on the strength of the one novel I read. Andrews is an excellent writer. Certain things about this novel were fantastic and exciting, while other things were disappointing and confusing. What I loved most about this novel was the science. I had never heard about the dust blowing across the Atlantic, from Africa, forming the basis of the soil in all the Caribbean Islands, turning sunsets redder from Venezuela to Miami, and even transporting live locusts from Africa, as well as dangerous pathogens which kill Caribbean coral and dust which gives severe asthma to Caribbean Islanders-especially the dramatic increases in the dust since 1970. Em Hansen's character reads some books, mentioned by name, that gave me a good starting point to research all this on the internet. I easily found confirmation of everything she mentioned in the book. It's all really fascinating and based on excellent science. Furthermore, I found it of particular interest since I live in Africa--in Morocco, where all this dust originates--while I also have family in Florida. Most of the book takes place in Florida, and I learned many things about that state I did not know, in spite of having visited there. What I did not like about this particular book was that it left too many loose ends, and I wound up feeling confused about some of the things that had happened. I felt like there was something wrong with me, that I had to go back and reread a number of parts, trying to make sense of what was happening. I felt much better after going to Amazon.com and reading that other reviewers had the same problem. It is mainly only the last third of the book that gave me this problem. I think the book has some great ideas and plots, but that the problem is the author has tried to put TOO MANY separate plots into the same book. Maybe she could have separated the plots into two different books, and it might have worked better. She has tried to combine NASA, U.S. politics, George Bush and the War on Terrorism, the blowing African dust question, and anthrax and bioterrorism, together with the main character's personal life with her disappearing boyfriend, and stalking of a woman astronaut. It's just too many disparate things for one novel. The thing that really did bother me at the end of the book was that I could just never figure out, even with looking back and rereading, WHO pushed Calvin Wheat (the African dust researcher) off the cruise ship, and WHY!!! I also felt very confused by the whole commando-island scene, not making a lot of sense out of what was happening, or why, or to whom, even after rereading it three times. I'm still waiting to find out MORE about Leah, Jack's mother. Maybe the NEXT novel will be able to answer some of these questions, in retrospect. Her last chapter explains a bit about why the issue of stalking is in the novel. The author explains that she herself, in her real life, was the victim of stalking for years, and that the police could/would do little to help her. She wanted to bring these issues to the forefront. She did do that, but I feel that if that was what she wanted to highlight, she should have made that about half the book, with one other major plot, such as the African dust, OR the anthrax question, OR the war on terrorism and U.S. politics. She was just too ambitious in this book. Correct treatment of all these plots would require a longer thriller, as opposed to a mystery. This was still a good book, and I still found it difficult to put down, in spite of the problems. If you are interested in science, stalking, or just the character of Em Hansen, read this book anyway. I am sure there will be more Em Hansen novels coming (as the book ends with her finding Jack, but we are still waiting to see what happens with their relationship). So if you like Em Hansen, definitely read this book so that you don't have a gap in your knowledge of what has happened to their relationship before the next book.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Well worth reading, July 13, 2003
The reader from Lawrence, Kansas, should have been Sarah Andrew' editor both in Fault Line and Killer Dust. (Both plot lines are weak, and the collaboration of a more skillful editor would have been very helpful.) However, I enjoyed both books very much because I love the solid science and geology that enjoyably informs a nonscientist like myself, Ms Andrews' brilliant descriptions of the physical world, and her uncanny ability to remind me that thoughtful, caring, and intelligent human beings are forced to make difficult, sometimes dangerous, moral choices in a chaotic and ever changing world. In Killer Dust I was delighted by the fact that Ms Andrews' dared to be political! I found myself cheering when she took some well-deserved shots at the foolish and self-serving ways of America's leaders, both scientific and political. Finely, Em is Em-tough, impetuous, emotional, foolish, intelligent, loving, loyal, crazy, stubborn, insightful, tenacious, ethical, exasperating, and real. I'll keep reading Ms Andrews' books as long as Em Hansen leads the way.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Glad it wasn't just me, May 10, 2006
This review is from: Killer Dust (Em Hansen Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)
I was glad to read that other people were disappointed in this book for the same reasons I'd list. Just to show how convoluted this book was, I thought the guy collecting the dust samples turned out to have jumped instead of being pushed! The other reviewers are right...too much going on, and not as good as the other books in the series. And honestly, while Ms. Andrews has my sympathy for going through what must have been a horrific experience, that level of self-disclosure is not what I expected when I chose this book. I just wanted an interesting mystery story with some intriguing science.
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