Customer Reviews

Lady Liberty

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

From the first cut of the U.S. vice-president's finger at dinner, while she negotiates peacetalks between two warring former Soviet states in Geneva, to her last life and death act of inserting a choice between two keys to halt the launch sequence of a first-strike nuclear missile, this story moves relentlessly through 72 hours of utter terror and merciless betrayals.

Knitted into this story's race against time is a poignant love story between Vice-President Sybil Stone and Agent Jonathan Westford, her personal guardian. They are pitted against the mad jealousy of Sybil's ex-husband, a brilliant rocket scientist, and trained terrorists determined to assassinate her. Jonathan's job is to protect her at all cost to himself. To repeat the story line here, however, only serves to spoil a novel that thrives on moment-to-moment suspense--an experience readers deserve to enjoy on their own.

What matters most is that, in "Lady Liberty," Vicki Hinze tops the genre of romantic suspense in the way she marries elements of the techno-thriller with intrigue and love; only this time she switches from recent military themes to the political arena in a much broader mission: to give the American people a leader they can believe in.

As 'Lady Liberty,' Sybil Stone symbolizes the character of a true statesman--or in this case, stateswoman: love of country, honor and selfless service. Her virtue is not bigger than life. It is a return to universal motherhood, for that nurturing side of a real woman has courage beyond the usual call to duty and empathy in direct contrast to true evil, which envelops the complete lack of empathy. If we can find leaders like Sybil Stone, there is still hope for the survival of our planet.

I like romances. I like romantic suspense. I like suspense. I like mysteries.
BUT, I only like them if they are well-written. This wasn't.
I bought it based on the other reviews.

HOORAY -- a woman VP !!!!
BOO -- she's in her mid-30s ????
(of ALL the VPs so far NONE have been this young except Breckinridge, elected in 1856, at age 35, the minimum age required under the U.S. Constitution. -- the youngest two in the modern era were Nixon (40/41?) and Quayle (42/43?) -- since it is HARDER for women to succeed in politics than it is for men, how could "Lady Liberty" EVER have gotten enough political muscle so young? -- but then ALL romances want heroines of this age or younger, so.....)
(this detail is just one of the many, many, many unrealistic "little things" in this book. And the devil IS in the details. -- too many here, and too many that hit a false note)

Characters were cardboard.
Scenes were confusing/unrealistic.
Emotions were described instead of demonstrated.

SUCH a disappointment b/c I LOVED the premise....

Taut and realistic, this novel treats readers to an electrifying drama proving why Ms. Hinze is the queen of military romantic suspense. The vice president of the U.S., Sybil Stone, aka Lady Liberty, is called out of vital peace talks to deliver a briefcase and stop a war. At her side is secret service agent John Westford, the man who has loved her from afar for years. This is no simple mission. There is a conspiracy at work to stop Lady Liberty, for personal, political, and military reasons. However, the enemy had not counted on what a wonder woman Sylvia truly is, a woman prepared to make whatever sacrifice is called for to ensure that her mission is fulfilled, and peace maintained. Nor had they planned on Westford being willing to do whatever it takes to protect not just the veep, but the woman he loves.

Racing against time, these two must stop a war, but somewhere in the danger, they find time to admit to their long simmering love.

***** Frighteninly real and vivid, this is a novel that both men and women can enjoy, even those not traditionally romance fans. The only regrets are that it will be a long time before the next book, and the United States is not lead by someone like Liberty already. *****

Reviewed by Amanda Killgore.

Vicki Hinze really came through on this one. I loved the details she went into regarding the secret service. It starts out great and keeps going.

Whether they are jumping out of exploding air planes or dealing with the political cut throats, they do it with panache.

Our vice president in this is one our nation can only hope for, she is very classy and brave. I really like having a female protaganist that is extremely career succsesfull, but does not lose her femininity. She is tactful, and diplomatic. He is hard and sexy!!!!

Can not wait for the sequel. If you like these books, you will also like Merline Lovelace full length contemporary military books. Don't wait, buy it now!!!

A good read, and full of suspense, but the reader will need a healthy dose of suspended disbelief on some basic facts. An author of "political intrigue", as well as anyone who reads newspapers, should know basic Washington geography (i.e., the White House Press Room and the office of the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee aren't in the same building). Hinze also frequently confuses Hill staff with White House personnel, referring to the Vice President's personal assistant as a Hill staffer. In fact, Capitol Hill and the White House are confused in the book all too frequently, making the storyline somewhat hard to follow. Nevertheless, Hinze develops her characters well, and the tension between the heroine and her Secret Service agent is enjoyable to follow.

A thinly disguised romance? There's no disguise here. The spine clearly says that it's romantic suspense. At least, mine does. Aren't all the books printed the same? The publisher seemed rather clear that this is a romantic suspense. I was clear on that when I bought it. I don't understand why a romance-hating reviewer would use this book to trash the whole romance genre and then act like he's been duped or something. I guess some people let their personal prejudices get in the way of enjoying a good read. Actually, even though it's a romantic suspense, Hinze doesn't write the romance in that heavily. She does put in emotion, which some mystery-lovers like my husband seem to dislike, preferring instead only facts and figures and plot points. But Hinze writes 'em like I like 'em--lots of mystery, suspense, and a nice romantic subplot to make the raised stakes worthwhile. If you really hate books with ANY romantic elements, I'd advise you to steer clear of this one. But since I love them... Now that I've got my dander up, I'm off to find the sequel to this book.

Vice President Sybil Stone, code name Lady Liberty, holds the fate of millions in her hands. She has seventy two hours to return the briefcase handcuffed to her wrist to the United States. Then, on her way back from Geneva, the unthinkable happens, her plane is blown up and she is pushed out of the plane by one very pushy Secret Service Agent. Transpiring through the jungles of Flordia, her only hope is Agent Jonathon Westford, for he is the only one that can get her back to Washington alive.

Jonathon Westford is more than just a body guard to Lady Liberty. He is the man that loves her. He loves Lady Liberty as well as Sybil Stone, but he soon comes to realize that they are one and the same. When she tells him what will happen if they don't get back, he feels despair, for he is sure they will never make it.

Hinze delivers in this novel of political intrigue as well as romance. This book brought tears to my eyes at times and chills at others. It kept me at the edge of my seat almost throughout the whole book. Hinze has depicted a great heroine that all woman would transpire to be like, for no one loves her country more than Lady Liberty. All the characters involved in this book are effected by Liberty and it just shows you how much she values all life.

I definetly wouldn't miss it!

I was trapped with only this book on a long airplane flight (my fault for not bringing a backup! Otherwise I would have discarded it after a couple of chapters. It is ludicrous to me that one could be expected to believe that the second most powerful person in the US, handcuffed to the only thing that stands between this country and nuclear destruction, surrounded by dangerous terrorists,quicksand and alligators, could spend most of her time debating whether her attractive, multitalented, hunky secret service agent risks his life for her because she is Vice President or because he actually cares for her sweet little (and apparently totally faultless) self. This dilemma goes on and on, impending Armageddon nothwithstanding! Can we get her to keep Israel and Palestine negotiating by sending them milk and cookies? If you need your romantic fiction to have one foot in reality, this is not your book!

The Vice President is a lady. She married a jerk, he broke her heart, and now he's going to start World War III. Will she love again? Will the world blow up? Who cares?

LADY LIBERTY keeps you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end! What's more we can only wish to have a Pres and VP with the level of integrity of David and Sybil. What struck me most was the progression of Sybil's character. She's well-established in the beginning as having integrity, but we see her fierce determination to do what is *right* grow, moment by moment, until that determination elevates to true heroic proportions. Interestingly, we also see the elevation of some of the antagonists, from being firmly against her, to being firmly on her side, and not through being hit over the head and "seeing the light," but a process of gradual realization, where they start to put the evidence together piece by piece. One other thing Vicki does is to *almost* redeem an unredeemable character, and I absolutely loved it. LADY LIBERTY is a wonderful read, and I recommend it to everyone... and it should be REQUIRED READING for every politician in Washington, and for every patriot who loves his or her country, for a shining example of what politics could... and SHOULD!... be.