Customer Reviews

The Last Cheerleader

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

 

 

Mary Beth's comfortable world was shattered with the ring of a phone. Her ex husband had been found dead, next to her current boyfriend. Almost before she can assimilate that, one of her literary clients is also found dead. There is only one apparent conncetion between all three men, Mary Beth.

Those are just the first contortions her life is about to take. The lead investigater may or may not be plying her with sex to find incriminating evidence to put her away for all three killings. Then, her best friend from high school shows up on her doorstep in the middle of the night with bleeding feet and a frightening story that could be ripped from the past two years' headlines. With Lindy's re - entrance into her life comes a flood of things Mary Beth had tried to forget, including memories the daughter she had to give up in an attempt to save the child from the rapist who sired her, Lindy's husband.

**** Saving a child's life and possibly America from a potential bio terrorist as well as saving herself from jail becomes Mary Beths missions. Friendship, secrets, and betrayal tightly twine into a chilling, fast paced novel. Nonetheless, despite the darkness of the plot, there sparks of pasison and humor. The conflict of interest in sleeping with the head cop and some of the coincidences stretch crediblility, but the overall quality of the writing and the inherent tension compensate the reader. This is doubtlessly Ms. O'Brien's best book yet. **** Amanda Killgore

From the first page it's clear Meg O'Brien has a crafty, intelligent mind. The Last Cheerleader starts off as a short narrative by the lead character, Mary Beth, reflecting on a failed relationship. Anyone who's ever had a lover fall far short of expectations will have no trouble relating to Mary Beth's musings. From there, the book takes off in a delightfully frantic pace. I found Mary Beth a determined character with a quick mind and a cool, sardonic sense of humor. What I hope for in any novel is that the author not only keep me entertained throughout, but get my heart racing every once in awhile. Meg O'Brien achieved that easily with this book. She always does, which is why I'll always be a fan of her writing.

One of Meg's best. A good mystery with just the right twists and turns along the way. I agree with one of the other reviews, I see a movie based on this book. Some interesting insight into the world of publishing along with plain old fashioned greed. A sequel would also be fun. One again... I really wish Meg would write another Jesse James book!

Meg O'Brien has written another really great suspense novel full of thrills and chills. I recommend it highly!

I started this book in the morning and finished it by nightfall. I just couldn't put it down! It will probably be a movie someday.

I am a college student in Bend, Oregon. My mother gave me this book to read and I really enjoyed reading it. I gave it to my sister (she's still in high school) and she loved it too.

This book was annoying to read. Without chapters, it was a rambling narrative. The murders that occur in the beginning of the book are immediately tossed aside so that an apparent sub-plot can be introduced that may or may not have any relevance. The basic storyline is OK, but a lot of the situations are so preposterous as to be laughable. If this is the author's normal style of writing, forget it. This will be the last book of hers I'll read.

Hollywood based literary agent Mary Beth Conaghan is stunned when she learns her ex husband Arnold and her top selling author Tony Price were murdered side by side. The weapon is an Ivory Chinese dildo, something that the gay community loves. Police Detective Dan Rucker questions Mary Beth who offers nothing to the investigation except that she is sure neither victim was gay.

Not long afterward, Mary Beth goes to meet with another of her writers only to find Craig dead in his motel room with a dildo nearby. As Dan seeks the link to Mary Beth, her high school friend Lindy Van Court seeks sanctuary from her husband with her. Apparently Roger, CEO of Courtland Pharmaceuticals, tossed Lindy out of their home as she objected to his use of illegal drugs on their ailing daughter. Mary Beth soon finds the link between the drug company and her dead writers with only Dan keeping her from joining the dead literary club.

THE LAST CHEERLEADER is an entertaining police procedural romance that cleverly ties the two subplots over the course of the tale through slowly emerging clues. The plot engages the audience from the moment a shocked Mary Beth learns of the dildo murders. Though she and Dan hop into bed too fast to seem realistic, Mary Beth is a solid heroine trying to understand how she is the connection between the homicides of the authors she represents. Meg O'Brien provides a terrific suspense laden story.

Harriet Klausner

This book was entertaining but not much else. Nothing really special about it. Basically just a run of the mill suspense/mystery. The story was good but I felt that the ending was rushed. A person would be better off borrowing this from the library or a friend.

In Australia, this book is under the title "Shadow Of Innocence". It involves literary agent Mary Beth becoming caught up in the mystery surrounding the deaths of two of her authors, plus her ex-husband. The arrival of an old high school friend throws some more complications into the plot.

The book engaged me - I kept on reading to find out how it would all end. But so many moments in this books are very convoluted. When the plot needs advancing to the next point, Mary Beth conveniently remembers she has a secret hidden safe. When she and detective Dan need some vital evidence from another police department, one of the officers conveniently owes Dan a favour. When Mary Beth doesn't want to be traced through her phone, she conveniently has a second cell phone she rarely uses. The list goes on and on. The contrivance that wraps the story up and reveals the killer is the silliest of all.

Mary Beth's relationship with one of the murdered authors whom she lusted after is well realised and believable - a lot more than the relationship she has with the alive detective Dan, whom she falls into bed with after some of the worst dialogue exchanges I've ever read. Their romance could be removed from the book entirely and not change anything.

Nevertheless, I read it mostly in one sitting, which is an indication of a good read. If you can overlook the lazy writing, you won't find this a waste of time.