Customer Reviews

Lethal

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

 

 

If you are looking for a fun and engrossing mystery to read this summer (or even this fall), I highly recommend "Lethal" by Shari Shattuck. I bought the book on a whim at Barnes and Noble right before I headed off to Hawaii for a vacation, and couldn't take my head out of the book during the whole flight! I didn't know what to expect from the book being that I was unfamiliar with the author's previous work, but I wanted something fast paced, sexy with a good mystery thrown in, and that's what I got! Interesting plot twists and intrigue...It's a sassy, great book to read...I recommend it...

In Los Angeles, Calloway "Cally" Wilde finishes her shopping at the Little Tokyo Plaza and heads towards her car, when she sees a man with a gun accost an Asian girl. She intercedes using her umbrella as a weapon, but the guy shoots her before fleeing the scene. Although not much more than a scratch, the potential victim Aya Aikosha insures Cally goes to the hospital.

As Cally and Aya become acquainted, she begins to realize that a seemingly everyday occurrence, a mugging, is just the tip of the iceberg. Soon with her beloved Detective Evan Paley at her side more to do the impossible and keep her safe, Cally investigates illegal drug activities, the Geisha and homicide. However, someone perhaps the guy with the gun who introduced her to Aya, wants to silent the nosy American. Even Evan may prove not enough.

LETHAL is a fast-paced investigative tale LOADED with plenty of action and strong characters especially the heroine, who is a Good Samaritan instead of the "Bad Girl" label. The story line grips the audience once Cally intercedes in the mugging and never slows down until Los Angeles residents will feel they were hit by an earthquake. Shari Shattuck writes a fine romantic mystery with the emphasis on the wild female champion digging deeper into what is going on as much as her own grave if she is not cautious (a word not fully in her vocabulary).

Harriet Klausner

I would say that "Lethal" (and its predecessor "Loaded")are very definitely more than a notch above your average romance novel. Likeable characters, (including some you like to hate!) sexy and fast-paced, it kept me interested and involved throughout. Great fun! Can't wait to see Ms. Shattuck stretch some more and bring us some other good yarns!

Interesting. The suspence never ends. However, the leading character comes off as too selfish and too agressive.

I enjoyed the first book in this series, but this book was just stupid. The characters are the stupidist people I have encountered in a long time. I could not wait to finish this book---it was a huge waste of my time. I should have quit after only a few chapters.

When I was a girl I used to devour romance novels by the dozens and dream of lovely places, strong sexy men and . . .

Traditional romance novels have been done to death, and sure they can be a good mindless read on days one wants to have their pulse quicken, and their imagination lit. For me they were always missing . . .

Something . . .

They were all just a touch too pat, too much like a standard recipe and too little imagination, lacking any real depth. Not so with "Lethal!"

I've always hungered for characters I can relate too, women I can believe exist, one's who FEEL and are not ashamed of being women! Shari MUST be one such woman, complex, feeling, deep, smart, witty and beautiful so much more on the inside than anyone could ever be on the outside. A woman not afraid to speak her mind, how else could she create women like Callie, Ginny, Aya, Sabrina and the rest?

There are some books that I'll read, put down, and forget about, others I'll treasure and re-read time and again. Lethal falls into the later realm, one I'll re-read for the sheer pleasure of it, the simple joy in a plot so thick, characters so unique and strong that I cannot help but get sucked in to the action, passion and wonderful renditions of Shari's fertile imagination.

I understand Callie, I've worked with women like her both on duty and off, I have friends like her sans money, and appreciate women who stand up for each of us regardless of what it may cost. In some ways I am much like her, and can relate to the nightmares and pain of a past better soon forgotten. We're women however and don't just drop things some where in the gutter for spring rains to wash away. We're a real, strong and not babies! Women like Callie populate our world, and are slowly working to shape and nurture a future we can only dream of, but unlike men that's not a reason to shirk our responsibility to our children and theirs. Shari writes very much like someone who knows all to well how and why women like her characters feel, it is my great hope it's not from direct experience

I am a retired cop, so I've seen more than my share of ugliness, but I have to respect the brutal, raw power and integrity of Evan, Curtis and the rest of the law-enforcement types in "Lethal." Passionate, powerful and driven too often it is all to easy to step just a bit out of bounds in the interests of truth, justice, and protection of people who cannot protect themselves. I've had the honor and pleasure of working with many such women on and off duty and Shari paints them with respect, honesty and understanding in a way few people can really appreciate. Again, if God forbid Shari had to live through even the smallest of what's she's written I only hope she had men like these by her side to give her a hand.

"Lethal" is an amazing and wonderful work, some of the best writing and character development I've ever seen and a plot that has you riveted to the very last page. Amazing, powerful, deeply moving, and a very solid literary masterpiece, "Lethal" should slake anyone's hunger for a good read. Shari paints women as we are, and paints us well! She has a mighty pen, and an ability to render into black and white a tapestry so rich that the great masters are left humbled! Bravo! Thank you very much, keep up the great work Shari!

Bleh. I wish I could give this book less than 1 star. I want my money, my time, and my brain cells back.

The author, according to the back page, is a former soap opera "actress"...this explains the ridiculous dialogue (it was absolutely painful to read) and cheesy descriptions. The main character is annoying to the point where I really couldn't care less what happened to her. (We get it, okay? She's rich and horny and she has oh so many emotional walls built up inside of her, but she's desperate to love and be loved. Stop beating us over the head with these points...you can only repeat yourself so many times.) Her love interest is no less irritating, but at least we don't have to read his narration...no, we're stuck with Callaway's thoughts and emotions.

Plot twists? Don't bother looking for them here. The plot was so formulaic and predictable...there were no surprises, although the author tried ever so hard to create some. I had the "bad guy" figured out from page 3 or so, and impatiently twiddled my thumbs through the painfully obvious, excruciatingly clumsy attempts at misdirection. Don't go searching too hard for well-written action scenes or erotic excerpts, either...huge disappointments in those departments as well.

The real kicker here...where were the editors when this book was proofread? The sentence structure is atrocious; the run-ons, messy comma splices and sentence fragments made me want to whip out my red pen on every single page. How did anyone allow this mess to be published? Middle school students are capable of better writing than this.

At the end of the book, the author mentions that she'll have a third book coming out in this series. I won't waste my money on it...I'm sorry I wasted my money on this one. Don't waste yours.