Customer Reviews

Look Again

5 star:		(99)
4 star:		(63)
3 star:		(29)
2 star:		(17)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

I absolutely loved this book and disagree with other reviews that suggest Ellen should have simply called the birth parents and tried to work something out with them. That would likely never happened with the exception of a brief period of transition. This book portrayed a mother's love regardless of how you became a parent. Not only that, it had you asking yourself, would you, could you, make that call? There is a real emotional pull between doing what is right and NEVER wanting to give away your own child. I think that the way she goes about finding out the truth is a very real look at not wanting to show all your cards until you absolutely have to. Her reasons weren't completely selfish either, she clearly had the best interest of her child at heart or else she would have taken the advice of those telling her to just forget it. She knew it would haunt her always. Then you have to consider the fiction angle of a great writer. We wouldn't read the book if the story was sweet and simple and it wouldn't be a page turner without the drama and suspense of Ellen working the story through to find the truth and even when you think the truth is not in her favor, you are surprised to find you can't put this book down until you know the "truth". To me this book was so good, it stayed with me. I found I couldn't simply finish the book and move on to my next book. It was an emotional journey that had me just needing to take it all in and ask myself what I would do in the characters position's. My husband wouldn't even have to conversation with me when I tried to ask him what he or we would do. Just an impossible situation to ever have to consider. Loved it! Loved it!

Most people throw away fliers that say "Have you seen this child?" Features writer Ellen Gleeson doesn't- she stares at the image of Timothy Braverman wondering if her adopted son has a twin. As a reporter, it is in Ellen's DNA to question, so it isn't remarkable that the picture of the child continues to trouble her. And even though her newspaper is instigating cutbacks as a response to hard economic realities, Ellen remains obsessed with the face of the missing child. Juggling a jealous coworker, an intriguing boss who looks like Antonio Banderas and an important newspaper deadline, Ellen finds it impossible to turn away from the fear that has invaded every aspect of her life. As wound up and anxious as an overly-stimulated three-year-old, Ellen spends her off hours researching her adoption and tracking persons involved. No matter the answer, Ellen can't stop asking the questions.

"Ellen spent the afternoon in Quality Time Frenzy." Whatever else, Scottoline can write circles around her contemporaries on the pandemonium created by small children. Much of the energy in the book is frantic, at least a third of the books eighty-one chapters devoted to Ellen's interaction with her son. Whether it's a screaming tantrum or a mother-son conversation, Will literally jumps off the page (he has the right name). I desperately wanted this kid to take a long nap. A nap wouldn't have hurt his mother, either. In the context of the story, I found this hopping from intimate child care to serious issues disconcerting. Add in Ellen's crush on her boss and the story gets a bit off balance. I don't know when to be anxious or amused. Then there are the throwaway lines, like, "Time to start stalking."

The thriller is energetic and entertaining, but the uneven emotional tenor keeps the reader off balance until Ellen finally faces the wrong end of a loaded gun, a criminal's plan gone awry. If you are a fan of James Patterson, this novel will please; for anyone wanting more nuanced treatment of character and plot, this author's flashy prose and impulsive quips may not satisfy. Scottoline has an impressive list of thrillers and a loyal fan base. Look Again, for all its scattered energy is a tale of an adoptive mother's worst nightmare come true, morphing into a particular threat with lots of mama-drama. New mother Ellen Gleeson is faced with an uncommon dilemma. At least she has an Antonio Banderas look-alike for comfort. Luan Gaines/2009.

I don't even know where to begin with this thing! First, let me say I'm basing my review on the audio book version of "Look Again", while I don't think it would make much of a difference, Mary Stuart Masterson's monotone narration sure didn't help the tale at all.

I was going to compare this story to one of those lousy, awful Lifetime Network Movies, one of those flicks starring Victoria Principal or Loni Anderson, but "Look Again" even makes those stories seem like high art.

The basic storyline as outlined in every other review posted, is that a reporter gets one of those "Have You Seen Me?" postcards that feature missing kids on them. She thinks the boy on the postcard looks like her adopted son and begins to investigate. Fair enough, a basic idea that could be interesting.

Unfortunately Lisa Scottoline populates her novel with the most unappealing and unlikable characters imaginable. I can't remember the last time I've read a novel where I actually came to loathe the protagonist of the story as much as I hated Ellen. Her character was astoundingly stupid.She is supposed to be a "working Mom" and yet fails utterly in both catagories. She is a working reporter, that is sent by her editor to work a specific story, which she blows off, lies about and just generally disregards. She is a "loving Mom" supposedly, but seems to leave the kid with a babysitter at the drop of a hat, seeing him briefly in the morning, usually arriving home after the kid is asleep? She has no problem running down to Florida for a few days, again leaving her "son" in the care of a nanny, and worst of all, when she suspects that she and her son's life may be in danger, she rushes right home.....well make that, she rushes right home after deciding it would be a good idea to stop off and have a quickie with boss first?! Wow, what a mom.

To top it off, Scottoline just continues to introduce one vile character after another. The jealous co-worker, the un-involved father, the angry ghetto resident. Evey male in the novel is either mean, vindictive, dumber than a bag of hammers, easily manipulated or one-dimensional heels.

I could go on and on, but to be honest, it's not worth the time. Just avoid this thing, and instead look for a Torrie Spelling movie instead.

Legally, if a married woman has a child, her husband is the child's father. DNA counts for nothing. For example, a man cannot get out of child support in the event of divorce by proving he is not the biological parent. This legal concept is totally overlooked in this book.

I found this book to be a quick read and somewhat entertaining. However, I am always disappointed when a book has an implausible ending.

This is my first novel by the New York Times best-selling author, Lisa Scottoline. I purchased this book after reading reviews that said of the 17 books she'd published to date, this was her "best work yet". The story seemed compelling and I was ready for a heart -wrentching / heart warming story. Instead though, I read what I felt was a contrived, formulaic book. I've rested into the comfortableness of knowing what to expect of characters when reading works likes series books, but having the plot line play out with rarely anything unexpected was a disapointment. The predictability of this caused me to spend time reading basically what I already knew would happen. Where is the fun in that?

Though you won't find spoilers in this review, almost exactly what you think is going to happen, happens with some annoying character defects and unrealistic scenes thrown in to try to pull the story together.

I bought this book after reading some positive reviews. Having just finished the book, I can honestly say that it is the most disappointing book I've read in awhile. The plot is contrived, the dialogue is bland and predictable, and the characters one dimensional. I knew what was coming several chapters before it actually happened. The last few chapters, I barely scanned, knowing how it would end. I just wanted to get through it so I could start on something better. What a waste.

I began to realize I'd wasted my money on this garbage the moment the author described the protagonist's boss as "sexy." I bought the paperback; the cover and blurb on the back suggest an emotional and moral drama with a very interesting premise, but the execution is so poor that I could barely bring myself to finish reading it.

Other reviewers have said it already. The characters are unlikable and wooden, their thoughts on the "moral issue" of the novel only serving to move the predictable plot forward, and every bit of interesting research the author has done gets shoved aside by the protagonist's stupid decisions.

The book's only well-written pages involve research the protagonist conducts at a funeral home, which, despite the book's racist overtones, and horribly-applied phonetical spelling of the African-American characters' speech, is interesting. Sadly, these pages are unrelated to the main plot.

Please don't be fooled by the packaging, or the fact that this author is apparently a bestseller in another genre. She chose a subject too big for her meager skills and wrote it poorly.

As a devoted Scottoline fan, I was hoping to see more of Mary, Judy and Benny. But I'm willing to try something new. This book was like catching a visit with an old friend who's out of her element. We wanted to visit her at home but, hey, it's better than nothing.

As others have noted, the plot seems implausible and the ending fairly predictable. We know Scottoline's lawyer trio tends to be reckless and adventurous. But it's not clear why this reporter didn't just take her lawyer's advice. She had no legal obligation to get involved. Her interference cost the lives of two people. The romantic story just didn't seem plausible or compelling.

On the plus side, we get an inside view of the newsroom and the adoption process. Scottoline still writes better than about 70% of the other mystery writers. She includes her trademark "girl talk" excerpts and the trademark cat. (In some of the books we get a golden retriever instead. But cats get featured a lot.)

I also liked the way Ellen's father was shown as a vital,energetic senior citizen. So many books show a heroine hovering over an aging parent, reminding him or her to take drugs and naps. This guy was living!

The problem is that a lot of authors can write about adoption, families, journalism, romance and parenting. Scottoline can write about women lawyers better than just about anyone. So when she writes about journalism, I keep thinking about what might have been.

Maybe next year...

This review contains spoilers.
*****
When Ellen, an ace reported suspects her 3 year old adopted son might be the missing child Timothy Braverman, she investigates to learn the real scoop. Her amateur efforts uncover a disturbing crime. Can Ellen discover the truth before it is too late?

Okay, this story started off fairly entertaining. But I quickly began to dislike Ellen and how she handles the events in the story and the trite sappy way the story ended, all quite convenient for Ellen. By the end, I was annoyed with Ellen for not giving the child back to his bio parents sooner which might've solved a lot of heartache. But oh noes, can't have that. Only Ellen can be super mom! Only Ellen knows best what is right for her son! The bio parents must have deep dark secrets! Yes! Gag. So predictable. So... Obvious.

I found Ellen annoying. If she wants a child why does she let the 'babysitter' raise him? And the romance with the editor was weak. By the end of the story, I wanted Wll to go to Bill just for something unpredictable and unusual to happen. But oh noes... Can't have that. Ellen and Will must re-unite and squeak sappy toddler/mama dialog at eachother. Meh.

This could've been okay if the writer had something more up her sleeve than this. But alas, sappy babby drama fans will celebrate. The rest of us will wince in pain at the teasing story that goes nowhere.

The story was well-narrated and includes 8 cds, including an interview with the author at the end which I skipped.

I was looking forward to reading a book by Lisa Scottoline that ventured further afield from her usual turf of the legal world and Bernie Rosato's law firm, given her ability to create fresh and memorable characters. But while this offers Scottoline's trademark mix of suspense, wit and whimsy -- and a strong, independent heroine complete with hidden insecurities -- as a suspense novel, it doesn't measure up to the author's other books.

One of the problems may be that Scottoline has a lot of ground to cover in relatively few pages -- we need to be shown Ellen's workplace tensions (layoffs are looming in the newsroom; she has a crush on her boss and a manipulative coworker); her commitment to and love for her adopted son, Will (as well as the story of how she came to adopt him, a child with a serious heart condition, left unvisited and alone in a pediatric ICU); her warm but volatile relationship with her father (in the wake of her mother's death). In the Rosato novels, the personal lives of her lead characters have been developed over several books, so both Scottoline and the reader get to focus on what they are there to enjoy -- the plot. In this case, there is simply so much going on in the novel -- especially since Ellen keeps hopping into cars and driving here and there, to interview people, to go tobogganing with her son, to drive to funerals or fly to Florida or... that my head was spinning.

Scottoline begins her tale with a bang -- when Ellen, coming home with Chinese takeout, scoops up a flyer about an abducted child she finds on her doorstep. Oddly, the age-progressed photo bears an uncanny resemblance to Will, a fact that sends her on a quest to ferret out the truth of his identity. Is he the son of the woman who signed the adoption papers? Or is he the kidnapped son of the Florida couple begging for the return of Timothy in the flyer? Needless to say, the closer Ellen comes to an answer, the more complicated the plot becomes and it's no longer just about who gave birth to Will. Answering that question will put both her life and his in jeopardy...

This is certainly a page-turner, and a great way to pass time on an airplane. But there are many unsatisfying elements in the story, such as the way in which Scottoline raises red herrings and other plot elements only to address them immediately. A good red herring will keep the reader wondering until the final page about the outcome; in this novel, the reader will quickly figure out what kind of climax will occur, the only question being exactly how it will be orchestrated. (No spoilers here, but I will note that some of the plot twists in the last 50 pages are so major as to feel very contrived indeed, such as the revelations about Will's parenthood. The motivations of Sarah, Ellen's competitive work colleague, for her betrayal of Ellen also come out of the blue, raised and disposed of in a few pages.

This would have been a more enjoyable book with less frenetic pacing and more careful attention to plot details, but it's still an enjoyable read. I'd recommend waiting until it's in paperback, however, to feel that you're really getting a bang for your bucks in this economy.