Customer Reviews

The Maverick (Silhouette Desire)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I just cant say enough bad things about this book. But the most overwhelmingly bad thing that I can say...is that I just didnt care. How dare Ms Palmer do this to Harley Foweler....her everybooks everyman. There was no passion, no conflict, nothing put two people who it felt...were transplanted from somewhere else and landed straight into the middle of Diana Palmers Day-mare.
We as, fans have been on Ms Palmer for a while about character development, and formulaic storylines...but this book is a travesty. It was actually worse then winter roses and law man!
It was like,...in an effort to pacify her disgruntled fans...she watched a few episodes of Bones, Dr. G medical examiner, and Greys Anatomy, and created a character in "Alice" that felt as awkward as she was transparent. Ms. Palmer made the fatal mistake of confusing quirky, with cooky. And Alice wasnt really interesting enough to be either.

As a person who works in the legal field, and understands the complexity of evidence gathering, and crime scene pathology...IT JUST DIDNT WORK!

So, maybe I should appologize to ms palmer for haranguing her constantly on this site for only writing about emotionally/ physically damaged women, who have low incomes, low self esteems, are plain jane's all the way, and have nothing more interesting rattling in their heads then their obsession with the abusive male character.
This atleast is an area she seems comfortable with, and writes a "credible" story about. She seems more at home writing about women who are historians, have anthropology degrees,or 19 year old virgin waifs who have no direction but just need "the lovin' of a big strong man to make her into a real woman" ( I'm gagging as I write this by the way)To me...this book failed on so many levels, and again...Harley, for what he was worth deserved a better story then this.

And we as readers deserve better too.

I first want to say that I am a Diana Palmer fan. I have read several of her books throughout the years & I really love her Long, Tall Texan series. If her story comes out in hardcover, I always buy it as a hardcover during the first week the book is released.

This paperback, however, was a complete waste of my time. The dialogue was trite and the characterization of the hero & heroine was one dimensional. Harley and Alice are two main characters that should have remained as side characters. Their romance was utterly unbelievable as they declared their love after knowing each other only a few weeks.

Where was the conflict between the hero and heroine that is a signature trait for a Diana Palmer book? This story seemed to be some kind transitional bridge that sets up Kilraven's story. How can you have a murder that is a significant arc of the storyline and not be given a resolution to this crime? It would have been better if the murder in this story was introduced in Kilraven's story and Ms. Palmer had forgone writing The Maverick.

My rating of one star is generous by far.

I believe I own copies of all but two of Diana Palmer's books, so you can consider me a fan of her work. That being said, the story of cowboy Harley Fowler and crime scene investigator Alice Jones is not one of her best and probably should have been done as part of an anthology or as a novella lead-in to the Kilraven books.

Anyone who reads Ms. Palmer has come to expect a light, enjoyable read and to run into a few old characters along the way. However, even I have to say that I am getting a little tired of the formulaic "experienced older guy meets young virgin and gives up his bachelor ways for true love". I'm beginning to think that Jacobsville is the home of some sort of cult that you can only belong to if you are a rancher, a former mercenary, a lawman, a virgin or a former virgin deflowered by a rancher, lawman or mercenary.

I have almost every book By Diana Palmer. Her last 5 bookshavebeen disapointing,but Maverick was horrible. There was noconflivtwhatsoever,and I felt like Harly got a raw deal. I expected a big story for this chaaracter and we did not get that at all. I think back to Lawless and even True Colors and they werefantastic stories. Maverick was not a story that Harly deserved.

I used to buy a Diana Palmer book without reading the description because I knew it would be good. Sadly, that is no longer the case. In this story, Alice, a forensic investigator, is trying to solve a murder when she meets Harley Fowler. During the investigation, Alice needs to interview a potential witness who works for Senator Fowler. Senator Fowler is a powerful politician who has a shady past and could be a potential suspect in the murder. In an effort to help Alice make contact with the witness, Harley takes her to a party at the Senator's house. During the party, the senator addresses Harley by name and Alice is surprised that the senator seems to know Harley. Alice, the great investigator, never puts it together that Senator Fowler and Harley Fowler have the same last name and may be related, let alone, father and son. This was all I could take of numerous clues that were continuely overlooked by the police, feds, and investigators in this book. At this point I threw the book in the garbage. I was really looking forward to continueing with this series, but I just can't do it.

Alice, a pathologist, is called to Jacksonville when a dead body is found in a car. She is helped in the course of her investigation by Harley Fowler whose connections may get her the answers she needs.
We have met Alice, the quirky pathologist before and Harley Fowler the young cowboy who works for Cy Parks. They both deserved a good story. This was empy. It had no purpose, no real romance, and, most annoyingly, no denouement. I guess you have to buy Kilraven's novel to find out who is the dead guy and what he kwew. I felt cheated ! Don't waste your money or your time.

I am a big Diana Palmer fan and have tons of her books. In most of her newer books Harley has featured quite prominently so I was looking forward to learning a bit more about him. Sadly, there's nothing to this book--it has little in terms of plot and absolutely zero in terms of character development. The characters are more like caricatures, even characters that have been around for several books (Cash Grier, etc.). For instance, Alice is practically an idiot. Despite the fact that in other books she's referenced as being fairly well-respected, she has to act like an airhead to attract Harley's interest. And why does she feel the need to advertise her virginity to all and sundry? It's just ridiculous. As for Harley, one of the things Harley is known for is his ability to dance, specifically to waltz, and that was barely even mentioned in the book. Plus, his whole "dark secret" is that his father is a senator, which is something a Google search would've uncovered in about three seconds. I have a good number of Diana Palmer's older books and rereading those has convinced me of what I've suspected--that lately the quality of Diana Palmer's books has gone downhill. I used to look forward to the release dates for her books but after Iron Cowboy (also pretty bad) and this book, I'm sad to say I'm done with the new Diana Palmer.

This book was simply awful, and I say that from the perspective of a dyed-in-the-wool Diana Palmer fan. I only finished reading this story in order to keep track of the ancillary characters who will certainly get books of their own, and I will buy the next book in the series. If it even approaches the awfulness of this one, well, stick a fork in me, 'cause I'm done.

2 main problems in this book. Right in the intro, Palmer mentions that the mystery that is the focus of this story will span at least 3 books - from this one to Kilraven's story and then Jon Blackhawk's (his brother, his book due in late 2011). So you know this is going to be a problem as there will not be a clean resolution at the end. The second issue is that the romance is so light and short, it barely registers as a romance. There's none of Palmer's signature angst-ridden plotting or delicious chemistry between Harley and Alice. They're friends thrown together who jokes about gettin' married and at the end say 'why not?'. Poor Harley, the earnest stand-up guy in so many previous books, got shortchanged. I would have rated this 2 stars but bumped it up because I liked Harley as a character.

I'VE BEEN ROBBED. Did I really lay out cash for this book. Oh my! I love Diana Palmer and have read her novels for years, but this was the worst. Uninteresting characters and plot line, drudge read.