Customer Reviews

Moon Music [Paperback] by Faye Kelleman

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(33)
1 star:		(93)

 

 

I love both Faye and Jonathon Kellerman. Their books have always kept me enthralled, and I am usually dissapointed when I get to the end of them - not because I was dissatisfied, but because the book was so good I didn't want it to end! Well, Faye took care of that for me this time! What a GREAT dissapointment this book was. I had it figured out early on, but I thought it was a workable idea - so I continued to fight my way through the book. I shouldn't have wasted my time. It was horrible. She would bring in new scenarios or characters in such a way that you would think you must have missed something earlier on. She made it sound like it was the second or third time she had brought them up, and I'd flip through the pages I had already read to see where they were mentioned - but they were never there. I was so dissapointed in this book. Not up to her Decker/Lazarus books by a long shot! Don't waste your money on this one! Don't even use your Library card for it!

As a fan of Faye Kellerman's previous works, I was excited to "find" this paperback at the store. Even more suprised that she had tried her hand at something other than the Peter/Rina novels. I think it's unfair to compare this book to the Decker mysteries; this is a book that should be critiqued on its own merit. I found it to be a darker, grittier departure for Kellerman. But as with any of her books, I was hard pressed to put it down. I think it's necessary for an artist to expand their horizons, or their characters run the chance of becoming stale. While her ending is a bit out there, I found it to be good escapist fun.

I'm presently in the middle of Moon Music. It is very disappointing. In fact, my guess is that it's a "trunk book," pulled out because Kellerman missed a deadline about a year and a half ago. It appears to have been written by a much less skilled, much younger writer. It's overblown (and appears fundamentally unedited) at nearly 500 pages. The time frames seem to shift. The viewpoint character repeatedly shift, and not in any The Sound and the Fury sort of way, either -- sometimes thoughts show up on the page that you can't seem to attribute to anyone in particular because the viewpoint character has shifted two or three times on a single page.

It's always been interesting to me that, once a writer starts successfully publishing, anything s/he has written will get published, good, bad or indifferent. And, of course, people will buy it based on the strength of past work by the author. I've called this "bestsellerdom" in the past, and mourned such victims as James Patterson, who used to write good mysteries. I suppose once you can start making tens of thousands of dollars by writing one-line paragraphs, by not self-editing, by bringing out old, inferior work, by not sweating over each word, the temptation to do so is pretty fierce. Sad to see good writers give in to it.

I have not read any other books by Faye Kellerman so I do not share the same disappointment of other readers. Overall I found the characters to be interesting and bizarre. It is refreshing to find "heroes" with flaws that are substantial. My main criticism of the book was a completely unbelievable (for me) ending. What is most frustrating was that it didn't have to be that way! There was at least one othe scenario for an ending that would have worked well.

Like most other reviewers, I have been a Faye Kellerman fan. I am also an avid mystery reader with a M.A. in English lit. This book is worse than disappointing -- it's almost unbelievable as the work of the same person. The first 3/4's of the book is reasonably interesting -- the characters are not as well-crafted nor the plot as engaging as the Decker/Lazarus novels, but it was an O.K. read. Then, the whole thing implodes into something ridiculous, unbelievable, amateurishly written -- enough to make me wonder about Kellerman's mental state. The writing deteriorates -- she uses such questionable words as "evilness" (p.407) and "freefalled" (p.408). A woman who is naked on one page has the wind "blowing her dress over her knees (p.404) soon after. Worst of all, absolutely nothing that happens, no word of dialogue after this, feels anything but forced, awkward, and unbelievable. I have enthusiastically recommened some of Kellerman's early books -- even given them as gifts -- but this one left me feeling cheated, angry and perplexed. Publishers need to learn when to say "No" -- even to writers who have done good work -- when they are about to disgrace themselves. But then, they got my money, didn't they? Ah, well. Gentle reader, be wise and save your money and your time. Pass.

I have read Faye Kellerman's previous books with a kind of irritated fascination--I dislike her characters more with each new book, but the writing is competent. This book enters new territory. It violates justifiable expectations on the part of the reader as to the parameters of the situation, so that when I came to the "solution," I realized that I never had a chance of figuring it out on my own--a prime condition for *any* murder mystery. Furthermore, the "use" (shall we be more accurate and say, "exploitation"?) of Native American myths is wholly inaacurate and deeply offensive. I have done with Ms. Kellerman as an author. She does not deserve my time, my attention, and most of all, she doesn't deserve my money. If I could have returned this book, I would have. As it was, I actually threw it away.

When I began reading this book I flew through the first quarter and was excited to meet new characters (although I do love Peter, Rina, Marge, et al). The second quarter of the book I also mowed through and was loving the suspense and the clever use of very complex mental disorders in her characters.

The last half of the book and what I felt was a cop - out ending kind of lost me. I never felt like I was given an opportunity to warm up to the relationship between Romalus and Alison and therefore couldn't accept the passage of supernatural powers from one to the other at the end. Also, I felt like the supernatural vein was a turn that the book took at the last minute; the info provided re: the nuclear testing, and the abnormalities of some of the characters etc just wasn't enough to make the leap to werewolves and the like. The lack of foreshadowing about any super / hyper natural occurances until the very end left this reader feeling kind of cheated out of the mystery that I was expecting.

The loose ends of Alison's mother Linda, her demise and questionable, unexplained state of mental functioning (did she have OCD too?) was frustrating.

I did like the creation of unusual (read: not stock) characters like Y, Ruki and even Romalus himself. But it would have been all the more interesting to see these characters juxtaposed against more "mainstreamish" characters, too, just to watch the conflicts and relationships play themselves out that much more.

I was disappointed with this book, and the ending had me longing for Peter and the gang to get back on the pages with mysteries to solve.

I have read all of Kellerman's Peter Decker books and have enjoyed most of them enormously. When I saw this one at the library I immediately checked it out. After plowing through half of it, trying to keep the characters straight and finding them so unpleasant I decided to come and read the reviews and wish I had done so earlier. Thank you to those reviewers who recommend utilizing my reading time on something that would be more enjoyable. I shall not be finishing this book. It will be back in the book drop this P.M. And yes, I agree that Amazon should have a zero stars rating, this one deserves it.

Waste of time and money. Amazon should develop a negative scale, as well, something like little skunk symbols. This novel suffered from poor character development, laughable use of the supernatural, weak writing, weaker editing, AND bad proof-reading. I only finished it because I was trapped on a trans-Atlantic flight, and I chucked it in the trash when I got off the plane.

A marvelous mystery, a divergence from Faye Kellerman's normal novels which have heavily revolved around the Jewish faith. This book holds the reader's attention from beginning to end. The research done on Las Vegas is the best. Being very familiar with the city, as the reader, I was moving and walking right along with the characters. And speaking of characters, she has some unique ones in this book.

If you are seeking a extraordinary mystery/thriller this is the book. If you are looking for the "same ole, same, old" from Kellerman, this might be your cup of tea, but she has opened the door to a vast new audience with this unique and fast paced book!

Frightening, imaginative, enthralling - what more can I say, this is a real page turner - best be ready to stay up all night with this jewel!

I am a Patricia Cornwell, Jonathan Kellerman fan, but this new book of Faye Kellerman's really hits the spot...excellent, hope to see more of this type of writing from her.