Customer Reviews

Mortal Faults

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

 

 

Security consultant/psychologist/pi Abby Sinclair investigates a case that challenges the tenuous bonds of her relationship with FBI agent and frenemy Tess McCallum. Abby is retained by congressman Jack Reynolds to investiage a female stalker. In so doing, she learns that the congressman is a criminal and is drawn into a mystery involving murder, adultery and betrayal. By assisting Abby, Tess joins the investigation in LA. It seems that the feds have an insider feeding them information about the Congressman. A sexual sadist with ties to the barrio he escaped from years before, the congressman is a believable villian. He is manipulative, egotistcal and understands that surface means more than substance. Tess fears that her invstigation is on a collision course with Abby and she must chose between doing the right thing and doing the right thing for Abby. Traps are sprung and secrets revealed.

Michael Prescott always delivers fast paced stories kand interesting plots. Unfortuantely, in this
book the crazy quilt never quite comes together. Tess is a downer, staid, uninteresting and hypocritical. She sucks the life out of the story and is almost irrelevant. Abby is far more interesting and exciting but she seems more on edge than edgey in this outing. The feds and their bickering and politics were just annoying. The informant's identity was a stretch and the ultimate resolution was pat. Still, this book is still alot of fun.

Michael Prescott never disappoints his readers. "Mortal Faults" is definitely up to his standards. Abbie Sinclair and Tess McCallum are together again, working on a case infolving a U.S. congressman and a mystery woman from his past. This novel has enough twists and turns to make you dizzy. The excitement builds in typical Prescott fashion and though it gets a bit scary for Abbie and Tess, the conclusion is most satisfactory.

In Mortal Faults, Michael Prescott brings back two familiar and very likable (though not always to each other) heroines. Private Operative, Abby Sinclair, and FBI special agent, Tess McCallum, are thrown into the same case but from different angles. The story, which begins as hunt for a congressman's alleged "stalker" and expands into something more sinister, is wonderfully paced and takes numerous unexpected turns. Prescott creates a vivid, at times seedy, world that left this reader constantly guessing.

As expected, Prescott has delivered another intelligent thriller with memorable characters and a cleverly layered plot. A fun, easy, enjoyable read!

Michael Prescott's "Mortal Faults" is an over the top tale surrounding the exploits of main character Abby Sinclair. Sinclair considers herself to be a personal security consultant. Using a combination of a psychology degree, martial arts training and street smarts she gets hired to stalk stalkers and get them to cease and desist their aberrant behavior.

Abby was hired by California congressman Jack Reynolds, a middle aged ex-quarterback type who was in the midst of campaigning for re-election. Reynolds had been stalked by a woman he claimed was a disgruntled ex-employee. Little did Abby know that the congressman's fabricated facade covered the fact that he was a manipulative, sadistic, misogynist who had made some perculiar friends when he was D.A. for Santa Ana county.

The woman Abby was assigned to stalk was named Andrea Lowry and was already under surveillance by the FBI. Agent Tess McCallum who had against regulations partnered with Abby, a civilian, in an investigation of a serial murder case was involved in the case. Lowry had changed her name to hide that notoriety that followed her as being the main player in a double homicide, 20 years ago known by the FBI as the MEDEA case. The case had negative ramifications for Congressman Reynolds.

To protect himself, Reynolds mobilized a local biker club, The Scorpions, whom he had used many times to violently cleans up his messes, to kill Andrea Lowry. Abby caught in the crossfire and after learning the truth allied with Lowry to once and for all take down the congressman, without incurring the wrath of Agent McCallum.

What hurts this novel is its total lack of plausibility. Prescott tends to overexaggerate the nuances of his characters. For example he overdoes it when painting Reynolds as the most despicable villian to walk the face of the earth. He also adorns Abby Sinclair with superhuman acumen in her ventures, painting only Agent McCallum as a normal and believable person.

I've been a Prescott fan for years now and have read every book. His first few featuring these characters were incredible. This book was attention-grabbing as well, and pulled you through the story quickly but his characters tend to be one-dimensional. The heroines lack any flaws and the antagonist is truly evil, almost over the top. When Abby is suspected of murder in this story, I thought to myself...finally! She's not so perfect; she has a flaw. Imagine my disappointment in the end when it turns out that the true killer was found...and it wasn't Abby. Of course. How could perfect Abby have a flaw? I wish Prescott would let his character have both strengths and weaknesses.

The story was pretty entertaining but pretty hard to believe. The whole thing seemed pretty incredible and the real mystery behind it all was easy to see coming early in the book. My main complaint with this work was the flip heroine, Abby. Everything seemed to be a joke to her and a chance to make a wisecrack. She also was Supergirl. I almost expected bullets to bounce off her. The villian was vile and despicable. Abby was hard to believe might actually exist in reality. The FBI agent, Tess was some what more believable but still seemed to willing to risk her career on a whim. As in many novels, the investigators who were not the main characters were not only incompetent but down right hinderances to the real investigation. I think I will read more by this author, and I see that he has more books featuring these same two characters, Abby and Tess. I would not hesitate to give them another chance. This was kind of a fun read and it moved right along. I say, suspend reality, enjoy the book and don't think too much about the implausabilities. If you can do that, you will enjoy 'Mortal Faults'. If you can't do this and are looking for great literature, well, move on. This is not one that challenges you to think a lot. More like an episode of the "A=Team" as opposed to maybe "Law and Order." I liked both shows by the way but for different reasons.

I first stumbled across Mr. Prescott at my library when I was looking for a good mystery to read. My first book by him was The Last Victim. Since reading that novel, I've read his other books. Mortal Faults did not disappoint. It was fast-paced full of twists and turns. The bottom line is do you trust your friends? Caution: never turn your back on your enemies. Read it and be prepared to give up your day to finish it.

This is one of those thrillers where everything happens within a one-day period and the characters zip from shootout to beating to concocting some bizarre, byzantine plan to trap the bad guy, etc., without sleep, without pain, without second thoughts. To me, this is the sign of a lazy novelist. Masters of the genre such as Connelley, Lescroart, Burke, etc., work very hard at creating credible characters and credible plots and don't rely on cheap tricks or gimmicks. This book is predictible from page one, the characters are one-dimensional, the plot is ludicrous and this is my first and last Michael Prescott book.

I have not read any of Michael Prescott's books before but as soon as I finished "Mortal Faults" (which I stayed up all night to finish), I went out and and purchased "Dangerous Games" where our plucky heroines did meet. Don't pick up this book until you have cleared your schedule, caffenied up, and made a cozy nesting space. Then cuddle up and enjoy.