Mortal Fear [Import] [Hardcover]

Greg Iles (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 552 pages
• Publisher: Dutton / Penguin; First Edition edition (1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0340686006
• ISBN-13: 978-0340686003
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (198 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,356,957 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intense Reading!, November 24, 2002

By 

Virginia Lore "rumtussle" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mortal Fear (Paperback)

Although this book contains more prurient sex and more gory violence than I prefer in a novel, instead of putting it down in disgust, I couldn't stop reading. This is testament to Greg Iles very strong plotting skills, as the tension in Mortal Fear never abated. It is also testament to his even stronger characterizations.

The characters in this book are real and smart and likeable, even if any one of them could be the one who is killing off women from EROS, an online erotic discussion service and taking a surgical momento from each victim. Harper Cole, the Systems Operator who connects the killings and comes forward, is ensconced in the turmoil surrounding his very Southern family. They include his physician wife Drewe, who has a great deal of hostility towards EROS; his ex-cover model sister in law Erin and her surgeon husband Patrick, whose marriage difficulties are spinning out of control; and a father-in-law with friends in high places who makes Jesse Helms look like a liberal crusader for civil rights and racial relations. With his friend and fellow SysOp Myles, whose brilliance is unparrelleled in Harper's experience, there are plenty of suspects for the serial killings. Iles's writing is very intelligent and always at least three steps ahead of the reader.

This book sucked away three days of my life, which is my way of saying: read it! Although there is little socially redeeming value in this novel, it's a very smart thriller and intensely escapist.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best thrillers I've read in a long long time!, October 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Mortal Fear (Paperback)

This is my first Greg Isles book but I will be looking for more. I found the caracters and the plot mesmerizing. It caught and kept my attention from the very start. I almost felt like I was right there watching the tale unfold between Harper and the other caracters. It also made me think of the very real dangers that the internet could hold, if the information one doles out so readily on here is'nt watched over very carefully.From a little country farmhouse in Mississippi to a large internet company in New York there's romance, murders, and plenty of action to keep your attention. Just my kind of reading!

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Step Aside, Hannibal Lecter!, October 18, 2000

By 

Ronald Flackus "Music/Movie Addict" (Chandler, AZ) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mortal Fear (Paperback)

The tension was so great while I read this novel, there were times when I didn't think I wanted to finish the book. Greg Iles' serial killer is one of the most frightening characters in modern suspense writing. The killer, who goes by a number of aliases on the internet, is evil incarnate. His chilling biography alone is enough to write a novel about. It is, among many other parts of this book, a stroke of genius.

Mr. Iles has done a highly magnificent and intelligent job of creating a plot that holds you and won't let you go. As I said, there were times I didn't think I could read to the end of MORTAL FEAR--not because I didn't like the writing, but because I didn't think my heart could stand the constant tension that just kept mounting through every chapter to the very end. Reading "The Silence of the Lambs" was the last time a book had that much impact. I do a LOT of reading, so my hat is off to Greg Iles for his great writing.

Halfway through finishing MORTAL FEAR, I immediately hunted down the rest of Iles' novels which, alas, are too few. I have added him to my very short list of favorite writers, the other two being Nelson DeMille and Elizabeth George. All three writers use character development, detail and excellent plotting to create novels that are intelligent, riveting, and just plain old fashioned good reading.