Customer Reviews

Murder List (Garwood, Julie)

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(42)
3 star:		(22)
2 star:		(23)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

Being a first time reader of Julie Garwood's books, I thought that this novel was both interesting and captivating, as well as exciting and romantic. The main character has a definite dramatic silly side to her, which most girls can relate to! Unlike many others reviewing this book, I haven't read Garwood's historical romances, so I am not sure how it compares to those. However, if one preferred historical romances, I can understand why they would give this book a poor review. It is exciting and modern and takes place in a very cosmopolitan setting. My preferred reading material is either murder mysteries or modern and light-hearted, bordering on funny, romances. This book did a great job fulfilling both my criteria for a good book and I would recommend it to anyone with similar interests. The characters have great, distinctive personalities, there are a lot of places where the killer could be hiding, the main character has an amusing family, and last but not least, the hero is enough to make a woman weak in the knees... at least if you have as active of an imagination as I do. I hope others have the pleasure of reading this book, and base its merit on what it is, not what the author's past books have been.

I love Julie's historical romance and it took awhile before I adapted to her romantic suspense writing. I found 'Murder List' to be an enjoyable read and not 100% perdictable in the suspense areas. The friendships and characteristics of the characters where enjoyable and the dialog is always my favorite part of any book. It is fun to not have a perfect heroine but one who developes and grows throughout the book. If you like "Killjoy" by Garwood you should like this one!

I did manage to finish this book, but I agree with whoever said that it dragged on. It sort of gets boring towards the end. I just love it when they say 'NY Times Best Selling Author' on the book cover. Not this book, I bet. (I did get it from the library)

Unfortunately I found the book lacking in story line, character development and just boring. Something was missing. I have all her books and love the easy reading that sweeps me away after a long day in the real world. A book is good when you forget where you are and become part of the book. This did not happen with this book. I still heard the world around me and I definately never left it. I finished it but was disappointed.

I enjoy reading Julie Garwood and enjoyed this book in spite of the lack of true mystery in one sense of the word. The reader knows who the sociopath is from the beginning. Regan and Alec make a good pair and the setup of her as a "crybaby" through the telling of Regan and her best friends, Cordie and Sophia, meeting in kindergarten to deal with a bully. I too had that nickname in elementary school and I think throwing up on a bully would have been a great thinig to have happened!! Her brothers though teens then did give her pretty good advice.

The trouble is that once she is an adult -- a rather naïve one at that -- her brothers are still trying to control her. When she is with her friends, Regan seems the most believable. I do not think she is a wimp, however, but gets her way through more subtle means.

The Murder List is a great idea and I don't want to spoil how that all comes about. The self-styled guru, Dr. Shields, is also a common type and I loved seeing what happens to him.

A fun but light read!

Julie Garwood has long been one of my favorite romance authors, at least she was up until a few years ago. I love every single one of her historical romances, they're all keepers - but I have been consistently disappointed in her relatively recent venture into the contemporary romance thriller genre. I enjoy suspense thrillers by authors like Karen Robards, Tami Hoag, Suzanne Brockmann, Elizabeth Lowell, Linda Howard, etc.. However, this area is not Ms. Garwood's forte. Unfortunately, "The Murder List" is a dud, similar in nature to both "Heartbreaker" and "Mercy," but without their strong points.

Heiress and philanthropist Regan Hamilton Madison is persuaded by her best friends Sophie and Cordie to become involved in their amateur investigation of a con-man, who runs popular self-help seminars. The two are convinced he murdered a gullible milionairess for her money. The three women attend one of his receptions and participate in a "cleansing exercise" geared to rid them of their anger. Participants are asked to make a list of people they really don't like and wish would disappear - folks they wish they could murder. Unbelievable?! Regan is shocked but plays along. They are then asked to burn their lists, which is symbolically supposed to cleanse them of negative feelings. Unfortunately, Regan is unable to burn hers, because her cell phone rings and she walks outside to answer it. After the event, she leaves the conference center and is attacked by a strange man on the way to her car. She drops her phone, the intact list, and fortunately escapes with her life. Soon afterward, the first person on her list dies, an apparent suicide. Then another one has a fatal heart attack. When Regan goes to the police to report the attack, as well as her perceived connection to the murders/deaths, Detective Alec Buchanan is assigned to be her bodyguard.

Unfortunately, the plot contains little that is original, worthwhile, or interesting. The characters are cardboard caricatures. Not one of them is developed sufficiently to come across as believable. The heroine is just too naive - too cutesy, to be as intelligent and creative as the author would have us believe. Regan and her two friends are supposedly, experienced, responsible professional women, sophisticated adults. They act like adolescents with little savvy, scatterbrained versions of Nancy Drew. However, they are perfect physical specimens of femininity - gorgeous faces, figures, AND designer wardrobes. Men find them irresistible, but none have ever been in a successful relationship. Of course, the hero is handsome, sexy, intelligent, ambitious, loyal, tender but slightly macho...and single!!! Do you doubt? The villains are not particularly scary! And the dialogue, especially between girlfriends, is inane, to say the least.

As with literary fiction, I have high standards for the romance novels and beach books I choose to read. And why not? There's lots of compelling, well written escapist literature on the market, with new books appearing all the time. I look for storylines which are original and complex, with fresh, fully developed characters, and a taut narrative - lots of suspense too. "The Murder List" just doesn't make the grade. Again, I am not happy about writing this review, as Ms. Garwood has brought me many hours of reading pleasure. I hope she gets back in the swing soon.
Jana

I am a huge JG fan, which is the main reason why I give this book 3 stars. I have read all of her books and could hardly wait to read this one but half way through the book I had to stop and ask myself "what is this book really about?". It wasn't a painful read but it just seemed so unfocused. Was it a love story between the 2 main characters?, was it a story about friends trying to expose a fraud?, was it a story about a serial killer?, was it story about family relationships? There were alot of story lines going on but they were not tied together very well. To top it off the brother whose action was the root of the main story line was not even developed in the book, only mentioned.

I am still a JG fan but I hope the next book will be back up to the 5 star standard.

I love Julie Garwood's historical novels. I also like her contemporary, Heartbreaker and Mercy, even Killjoy's not bad. However, I'm really disappointed with Murder List. The heroine, Regan, is simply too airhead, spoiled, and naïve. It's not funny anymore. I don't find her likeable at all. She and her friends acted more like teenage girls in high school. The suspense isn't very interesting and unlike Garwood's other novels, there's lack of real humor in the novel. One of the reasons I like reading Garwood's novels is because it's so funny. The interaction between the hero and heroine's very interesting and the heroine is usually quite witty and intelligent.

Oh wow, this is painful to write. I never thought that I would give a Julie Garwood book a 3! To me Julie Garwood and 3 stars do not belong in the same sentence. All of her other books are 5's to me! Anyway, like many others I have been waiting for this book for at least a year now. I couldn't wait for August 31 to arrive. I even took the day off from working and studying just so I could sit back, relax, and enjoy my favorite author's new novel.

First off, it wasn't horrible. In fact, if this was to be the first Julie Garwood book for you to read, then you would probably enjoy it. I would definately encourage anyone who is a fan of romance/suspense books to buy it. However, it definately lacks the "magic" that her previous books have and so current Garwood fans may find that this book doesn't stand up to her past best sellers.

I too felt that most of the book was based on the psychiatrist and the chase that Sophie and Cordie were executing. Very little "sparks" between Alec and Regan. You just didn't feel that instant and strong chemistry that is usually there at first meeting between the heros and heroines. And very good point about Walker not even appearing in the book. Only mention of him and yet the major point of the "suspense" was based on him.

And I'm sorry, but I don't even see how it is possible that a Julie Garwood contemporary romance/suspense book can be considered complete without Noah at least making an appearance towards the end of the book (as in Killjoy). I mean come on, he is what brings the humor and the major hearthrop, melt in your mouth, give me the hots kind of hunk that is a necessity to any book associated with the romance genre. Don't get me wrong, Alec was hot, but I kept thinking "wait a second, this would be the perfect opportunity for Noah to tease Alec a little like he did to Nick, Theo, and John Paul or maybe flirt with Regan to get Alec's temper going." I dunno, I just felt like something was missing during the whole book. A couple of phone conversations with Noah didn't make up for it either.

But, there is suspense. Just not as much as in Killjoy or Heartbreaker. And it did lack the chemistry that Mercy had. But since it IS Julie Garwood and because it DID keep my attention... I give it a 3. Let's just hope Slow Burn has a little bit less "psych hunts" and A LOT more Noah!

I am a long-time Garwood fan, but very dissapointed in her latest book. The story begins when Regan, a goody-goody hotel heiress, interrupts her selfless work when her childhood friends convince her to attend a con-artist's self-help workshop undercover. The would-be guru unplausibly coaxes his audience into preparing a list of aquaintances they consider better off dead--and Regan participates, but looses her list in the parking lot to a killer who takes it literally.

However, the original plan (which consumes more then half of the book) is almost forgotten as the story degenerates into a struggle between Regan and her overprotective brothers about how much security is necessary to keep her safe from the killer. Her love interest, a local cop given bodyguard duty by a disgruntled superviser, is almost totally excluded from the search for the killer and spends most of the book on the fence about whether or not to sleep with Regan before leaving town for his new job at the FBI.

Murder List was unfocused--instead of a fast-paced suspense novel or a passion-driven love story, it was a meanandering exploration of poorly defined relationships between a woman and her childhood friends, overprotective brothers, and only vaugely-interested bodyguard. The heroine (if the term can even be applied in this case) was the biggest pushover in literary history--she didn't stand up for herself about ANYTHING until the very end of the book--and even that victory was a minor one. The killer--who was an interesting and creatively-drawn character--was barely present for most of the book, and there was very little suspense throughout. There didn't seem to be any real chemistry between Regan and her love-interest/bodyguard, and hints of romance were few and far between. Finally, the presence of Regan's friends seemed superfluous and their plot to sink the self-help guru was an uninteresting distraction.

Overall, the book was slow, I didn't particularly care about either the overly-nice but spineless heroine or her indecisive lover, and too many subplots made it difficult to determine what the book was supposed to be about. Garwood is capable of much better work, and I hope to see that reflected in future books.