Customer Reviews

NIGHT WHISPERS

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(56)
3 star:		(55)
2 star:		(38)
1 star:		(33)

 

 

My daughter, Angelique, gave me this book ages ago and keeps asking if I have read it yet. I should have listened to her because it was very enjoyable. After 30 years of silence, Sloan Reynolds, a policewoman, receives a phone call and invitation from her father, Carter Reynolds. A member of the rich jet set, he wants Sloan to come out to Palm Beach to get to know him and her sister. At first Sloan refuses, furious that he has called after all this time. When FBI agent Paul Richardson shows up and explains that Reynolds is under investigation, she agrees to meet her father and work undercover. Along the way Sloan meets multimillionaire, Noah Maitland, and falls in love. She also gets to know her sister, Paris, who was taken away by her father when they were babies. The only thing that bothers Sloan is she can't tell Noah or her sister that she is really a policewoman.

The book has suspense, romance, and a murder that kept me turning the pages. Now I know why Judith McNaught is one of Angelique's favorite writers. She has already recommended another
book for me to read.

I picked up *Night Whispers* because I usually love her books, but this one left me with some questions on what she was thinking. When Sloan and Noah meet, I didn't see any real attraction between them, only lust. Also, Paul Richardson was annoying, and you wonder how he could make the same mistake twice (in *Perfect*, he also acused the hero of a crime and makes the heroine think the worst). And, all he says is, "Oops! I'm soory!". At least in *Night Whispers*, he didn't make the heroine gravel in front of the hero. But there are a lot of reasons why I gave this book four stars...

1. I don't think Judith McNaught can actually write a terrible book. 2. Courtney was great and really kept Noah grounded. 3. Sloan had a mind of her own most of the time and she was really three dimensional. 4. The side characters and plots were all well written and interesting.

*Night Whispers* is really a good book, but it's not the best by Judith Mcnaught. If you want something better, try *Almost Heaven*, *Whitney, My Love*, and *Until You*

I thoroughly enjoyed Night Whispers. I had no clue what the title had to do with the book; it could have been "The Day Yells" and made as much sense. When it started, I almost stopped reading. I thought it was going to be about a woman and a stalker. Then we find out that the stalker is F.B.I. agent Paul Richardson. From there the plot takes off like a skyrocket. I found myself repeatedly squeezing in an extra 15 minutes of reading time so I could down one more chapter. While a bit escapist since the characters are often rich and beautiful, McNaught's style is nevertheless gripping. Her sense of pacing, suspense and surprise were wonderful. The character Courtney was wonderful with her sassy teenage observations and way of saying what everyone else is too polite to articulate. I also fell in love with the caustic 95-year old great grandmother who is used to having her way, old enough not to care what people think, rich enough to do as she likes, and yet warms to the independently minded Sloan who is not used to being anyone else's woman. I was really sad when granny took the bullet. Slightly less than believable that for as gorgeous as Sloan is written to be and at age 30, she is so inexpert at the ways of romance. However, it sweetens the love affair with Noah who I was not sure whether to root for or vilify until right at the end. Jessup is an interesting character; and his battle with best friend Sara is given great detail even though a minor plot line. Sloan was utterly delightful and believable as a main character. This is a great book that keeps you wanting to turn the page to see what will happen next as McNaught supplies us with a roller coaster-like plot of twists and turns. I found the support of friends for Sloan in times of trouble to be a great and important universal theme. I hope you enjoy this as much as I!

Since my junior year in high school, I have been an avid fan of Ms. McNaught's. She was the one author who could make one trully believe in the power of love and I couldn't wait to devour her novels but this one, this one (and Remember When) left much lacking. I was highly disappointed. I simply couldn't believe that this was a McNaught novel. It felt like a bright flame had burned out. She skipped the courtship and went strait to the bedroom. There was no growth in the relationship between Sloan and Noah. THis story, as far as romance is concerned, was "Wam Bam, Thank you, Ma'am." It was so bad and so unlike McNaught, it made me want to cry. I do have hope for her though, and I wait anxiously for another great rendition from the woman who lovingly crafted out stories like "Perfect", "Paradise", "Whitney, My Love,", and "Kingdom of Dreams". I only hope that she will write another historical and that it will be just as grand if not even more so then its predecessors.

Even before I picked up NIGHT WHISPERS, I was already a bit hesitant about this book. It didn't get stellar reviews as I was used to from Judith McNaught books. Frankly, I was skeptical. It seemed that many readers were not too pleased with Ms. McNaught's latest contemporary.

Ok, so it's not WHITNEY, MY LOVE or PARADISE.

But, I give it 4 stars because this book is still a good read. (And I've read much worse! Judith McNaught is one of the best romance writers out there!) And it definitely has the Judith McNaught flare! With diverse characters with interesting lives and captivating plot, it's sure to entertain. With a devastatingly sexy hero like Noah Maitland (a multi-millionarie business tycoon) and a squeaky clean small town cop/detective Sloan Reynolds, it's hard not to get absorbed. With reappearances by Paul Richardson (the FBI agent from Perfect) investigating Sloan's long lost father (with a shady background)... well, things are bound to get interesting. Noah's sister Courtney will knock your socks off and the secondary romance plot is also very interesting! I'm so glad Paul Richardson ends up with Paris Reynolds- he deserved this after losing Julie Mathison in Perfect! Well, with Noah & Sloan's romantic chemistry sizzling on the pages, it's hard to put the book down. (And, I think Sloan has to be one of my favorite heroines!)

Oh and another thing, there's been talk that Jess & Sara's story will conclude in her next release WATER'S EDGE...

I've read every novel by Judith McNaught, and I truly believe she needs to go back to her original formula. Whitney My Love and Something Wonderful were great. Most of her contemporaries are wonderful too, such as Paradise and Perfect. Unfortunetly her last few books haven't been very good.

Seperated at birth from her father and her older sister, Sloan (where does she get these names??) is asked to Palm Beach to go visit her multi-million dollar father. At first she refuses, but after FBI agent Paul Richardson convinces her, she brings him along to "spy" on her father. (Paul believes her father is somehow involved in money laundering)

While at Palm Beach Sloan meets and falls in love with Noah Maitland, her father's business partner and next door neighbor. All the while she's passing herself off as an interior decorator, not the private detective that she really is.

All in all, this was a pretty good book but I felt that the characters were not well defined. For instance, Paris (another great name there) is angry that Sloan is coming for a visit at first, but then immediately warms up. Sloan's father Carter is at first warm and friendly, but immediately becomes reserved. The personalities didn't come across strong throughout the book.

Also, was there something with Jess and Sara? Is that another book, or did Ms. McNaught just want to leave us hanging? I thought their relationship was much more interesting than Sloan and Noah's.

I am a big fan of Judith McNaught, but PLEASE go back to your old writing style!

I enjoyed reading this book, but was not impressed with it. It lacked the emotion and depth that McNaught is famous for. After reading novels like WHITNEY, MY LOVE, PARADISE, and UNTIL YOU, this book was a dissapointment to me, and as I've read, others as well. I'll look foreword to the hopefully soon return of my favorite author.

If you're a first time reader of Judith McNaught's work you probably will enjoy this book. If you are a fan of her previous works, then you will be disappointed. Like "Remember When", I did not feel this book lived up to her usually standards. The characters lack their usually depth, although they are not as stale as in "Remember When." What I have always enjoyed is the attention to character interaction that Ms McNaught gives her stories. In her last two books I've felt they've have been rushed, and that she has not given them her usual attention to detail. I hope her new book shows a return to her older style of writing. If you are looking for a fantastic contemporary romance I suggest either "Paradise" or "Perfect." My favorites have always been the historical romances, and for that I suggest "Almost Heaven" or "Something Wonderful"

I think this could've been a much better book had the male lead been someone else. I was very disapointed in his vague character and how we never got to know him very well. The story also dragged a little and I was almost hoping the female lead would go with the other guy. Not good, lol. The end left too many strings left untied and I felt like it was done without ever explaining what happened to the key people involved.

~Sloan Reynolds, a dedicated detective from Bell Harbor, Florida is summoned to meet her abesentee father and sister in Palm Beach. Her father, a rich and privileged man hasn't seen or spoken to his other daughter since she was a baby. He has had a heart attack and has called on her to meet him and her sister Paris, but Sloan wants nothing to do with the man who abandoned her and her mother so many years ago.
Sloan's mind his changed when an FBI agent named Paul Richardson informs her he needs her to infiltrate her father's home with him as her 'boyfriend' so he can gather the needed evidence to prove her father, Carter Reynolds is involved in fraud, conspiracy, and murder.

Sloan is right on the mark until she meets her father's neighbor, Noah Maitland, a very powerful multinational corporate player and one of the FBI's top suspects! She is hopelessly attracted to the tall, dark and handsome playboy, but she has a job to do. Can her heart seperate her love for him or will it be her and his downfall?
In a complicated web of deceit and passion and hope and fear, can Sloan help the FBI find the players involved and still keep her heart intact, or will the web uncover so much pain and lies that she will run...

I was under the impression this was more of a suspense/romance, but it isn't and soon the little suspense that is sprinkled inbetween the story becomes lost amoung the flailing romance between Sloan and Noah. McNaught is one of my favorite authors, and this just isn't one of her better books. Skip it and read another from this talented writer such as "Kingdom of Dreams", "Perfect" or "Whitney My Love".
--She has another suspense/romance coming out in 2002 called "Water's Edge", I hope it will be more to what I love from her...

Tracy Talley~@

This is not one of Judith's best works, and I really enjoy her books, and it's a shame, too, because the character of FBI agent Paul Richardson from my favorite book of hers, "Perfect", is in this book. Unfortunately, Paul is not the main character in this book, and I thought his character should have had his own story and love interest after Perfect. Instead, it's the story of Sloan Reynolds, a police officer living in Bell Harbour, Florida, whose father is Carter Reynolds, a rich banker living in Palm Beach with Sloan's sister, Paris, both of whom Sloan has not seen since she was a baby. One day, out of the blue, Carter calls Sloan and invites her to visit him and Paris in Palm Beach. She hangs up on him, but unbeknownst to Sloan, for the past several days prior, she has been watched by FBI agent Paul Richardson, who was following her because the FBI is investigating some possible dirty business dealings involving Carter, and the FBI was watching all family members. Quite by coincidence while Paul is watching her does she get her father's phone call, so when this happens, Paul reveals himself to Sloan and asks her to go along with her father's request and then he tells her to tell her father that she's bringing a friend as support, that friend being Paul, so he can gain access to the inner family circle and try to uncover more about her father. Paul tells Sloan that she cannot tell anyone that she's a cop, so she tells everyone that she's an interior designer. What Paul does not tell Sloan is that he is also investigating Noah Maitland, an ultra rich handsome import/exporter in Palm Beach whom Sloan meets the first night at dinner b/c Noah and Paris are supposedly a couple who are being pushed by everyone to get married (even though they aren't in love and don't want to marry each other). Sloan comes off at dinner as a flighty ditz to make her cover seem more realistic, so Noah, although he thinks Sloan's beautiful, has no interest in her. Noah's father meets Sloan the next day while she's jogging and finds her incredibly attractive, witty and intelligent and invites her to breakfast. Sloan doesn't know until she goes into breakfast that this man is Noah's father and sees Noah at breakfast, along with Courteney, Noah's adorable, smart-alecky half-sister. Over breakfast, Noah finds out that Sloan really isn't what he thought she was and takes an interest in her. Needless to say, they fall for each other..... .

My first problem with this book is the title. After reading it, I couldn't quite figure out why it was called Night Whispers. Maybe I missed something. The second problem is that I couldn't figure out what this book was supposed to be about. Is it about an FBI sting operation? Is it about Noah and Sloan? Oh, and there's a murder in this book, too, so is it a murder mystery? It's about all three, and that's the problem. It had the makings for a great book, but none of these storylines are thoroughly followed through. As a suspense thriller, it goes flat.

The final problem is that there are these characters at the beginning of the book who live in Bell Harbour, including Sloan's friend Sara, Sloan's mother Kimberly, and Sloan's very handsome fellow officer, Jesse Jessup, with whom every woman has an eye for. There are hints that Jesse really likes Sloan, but that's never developed, and then there's Jesse's relationship with Sara. They hate each other, but you are hoping as you read that they really like each other. But that was never developed. And initially, I thought something was going to happen between Paul and Sloane, but that never happens.

The ending takes a very similar ending to "Perfect", with Paul defending Sloan to Noah and even mentions the story of Zack and Julie (from Perfect) to Noah. Noah wants nothing to do with Sloan not because of her omission to explain to him that she was a cop after they've fallen in love, but because he thinks she was part of Paul's investigation to get him for arms smuggling, which it turns out Paul was wrong about. Paul tries to tell Noah that Sloan had no knowledge of any of it, and he mentions the story of Zack and Julie to Noah, explaining that he was the FBI agent involved in recapturing Zack using Julie as a decoy when she knew he wasn't guilty, but Paul wore Julie down enough to let them use her to recapture Zack, who eventually was found innocent. Poor Paul seems to inadvertently mess up love lives, but he's there to help patch things up, too. Paul tells Noah that Zack forgave Julie, and now Paul asks Noah to see Sloan, not so she can ask for his forgiveness, because as Paul says to Noah, Sloan didn't do anything to ask forgiveness for. Sloan just wants to be able to see him to say goodbye to him.
The chemistry between Noah and Sloan was good, and I love Courtenay, Noah's sister, but there was just something missing in this book that doesn't capture the magic in some of Judith's other books. I wish she would focus a book on Paul Richardson. He needs to fall in love....