Customer Reviews

Nice: An Edgar Award Nominee

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Enter Grace, a thirty-ish young woman who hasn't the self-assurance to say "no". Thus, when faced with the escalating sexual demands of male friends, she doesn't know how to ratchet down the intensity. Rather than hurt their feelings with rejection, she kills them. Nothing personal, you understand, she only wants to be decent about it.

Enter Sam, a former KGB crack assassin. Now that the Cold war is over, he lives in the U.S. working as a contract killer. He encounters Grace while randomly testing a wireless eavesdropping system, and something in her demeanor prompts him to begin following her around. He becomes witness to her killings, and is fascinated by her modus operandi and what he speculates to be her motives and state of mind. He is smitten.

The book's 55 chapters - they're short - alternate back and forth between the Grace and Sam viewpoints. As the two eventually meet and establish a relationship, each acts as a therapist for the other. Grace acquires self-assurance and fortitude. Sam becomes a more compassionate hit man.

This novel by Jen Sacks is quirky enough to be worth buying. Some readers may also perceive in it nuggets of insight regarding the dating/mating ritual between the sexes. The ending is neither profound nor unexpected. It's, well ...NICE.

This is truly a love story with a twist. I can't say enough good things about this novel. I will, however, provide a warning: this story is not for the warm and fuzzy romance reader. This author is refreshing and I keep looking to see if she has written anything else; although, it would be hard to top this extremely original plot. The main character, Grace, ends up killing her beaus and her latest has a dark side of his own. The back blurb touts this as a "Bridget Jones gone homocidal." Not even close, this one is much better. One could never be sure what the ending would entail. I couldn't put this book down. This author writes with wit and verve. One of the best finds I've made yet. The novel was an Edgar Award Nominee. I predict this novel will be turned into an independent movie one day.

When I read the premise of "Nice" I knew I had to read it -- a girl who is too nice to dump her boyfriends so she kills them instead. It sounded wicked and funny but instead it was just...dull.

Did I read the same book? I thought it was painful to read. The characters were annoying and the story unbelievable. The unrealistic plot twist at the end was the final insult.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Once I started reading it, I literally couldn't put it down. The story intrigued me...it is a wonderfully twisted love story! As socially maladjusted the characters are, I ended up loving them! Jen Sacks has created a character (Grace) that, although rather extreme, reflects feelings that many women feel...we are too nice! I highly recommend this book and I look forward to another by the author.

Ever thought -- however briefly -- that murder might be the only way out of a relationship? Grace, the anti-heroine of this dark and quirky novel, seems to think that her only alternative is to murder her bothersome boyfriends. After all, she couldn't possibly deal with rejecting them and -- as a consequence -- hurting their feelings! But what will happen to Grace when she falls for a professional assassin? This romance is a recipe for disaster -- or is it?

Nice is a dark comedy that ought to be devoured in a single sitting. I recommend this gem to anyone who might be in the bargain for an original read...

Grace is a nice girl who likes Bronson-Eastwood-chiseled-squinting types and if her current date is not quite rugged enough, she would prefer giving him a lethal send-off rather than a firm Dear John. Although I'm a little late with the suggestion, the Big Screen Grace needs to be brought to life by either Lisa Kudrow (the 1st few chapters) or Calista Flockhart (the rest of the book). "Nice" has just a terrific rhythm about it, cadenced by incredible short chapters alternately titled "Grace" or "Sam". Sam is the Russian assassin that many of us would love to heal. The book was so much fun, I wish it was longer than 197 pages. I only hope the author will start on "Grace: Die Harder" soon.

Grace is much too nice. She can't bear to hurt people's feelings. And she certainly can't say no when men ask her out, again and again, and again. When they don't seem to get the hint, what's a girl to do? Why, kill them, of course!

This is the premise of Jen Sacks' bizarre debut, NICE. Take one sociopath and one assassin and bring them together through sheer coincidence, and you have... well, something like a train-wreck. You can't look away. You can't stop turning pages, even though you want to. There's something so weird about the characters, the premise, and even the writing style, that it just sucks you in. Two hours later, when you put the book down (thankfully, it's a very short book), you shake your head and lament the two hours of your life you'll never get back.

Still I have to hand it to Ms. Sacks - the premise is fascinating, and absolutely morbid. Unfortunately, the story never quite takes off. Perhaps it's the lack of empathetic characters. After all, can you ever really like a heroine who kills men because she's can't utter a polite "thanks, but no thanks"? Or perhaps it's the writing style. Written in the first person, the novel alternates perspectives in its short chapters, and the story is alternately told from the point of view of both the hero and heroine. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem - but when the entire book is in first person, and the chapters are often no longer than a page or two, I constantly found myself flipping back to the beginning of the chapter to figure out whose head I was in, and who was speaking. Thankfully, at the top of each chapter is the character's name. Why do I get the feeling that even Ms. Sacks' editor didn't think the double first-person POV was a good idea? Then again, if that's the case, she really should have put her foot down and changed it to third person.

Interesting premise that falls short. Pick this one up if you're in the mood for a bizarre read, and you have no tabloids around.

When I read what this book was about, I knew it was something I had to read. This idea had enormous potential to be a great read, but I felt that the story just fell flat.

I read this book a while ago and really liked it!!! I definitely did not regret buying it; I thought the juxtaposition of characters , i.e. one chapter protagonist and one chapter other guy, was interesting although not that unique it keeps the story flowing. I am absolutely looking forward to Jen's next book!!