Customer Reviews

No Greater Deception: A True Texas Story

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I agree with the other people who gave reviews that this was a very good book. My beef is that the author didn't answer any of the questions posed on the cover of the book - namely: "Is their father the man they think he is? How was he able to buy all the guns, diamonds, land and mineral rights that he owned? How involved was he in the gambling and prostitution rings along the Galveston Bay? Were his connections to George Bush, Lyndon Johnson, Lady Bird and Joe Bonanno much deeper than they seemed? Was he truly involved in the JFK assassination?"

I was left with more questions than answers. Maybe they need to use their investigative skills to uncover these more intreging questions.

I read this book in only a couple of days. It was pretty good for a first-time author. I got a little confused with all the characters. However, I could visualize the story coming to life in my mind's eye. Hopefully there will be a sequel.

This book needs to be read when you have the time because you will not want to put it down. My husband is not a "reader" and he couldn't put it aside either. I could not wait to find out if justice prevailed. It's really hard to comprehend that people can be so evil and deceptive, but Sydney Newsome Dodson did a terrific job of telling her, and her siblings horrific experiences. Her documentation and attention to detail is superb. I can't wait to read her follow-up book!!! Read and enjoy, we really did.

I laughed, I cried, and I chewed my fingernails. All are signs that this book could easily become a Best Seller. It's a fascinating mystery, thriller, police story. Although Sydney's father dies early in the book, his presence remains alive throughout the hunt for his lost Last Will and Testament. The evil stepmother is hateful, manipulative and two-faced. While attempting to right a terrible injustice on their deceased father's behalf, the adventures of Sydney and her sister Heather draw them closer together. It's a wonderful book. If you like Ann Rule and Dan Brown books, you'll like this one.

I bought and finished this book in two days. I can't wait to find out how this winds up. I hope Sydney and her family get their rightful share of their dad's inheritance. This kind of thing happens way to often.

I hope the sequel comes out soon. Hopefully pictures will be in the next one. It makes it more real to know what each person looks like.

This is a terrific story, and hard to believe it is really true. I am from Texas and the cover of the book really drew me in. The review from Liz Carpenter cinched it for me to decide to buy the book. Boy am I glad I did. I could not put the book down once I started reading it. The two sisters are very creative in the ways they do their spy work since they start with absolutely nothing. I sure hope our legal system can some day be changed to help prevent these types of things from happening to innocent people. It is hard enough to go through losing a dear family member, no one should have to go through what these two did. This book opened my eyes to a few legal matters which I intend to take care of soon with my will to protect my family when I die. You should too. It's a great read!

This book is not what its author thinks it is. It is tauted as a spine-tingling work of historical non-fiction, but the prose is unbareably juvenile and the story has numerous holes. You can tell this book was written by a first time author with no formal training, and that is a shame because the story had all the elements to make a great book--but the story was lost in meaningless details. There are too many characters and virtually no character development - aside from the rave reviews Syndney gives herself and her sister on everything from their hair to their education. She acts as if she and her sister are the only two college educated people in Texas. Even if that were true, you would never be able to tell it by her snore-worthy style. Do not waste your time or your money on this book.

If you are looking for a book a long the lines of "Blood and Money" You won't find it in this book! I found this book very drawn out. It did not deliver! The author was very self serving. It was Money ($25.00) ill spent!

The story (the facts) in this book are very interesting but not as unusual as the author believes they are. People get ripped off in wills pretty often. It sounds like their attorneys were idiots, either incompetent or maliciously inclined, and that a suit for malpractice would be winnable. I cannot understand why they haven't filed malpractice. It is sad that the kids got screwed out of their inheritance. It felt to me like the JFK assassination "possible??" link was wishful thinking and a real reaching for notoriety on the part of the siblings. The JFK link was how I initially ran across this book, and I was very disappointed with the tiny bit that was in there and that it appeared to be 100% speculation and wishful, self-aggrandizing thinking on the part of the siblings with nothing to back it up.

But my largest problem with this book is the style of writing!! It is probably the absolute WORST writing job I've ever read. Grammar, punctuation, using the wrong homynyms, reuse of the same words over and over, i.e., Sydney "shouts," Heather "shouts," repeated five to ten times on a page.....I'm sure the author is bright and educated, but she's got to know some other term for vocal expression other than "shout." She badly needs some formal training if she ever writes another book. And I don't know how the book was published, but I cannot imagine any editor letting a book go to print in that shape. Kudos to the author for trying to tell her story, but next time, GET AN EDITOR!! I would recommend against this book to anyone because of the writing style. If that isn't a problem for a potential reader, the story is fairly interesting, though overfull of trivia, i.e., I really don't need to hear that the sisters said "I love you" to each other at the end of every phone conversation. Who cares??!!

My book club found this author to be refreshingly creative in the way she wrote her autobiography. Instead of writing in third person, which most autobiographies are written, Sydney lays out her family mysteries in the style of a novel. It is written in present tense to engage readers into the hunt for the father's real will. It's a unique action oriented book filled with ups and downs and excitement. The dialogue reads very quickly. Some of the sisters' hilarious stunts to get to the truth reminded us of Charlie's Angels. My book club loved it.