Customer Reviews

Off the Face of the Earth

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Not the best written literature ever but it is written quite well. It kept me on my toes and I finished it in 2 days... this is good for weekend read or taking on to the plane.

This novel pushes every parent's worst fear button, that their child will one day suddenly and completely disappear. It is also quite compelling in the scenes with the pedophile kidnapper and the boy. Beyond that, it feels padded and overlong. The characters are screen-ready caricatures, maybe because Harmetz used to cover Hollywood for the New York Times. Most annoying are the numerous moments when the narrative veers, momentarily or for several sentences, into Basic Truth Writing, e.g. "On some streets, rush hour in Los Angeles lasts all day" or "It is odd how quickly the abnormal becomes normal.", the standard weapons of a writer not yet skilled enough or confident enough to rely on her writing alone to convey the intended Basic Truth. While the novel is a quick read -- often because you can skip a lot -- and competently, no more, written, the reasons for the strongly positive reviews of it in the NYT and elsewhere elude me.

Ms. Harmetz's first novel caught my interest only because of the rave reviews from the Times and others. I would otherwise not have picked up this book, due to its trite subject matter.

I was pleasantly surprised, however, by this debut novel.

It was not, unfortunately, Harmetz's "thriller" technique that won me over. In fact, lesser writers have done better than her at mystery and suspense techniques that keep the reader yearning for more. (Such as plot, knowledge of forensics, clever twists, etc.)

No. The thing that lingers with me most, after having finished the book, is her wonderful cast of round and believable (and sympathetic!) characters. Her characters, their reactions and motives throughout the tale show that Harmetz has a heart, and consequently, so do her characters AND book. This is truly the merit of her writing, and truly the evidence of a good novelist.

I look forward to more fiction from this writer.

Ms. Harmetz won me over with her book on The Making of The Wizard of Oz. It was with some hesitation that I bought OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH not because I doubted Ms. Harmetz's talents, but because it sounded so much like the book STILL MISSING. There are so many child-in-peril books on the market, and I was skeptical. WAS I EVER SURPRISED! Even thinking about it now has raised goose pimples on my arms and shivers down my back. It is non-stop suspense and the psychopath Denver keeps you on the edge with his volatile personality. All the characters are well done and you find yourself becoming involved in the story and praying along with Drew that her son is still alive. I only wish Ms. Harmetz would've given us more insight into Denver other than the small introduction at the beginning when he and David meet at the Mall. I for one like to know what makes people tick and why they adopt certain behaviors. Please Ms. Harmetz--do NOT sell this to Hollywood. They will ruin one of the best stories I've read in a loooooooooooooooong time.

This isn't your usual story of a runaway child, it's much more than that. The characters are so fully developed that the reader actually sees inside their minds. We see their actions, their emotions, their fears. A mother with a missing child, not every giving up on finding him. A psychopathic killer who loves and hates this child at the same time. And David, the child possessed with deadly fear but profound ingenuity and spunk to make sure he was found. No, this is not just another kidnapping story, this is thriller writing at its best. Read it!!!

Up until quite close to its conclusion, this is an excellent book. You care about the characters, you hate the villain, you applaud the victim's ingenuity. I found, however, that I was rapidly nearing the end of the book and the plot was far from being wrapped up. I looked at the thickness of the pages left to go and wondered how she could conclude the book in such few remaining pages. A little further along, closer and closer to the last page, I had the horrifying thought that she wasn't going to conclude it, that her dear readers were going to be left hanging. Well, fear not, the tale does come to a tidy if quick finish. However, it left me feeling that when she got to a certain point she either lost interest in her story or increased her outside activities to the point where she could no longer indulge in writing. So many wonderful little plot inroads came to abrupt dead ends, pages before their time; others were never developed beyond footpaths. While I enjoyed the book and recommend it for the first 5/6 of it, I suggest you prepare yourself to be left somewhat unsatisfied by the author's premature departure from the story; thriller interruptus.

Aljean Harmetz has proven with OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH that all of her years of going to movies and writing about them have not dulled her literary sensibility, but have probably enhanced it. This is a book that digs into the deepest fears of parents, but also gives a child credit for being smart, resourceful, and interesting, something that one encounters rarely in thrillers about children in peril. Also, the story is very much rooted in a sense of place, with details that makes the reader feel as if one could visit Sherwood and know its streets and malls. This should be a movie, but even if it isn't, the movie in the reader's head has staying power way beyond the usual "summer read."

Not a bad read actually. Some of the not-so-important details could be deleted to make it more concentrated. The writing was very smooth but the tension was not that big deal as the other comments said. This is the first book that the publisher boldly treated it as a consumer product which ensured the readers who could return it before Sept. 1, 1997 (it's already past) if you were not satisfactory, and they would return a sum after the tax, shipping and handling costs were deducted. It's a confident investment on the author and I don't think there were many readers would do such thing. This is an author who knew what she's good at and written with a heart. Not thrill at all to me but would be more than enough to lot of other readers. This is a book good for all parents to learn something about how a kidnapping case was occurred and how it was solved with a somewhat predictable ending

From the moment I started reading this book I knew it was going to be one of those you can't put down. Throughout the entire story, you're on the edge of your seat as the little boy's kidnapper makes you wonder whether he's just desperate or completely insane. You'll get to know the family in the author's eyes and find yourself worrying along with the mother. It'll make you gasp, it'll make you cry, it'll make you smile. But most of all, it'll make you want to read it again

Without a doubt, "Off the Face of the Earth" is one of the most gripping novels I have ever read. Denver's twisted mind as he kidnaps David is unbelievably compelling. And David's mother, Drew, as a single parent, is portrayed in a very realistic and candid manner. If you have not read this book, it will be well worth your while to go out and pick it up; you will not be disappointed