Customer Reviews

Quiver

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Kate McCall's husband dies in an hunting accident. Kate's son, Luke accidentally shots his father with an arrow. As Kate is trying to cope with the loss of her husband and the guilt her son carries, an old friend walks back into her life. Jack is an ex-con. He has a lot of people after him right now, because they think he has lost the heist money. The events that take place will make Kate and her son, Luke's relationship stronger than it has even been in this skillfully plotted strongline of a book called Quiver.

I thought Quiver was a good first book for Mr. Peter Leonard. It moved very quickly and easily. The ending was a surprise to me. I enjoyed this fact, when the unexpected happens in a book. It shows that author's writing style to be so amazing that Mr. Leonard can take the reader all the way through a story without the reader knowing or figuring out what is going to happen next. It makes me want to read more novels by this author. If Quiver is any indication of what's to come from Peter Leonard than readers are in for a treat. So make sure to check out Quiver to see what people are talking about and make sure to add Mr. Leonard to your list of favorite authors. You won't be sorry you did.

Some might say "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree" is a tried and true expression. Most definitely true in the case of this debut novel by Peter Leonard, son of acclaimed thriller writer Elmore Leonard. While the elder Leonard is still practicing his lifelong diligence and turning out bestsellers at the age of 82, it took Leonard the younger quite a while to turn his hand to authorship. In fact, he spent the majority of his professional life to date in another field. Nonetheless when he did write a novel he has said that he found the experience both satisfying and exciting. Listeners will have the same feelings when they hear his tale as read by accomplished actor Scott Sowers.

In addition to his stage roles many will remember Sowers from his frequent TV appearances on Law & Order and All My Children. His crystal clear diction and persuasive delivery make listening a pleasure.

Quiver begins innocently enough but the author quickly ratchets up tension. Kate is shopping when her cart collides with one belonging to Owen, a race car driver. He asks her out and it's fast forward into marriage.

Years pass and Owen takes their teenage son, Luke, hunting - with bow and arrow. The unthinkable happens when one of Luke's arrows pierces a deer and goes straight into Owen's chest. The death of his father spirals Luke into serious depression.

It's not long before Jack, Kate's old boyfriend, turns up. He's been released from prison after serving over three years of a five year sentence for armed robbery. Along with Jack comes trouble. The stolen money has never been found and his pals want it. Owen left Kate with a good deal of money which is now also at risk.

Crisp dialogue, finely drawn characters, and escalating suspense make standout listening. We look forward to Peter Leonard's next, and hope he doesn't wait so long this time around.

- Gail Cooke

It has taken longer for me to post this review than intended, the main reason being I wanted to read something by Elmore Leonard before actually writing this so that I could justifiably add my opinion on any comparisons between father and son.

Firstly I would like to say that I don't believe that the book lives up to the cover hype - unless he improves with each new book his father shouldn't worry about any competition in the quality of writing stakes. 52 Pickup shows how a book of this kind should be written, Quiver is a version for those with very little ability to concentrate.

The novel lasted one train journey (around an hour!), I found I couldn't really warm to the character's, Kate excepted. Some of them seemed so stereotypical to my English eyes - the red neck with hygiene and brain power problems, the ex-boyfriend, weak of will when it came to temptation of the pecuniary kind.

The overall plot seemed a tad trite and obvious and the writing a bit simplistic, dare I say reminiscent of advertising blurb.

So to sum up, I probably wouldn't buy a Peter Leonard book, but I'll be quite keen to read more Elmore Leonard.

Peter Leonard's debut novel is a long way below the standard of a lot of other author's first novels, however because of who is father is (Elmore), you're probably more likely to find it on the shelves than those better novels. Quiver was actually the second Peter Leonard novel I came across, the first I read was Trust Me which flows a lot better than Quiver, and is a lot less predictable. Don't get me wrong, Quiver is good enough to kill half a day if it's raining outside or your catching a plane or something, but it just could have been a lot better.

Basic plot is Luke, a teenage boy accidentally kills his rich Nascar celebrity father on a hunting trip. His mother who is apparently the hottest woman in the world by the reaction of other characters who come across her, is worried that her son doesn't seem to be able to move on at all with his life. When he steals his father's corvette, she believes he may be suicidal and is determined to get to him at their remote cabin where her husband died, before he does. Luckily Luke had no such intentions, however unluckily Jack, a former fling of Kate's has been paroled from prison, he wants to catch up with the under the sheet actions amongst other things. Jack went to prison when he was caught in a fast food joint after he bailed during an armed robbery with the entire loot and his former partners want the money he owes them.

I found Jack to be a bit cartoonish and I could never picture him as a real person. I don't think Peter Leonard could decide on what age he wanted to make Luke, at times the 16 year old needs to be that age to drive and so on, and acts accordingly. But at others he seems like a 6 year old such as when he seems to be really naive about reproduction and things he should at least have seen in movies and TV, discussed with his friends and been made aware of somehow, even if he hasn't experienced them himself by that age. I did like the Kate character with her younger day actions in Guatemala, however she doesn't seem to be consistently the same character now that she's older, a widow and has a kid. I kept waiting for the Guatemala Kate to emerge when faced with the later adversity, but she disappointingly never does and instead we have a very predictable and weak writing ending.

Still as I've said Leonard's writing does improve with his next novel so you should check it out, even if you were slightly disappointed with this one.

I picked up Quiver at the grocery store where the cover caught my eye and when I read that Peter was the son of Elmore, my curiosity was piqued. This novel takes almost 200 pages to get going but the weird thing is that I was not bored by the pages waiting for something to happen. Leonard sets up a lot of characters and then does nothing with them for a long time. The characters are interesting enough though. When the payoff finally comes the ending had been telegraphed;heck it was telegraphed by the appealing title. I do have say that I have no doubt if he were the son of a nobody this book would have never ended up on my grocery store's shelf.

This debut reads like a bad fairytale. I wish I had read the "bad" reviews before I purchased this book instead of the "good" reviews by authors I enjoy reading. The characters in this story are unconvincing and unbelieveable. Are people really like this? If they are in Michigan, then I'm glad I don't live there. I did not understand their dialog most of the time. The plot is also not very convincing. How does the heroine assault a deputy and get away? It makes the local police look very incompetent. And does the heroine really cook a meal for the crooks who have just robbed her and beat up her son? I did not enjoy this book. Perhaps the locals in Detroit suburbs can relate to the characters and plot better than I can. I would not recommend this book.

I like Elmore Leonard probably more than any writer alive today. That being said, I don't really care if his kid wants to be a writer. This is America. He can do what he wants. But why does his style have to be exactly like his father's. This book credit should go to his father, who, thankfully, can actually write a book with great characters, great dialouge, and doesn't have to rip anyone's style off in the process. I don't understand why Peter Leonard can't be original. Peter, if you're reading this, quit ripping off your dad. The only people that think your style is cute are your friends in Oakland County, and the ever unoriginal citizens of Michigan who still think baggy pants and crocked hats are in vogue. Everywhere else your style is considered hackish at best.

I don't understand why they publish this crap just because his dad is Elmore Leonard. Do the publishing houses really think people will buy this book because of his father? That's pretty pathetic if they do and says quite a lot about the industry. This book is drab, lacks any kind of originality (especially if you like his father), and has poor pace and unbelievable plot lines. This book is more science fiction than crime.

To the reviewer who wanted to know if people in Michigan actually talk and act like this, the answer is yes. Michigan is a horrible place to live.

Somewhat interesting plotline, but the African American character is such a poorly drawn stereotype that it detracted from the overall story. His lines read as if they were written by a white guy who's trying to sound Black, and isnt quite getting it. Which they were. And the story suffered for it. Sentences with no subject and gratuitous profanity do not urban dialogue make. They simply make the dialogue difficult to follow. Leonard would have benefitted from talking with James Patterson about how to write for a Black character without being offensive.

I'd like to say that I enjoyed the rest of the story but it was hard to settle into it bc this character (DeJuan--what a surprise) kept pulling me back out.

In Detroit former racing car champion Owen McCall and his teenage son Luke go hunting together. Luke shoots an arrow at a deer that somehow goes through the animal and his father, killing Owen.

The sixteen years old boy is filled with guilt and depression, his mom Kate struggles with her own despondency. However, the Widow is not allowed any time to grief or be there for her devastated offspring. Her former Peace Corps lover Jack Curran arrives allegedly to console the widow who he reminds that he once saved her life. However, Jack has a hidden agenda and fails to inform Kate that he did time and that his current friends have criminal plans for the surviving McCalls.

Although an entertaining crime caper, QUIVER is too much a good guys vs. the bad guys thriller rather than a deep look at a grieving son filled with self loathing guilt over killing his dad even though Luke knows logically it was an accident. Instead the tale focuses on what Jack and associates do to Kate and Luke with a full circle high noon confrontation at Owen's hunting lodge while the audience expects insight into Luke's mental state. Still Peter Leonard provides an exciting suspense thriller.

Harriet Klausner

Just discovered Peter Leonard and read his first book, Quiver. It's a fun, thrilling read that I really enjoyed. It's good to know that there's another Leonard writing quality books.