Customer Reviews

Rogue

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

Books like this one are the unfortunate result!
I think this is the second Danielle Steel book I've ever read in my life and I'm pretty certain it will be my last. This novel reads like a 320-page outline of a story idea that the author either lacked the time or the desire to fill in and develop. Characters are never fleshed out -- (which I guess is difficult to do with cardboard). Instead of scenes we get summaries of scenes -- as though any action that might have been remotely interesting took place off stage! And I don't think I've ever read so many cliches in one book. In the end, I cared about none of the characters because the writer gave me nothing to care about! In short it's just a horribly, horribly done book that the author seemed to have written with an indifference that shows no respect for the following that has made her a success and very, very wealthy.When I finished this book I was just pissed that I wasted my time -- and money.And the editor of this mess should be fired.

Five yeas ago, then late thirties Dr. Maxine Williams was tired of raising four children; three were her preadolescent kids (the oldest was seven at the time) while one was her dot-com wealthy husband Blake. She divorced Blake though they remain friendly; and their three children live with her. Maxine's psychiatric practice specializes in childhood trauma and suicide while Blake is an international womanizer having young females on several continents.

Maxine becomes embroiled in a depressing teen suicide case in which she meets divorced Dr. Charles West. They are attracted to each other as she relishes his commitment and responsibility. Blake becomes embroiled in a tragedy that makes him aware of what he has lost. He suddenly rushes home to persuade Maxine that he has changed. Maxine is torn between two lovers.

This is an entertaining romantic triangle with a terrific final twist. The story line is fast-paced and the lead trio seems genuine as does her three kids. Although the emotions of Maxine pulled by two opposites, the rogue and the responsible one, are never dug deep enough beyond a shallow level to satiate the audience, Danielle Steel's fans will appreciate this well written character driven tale.

Harriet Klausner

Danielle Steele always has a good story up her sleeve, and Rogue is no exception. The only caveat is that you have to wade through the very slow beginning before the meaty stuff kicks in. Believe me, the first third of the book will put you to sleep, but as the story line picks up, you won't be able to put it down. And the ending makes it all worth it.

Dr. Maxine Williams is a successful, world-renown child psychiatrist who is the single mother of three children. Her ex-husband, Blake Williams, is a free-wheeling, playboy billionaire who loves to party and live life in the fast lane. Ironically, he and Maxine remain very close friends, despite having been amicably divorced five years ago. They are both seem very happy living their separate lives. Maxine meets Dr. Charles West, an internist, through a tragic episode involving one of her young patients, and Blake seems to have fallen very much in love with an eccentric, beautiful English artist. While Blake is in Morocco with plans to build his dream home, a tragedy occurs that shatters his jet-setting world and forces him to "grow up" overnight. He desperately needs his ex-wife's medical expertise, and within a short time, Maxine is thrown head first into a triangle that forces her to choose between the stability she longs for with Charles or the supposedly newly-transformed Blake.

As I mentioned before, this starts off painstakingly slow, but stick with it; the plot picks up and the characters are truly unforgettable. The ending is pretty predictable, but still worth it.

This is the first Danielle Steel novel that I have read and I was not impressed. What a bore!! I agree with the other reader who said the book was a waste of time! The book screamed bad Lifetime movie of the week. Save your money...thankfully I did by borrowing it from the library!

If you're thinking about reading Rogue, reconsider. I found this book to be the most mundane, predictable and utterly ridiculous book Steel has written yet. Rogue is about a shrink named Maxine who lets her school-aged child sleep in her bed, who swears she is destined to help troubled teens but yet somehow cannot seem to manage her own teen, and who walked away from her marriage to a rich entrepreneur named Blake only to fall in love with a respectable doctor named Charles, who she later decides is a jerk, but not before accepting his proposal for marriage and stringing him along for several months. You can't help but feel sorry for Charles as he gets jilted again and again in this book. Somehow we are supposed to rejoice at the end as Blake tells Charles off and Blake ends up marrying Maxine instead. Maxine's character is not likeable and that is perhaps one of the bigger downfalls of this book.

Bottom line- HUGE disappointment and so very predictable!

Come on, Steel, you owe your fans more than this!

This book is so predictable! The very end of the book (I won't give any spoilers) is so nauseatingly predictable, hokey and unrealistic that I just shook my head in wonder. And the only likable character was the housekeeper Zelda.

Another bomb from Danielle Steel.

Blake Williams suddenly amassed a huge fortune, retired, & now flits around the world buying houses & other toys, always on a new adventure, rarely coming home to his 3 kids & wife but doesn't see why she divorced him 5 years ago. Nothing said about adultery, but he sure had a string of YOUNG girls fast!

Blake was the children's biological father but no father in any other way. He constantly broke promises to & disappointed them & wouldn't show at important events in their lives. He wasn't there for Sam's birth, & twice when Sam was seriously injured couldn't be reached for days. He'd ignore his kids for MONTHS and couldn't be reached. He wasn't involved in decisions, took no responsibility, enforced no boundaries & undermined Maxine's authority during the infrequent times he was with the kids. He gave his 13 year old free rein of his penthouse when he was gone for weeks. He gave his kids alcohol, even the 5 year old. When the kids stayed with him, he'd usually bring a woman, always a different one, to share his bed, have sex with & let his attention be taken away from his kids to give to her. Great moral example for your own children.

But, Maxine let him get away with it. She & Blake were always touching & telling each other, "I love you." Blake referred to Max as his wife & himself her husband. When he took the kids to dinner she'd usually go with them. Yet neither cared about the other's love life & were never jealous? Maxine should have had him sign away his parental rights when they divorced. The kids weren't that old then & he was rarely around so it wouldn't have been much of an adjustment. No father would have been better than Blake as a father. He was self involved & incapable of real love.

Blake's "woman" in the beginning was 22 years old, barely legal, Blake was 46, more than twice her age. All his bimbos were under 30, most under 25. They were literally young enough to be his daughter & then some. He was old enough to be a grandfather!! It was pathetic.

He met Arabella, age 29, & was infatuated, in spite of the tattoos up & down both arms, with her. She disliked his kids, didn't want any of her own & turned out as loyal as a snake with the morals of an alley cat. What she did to Blake was horrid, but... when you're old enough to be a girl's father?

Blake was going through a mid life crisis most of his adult life. When caught in a natural disaster & seeing all the suffering, he suddenly grows up? The guy's pushing 50, how likely that he'd change, be a good father & husband & stay in one place? He would have continued jetting around & not be satisfied by a woman his own age. The end was just stupid.

The characters are undeveloped, cardboard & shallow. It's been a really long time since I've read a Danielle Steel book, now I remember why, & I'll never read another.

I have read them all and this is the worst. I typically like the easy read - but this was just horrible. It seems like she just stopped writing at the end...and couldn't come up with anything. Save your money.

I am shocked that anyone liked this book. I gave it a two because I was able to finish it (by skimming a lot). The plot is just really, really dumb and completely unbelievable.

I really enjoyed this book and would have given it five stars, had it not had so much repetition in the beginning. Once Danielle got rolling in the plot, it got much better. Some may think this is a predictable story and sounds a lot like others that she's written.