Customer Reviews

Shallow Graves

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Yes, that's right, another winner by the male king of suspense, Jeffery Deaver. As most of you Deaver fans know, Jeffery is revising and re-publishing his older novels. Manhattan is My Beat was the first re-published and I enjoyed that novel a lot. The only thing I didn't like was the main character in that book, but overall it was a good novel. But with SHALLOW GRAVES, that's another story. Great characters, a great plot, action, suspense, drug-dealing, shootouts, and more! What more could you want in a suspense novel? I have heard through the "grapevine" that Death of a Blue Movie Star will be out in October, and Blood River Blues and other older Deaver novels will be out in the future. Along with his NEW thriller Speaking In Tongues in December 2000, that can be ordered with Amazon.com, of course. If I could, I would give Shallow Graves six out of five stars.

SHALLOW GRAVES is another reissue, following up MANHATTAN IS MY BEAT. This one is not a sequel to MIMB but is a series, this being the first. It is about a location scout who gets mixed up in a murder, dealings with drug makers/sellers, a nice affair possibility and a great switcheroo at the end. if you like Deaver you will love this book, it has everything you want! Can someone please tell me what happened with the "Mark" character in this book...I don't think it got resolved...unless I missed it!

Shallow Graves was first published under Jeffery Deaver's pseudonym, William Jefferies. While he may have been writing as someone else, fans of Mr. Deavers will instantly recognize the unique and wonderful writing style, imaginative and fully sketched characters and locations and the twisted plot lines of Jeffrey Deaver lurking throughout Shallow Graves.

This is the first of the location scout mysteries, as they are called, and readers are lucky that Deaver's popularity has grown so much that they have chosen to re-print his first novels. WE are instantly thrown into the world of mysterious John Pellam and his partner Marty as they are looking throughout upstate New York for a location for a new Hollywood Film.

While half the town is out parading in front of John for an unofficial audition the other half of town is trying to get rid of him. When John's partner Marty dies under strange circumstances, all eyes are focused on Pellam. He must quickly learn who he can trust and who is out to get him. The reader begins to suspect, along with Pellam, that not all is at it would seem in this sleeply little town in the middle of nowhere.

Deaver does what he does best in this novel, he creates a believable and likeable set of characters, creates a seedy and dark unbelly in the most unlikely of places and brings the reader on a rollercoaster ride that you wish would never end. But end it must and readers will be running back to well for more when they are finished.

This is one mystery that I wished would go on - Deaver is a master and this novel continues to prove his talent.

Shallow Graves by Jeffery Deaver is a different sort of mystery/thriller than his Bone Collector Lincoln Ryme series, with a different sort of villain(s) than that series. So if the reader is expecting a Bone Collector clone, take note.

It is, however an excellent book and John Pellam is a great hero with his dark secrets and nomadic life. Pellam has good instincts and is tenacious in finding the murderer of his friend and partner.

I am an avid fan of Deaver's more recent Lincoln Rhymes books, and have gone back to read many of his earlier works. This book is very entertaining, with complicated plot twists, but I can't give it five stars because it lacks the incredible technical forensic details of the later Rhymes books.

This is the first of the "Location Scout" books which Deaver wrote under a pen name. The lead character, John Pellam, is a Hollywood location scout who is checking out locations with his partner in a small upstate New York town. Pellam is fired after the death of his partner derails the film's shooting schedule. Rather than retreat to Hollywood with his sorrow and tail between his legs, Pellam stays where he is to prove that his friend was murdered, and not the victim of a drug-related accident. He meets a number of local denizens, some welcoming, and others not, in this curious village. The plot is quite complex, and full of last minute twists.

This was a good, quick murder-mystery-suspense story. I look forward to reading the rest of the series as they are re-released.

I've read a lot of Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme novels and like them and I thought The Devil's Teardrop which had a different protagonist was excellent. So when I saw this one in the bookstore, I snapped it up. Big waste of money! I couldn't even finish the book, and that is not something that I do very often. At the very beginning I didn't like the main character at all because he didn't seem the least bit sympathetic to me, although I realize that's simply a matter of personal taste and not something that you can give a bad review for. More serious was the total "no thought" stereotyping of "bad cops" and local townspeople. Still not enough to deep eighty-six it, but it was starting to get there at that point. No, the thing that made me toss this book is that while it is supposed to take place in upstate rural New York, Deaver tried to write this using colloquial English. Not a problem if he'd used the colloquial speech for the area. He didn't. He used the speech of rural areas of Virginia and other areas to the south of NYS. As a life long resident of upstate rural NY, I felt it insulting to get something that basic wrong and it opened up the whole suspician that nothing else in the book could be right, either, if that's the amount of research he put into it. It's incredibly lazy writing, and I don't have time to read poor writing. Too many other really good books out there to waste on a disaster like this one. Save your money and pass it by, or at least get it used if you feel you must read it.

John Pellam is a great hero! Having gone for a while without a Deaver book fix, I was happy to see that this Location Scout Mystery is in reprint.
Scouting a movie location in small-town Cleary, NY, Pellam and his young partner, Marty, are just happy to be almost finished with finding prime shooting locales for the next Hollywood blockbuster. Unfortunately, this small town isn't as thrilled with them, and after a horrible murder, John finds himself fighting for his life, fighting for his reputation and acting as novice detective to clear his name. Along the way, Deaver throws in oddball locals, a love interest, and a twisting, surprising conspiracy.
This was a fun read, and I enjoyed it all the way through. The writing is a bit different than some of Deaver's more recent works, but this is a good thing! I'm anxiously awaiting the reprint of the next 2 Location Scout books. Buy this one and enjoy; it doesn't disappoint.

John Pellam is a film location scout who thinks he has found the perfect setting for a new flick. The problem is that there are some key town players who dont want the Hollywood big wigs disturbing their small town environment.....or are their reasons more sinister. What seems to be a series of warnings turns into a deadly game and Pellam must deal with wanna be movie stars, crooked cops, and even a romance or two to find out who is out to get him.

The pretense of the book has possibilites but the dedicated Deaver fan will be left a little gloomy from the shallow plot of SHALLOW GRAVES. The roller coaster thrill ride that usually marks a good Deaver novel is nowhere to be found. The character development is almost non existant and the subjects remain....shallow. There is one sudden flip at the end of the book that gives you a glimpse of the master suspense writer that Deaver was destined to become.

Sadly the book is average. It wont bore you to tears but it doesnt keep you on the edge of your seat either. A worthwhile read for a true Deaver fan but others should stear clear.

I just love Jeffery Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme books and began reading some of his other books. This one was easy to get into and very heart-jerking when character John Pellam's friend is blown up in a van and accused post-mortem of being involved in drugs. As seems a bit unusual, the death causes Pellam to be fired from his film producing job, but that's OK because it gives him time to solve his friend and co-worker's death. He's certain it's murder, and he's right. He also gets a taste of small town life in the process. Highly recommended!

The tale begins when John Pellam a location scout, arrives in Cleary, upstate New York looking for the scenery of a future movie and meets a hostile town, then some awful things begin to happen to him and to his companion Marty with no apparent reason and instead of leaving town he is determined to stay, look for clues and face everything, these facts set up the mistery. I enjoyed this book, because this colorful story is so well written, that you can feel the tension and hostility against Pellam every step of the way and dont know what is coming up next, that is what I would call, suspense !, but what I liked the most is the great character drawing, and the dialogues, with just a few words when facing each other, they tell you all, how they actually are, their intentions, how they really feel and what you could expect of them, concocted with many dimensions, they looked like they were ready to jump off the book and sit right next to you. Also, I have another compliment for the twists in the story, this is a resource widely used by Mr Deaver in all his books, they were not many but those few under his sleeve were masterfully used at the right time, rocking my chair. Finally tough the ending leaves room for many sequels, the engrossing plot, worth reading, is what really counted.