Customer Reviews

Silent Witness

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

 

 

i've read mckenna's books for years. she has good plots, but in recent years the male characters just do not "do it" for me. the things they say don't ring true. the word i'd use would be "smarmy". for example, the male character in this book has a heart hardened by divorce. no one has penetrated this hard shell in 2 years. yet within an hour or two the heroine has done just that. the other thing that always bothers me in mckenna's books is that she tends to go overboard with explanations of military terms. two military people will be talking and one will use the initials of a procedure and then right after that he or she will also say the full name of the initials. it would be more believable to leave out the gobbledygook and just have a page at the beginning of the book with a list of the terms so the narration wasn't so wordy.

overall, good plot, poor characterization of the male lead.

Silent Witness was an okay book. It had a good point or two, but also a bunch of negatives.

The storyline was pretty interesting. It's very "military", lots of twists and turns. It was a well-thought storyline, easy to follow and it kept me reading. One issue I had with the whole plot though was what I call "author assumption": the author assumes we, as readers, should know something, when we don't. She refers to real-life military scandals of the past simply by name, but doesn't summarize them at all for those of us who don't know them. So I was pretty lost on those references.

As for the romance...I didn't care for it all that much. It wasn't, in a lot of ways, a very romantic book in the standard sense. Up until they end, I think Ellen and Jim share maybe two kisses. There's a sex scene at the end, but it wasn't written that well, and it seemed kind of plopped in there, and ill-fitting.

Aside from that, I just didn't buy into the romance. It was too...pretty. Ellen and Jim are always thinking or saying things like "you're so wonderful", "you bring the sun back into my life" and things like that. It was just too perfect and didn't seem realistic. Added to that, Ellen most of the time seemed to think of Jim as "Cochrane", which just seemed very impersonal.

The characters were very two-dimensional. Almost everything about them, and the book as a whole, was about the plot itself. While, yes, the plot is important, but if you're gonna develop a romance, you're characters need some meat. And it just wasn't there.

Rating: 2.5 / 5

This was definitely NOT a 5 star book. Probably a 2 1/2 or 3. Silent Witness was my first novel by Lindsay McKenna and even though it wasn't great, I will pick up another one by her and give it a try. I found the storyline a little too slow for my taste for the first half of the book. It did pick up toward the end and ended up being interesting. I also found that Ellen and Jim were a little flat and their romance lacking. Jim was a little too "hillbilly" for me. The author should have worked on making her characters a little more believable for the reader. I usually have a hard time parting with a book when I consider it good. In fact, I keep them to reread at a later time. This one is not a keeper, but if you can get it from the library or as a used book, read it.

Lindsay McKenna is a master of military romantic suspense, and each subsequent story she writes proves why. SILENT WITNESS is no different, with its mix of intriguing characters, a thrilling story line, and ever-growing passion.

Agent Ellen Tanner is a redhead who likes long denim skirts, loose blouses, Birkenstock sandals, and dangly earrings. She's also a licensed psychotherapist, not to mention employed by the Office of Inspector General in the Department of Defense. Until recently, she's resided in Washington, D.C., but now she's in California-and assigned to work with JAG Lieutenant Jim Cochrane. The Pentagon came up with the idea of using OIG agents to help out snowed-under JAG agents who are short-staffed and buried under work. With her new one-year assignment in California, Ellen is now the partner of Lt. Cochrane-a man who clearly sees her as nothing but the newest pain in his rear end.

Jim Cochrane doesn't want help. He doesn't need it. Well, he might need it a little, because he is buried under piles of work. But now that he's saddled with a new partner-who just happens to be a woman, not to mention a civilian-he's less than pleased. As his drawl gets thicker and his height seems to increase, he's determined to do everything within his power to get this over with as quickly as possible. It might have worked, too, if it wasn't for the death of Top Gun instructor Susan Kane.

Now Ellen and Jim are working in really close proximity, trying to find a killer. As if Jim's good ole boy demeanor and his obvious disdain of her weren't bad enough, the passion that keeps sparking up between them is driving Ellen mad. Sure, the guy's handsome, but they've got a killer to track, and she has no time-nor desire-to pursue personal relationships. Or so she thought.

As these two hard-headed people-one military, one civilian-work together to catch a murderer, the danger becomes more and more real, as does their desire. Will Ellen and Jim find out who killed Susan Kane before the danger gets too close?

Ms. McKenna has done an excellent job once again of combining military suspense with romance, and the result is a winner in SILENT WITNESS.

Lindsey McKenna has written a lively deeply disturbing look at the fate of women in the military. This is one of her best books to date. I was on the edge of my seat through most of this book and felt so much anguish and grief at the end, I was totally blown away by the book and the ending.

Ellen Tanner is a profiler from Washington assigned to JAG in San Diego. She is a widow whose husband died two years ago. Still empty but finally moving on with her life she is caught up in the death of Susan Kane, a Top Gun in the Navy. She also is very drawn to Lt Jim Cochrane.

Jim Cochrane is finding his way back to life through a bad divorce. For two years he has suffered and worked to have a relationship with his daughter. The very nastiness of his divorce has made him decide to never trust his heart to a woman again. Now he has a hot case and a partner who is just to attractive.

Susan Kane is an exemplary officer and on the fast track to promotion so if she committed suicide the brass want to know why. And if she was murdered they want to know who.

Wonderful plot and the revelations in the case come in very short and powerful ways. I couldn't put it down.

This is my first book by Lindsay McKenna and I can't say how much I disliked it.

The plot was old and tired, the hero was made to sound like a country bumpkin and the heroine sounded like a earth mother with a college degree in wearing loud clothes.

First few pages were promising, then it turned into a book that a teenager could have written, very immature, repetitive and just plain silly . The romance part of this book was so sappy I could hardly stand it. The plot was the overworked Tailhook Scandal reborn .

I would suggest..oh never mind. I will never read another one of her books.

I enjoyed this book from Lindsay McKenna. The characters were likeable and the plot was interesting. The only draw back was the excessive use of Reckon, gal and other "hillbilly" word usage which got in the way of some of the conversations. Other than that, enjoyable book to read!

Because the Navy JAG is overwhelmed with an enormous caseload and support in the war zone, the DOD Office of the Inspector General sends agents to assist on legal matters. Thus Jungian psychiatrist Agent Ellen Tanner, whose spouse died just over a year ago, leaves DC to work for one year at the San Diego naval Station. Her senior partner, divorced Lieutenant Jim Cochrane fails to hide his scorn that he does not want to mentor Ellen.

They are assigned to assist the SDPD on an investigation into the homicide of Top Gun flight instructor Susan Kane; the brass worries about a media nightmare having their top female pilot murdered. As they enter the crime scene Jim remains hostile to his student until she becomes nauseous upon seeing the corpse; he becomes caring and nurturing. As they work the case together and he teaches her the tools to a successful investigation, they fall in love. However, he still burns from his ex-wife leaving him and taking their daughter with her; while Ellen still grieves her loss. This is one romance that looks like it will never leave the tarmac.

The romance takes a back seat to the prime pilot, the terrific military (enhanced by the local cops) police procedural. Jim may pretend to be a Missouri hillbilly, but he is obviously sharp and his educating Ellen, provides the audience with a fantastic insight to the case. Ellen augments his findings with her Jungian psychological skill at classifying people. SILENT WITNESS is an engaging thriller.

Harriet Klausner

Lindsay McKenna has done a great job with her romance/mystery novel. I hope that she will be asked to do more. Her characters are well developed and the story line is current. She skillfully weaves the romance and the murder mystery together. The flow of the story is well done. The ending is a surprize and I forced myself not to peek at the ending.
The romance is sweet and builds from dislike to love. This is typical in a McKenna story. One hint about the hero is that he is from Missouri. This is a delightful interlude and helps to relieve tense situations within the story.
This is a must have book for any Lindsay McKeena fan.