Customer Reviews

Sketching Evil

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

 

 

After reading the other reviews of this book, I eagerly ran out to buy it and was so disappointed. The writing style was elementary and the characters had no depth. The same concepts were written over and over as if the auther doubted that the readers could remember what she wrote on the page before. It felt to me as if the whole book could have been finished in 2 chapters. I give it two stars because one is just too harsh and there isn't an option for 1 1/2. I rarely write reviews but I just wanted to let prospective readers know that if they want to read this book, save yourself the frustration and get it from the library where it's free.

I agree with S. Dees. This book was a big disappointment. I felt like I was reading a book from a total novice rather than an experienced author. The using of their names so often grated on my nerves. How often do we talk to a friend and keep repeating their name. Also, this cop meets her at the train,scares her, calls her all the time late at night and that is only the beginning. The storyline seemed too forced.

This is the first book by Donna Anders I have ever read, and I expect it will also be the last. I picked it up on a whim, because my TBR pile was empty and I generally read between 5 and 8 books a week. I enjoy romantic thrillers, solid hard-core mysteries, well-written romance, fantasy, and sci fi. The blurb on the book looked promising. It started off decently with a series of coincidences in classic mystery style, but deteriorated rapidly into pedestrian prose. The characters never gained life and the detective became completely unprofessional and unbelievable within pages of meeting him. The villain's monologues were caricatured. The character dialogue went from mediocre to dreadful as the "romance" took over the plot line. I actually found myself groaning aloud at the things the characters were saying to one another in the last third of the book. I did force myself to read the entire thing, but there were no surprises as it not only didn't improve, but got steadily worse with contrived plot devices and choppy transitions, and a hastily tied-up ending. I cannot recommend this book to anyone, unless you are a fan of cheesy romance with a thin veneer of mystery. I not only found it lacking in suspense, but the romance was flat and unrealistic. The kindest words I can say about Sketching Evil is that it is not the worst book I have ever read.

I found the plot line of the story pretty good. I agree with many of the other reviewers regarding that. However, I couldn't get beyond the fact that I found the heroine irritating. I'm sorry, but she was dumb as a post. She seemed to be deliberately trying to be as obtuse as possible regarding the events and people around her. I just couldn't connect with her.

What a disappointment this was. The characters are cliched and the dialogue is forced. Abby is as cutesy/naive as they come, and seriously needs to pick up the clue phone.

I have read all of Donna Anders books and it saddens me to write this review. This book was so bad I could not wait to get through it. I almost put it down on many occasions. The main character Abby was just plain dumb and towards the end I was hoping she would bite the big one. The plot was implausible.What homicide detective is going to watch your house 24-7 after a murder, with no threats against you?? If I had to read "Jeez Abby"(in just about every chapter) one more time I was going to scream. I would like to rate this book 0 stars but that is not an option. Save your $$ and skip this one!

I really wanted to like this one because it includes everything I love in a good mystery--an old house, antiques, secret passages,... I forced myself to read & then SKIM the remainder of the book. I'm a novice & I think I could have written better. (Sorry, Ms. Anders.) Don't bother with this one. Try Wendi Corsi Staub's thrillers. Also I love the modern-day gothic novel entitled 1 Ragged Ridge Road.

Donna Anders has written another best-seller that you can't put down! I thought I had it all figured out until the surprise ending! I read half of this book in the waiting room of a doctor's office and didn't even mind when the doctor had an emergency and kept me waiting for nearly three hours! I was lost in this wonderful book and didn't notice the time slipping by. SKETCHING EVIL is a great book!

Donna Anders outdoes even herself in SKETCHING EVIL. Known by her many fans for her ability to create a sense of danger and suspense-laden mystery, Anders is also conversant with the advances in modern-day forensic science. Her female protagonist in this book is a police artist, someone who unwittingly becomes caught in the trap she sets for a prowling rapist. There are shades of Jean Boylan, Frank Bender, and Mary Pat Gatliff, real-life artists who have an uncanny ability to draw the faces of someone who is hidden in the shadows, or recreate the faces of the dead by using a nameless skull, clay, makeup and wigs and, most of all, their own intuitive knowledge that seems to come from the voice of someone who cries out for justice. Anders's huge fan base will be delighted with this new--and most frightening--novel, and those who haven't yet discovered her will see what the clamor to read more and more Anders's novels is about! Start here, and work back through her other books. I think there are nine or ten psychological suspense novels--each one a bit more terrifying and mysterious than the one before. But be prepared: you will find yourself checking to be sure your doors are locked as you read SKETCHING EVIL. Highly recommended, and it also would make a great stocking-stuffer for your friends and relatives who enjoy this genre. Anders's books always scare me a little, but I'm afraid I can't stay away from them!

Just when you think this author has written her best book...she publishes yet the next best book. Year after year she just keeps writing better and better books! Donna Anders is truely an amazing author with an uncanny ability to plot not unlike Hitchcock. I love the three dimentional characters and their relationships with one another, not to mention the realistic dialogue which helps paint an entire picture of time, place and intense suspense! Her books "take you there" and are never a disappointment.

I love this author! I know there is a next GREAT book to come!!!