Customer Reviews

A Slow Burning

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

One third of the way through this story, and I was ready to trash this book. The reasons numbered 2, firstly, the violent murders mentioned on the book jacket would make Hannibal Lechter flinch, and young children witnessed them both. Secondly, as mentioned on the jacket they were race-based.

Unless an Author truly has a new idea or view on race/racism, making it a centerpiece for a book is too easy, too cliché, and has been done more times than I can remember. This Author clearly can write and tell a great story. By bringing to the book one of the lowest common denominators of what is wretched in our Society, he introduced an issue that I don't think was necessary. Further, the Author brought nothing new to the discussion. Adding young children was tabloid sensationalism, every location, slur, and behavior is beyond cliché. It's like being tied down and listening to music you hate, repeated incessantly.

The High-Tech Medical aspect was good. The field that is discussed and plays a key role in the book is real, it's being developed today, and it's not Star Trek material. But again the same issue mentioned above gets center stage, even with the techno-wizardly medicine, and it detracts from the story.

Trying to pull all the different threads of this story together, and then trying to make societal commentary out of it, was a huge task, and it did not work for me.

The book is a well done at times, entertaining at times, and frustrating because of how good it really could have been. I will buy his next book. That may sound contradictory, but it really is an indication that I believe this Author could really spin some great tales.

You will love it, or like it, you won't hate it.

This phenomenal, intelligent thriller truly has something for everyone! There's love and romance mixed in with mystery, suspense, exceedingly graphic violence tossed in with a bit of time travel and even nano-technology! Pottinger is a brilliant writer who really needs to quit his day job so he can devote full time to his rare talent. I just hope that we don't have to wait another 5 years for his 3rd book to appear. When you start reading this amazing book, be prepared to forget about the rest of the world because it completely grabs you with the very first page and doesn't let you go until the shocking and most satifying conclusion! You'll not be disappointed in this book which is destined for the bestseller list immediately upon publication....hopefully! Enjoy!

First of all, I have NO time in my busy schedule to read a fortune cookie, let alone a 478 page fiction novel...However, this was one book I could NOT put down!

Mr. Pottinger does what I love best - he introduces you to each major character in a very special, intimate way, and sets the stage for how this plot eventually ties itself together. And in the end, you nod your head, and finally "get it". It's a combination of detective work, medical advances and a passionate love triangle that will surprise you in the end.

It's a very well researched, well written book, and one i will most DEFINITELY keep on my bookshelf for years to come.

I'm not the most patient person and therefore find it difficult, and at times irritating, to be strung along when it comes to revealing plot lines which was the main problem I had with "A Slow Burning". Pottinger would introduce this mysterious storyline, only to make me wait until the last 10 pages to figure out what it all means. Now don't get me wrong...this can be a very effective way to keep a reader's attention. However, I found Pottinger's style of the "string-along" a bit unnecessary because there would have been no harm done had the plot unfolded without the waiting game. In other words, with some mysteries this technique works well, but with this book it didn't because the mystery lost it's intrigue by the time it was revealed. "A Slow Burning" is a great story. At times it was a bit "Hollywood" and unbelievable, but overall it held my interest from beginning to end. The possibility of the medical technology introduced in the book was fascinating. To be able to repair damaged brain cells and cure all kinds of neurological diseases was a remarkable and well thought out concept. It's obvious Pottinger did a lot of medical research while writing this book. I'm not going to get into a blow-by-blow of the plot in this review because everyone can read it in the above summary. I found the characters to be a bit shallow and their dialogue somewhat unreal and stilted, but aside from that it was an excellent book that I didn't want to put down. A great "lazy-weekend" or vacation read.

This story starts out with three separate story lines. First there is Cush Walker who, as a young boy, watches as white men lynch his father. This is in the 1960's, then we jump back to 1929 and meet Comilla, a 15 year old girl who falls in love with her black piano teacher and finds herself pregnant, and finally to 1977 where 11 year old Nat Hennessey is witness to the violent beating death of his father by a black man. Now it is the present and all 3 of these stories from the past come together. Nat Hennessey is a detective for the New York police department, Cush Walker is a brilliant neurosurgeon, and Commilla (the granddaughter of the 1929 Comilla) is engaged to Nat. The day before their wedding Comilla is shot in the head by the same man who killed Nat's father years ago. It is up to Cush to save her life with cutting edge technology that he has developed. Here is where the story takes a turn as Nat finds out that his fiance used to be in love with Cush. Between trying to catch the killer, J.J.Jackson, and volunteering to be the guinea pig for Cush's brain scan, Nat stays pretty busy.Adding to all this is the issue of racism. Cush has always had a prejudice against whites and Nat against blacks, now they must come together to save Comilla who they discover is part black. This story has some great twists and leads the reader in many different directions. It is a romance, medical thriller, and murder mystery all rolled into one. My only complaint was that the ending seemed to drag on a bit more than necessary, but all in all it was a really fun read.

What a story! Nat Hennessey and Cush Walker are the two main characters in this un-putdown-able crime/murder/love story, who really don't like each other much at all - they are fighting over the same woman who is in a coma.

The story is brilliant - so many twists & turns that I never ever saw coming. This has got to be one of the best novels I have read..the only negative aspect - it is a bit long & because all the characters are interwoven within in each other, it gets a bit confusing but definately keep reading...it is well worth the ending!

I can't wait to read another Stanley Pottinger book, these are the sort of books I love - not just a boring whodunit, or why they did it or even a boring romance..it has everything a good book should & heaps more! If only there were more like this...

THIS BOOK IS ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL!!! Mr. Pottinger has created a suspense thriller of the very highest order! It truly has something for everyone....love, tenderness, time travel, nano-technology, exceedingly graphic violent scenes, excellent character development with characters that you come to love/hate as the case may be, vivid visualizations created with his master use of words....in one word, WOW!!! Do not miss this book which is destinted to be on the bestseller list within one week of its publication!!! Such fascinating minutiae on so many truly interesting matters and you're left wondering just how much of this book is happening now and not when the rest will occur but how soon! Thank you, Mr. Pottinger for a most pleasurable book! Please don't wait another five years to present us with your next wonder!

This book was loaned to me to read, so thankfully I didn't expend any money on it.

At first, the pace of the book is great. Pottinger brings the reader in with a series of vignettes that keeps the reader guessing as to how these people will fit together. The beginning action is fast-paced and a real page turner.

The middle of the book begins to get bogged down in its own technology. I don't think Pottinger really understood exactly what theory he was trying to explain. Because it can't be explain fully, the reader has to make logic where none exists.

At the end, I really didn't care how it ended. In fact, I thought it ended several times before it did - and it could have. I was very disappointed with the ending. I can understand that Pottinger tried to not make a neat and tidy ending, but in reality he gives the ending away long before it happens.

I would actually rate this book 2 1/2 stars, but Amazon doesn't allow for that. This has more of a feeling of a "guy book" to me. That isn't bad, just not what most women would feel comfortable reading. Pottinger spends most of his time developing the male characters fairly well. He needs to devote as much time developing his female characters if he wishes to capture a female audience.

Can't say I would personally recommend this book, however it wasn't all that bad. The violence does get very graphic and over the top, but then again, I think that might be a "guy thing" so I'm not condemning the book for that. I think Pottinger wrote this book for a male audience, not female. (Yeah, I know...I'm throwing the gender card in along with the race card, aren't I? Well, it's how I see it!)

A white man witnesses some black men killing his father as a child. A black man witnesses white members of the Klan lynch his father as a child. From these roots, the novel traces the motivations of both these protagonists, how it has shaped their nature and viewpoints about the other race - on a grander scale and philosophy.
On a personal, individual level, both these protagonists are in love with the same woman, which brings in the element of sexual rivalry and competition, more so since the two are thrown together in the course of their work. The white male is a police detective and the black man is a pioneering scientist/doctor.
The novel is gripping and frightening when it details the brain wasting experiments that are done in the name of science and how they impact the life of the heroine. The novel is sensitive when it deal with racial stereotyping which every person does inadvertently no matter what level of political correctedness they have been exposed to.
A gripping storyline which involves medical science, love tangles, the hood, suspense, rivetting suspense, and ultimately the question...how far can one push the boundaries of human exploration and the buttons of love is what the novel is all about.

I have read a number of books in my life but none have ever grabbed hold and kept my attention like "a slow burning". everytime you think it can't get anymore complicated, there is a new twist. it is an incredible book and everyone should give it a chance. you just may be surprised.