Customer Reviews

The Spiral Path (Center Point Platinum Fiction (Large Print))

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

 

 

What do you do when your favorite auto-buy writer comes out with a book about movie stars-and you don't like Hollywood books? That was my dilemma when I received a copy of The Spiral Path. Then again, considering that Mary Jo Putney was the writer, someone who could no doubt make a vacuum cleaner infomercial riveting, I figured that it would have to be better than the typical Tinsel town story of glitz and glamour.
Turns out that it was way better than that. The Spiral Path is a compelling, emotional story that deals with overcoming the traumas of a man's childhood, healing and learning to trust someone enough to love them unconditionally.
With deft skill, Putney moves the reader back and forth through time, using flashbacks to tell the the beginning of Kenzie Scott and Raine Marlowe's relationship and marriage. Through the filming of the movie we see Kenzie slowly unraveling as he is forced, really for the first time, to confront the horrors of his past . Something Kenzie has to do if he is to have any hope for a future with Raine.
The metaphor of a labyrinth (a place constructed or filled with confusing or intricate passageways) plays well through this book. Not only as a place that Kenzie retreats to for healing, but also to describe the twists and turns in the story. Just when you think you've reached a climatic point, as in a maze you turn the corner and realize there's more waiting. Even with all those ups and downs, I found that the pace and energy of The Spiral Path strong to the end.
As a longtime fan of Putney's historical work, I am delighted that her contemporary work has the same depth and elements that has made her historicals keepers in my collection. The Spiral Path is a welcome addition to my keeper shelf.

I've always liked Mary Jo Putney's historical romances. When I read her first contemporary romance, The Burning Point, I was a bit disappointed. Since the pacing and dialogue used in historicals and contemporarys are very different, I've found that authors who can write well in one genre can't necessarily easily jump into the other. It looked like Ms. Putney was going to fall into the category of a writer who can write great historicals but not very good contemporarys. However, I decided to give this latest entry a try, and I'm really glad I did.

This is a very well-written book. The pacing is excellent and the dialogue is consistent with common spoken language (a common failing in poorly-written contemporarys). The story was interesting, and the story-within-a-story worked very well. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a well-written contemporary romance novel. But don't pick it up unless you have time to read the whole thing - otherwise you will find yourself staying up until all hours to finish it.

I've long been a fan of Ms. Putney's historical novels. When she made the switch to contemporary, I skipped The Burning Point based on subject matter. With The Spiral Path, this author has given me a book to love as much as I had her earlier stories. Yes, there is still a controversial subject, but one the reader might be better able to get through.

I won't reiterate the plot summaries given elsewhere on this page. What I will say is that I couldn't put this book down. A compelling page-turner, the book grabs you from the start and stays with you after you've closed the covers. The author expertly crafts multi-layered lead characters and puts them through an emotional & mental wringer. She augments them with a super cast of supporting characters that adds texture and depth to the story. Her rich descriptions of New Mexico bring the land and its people alive in the minds of the readers

This book will easily make my list of best books of
2002. I give it two thumbs up. If Ms. Putney continues to write stories like The Spiral Path, I will continue to read them.

That was all I could say as I read this book. This is probably the finest thing I have ever read in print. Mary Jo Putney's contemporaries know how to tackle the tough topics, but this one really blows the glass ceiling off the romance genre. Forget the cover, and the teaser on the back, this book will blow your mind.

Though the plot description reads like any other husband-wife reconcilliation line, that is definiately not what this is. Rainey asks her soon-to-be-ex-husband to do her a favor and star in a independant film she is directing, little realizing that some details of the life of the character (John Randall, a fictional British soldier) are too close to Kenzie's darkest places. Raine herself is a pretty deep and intersting character, and the very realistic depiction of the world of filmmaking will keep you riveted, but the real star of the movie is John Randall, and the real star of the book is the actor who plays him, Kenzie Scott.

Kenzie Scott is nothing like any romance hero you'll read about anywhere else. He is vulnerable in ways that no hero has ever been before, and he is a man spiraling down a mental path to self-destruction. It's his story that grabs you and pulls you down with him as he falls. Rainey is his lifeline, but it's Kenzie that opens up a world of pain and dicovery, and takes the reader to the depths and heights of the human heart. You have to buy this book, and buy a copy for your mother, and your sister, and if they will read it, for your father and brother. Get one for anyone you know who is walking, "The Spiral Path."

Every once in a while you come across a book that reaches out and grabs you for all it's worth. You find yourself so enthralled with the story that you literally panic when you realize you are almost finished with the book because you honestly do not want the story to end. That's how I felt about The Spiral Path by Mary Jo Putney.

Kenzie Scott is a British actor who is burning up the screens in America. He sees an independent film with a little known actress, Raine Marlowe, who is up for an academy award for her performance. Kenzie is enamored with her. He manipulates his next contract to the point where Raine must play the lead female role before he will sign on to star in the production. They work together, keeping everything professional until the end of the production, then the sparks fly. Rather then allow the relationship to end within the two weeks they have between films, they elope. Unfortunately, neither of them knows how to make a relationship work. Fast forward four years and they find themselves in the middle of a "civilized" divorce.

Raine is about to direct her first movie based on a screenplay she wrote. Desperate for financial backing, she approaches Kenzie to play the lead. He agrees without looking at the script, which turns out to be a devastating mistake on his part. Unable to disappoint Raine, Kenzie finds himself having to face a past he wants no one to know about and confronting demons he thought he had buried. As if things aren't hard enough, Raine finds herself having to play the lead after another actress drops out of the film opposite of Kenzie. Things begin to heat up as they give into the sexual attraction between them and as they watch everything unravel when a tabloid reporter tenaciously searches to find the lurid details of Kenzie's missing past.

This book had every element you could ask for from a contemporary romance. The lead characters come to life as their story unfolds. The dialogue is well written and the plot believable. As I said at the beginning, I did not want the story to end. This is one book that will stay on my keeper's shelf and undoubtedly be read over and over. Mary Jo Putney has written one of the best books I've read in a while. I'll definitely be looking forward to her next contemporary.

This is the second of MJP's contemporary novels, and I assume that she's planning more with Kate's other friends (I vote for Val and Tom, preferably as a couple, next!). This is the story of Rainey and Kenzie, the apparently-perfect Hollywood couple, whose marriage was not as fairytale as everyone believed.

The story opens as Rainey and Kenzie's divorce is progressing, although along the way we get flashbacks which tell us the story of how they got together (playing the leads in a film adaptation of The Scarlet Pimpernel). We know that Rainey filed for divorce because of something Kenzie did and which made her believe that he no longer wanted to be married to her; we also know, though, that Kenzie loves her desperately and longs for them to be together still. However, for some reason - and this is the first hint of his tortured soul - he thinks she's better off without him.

Rainey wants to make a career as a director, and she has the perfect script: The Centurion, about a Victorian army officer who is tortured and abused in Africa and then returns home, ashamed and emotionally crippled, and has to try to rebuild his life. She wants Kenzie to play the lead; what she doesn't know is that the storyline hits very close to home for him, and unlocks the key to his hidden past, which he's always refused to discuss with her. When she ends up playing the female lead opposite him, she sees even more closely the torment the role is causing him.

Eventually, the whole painful story comes out... and Kenzie is left an emotional wreck. Can her love for him, and his for her, manage to put him back together again?

For some reason, although this premise should have been a real tearjerker and although MJP's writing has certainly made me cry before (The Rake; Thunder and Roses; One Perfect Rose), The Spiral Path didn't do it for me. While reading about Kenzie's situation and what had happened to him - even scenes in his POV - I felt detached from the emotions, rather than connected with them in any way. I don't think Putney actually got deep enough into Kenzie's mind - maybe because his revelations are so shocking, she felt it was too much detail, but without that detail, without Kenzie's journal (which he wrote but we weren't shown), and without more depth of introspection, I felt in the end that the emotions were rather superficial.

A personal gripe: while I'm very sure that Putney did her research thoroughly, the mystical healing properties of labyrinths just didn't do it for me. I couldn't suspend disbelief in those stages of the book. Oh, and like other readers, I felt that the Oscar ceremony was cliched and not up to the standard of the rest of the book. :/

It's still a very good book and one which I'll read again; I'll certainly buy other contemporaries by Putney, too. But I want more historicals, set in England in the same time-frame as Thunder and Roses!

I've always been a Mary Jo Putney fan, but The Spiral Path shows that Ms. Putney is one of those writers who keeps getting better and better. Raine and Kenzie are complex people and Ms. Putney manages to plumb their depths, as she reveals the pain and conflict that drives them apart and ultimately brings them together. I'm really awed by the fact that Ms. Putney continually explores difficult issues through her characters. Yet, despite the heavy-duty emotional baggage that her heroes and heroines carry, I have yet to see her compromise the integrity of her stories by descending to cliche, triteness or trivial solutions to serious dilemmas. Her characters always work their way through their problems in a believable way that satisfies me as a reader. I think that other readers will find Raine and Kenzies story as hard to put down as I did.

I just finished 'The Spiral Path' by Mary Jo Putney and I think its one of her best contemporary romances. The characters were so believeable and real and you really feel for protagnists, Kenzie Scott and Raine Marlowe and desperately want their relationship to work (though you know it'll all eventually work out).

After finishing the book, I felt a little lost as the characters had all become my friends and I missed reading about them. Keep it up, Mary Jo Putney and give us more such great contemporary romances.

I just managed to get the China Bride and plan on starting the book pretty soon.

I finally finished THE SPIRAL PATH and all I can say is WOW!This book is so richly textured and multi-layered, I hardly know here to start gushing!

Hollywood couple Rainey Marlow and Kenzie Scott are in the middle of a divorce. But Rainey has adapted a novel into a screenplay and there's only one person who can play the hero - Kenzie. Surprisingly, he agrees although he nearly backs out when, after reading the script, he finds how wounded this hero really is and he is advised that taking this role would not be good for his image. Rainey urges him to reconsider and he eventually agrees. Thus begins a personal journey of healing not only for Kenzie, but for Rainey as well. It's clear to the reader that Rainey and Kenzie are absolutely made for each other, but it takes over 300 pages for Kenzie to realize this.

I'm ready to start a journal and go find a labyrinth to walk. Although I guessed one of the "big secrets" fairly early, it did nothing to diminish the over all enjoyment of this book.

For those of you who haven't read one or Mary Jo Putney's contemporaries, I would compare her to one of my favorite contemporary authors, Diane Chamberlain whose stories are multilayered and usually "two in one." The device Mary Jo
used to tell the story and to unravel Kenzie's past is nothing short of brilliant. Much of the writing and story also reminded me of Kristin Hannah.

There were a several secondary characters I particularly liked - - Sir Charles as well as Rainey's friend Val and their friend Tom, a novice monk. I think they both deserve a book of their own!

Suffice to say, this book is very highly recommended and sure to be on many "Best of 2002" lists.

Hollywood actress tries her hand at directing a motion picture & asked her almost-ex-husband to star in her movie. He reluctantly agrees & warns her that playing his emotionally-laden role will be very hard for him. Filming the movie serves to draw them closer, brings up their unresolved marital issues, & unravels Hero's painful secrets.

Putney's books are not always hits for me. But this one was a big hit! Putney uses the movie in the story & the main character's journal entries to verbalize their struggles. Her excellent writing also manages to meld 2nd-chance romance with the uncomfortable issue of child prostitution very well. Putney handled the child-abuse trauma with such sensitivity, allowing Hero & heroine the time, space, & opportunity to heal in a realistic way. It affected their sexual intimacy as well, making their struggles even more believable.

The romance had depth. There wasn't a fast, magical resolution to their marital dilemma. I appreciated seeing Hero & heroine's character development. I really liked how Hero & heroine handled their awkward & painful interactions with maturity & not histrionics, unlike a typical romance novel. There was no Big Misunderstanding either. Their marital crisis primarily stemmed from Hero & heroine's unresolved & unshared individual struggles. Their reunion allowed them the chance to realize their individual issues & share it with one another.

Well-recommended.