Customer Reviews

Stitches in Time

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I don't normally read this type of mystery/thriller. I usually go for the Tom Clancy type (and I am a woman) or mysteries revolving around detectives/cops. I read the backface of the book and decided to go for it. I wasn't disappointed. My mother is an avid quilter, and yes, women put a lot of thought, pride, and emotion into the things they make whether it is a quilt, clothing, art, or for that matter books. This book had a great premise, pretty good character development, and considering the story, the people within the story had a good sense of humor. I always enjoy humor within a mystery, and this one definitely made me giggle at times when reading it late at night. Luckily my husband sleeps through everything! I plan on reading more of Ms. Michaels' works in the future and hope they turn out to be as enjoyable as this book was. Karen Sadler, Science Education, University of Pittsburgh

I, for one, really liked this book. This was my first Barbara Michaels book, and I enjoyed it so much, I started reading all of Barbara Michael's books. This book is about Rachel, and it has psychic scary stuff in it. I really enjoy books (and movies) where the scary stuff isn't blood and guts psycho killer stuff. I like the characters, I love the fact that in all her books, she always has a bunch of cats and dogs, and I always feel so comfortable, I could be sitting at the kitchen table with these people, having a conversation and helping to figure out what is going on! And I love that the people in the story do regular things--let the dogs out, keep the cats from going into the shop, opening a can for food, these are regular people, just like me!

I was so intrigued that Pat, the "grumpy old guy" had a similar experience and it had affected him so strongly that he recognized instantly that Rachel was "shadowed", that I went out and did some searching and found the book that deals with him--Amie Come Home.

If you are looking for a pleasurable escape, I recommend this book. I've loaned out my copy 3 times, and 3 times I've ended up going and buying it again because the person that borrowed it from me loved it and asked if they could just keep it.

Enjoy!

This book is actually a sequel to "Shattered Silk," one of my most favorite books by Barbara Michaels. It's set in the POV of a completely new character; a young woman working on her masters degree. The reason I'm dissappointed is that Shattered Silk had to do with a woman overcoming a horrible marriage that completely ruined her self-esteem and then ending up with a new satisfying business while solving a decades old murder case and reuniting with the love of her life. In comparison Stiches in Time ended up being a lame sequel. Michaels uses too many supernatural themes in her later works, and this one is a prime example. The main character in this book, who gets a job in Cheryl and Kara's vintage clothes shop did so because she had a crush on Cheryl's husband. Then a possessed quilt comes along and takes her over and she along with the rest of the crew have to figure out the origins of the quilt and try and save her. It has a happy ending like all of Michael's works, but I struggled to finish it. If you haven't read it yet, read "Shattered Silk." If you like Michael's newer books with her supernatural themes, then read this one, you'll probably like it to.

I have been a big fan of Barbara Michaels for years now, and I always snap up her books whenever I come across them. Sadly, I hate to admit that this was not one of her better books. Granted, I enjoyed reading it - and I did read it from beginning to end; however, this one wasn't as believable as many of her other books. Yes, I realize that this book, like most of her books, deals with the supernatural and as such, the reader must suspend disbelief somewhat. However, the characters in this book were all far too quick to accept what was going on. What normal person says (esentially), "Oh, you're trying to kill me. You must be possessed."?? The bulk of Michaels' characters in her other works take some convincing before they agree that they are indeed confronting the supernatural... that's what makes those tales believable. Sadly, this book was lacking in that department.

Really love the way Barbara Michaels combines, characters, plot, and the supernatural! Only one thing would have made this book more perfect for me. I would have loved to "hear" more from the quiltmaker - who haunted the quilt and the lives of the people who touched it.

Since I loved Ammie, Come Home and Shattered Silk when I was younger, I bought those two and this 'sequel' for my Kindle. I vaguely remember reading this one when I was younger, but I couldn't even finish it this time. First of all, who WERE these characters? Secondly, Why was Karen's name changed to Kara ? (That annoyed me more than her complete turnaround regarding her characterisation - she turned into the people she seemed to loathe!). Seriously, the name change of the character bugged me so badly I had to put the book aside. It just made me nuts. Normally, I'm a huge Barbara Michaels fan, and I really really wanted to love this book too. Alas, not meant to be.

Barbara Michaels has churned out another page-turner in her genre of romantic suspense. As always, the heroine is young, plucky, a bit naive but willing to learn. The plot device here is a haunted quilt.

Michaels is an accomplished writer whose characters are well-fleshed out, whose plots are timely, whose dialogue rings true. Some readers prefer her archaeology novels written under another name, but I like her Michaels novels better.

"Stitches in Time" is a great rainy-day, read-on-the-couch book and if it's your introduction to the author, it will lure you into getting more of her books.

I loved Ammie, Come Home and Shattered Silk, two previous Michaels novels with some of the same characters, but this one, though it had some good moments, is nowhere near as well-written. As others have noted, familiar characters have changed for no apparent reason. Instead of a coherent ghost story or mystery, Michaels seems to have dumped the entire contents of "The Golden Bough" and other works on folklore and magic into the book--and it's way too long. Worse still, after all that buildup we still don't get a very good payoff in spite of a couple of neat twists at the end.

A relatively feeble outing for Ms. Michaels.

Continuing with her characters from Ammie, Come Home and Shattered Silk, Stitches is the story of Rachel, who works for Kara and Cheryl (from Shattered Silk) in their vintage clothing boutique. One afternoon, some quilts are left on the store's porch. Shortly after that, Rachel is taken in by Kara's family (Ruth and Pat from Ammie, Come Home)for the holidays and that's when the really strange stuff starts happening. It seems something in one of the quilts is exerting control over Rachel, and to stop it, they'll have to figure out the quilt's history.

Stitches in Time is an excellent psychological thriller. And readers familar with Michaels's other books, Shattered and Ammie, will find parallels between the events of those books and Stitches in Time. All three are worth the read.

Also recommended: Ammie, Come Home and Shattered Silk

Recently I found the list of Quilt related fiction books on the web. Printed all the titles and authors and proceeded to our local library to check on their availibility.

Barbara Michaels books are the second set that I have read from this list. (Previously I read the "Tyler series" by Harlequin.)

Ammie Come Home, Stitches in Time and just this past Memorial weekend I finished Shattered Silk. On each book I was "captured" from the first chapter to the end. It was very hard for me to stop reading long enough to do any house cleaning.

I would recommend each of these three books to anyone who enjoys the past history and suspense surrounding Washington D.C. I wish she would write some more of these type of stories.