Customer Reviews

Sunstroke

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I've read the previous reviews, which were interesting themselves in seeing different readers' takes on this book. It's slammed or lauded on its merits as a "thriller" in many cases.

I don't think this book falls into that genre. It seems to me to be more like the noir novels of the early fifties in many respects. It's certainly a character study of the lead protagonist (Gloria), and is quite effective as such. Much of the novel takes place in a fictional (I assume) location in Mexico known as Aguas Vivas and its environs, and is very effectively drawn as a haunting and deserted landscape whose few denizens are memorable characters. Think "Bad Day at Black Rock", or "Treasure of the Sierra Madre".

This isn't a classic whodunnit, though there are elements of that, and the search for the truth of the disappearance of her boss (Carl) certainly animates Gloria's quest.

But this novel is hard to pigeonhole. It's very stylistic. The dialogue is sometimes very sharp, often witty, yet sometimes vague; reflective of how real conversations between strangers often transpire. But you really need to keep in mind that this book is character-driven, as opposed to plot-driven.

There is a mystery here that is solved by the end of the book, but the pacing is leisurely yet still engaging because of the sharply drawn characters and settings.

This book may not be for everyone. I enjoyed it, and I think Kellerman shows some real promise.

I, like many of the other reviewers, had high hopes when I bought this book. Ultimately it felt contrived. As though he wanted to use every idea he ever had for a clever turn of phrase in one book. Sometimes I could only roll my eyes as I was reading some of the metaphors. I didn't care about Gloria. In the end her character didn't make sense anymore and I was just glad I had finished reading the book so that I could read another perhaps more interesting and satisfying one.

Jesse Kellerman's debut novel has been hypd excessively, but it simply doesn't deliver. The characters are dull and uninteresting; all the secondary characters, such as policemen, clerks, waitresses, officials, and ordinary people, are described the same way and portrayed as mendacious oafs, lazy, greedy and corrupt. Attempts at humor or insight are flat and dull. The writing strives to be fresh but is merely forced and klunky. ("They looked gutted, as though they'd been forced to chase a pile of laxatives with Drano martinis." p. 144) It gets tiresome, especially because the main characters plod their way through an unoriginal plot, full of pages and pages of droning flashbacks and tired narrative. The book desperately needs some sharp editing; editors are credited but they were asleep on the job. The length could be reduced by half without any loss and possibly some gain.

Overall, the story reads as though it came fresh out of a creative writing class, with the writer trying to press all the right buttons but unable to say anything fresh or original. Mr. Kellerman certainly has promise, but let him learn his craft better before inflicting another overblown "thriller" on the public.

I have never read any books by Jonathan and Faye Kellerman, so I did not buy this book with any pre-conceived expectations. I saw it in a bookstore, thought it had an interesting premise and decided to give it a chance.

It's not that this book is badly written. In fact, there is really nothing wrong with the writing persay. It's just that there is a whole lot of nothing going on in this book until about the last 60 or 70 pages, and at that point it's as if a set of different characters had entered the story to take the place of the previous characters. Mild mannered Gloria becomes gun-toting bad mama. Not a bad story, but not a good one either.

I will give the Kellerman's next book a try (that too looks like an interesting premise.) Let's hope it's not as disappointing as this one.

Have always loved Jonathan Kellerman's books and can finish one of his in a couple of days. Faye Kellerman is also a very talented author and I read her series until she married off her protagonist to the "perfect" woman. As usually happens in that case, perfect dullness moved in right along with that perfect spouse. Marital contentment adds nothing of interest to a murder mystery and her character has lost the quirky edginess that made him three dimensional. He seems old and dull and I haven't bought one of her books since the second one following her character's marriage. Have not read all the way to the end of the few I checked out of the library either. However, even if this series is done enough to stick a fork in, Faye Kellerman is still very capable at her craft.

That said, I eagerly awaited Jesse Kellerman's first books. However, both Sunstroke and Trouble were big disappointments. Even though there is a bit more dialog in Trouble, it still drags. Nothing wrong with the plots and both books should have been good reads but the writing plods painfully.

Hopefully Jesse Kellerman will find a way to put some zip into his next effort.

Gloria Mendez has worked for, and been in love with, her boss, Carl Perreira for ten years. Gloria receives an unintelligible message from Carl, who is on vacation in Mexico. When she tries to find him, she learns he was killed in a car accident. As Gloria tries to find out more about Carl, but the more she learns the more she finds he was not who he seemed.

I like books that are character driven, but the characters needs to be interesting and the story needs to compelling enough that I want to keep reading. Both these aspects were missing here. It wasn't terrible and I could have kept going, but finally, at page 112, I found myself wondering why I wasting time with this book. My overall reaction was that I really didn't care what happened and that's when I put the book down. I'd rather spend my time with a book that makes me need to read it.

I originally picked this up, not because of the author's parentage, but because the premise on the back cover sounded interesting and the protagonist sounded like the kind of woman I'd really like to read about.

While the characters were great (especially Gloria and el Teniente), the plotting and writing left a little to be desired.

There are odd turns of phrase ("The sun vomited up over the horizon.") and the occasionally badly chosen adjective. While this wasn't a constant throughout the novel, it happened enough that it shook me out of the book and interrupted my reading rhythm.

Also, the book feels unfinished, plot-wise. At the end, I had to keep checking that I wasn't missing a final signature or something. I finished and thought, "That's it? That's the wrap-up?" So much was left dangling that won't be addressed that I felt cheated.

Altogether, the book shows a lot of promise for an up-and-coming novelist (Jesse Kellerman has already written several plays). With some practice, I think he could be very good.

Jesse Kellerman delivers a debut as close to flawless as I've seen in a long time -- perhaps not since the first Lisa Scottoline, Everywhere that Mary Went.

Three-dimensional characters.

Plot twists that actually take you by surprise but that seem logical and connected.

Clues for the reader as well as the characters (he plays fair).

Scenes vividly described .

No loose ends left hanging

Smooth writing that keeps pages turning

A chronology that's easy to follow

What more do we want?

The supporting characters -- Gloria's best friend, Gloria's ex-husband and the LA detectives -- were somewhat sketchy. But that's okay: they're in background.

I had no trouble believing the characters or the plot. And I wish I'd had this novel last week, for a long plane ride. It's been awhile since I could get so caught up in a story.

So...what's next from this author? I'm waiting.

Whenever an offspring of a popular author gets published I approach with a great deal of caution, nepotism being what it is and knowing from personal experience how extremely difficult it is to get an agent, find a publisher or even get a manuscript read in the money oriented publishing industry that thrives mainly on "commercial value" over artistic works of literary merit, where "mid-list" is a death knell.

"Sunstroke" is a huge surprise. It may even, in some ways out do his well known parents work - a high compliment I assure you since I am, and have been for a long time a Kellerman fan.

Sunstroke is a well written, well plotted and strongly character driven "Mystery/thriller" genre book that is also literary.

A great read! Trust me, you'll like it.

Kellermans are a triple threat now!

Thirty-six years old Los Angeles secretary Gloria Mendez has been in love with her boss, novelty import business mogul, Carl Perreira, for years though she accepts it is unrequited so she hides her deep regard from him as he has not shown any sexual interest in her. Carl goes on vacation in Mexico. Following a relatively minor earthquake, Gloria listens to a strange jumbled message that Carl left on her answering machine. She tries to follow-up as Carl apparently has disappeared somewhere in Mexico's backcountry. Gloria tries LAPD, who dispatch her to the Tijuana cops, but neither departments show the slightest interest in the case.

Not soon afterward, Gloria learns that Carl allegedly died in a car crash inferno. Devastated by her loss, Gloria travels to Mexico to bring Carl's remains home for burial. However, even that simple kind gesture proves difficult and dangerous starting with when she meets a young man claiming to be Carlos Perreira, son of her Carl and others who assume she is either a partner or lover with insider information on the activities of a man she thought she knew.

Gloria is the center of this fine cerebral mystery in which much of the action is inferred until near the end. Though not a particularly courageous individual, the heroine shows her mettle when she tries to do what she believes is the right thing for Carl and subsequently begins an amateurish sleuthing into what happened to him and why. Proving DNA matters, Jesse Kellerman debuts with a delightful character driven who-done-it.

Harriet Klausner