Customer Reviews

The Target (FBI Thriller)

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(20)

 

 

In this story Judge Ramsey is taking a break from his courtroom in San Francisco after thwarting an attempted breakout of drug suspects in his courtroom. He is at a cabin of a friend high in the mountains of Colorado where one morning he finds a little girl who has been seriously abused and battered. He takes her in and takes care of her. But, at the same time he learns about himself and healing.

Her mother finds them and eventually she and Ramsey work together to try and figure out why the girl was kidnapped and work through their issues together.

Savich and Sherlock do make an appearance with Sherlock being pregnant and having an interesting version of morning sickness.

There were some far fetched things that happen in the plot, such as not taking the girl to a hospital and not taking her to get help for a while, as well as them suddenly taking off and traveling together. But overall it was good story with a bunch of twists and turns that kept it interesting.

I just finished the hardback version of this novel (and because it is the only Catherine Coulter book that I have ever read) I thought I would check out what she has going on Amazon. Admitted, I cannot compare it to her other "better" works, but I must say that I found this book to be very touching. I'm actually very surprised at some of the reviews that I have read of this book.

I won't rewrite a synopsis as this has already been done below but I do have several issues in support of this book to point out to other readers.

There is a tad of the unbelievable in the fact that Ramsey didn't immediately take the child that he found to a hospital; but that is a sign of our too cynical hearts. The reason that it is unbelievable is because most people would be afraid of the consequences of being blamed for molesting her themselves and would therefore have immediately turned her over to the nearest "authorities", felt sorry for her and been done with it. But that is not the nature of the "hero" of this story.

What makes this understandable is the fact that Ramsey is a federal judge who knows very well the system that Emma would be going into once he turned her over. As a federal judge he IS one of the "authority figures" and immediately takes responsibility of a child whose situation has touched his heart. He feels that he is more capable of being sensitive to her situation and caring for her than would male complete strangers in some podunk town in the Rockies. [I don't know about any of you readers - but have you ever had to deal with sheriffs in small rural towns on sensitive sexual issues of rape involving children? Guarantied that most of the people involved would be men, and loud, and insensitive to the fear they inspire in the child just by being men. Just imagine how much more trauma could be caused by this to a child.]

Now, you may then bring up the point that as a federal judge he would know about things like destroying bodily evidence from the child when he bathed her, etc. instead of taking her directly to a medical facility. Remember another thing, they were in a very rural, very isolated location with no phone and Ramsey Hunt was in seclusion over what he claimed was the paparazzi chasing him after having to kill some drug dealers in his courtroom. But in reality he is having nightmares, etc. of guilt over having taken a life and doesn't feel good about being considered a hero because he lost it to his anger and killed someone. He was also having feelings of impotence over the fact that because the system was so overcrowded criminals would walk free in too short of a time period anyway. Emma's situation was one he had control over. He felt that he could do a better job than the local authorities who would hurt her feelings and didn't want to turn over the responsibility of her too quickly.

As for the comments about him being almost as sickly obsessed with Emma as the pedophile - again I must point to too cynical hearts. Have any of you ever been exposed to a truly caring male? Not a homosexual with feminine tendencies but a heterosexual man with a caring soft heart? I feel sorry for our society if you haven't. I have. I was raised by one. I was married to one. I have uncles and cousins who are just as family oriented and nurturing - who take on half the care of the kids especially if their wife is pregnant again. Who would be just as outraged to their souls by what happened to that child as Ramsey Hunt's character is. Who may be just as deadly and want to take care of it on their own. (my late husband was a professional martial artist)

Especially if it's a male Cancerian and Ramsey Hunt's character reads like a male cancerian. A male cancerian would be capable of taking a look at a poor, beautiful, abused baby and adopting her. He'd want to be her father and take her in, want to care for her, "mother" her in a male fashion, feel responsible and think that no one would be able to do the job as well as he would himself. He'd take over her life and would then extend that love to her mother. (I remember a male friend telling me once that the way some men find their mates is that they see a beautiful child and then want to meet its mother because the woman who produced such beauty had to "fine" herself.)

So he never says "I love you" to Molly but he does admit, as far as he is capable, that he more than likes her. He comes to appreciate her qualities as a unique person and begins to picture them as a family. He shows her how he feels in his actions towards Emma and Molly. He takes them in and takes them over and nurtures them and lets himself be mothered by the women in his life at the same time. It's typical cancerian.

As for Molly, she comes to appreciate him and his strength and his love for her daughter. He's a handsome, caring, successful, strong, man who will care for her and protect her without patronizing or smothering her. What sane woman would pass that up? She doesn't need money she's rich. What she needed he provided. It's a formula for successful marriage more enduring than the raw "passion" of most romance novels. It's a love story of a family who comes together and of love that grows between them after they have come to appreciate one another, their strengths, and their weaknesses.

I found this book to be very touching. It left me with a bittersweet smile on my face for them as a new family and for the road that Emma would have to travel in life in order to be whole again. The mystery surrounding who was really behind the plots, them on the run, and the chase for the child molester, etc. was pretty good and kept the pages turning. Other commentators were right - it wasn't the most suspenseful book that I've read but it was a very good read. That's why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5. Any other comments I make would be spoilers - and I hate spoilers. So I will leave you with a strong recommendation for this book as I really enjoyed it. The male character is not the typical stubborn, brooding Alpha man but caring and sensitive while still being strong and decisive. I will definitely be looking into more of Catherine Coulter's books. Ciao.

This book is a little different from Ms. Coulter's usual type of story. It involves the kidnap and brutal attack of a young child, but it was beautifully handled by the author. This story lacked the usual romance, but I guess I must come to grips with the fact that sometimes people marry for reasons besides love. The plotting is top-drawer and the characters are very likeable if not overly realistic. The suspense is intense, and that's what pleases me.

Besides, Ms. Coulter is one of the few writers who know the difference between "stanch" and "staunch."

This is my favorite type of romance thriller. I like the masculine yet sensitive men( no pun intended). I like the suspense and the way the main characters seem to grow in some depth by the end of the book. I also like the way the author deals with a very serious issue such as sexual abuse of children and shows that there is hope for those unfortunate children who have been victims. I think that ths book was not necessaily completely believable as far as the judge not taking the little girl for medical help right away, but if he had done so the story could not have progressed to the mother and he meeting and forming the tight unit that they became.Then again I don't read these kind of books if I'm looking for a reality check. I only recently started reading Catherine Coulter books. On the whole I must say I like them a lot. The contemporary ones are my favorites; they describe the type of man a woman wants in real life but never truly finds.

After reading The Cove and The Maze, I was anticipating The Target to have Coulter's signature style. There didn't seem to be enough history or depth to each character in this book like her previous books with Lacey Sherlock, James Quinlan and how can we forget Dillon Savich. Judge Ramsey Hunt could have been the hero readers would have "swooned" over, unfortunately there were times when his actions were just too hard to believe! How can a JUDGE discover a child that was physically abused and not go to the authorities? Realizing the child cannot speak was a spark for the beginning of a flame, but that was quenched too early in the book. Coulter tried to incorporate Sherlock and Savich into the cast, but it seemed that by adding them in was an attempt to keep you reading so you wouldn't just put the book down. The plot tried to thicken with "Who could have done it?" unfortunately it came up with TOO many people to point the finger at. There is a GREAT story to read in the pages of The Target, too bad in never manifested itself completely.

As others have explained, a federal judge hiding out in the woods for some privacy finds a severly abused girl. For eight (count 'em, 8) days - until her mother comes blazing into the book - he nutures her and cares for her himself, without notifying the authorities, without taking her to the hospital, and apparently without any consideration of the fact that somewhere she has a family going crazy with worry. Of course, during this time, he tends her wounds, washing away any physical evidence that she would be carrying of her attacker. This guy is a judge??? Then, when her mother enters the picture, she *thanks* him for keeping her daugher with him. That's the worst kind of hideous fiction that I can imagine. I generally like Catherine Coulter, but I could not even go on with this book after the first 50 pages or so: The beginning bordered on "fantasy" not "fiction."

I enjoy reading books and watching movies because they take me away from my normal existence, and have the imagination to accept when an author will stretch reality. Unfortunatly, Catherine Coulter took reality and stretched it way past the breaking point. Her description of a six year old girl made me wonder if she has ever met a child, or used Shirley Temple and a six year old Jesus Christ as her model. I got so tired of hearing about her perfection I wanted to pull her braid (mentioned approx. 1,000 times) right out of her head. The Judge and Molly were totally unbelivible. I kept imagineing myself in the same position as the Judge, finding an unconsious six year old girl, sexually abused, unconsious in the forest. Sure, I'll take her and hold her for about a week!

I always finish a book once I start but this one was painful. Judge Ramsey was so unbelieveably sickeningly sweet that he made my stomach turn. The child, Emma, was smarter than the adults and the mother, Molly was completely inconsistent. Emma did not behave nor speak like a six year old. It made me wonder about the children the author has been around? What child speaks this way? Molly and Ramsey's love affair? Totally unbelievable and undeveloped...again PUKE! This was my first Coulter novel and I am not sure I want to try another. Reading this one was pure torture for me!

This book was not written very well but the writing seemed sloppy. The plot was strong but the characters weak. I would have liked to see more of Dillon and Savich, who popped up every once in a while, but they were unnecessary to the plot. I think she should have included them better. The Maze was much better but they all can't be winners. This book was a slight disappointment but all in all it still is a pretty good read. I always enjoy a good suspense novel with a little spatter of romance!

I, like others here, feel compelled to finish any book I begin, but this is one that makes me seriously rethink that comittment. Others have duly noted the multitude of flaws in the plot, but what really got to me was the insipid dialogue. NO ONE TALKS LIKE THIS! Virtually every time a character opens his or her mouth, what comes out sounds like something that would earn a generous D in a high school creative writing class. I guess I should have been alerted by the "Dear Readers" note on the back cover of the paperback edition. I know this was probably written by someone working for the Publisher, but didn't Coulter have to sign off on something over her signature? When an author tells me her book "will keep me on the edge of my seat," and promises to I'm not smart enough to solve her "surprise" ending, I should know well enough to keep my wallet in my pocket. Oh well, fool me once ...