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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gripping, July 25, 2005
Contrary to what some other reviewers have said, I found this book to be totally absorbing and unputdownable, and can see it being made into a wonderful suspense/thriller movie. Jess Koster is a very troubled and flawed woman, rather unlikeable most of the time, with her arrogant views and prickly nature, but a very competent lawyer and States' attorney. Against her parents' wishes, she married her law tutor,Don, eleven years her senior, while still in law school and, even after the marriage had finished, stayed under his influence and protection. She meets an attractive shoe salesman who seems to be working at a job which is way below his mental and social capacities,and, for the first time in years, thinks that a romance might be possible. A client of Jess has been raped and terrorised by a sadistic monster, Rick Ferguson, but is convinced by Jess to testify against him in spite of repeated threats to her life. When her client is found, beaten and nearly decapitated, Jess faces her ex-husband across the courtroom where he is defending Ferguson, and so begins an horrific time for Jess, with Ferguson stalking her and horrible incidents becoming a daily part of her life. M/s Fielding weaves a suspenseful web and keeps up a breakneck pace which doesn't let up till the final page. This story kept me up into the small hours as I just couldn't put it down.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Verdict - Not Good!, July 8, 2005
Although this is not Fielding's best book, it fortunately is not her worst, either. This one is not the riveting read or the trashy "good for a long plane trip" that some of her others were. This didn't even serve the purpose of being a bad book that was simply a way to fill time like some of her others -- it was just plain bad. This was the kind of book you could put down for a week and pick up at will. Her main character is Jess, a strident prosecutor who is also an inane whinebag. She has some grounds for going from whinebag to strident screamer - her client disappears just prior to a major trial. Her client is facing down a rapist in court and is expected to testify against him. Her former husband defends the rapist and adds fuel to Jess' fire. Jess is just such an unpleasant character who was impossible to like. She acted a fool with her brother-in-law, Barry. She would hound and bait him and provoke him mercilessly. She acted like a child around him. She hounded and harassed her older sister, Maureen, who tabled a legal career to raise her young son and infant girl twins. She also acted a fool with her father and his new family. She just wasn't family friendly. Just about when everybody's collective nerves have suffered from Jess, she meets a shoe salesclerk and starts a relationship. This is a step up from her inordinate attachment to her bird. Naturally, we have to have a little mystery going, so the main mystery, aside from why would anybody endure Jess if they didn't have to is where the heck is her missing mother? The woman has been missing in action for 8 years and Jess is high on her family's suspect list. Prior to her mother's disappearance, she and Jess had a battle royal. Jess was equal opportunity - she said vile, nasty things to anybody unlucky enough to cross her path. Jess is a tiresome whinebag who never evolves into a sympathetic character. The ending was also a trite disappointment. You feel let down after a big build up. Yeah, this book will provide momentary diversion, but it is not up to Fielding's par. "Grand Avenue" is her magnum opus and readers can hope she will write more books like "The First Time" and "Grand Avenue."
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Suspenseful but sexist, March 13, 2006
I loved the first book I read by Joy Fielding, See Jane Run, and went on to read Kiss Mommy Good Bye and this one. While it's a pretty good suspense thriller, I was bothered by the author's view of the world, where all men are villains and all women are their hapless victims. In all of her books, the female characters are depicted only in positive ways, while the male characters are insensitive and domineering at best, sadistic sociopaths at best. The relentless male--bashing spoiled my enjoyment of the novel.
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