Customer Reviews

Tell Me No Secrets

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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."

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.

I've always enjoy Fielding's work, and I liked this book maybe not quite as much as the others she has written. It focuses on a prosecuting attorney, Jess who is having many problems in her life concerning her mother who has been missing for several years, a stalker waiting to attack, and a client who ends up killed.

In the story, Jess has many moments of terrible panic attacks. And she has a lot of trouble keeping herself together. Her ex-husband's client Rick Fergerson, is trouble and not in jail where he should be. He stalks Jess everywhere, and is believed to be the one who killed Connie, Jess's client who was raped and beaten. When Connie appears missing, the first suspect of course is Rick, but there is not enough evidence in court yet to convict him.

In another of her situations, her brother-in-law Barry can't stand Jess and seems to make trouble for her as well. When Jess starts receiving threats by the mail, and break-ins at her apartment, she also believes her brother-in-law has a hand in it. This causes problems between she and her sister Maureen.

Then Jess also meets a shoe salesman who seems to like her very much, Adam. She isn't sure that with all the things happening to her, that she can really trust Adam. He seems to be a mystery himself, and has secrets from the past.

The book builds up slowly until the last portion. It is hard to write a great review on it, as there are so many situations happening at once. Jess finally resolves her past eventually about what happened to her mother so many years ago. She isn't able to go on with things until then, as it might have everything to do who is stalking her now-and of course I won't say.

All in all, it was worth reading.

Other reviewers have said that the main character is not very likable. While that is pretty much the case, there are reasons for her social flaws, and as you dig deeper in to the book, some will become apparent.

Joy Fielding is the master (or is it mistress?) of making you guess who the baddies are and making you second guess yourself. Not until the final few pages will you know just what is really happening and who is doing it all.

This book is just about par for the course when it comes to Ms Fielding's novels so buckle up and settle in for an interesting ride.

The characters are vivid, the plot interestingly twisty and some very good courtroom action gives you a fun time curled up in your most comfortable chair. It is a good read as most of her books are. Recommended

But don't be discouraged if you're a fan of Fielding. This book isn't one of her best books ~~ normally, I can't put down her books and do something else. I was able to put it down several times and leave it be for a week before picking it back up. This book just wasn't as suspenseful and interesting as others were.

It's about Jess, a lawyer struggling to reconcile her past with her present. She is a prosecutor faced with several trials happening. First her client goes missing just before she is due to testify in court against her rapist. Her ex-husband defends the accused rapist and re-enters her life. Jess doesn't get along with her sister's husband ~~ and is sharply critical of her family. She meets a shoe-salesman and begins to wonder why he's in her life just when things start to fall apart. Her mother has disappeared 8 years ago ~~ and the memories of the last time she ever saw her mother begins to interfere with her life. No wonder she's a mess.

This is a story ~~ just not one of Fielding's best. It's not as well-written or well-thought out. It didn't tug at your heartstrings ~~ but it is entertaining. It's not the best buy of the summer but it is a good one. If you're a Fielding fan, you might enjoy it ~~ but don't expect it to be like Grand Avenue.

8-6-03

The heroine is a bit of a psycho case and dealing with long discursive commentaries on the thoughts running through her head meant I could only listen to the tape in small doses. The plot isn't bad and the ending certainly has a punch. My recommendation is to pick up the book and then skip the sections that go on forever. You can fast forward the tape (which I did) but that increases the cost per minute of listening to an unacceptable value equation. Ms. Fielding does do a reasonable job reading her own work, but it's not enough to make up for those interminable run-on passages

I can't decide whether I liked this book or not. I read it in virtually one evening, so it was definitely interesting and compelling, not to mention scary, but the characters just didn't always seem to ring true. The main character really had a whole mess of problems, in spite of her successful career. Not that successful people don't have problems, but the author really seemed to get carried away at times. And while the climax totally surprised me, it's hard for me to remember reading a more improbable set of circumstances. But it certainly was entertaining reading...and the crossbow murderer is creepy enough to satisfy any devoted reader of horror stories.

This is a tautly written mystery by an oustanding writer. The one thing this book shares with "Life Penalty" is an unsympathetic protagonist. I didn't like Jess at all. (I detested Gail in "Life Penalty.") I didn't like the inappropriate way Jess and her brother in law Barry would needle her. She would get on the defensive and make inappropriate responses and rise to what she perceived to be his bait. Barry really was not the ogre she claimed him to be in the story. I didn't like the ending, either. Like "Life Penalty," the story ends on an unsatisfactory murder note. Again, this was well written, but it really was a let down.

Of all the people who wrote reviews for this book, I have a completely differant opinion. I have never read a book that I loved sooo much and couldn't put down for a second.