Customer Reviews

The List

5 star:		(95)
4 star:		(70)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(34)

 

 

I downloaded "The List" to my Kindle for two reasons: 1) I'd just finished "Afraid" and I loved it. 2) "The List" was less than $2 and I was intrigued.
Now I feel like I owe Joe money! I was completely entertained from start to finish. I truly could not put it down. Bert and Roy, two of the main characters, had me laughing out loud. Tom is the hero. He's a cop assigned to a homicide and the body has a mysterious tattoo just like the one oh his foot. Joan is a victim turned heroine and she is my kind of woman....strong AND kicks butt. I can't stand the kind of woman who gets tied to the railroad tracks whimpering "save me, save me".
The suspense is tight and the premise is not past the realm of probability.
I don't want to mention much else because I don't want to give anything away!
JA Konrath writes in the caliber of writers like James Patterson, Dean Koontz, and Greg Iles....with a true bend on twisted.
Check it out....download the sample or just give in, go ahead, get the book. I can't wait to see the movie.

I thought the basic premise of the book, as outlined in the summary, was interesting and different enough to make me curious so I bought the book and started reading. When I was only 10% through the novel (according to my Kindle), already there had been fingers amputated, a beheading, someone's face had been sliced, a dog impaled, a woman attacked twice, and numerous accounts of torture (ie, a man impaled through the anus and then the stake move an inch an hour until it exited through his mouth hours later)that had occured previous the novel's starting point. I don't like graphic violence, and while I was willing to endure it for the sake of a genuine story, it became obvious when the main character was introduced as the clone of Thomas Jefferson that the gratuitous violence was really a distraction from a very odd plot. Couldn't finish it--couldn't stomach the disgusting images that alternated with the silliness.

I just finished the list, and have to say, I'm now a Konrath fan. I've been following his blog on writing for years, but never read anything because I wasn't into the genre he wrote. But when I saw he was selling The List for so cheap for the Kindle (Kindle reader on my iPhone) I decided to give him a try. And like one of the other reviewers said, now I feel like I owe him more money. What a blast of a read. It had everything, a great premise, fun dialogue, political intrigue, hint of romance, and Abraham Lincoln. I love Abraham Lincoln. This is one of those books that I put down and instantly thought what a great movie it would make. Thanks Mr. Konrath for selling it so cheap and writing such a great book. I'll definitely be back for more.

I've been working my way through Konrath's novels for a bit now, reading one and coming back a few months later for another. Thankfully they never disappoint.

The List is another Konrath book that is available for free on his website or Kindle formated here for an incredibly low price. Like many other of Konrath's books, the gore comes fast and furious along with the jokes. The interplay between Bert and Roy is enough to make the book likeable by itself.

Not to spoil too much of the plot, but the idea of people battling the greatest killers of the past is one seeping with entertainment value to say the least. Like most of his books, it is not great literature or a challenging read. It is pure distilled action and fun. What more can you really ask for?

In the afterword to The List, J.A. Konrath says that after his editors made him pare down this book twice, they declined to publish it. So eventually he released it for $1.99 on Kindle.

I think the editors had the right idea.

I cannot fathom that this book is written by a bestselling adult novelist. The prose, plot points, and dialogue read like a high school English essay. I wish I could write about the many ridiculous points of the plot, both from the standpoint of technology and common sense. But in the process I would probably make it sound more interesting than it really is.

Instead let's focus on one concrete example in the prose. Roy, a hulking and surly African-American cop, is working with his partner Tom to protect a nebbish fellow named Bert. Roy and Bert are riding in the back of Tom's car. They are both grown men, and virtually strangers to each other. And for some reason, Roy and Bert start a game of "Punch Buggy" that lasts throughout the whole book. They come up with different variations of it for different models of cars, laugh, and tease each other. As the book develops, Roy and Bert become close friends and look out for each other's backs -- to the exclusion of Roy's own POLICE PARTNER Tom. Seriously? Does anyone over 14 years old play Punch Buggy at all? Let alone a grizzled cop and a civilian?

The only reason I finished this book is because I was stuck on a plane with nothing else downloaded. And ye gods, we were delayed on the tarmac for far too long. That's when I came across the ending and saw that this piece of drivel is actually set up for a sequel. You couldn't pay me $1.99 to read it.

Since this book was only $2 for Kindle and was described as a "genetic murder mystery," I thought I would give it a try. Unfortunately, there were some serious flaws and the book read like a middle-school level novel with adult-level violence.

THE GOOD:
*It was a quick read, so it ended fast. If you are anything like me, you can't just stop a book halfway thorough, so I had to finish it.
*The book leads easily to a sequel, so if by chance you enjoyed this book, you can read another like it shortly.

THE BAD:
*The Violence. It overtook the story and was very unnecessary.
*The wounds inflicted upon the characters that should have put them in the hospital or at the very least stopped them from walking seemed to only "give them stars" and then allow them to return to normal activities.

THE UGLY:
*The Science. Even though this is fiction, the author discussed in the afterward about how this links closely to modern medical technology, when in fact, it would be impossible to have a camera that can copy the genome of a person completely. Maybe it's a lesson for myself; don't read fiction about the same subject as your dissertation, but the blinding fallacies here would be hard for anyone to ignore.
*The Character Development. One minute, a character is losing his/her best friend and the next minute they are falling in love with someone else. The author gives no time for real emotion to be shown and the relationships that do develop are painfully predictable.
*The Predictability. Everything from the story to the characters are too cut and dry. The "hints" that are needed in good books to connect later in the story are so blatant that you know what's going to happen long before it actually does.
*The Story. Read it for yourself.

BOTTOM LINE:
Don't purchase this book. Put some extra money towards it and read Digital Fortress.

This novel reads as though it were written by a junior high student. It's sophomoric and unbelievable. The police procedures are so poorly done (I grew up in a police family...my father and uncle were cops as were so many of their friends) that the protagonists would be fired immediately for their behavior.
The author can't distinguish between homophones like break and brake, sight and site and so on.
Frankly, I found it boring beyond belief but I'm happy for Mr. Konrath that there seems to be an audience for anything. To me the price was no bargain.

Looking for a cliche ending? How about stupid sidekicks? Lame dialogue? Annoying and contrived character descriptions? Then by all means buy this book. The best part about it is the fact that it only cost a couple bucks.

This is simply a dreadful waste of time. Save your money. The plot is preposterous, the writing even worse. Even if this were free, it would still be too much. The author should be paying us to read this trash.

This was my first Kindle purchase and I have learned a lesson. If a book is 99 cents ( which it was when I bought it; I see it is now $2.99), and you've never heard of the author(s), make another selection. While not the worst book I've ever (tried) to read, it's pretty terrible. I made it about 1/3rd of the way before I had to admit I just didn't care enough to finish it. After reading other reviews, I don't really have anything new to add, I just felt compelled to write a review and do my part to bring down the undeserved high rating this book has. It's hard to believe it was written by anyone who writes professionally.