Customer Reviews

In Their Footsteps

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

 

 

After reading Gerritsen's amazing medical thrillers, I decided to go for her earlier books. All I can say is... *Yawn* Although many people might find this story interesting and romantic, I find it awfully cliched, and the characters are too two-dimensional.

If you just read one of her medical thrillers and you're expecting the same fast-paced page-turning experience here, look elsewhere.

This book is not the typical story for ms Gerritsen. Usually her books are in the medical field. This is way off that track. this is a story of a woman who's parents were killed 20 years ago. She recently discovers that there is more to their deaths then what she was told. She flys to Paris for answers. Now someone is out to kill her and her brother. Some secrets aren't meant to be known. A lot of twists and turns and hard to figure out who the bad guy/gal is.

As previously stated by another reviewer this title is much different then the medical thrillers that we are used to by this author. This title was orignially published back in 1995 and the storyline is really a spy/suspense/romance tale that is fast paced and demonstrates that Ms. Gerritsen was well on her way to becoming the author that she is now.

This read will take the reader from England to Paris, then on to Greece, and finally Berlin. The chemistry between Richard Wolf and ex-CIA agent and Beryl the young woman that is trying to figure out who killed her parents and why is really believable but at the same time this relationship did not detract from the spy storyline. Do yourself a favor and pick up this read. You won't be sorry.

I picked up this hardcover eagerly, thinking this was a brand new Gerritsen's work. Dead wrong - it is simply one of her older pieces re-hashed, in the light of her raising fame... What a disappointment! Had I been given this book to read without author identified - I would have never guessed TG to had written this! It is light years away from her later, more refined, more clinical, more focused and less stereotypical books. This one is nothing but a cheap romance story peripherally dressed up in some insignificant spy details, meant to elevate it to a category of "suspense novel". Sorry - does not work. It is still nothing but a Harlequin paperback with one dimensional characters, laughable plot and "red hot" romance that could not catch on fire if doused in gasoline...
It probably should not reflect on TG, as it is clearly one of her very early works but what a shame on her publishers, to re-introduce this one under the guise of new title and potentially spoil the reputation of this consistently improving and overall excellent author.

This is one of those hidden gems you sometimes find. I got it for 20¢ at a flea market several years ago because I recognized the author's name, but I didn't expect anything more than a quick, easy read. I was very pleasantly surprised.

British socialite Beryl Tavistock meets the mysterious American Richard Wolf when his car nearly collides with her horse on the road to a party at her family's country house.

She receives a bigger jolt at the party when she learns that her parents, who'd been spies, hadn't died in the line of duty 20 years ago as she'd thought, but instead in a jealousy-fueled murder-suicide.

But when Beryl tries to learn more, she finds herself in danger and in the middle of international espionage, and Richard Wolf always seems to be in thick of it as well.

I'm a sucker for spy stories, anyway, and this was like Len Deighton with romance. Lots of fun, intrigue, and page-turning action, from the British country house, to Paris, to Greek isles, to Berlin. And as the mystery unfolds, so does the romance between Beryl and Richard.

They're very much espionage-novel types--I'm not really sure how to explain it, other than to say that if you read older spy stories, particularly Deighton's, you'll recognize them. Maybe it's the writing style that makes me think that. The conflict between Beryl and Richard has to do with trust, but in a spy story, that's a much better conflict than the trust issues I complain about in other romances.

If I'd read this one in 1994, I'd have been reading romance a few years earlier. As it is, the frontispiece says there's a sequel--the story of Beryl's brother Jordan. I think I'm going to have to search for it.

I must admit that I was expecting a new Tess Gerritsen novel, so I was a bit surprised to find that this one is a re-issue of one of her earlier works. It bears little resemblance to the the author's later medical/crime dramas. The writing is just ok, and the author never really achieves that level of tension and drama that we are used to. The romance often falls into cliche and had me rolling my eyes often at some pretty tired lines. The plot is pretty straightforward with not a whole lot of mystery, and once again the author relied on some pretty tried and true plot devices to move her story line along. The characters were mostly stereotypical and lacked dimension. It's an OK, very quick read if you are just looking for a bit of fluff to occupy your time. If you are seeking something more, pass this one by and head off to some of this author's later works. This one reads like a beginner's effort - which it probably was. Not a recommend.

I found this book to be very sluggish reading. Nothing made me sit up and take notice and I consider it a waste of money.

Tess Gerritsen will always be at the top of my medica/mystery/suspense novels. She writes with what could be, or is, possible in the medical field. I love that her female leads are smart and innovative, but also are subject to the foibles of all that is female. Her books are 'grabbers'. I have to read one almost in a day, to the detriment of my household duties.

More of the summary from the back cover:
The quiet scandal surrounding her parents' deaths twenty years ago has always haunted Beryl Tavistock. Now she's asking dangerous questions, and the answers are proving that old secrets die hard.

Caught in what's become a deadly game of cat and mouse, her search for the truth takes her from the rain-slick streets of Paris to the sun-drenched isles of Greece. And as she gets pulled into a world of international espionage, Beryl quickly discovers that she needs help. Richard Wolf, an ex-CIA agent and a man she's only just met, is her only hope.

But in a world where trust is a double-edged sword, friends become enemies and enemies become killers....

------------
When I first started reading this book, I wasn't that into it, but then I got completely absorbed! I thought it was a really good suspense story with a little romance thrown in, but not too much to take away from the story. Great plot and twists, don't miss it! This was my first Tess Gerritsen book, and it definitely won't be my last!!

The reading of In Their Footsteps (Old Secrets Die Hard), which is by Nanette Savard, not the author, unless it's a pseudonym, wasn't bad. She handled the accents fairly well (British & French) and she kept the story moving along. I didn't know if I'd like such an audio, but I did, and I don't know if I'd listen to or read any of Ms. Gerritsen's other books, but this one wasn't bad at all. If you can find it (in an out-of-print site or store) check it out. It certainly is better than most of the run of the mill romances and mysteries (think Harlequin).