Time Release [Paperback]

Martin J. Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1997

Busy single father and psychologist Jim Christensen reluctantly takes on the case of the Pittsburgh painkiller poisonings, finding his only link to the killer is a troubled young boy.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Here's an exceptionally smart and exciting first thriller from a fine journalist who knows how to take items from recent headlines--poison in painkillers, repressed memory--and turn them into totally absorbing fiction. Psychologist Jim Christensen, raising two daughters on his own, has many reasons not to get involved in a mass murder case which could harm his family. But the troubled boy at the heart of the mystery is too much of a challenge for Christensen to resist.

Product Details

• Paperback: 10 pages
• Publisher: Jove (March 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0515120286
• ISBN-13: 978-0515120288
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,441,123 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Read, December 3, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Time Release (Paperback)

The title of Time Release gives a clue to its story. First, it concerns a killer who used pain relief capsules, as well as other techniques, to set off a series of poisonings. Second, it focuses on repressed memories and if, when and how they will come out. The author does a credible job with both themes, though I would have liked to have seen a little more interaction between Sonny and Christiansen in earlier therapy sessions, which would have provided a few more clues to the behavior of Sonny's family. Without this explanation, the climax came a little bit out of left field for me. The detective's confession to Christiansen came suddenly too, without much reason. These quibbles aside, the book was entertaining, with the major characters nicely drawn.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An unorthodox mystery, set in an unusual locale., May 7, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Time Release (Paperback)

If you like the TV series "Homicide," you'll want to read this book. The complex, unorthodox plot is told from the perspectives of three men--a washed-up cop, a troubled pyschologist, and the stoic son of a serial-murder suspect--each of whom harbors his own terrible secret. The three are locked in a desperate psychological tug of war, and only two of them will survive it. The characters are unglamorous, at times awkwardly imperfect, and utterly believable. Perhaps the best thing about "Time Release" is the sense of place. In the author's hands, the hard-edged gloom of rustbelt Pittsburgh becomes an oddly beautiful setting, and an apt metaphor for the torturous inner landscape of the protagonists.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Timeless Read..., September 6, 2008

By 

Claudia Errington "Claudia Writes" (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Time Release (Paperback)

As good now as it was then...a timeless read, worth reading! A classic suspense yarn, the kind that keeps you stuck to the pages, aching to know "who done it?" Smith creates and handles his characters with such ease you are convinced they are real and in fact they stay with you, following you from room to room long after you've put the book down, pestering you to keep reading until you know the whole story. If you like suspense, you will love Time Release!