Customer Reviews

Undone

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I started this book on a rainy morning and spent the whole day reading it until I finished it. The story is compelling...it grabs you right away. The characters are interesting and well flushed-out. Just when you think you have the ending figured out...there's another twist and turn in the plot. I would recommend it to anyone who wants a well-written suspensful thriller.

Michael Kimball has put it all together in UNDONE: a complex plot, fully developed characters,highly visual descriptions, crackling dialogue and brisk pacing. So many of his scenes remain sharp in the reader's memory because he makes us see, hear, and touch the places he describes. He puts us into a coffin and induces claustrophobia,suspense and surprise all within a few paragraphs. His characters' motivations and actions are organic, making the story unfold naturally in front of our eyes. Kimball is an exceptional writer, and he has elevated the psychological thriller to a new level with UNDONE. Let's hope he keeps 'em coming.

Undone is a naughty little novel drenched with wicked characters doing equally wicked deeds. This story is dark and mesmerizing at the same time. You can't help but feel for Sal. He's a devoted family man who becomes an unwilling participant in his best friend's "death scheme". As the story progresses we are witnesses to a small town drama filled with murder, betrayal and seduction. A classic "in the wrong place at the wrong time" type of story that will keep you guessing until the very end. Read this on a day when you have lots of uninterrupted time.

Four stars for the unrelenting pace and unforgettable characters.

Cris

This was a mystery page turner par excellence! Lots of interesting characters all bouncing off each other, and some really spooky--and totally plausible--plot twists make this book a great read.

The story setup is well done enough, you'll get the shivers and then end up turning the pages all night long waiting to find out what happens. I sure did.

I'd recommend this one, it was a whole lot of fun.

In fact the book is almost too well written for its own good. Kimball describes every character and every scene in almost quantum-level detail. This results in the plot taking a very long time to gather momentum, which may discourage the reader who is seeking instant gratification. Stick with it though and you will be rewarded with some of the most devious twists and turns I have ever come across. Ultimately a very memorable and satisfying read, but falls just short of being a classic due to a slight lack of pace. Is it being made into a film? I'm sure it would be a blockbuster!

UNDONE, by Michael Kimball, is the story of a not so typical couple (Bobby and Noel Swift) that lives in the small town of Gravity, Maine. Bobby and Noel moved there three years before, bidding their time, making preparations for their "plan" to escape the watchful eye of the IRS and their fellow partner in crime who's due to get out of prison. It was seven years ago that Bobby and his partner were caught in a multi-million-dollar bank loan scam. Bobby received a slap on the wrist and a small fine, while the partner went to jail. Over two million dollars was never accounted for. Now, the time of reckoning is close at hand. To escape free and clear with the money, Bobby has devised a plan in which he will simulate his own death by faking a coronary. Bobby needs the help of his wife, Noel, and Eliot Wicker (the local undertaker) to pull off the scam of the decade. It will be Wicker's job to make sure the local coroner isn't called in to check the body; and, once Bobby is properly buried, with tanks of oxygen hidden in his coffin, it will be Noel's task to dig him up. Sounds perfect in theory. The only problem with the scenario is that Noel has her own plans, which include killing her husband, as well as Eliot Wicker. Filled with sex, deceit, betrayal, and murder, UNDONE is a masterpiece of suspense that will continuously surprise and shock you. I started reading this novel at lunchtime, found myself hooked without even realizing it, and was unable to put the book down until I finished the last page at three in the morning. At no time was I able to guess the ending. The novel had me riveted with its multitude of richly drawn characters, the perfectly captured small-town atmosphere, and the eagerness Noel Swift would display when seducing or killing someone in her way. UNDONE is like a beautiful seductress that slowly lures you in, breath by breath, until you finally have no choice but to succumb to her dangerous advances. This is certainly a book I highly recommend, and Michael Kimball is definitely a novelist to watch out for! He has clearly demonstrated his unique skill as a writer by producing a book of such complexity and darkness that I can't help but wonder how he'll surpass it. I'm now looking forward to reading his newest novel, MOUTH TO MOUTH.

Description from back of the book:

Late one night, Sal Erickson's best friend calls him outside for a walk by the river. "Who do you trust?" he asks Sal. "Who would you trust with your life?"

It is this fateful question that will send Sal's precariously balanced life spinning out of control--propelling him into a strangely irresistible arena of passion and violence. For Bobby Swift and his stunningly seductive wife Noel are planning the scam of the century. And Sal, against his will, is about to be entangled in their plans.

It is a meticulously crafted scheme, one that Bobby and Noel have pieced together for five long years. Now they are ready. Bobby will use ingenious techniques to fake his own death. The small town doctor will be fooled. The greedy undertaker has been paid off. Bobby will be eulogized and buried alive until Noel can come to dig him up and they can run away together forever. They've got two million dollars hidden away in a bank in the Cayman Islands, and if they pull off the scam, they'll spend the rest of their lives basking in the Caribbean sun.

But the plan contains hidden twists that are yet to be revealed, and lurking at its heart is a betrayal of monumental proportions. Before he knows it Sal Erickson will be drawn into a web of seduction, lies and deceit-the like of which the small town of Gravity, Maine, has never before seen. Soon Sal will be fighting for his very life.

* I absolutely hooked on this book & it was near impossible for me to put it down. There was so much suspense & action going on that makes you want to finish it in one day. My only negative about the book is that it left me with several questions unanswered. What name was on Nell's plane ticket? Why did Iris dislike her mother? What was up with Sal's parents? & What really happened to his brother? I would've liked some of these answers but it didn't take away from the excellent story. I highly recommend this book. I'm now off to find the other Michael Kimball books out there. He just may be one of my new favorites.

This book had me hooked from page 4 until the end....a page turner that is very tough to put down. First time I read from this Author I will look for other Books from this Guy...great job!!

A bright Idea, indeed. The book is very interesting, with a very good suspense subject. The things are constantly changing, now you think that someone is the bad guy, then you see that is somebody else, and so on and on. UNFORTUNATELY, this book have a lot to improve in the matter of gaining the Reader Attention -- after all the plot is once settled, the book goes around and around until the reader is tired (and for a day or two, I stopped reading it). AnyWay, it's a good reading, won't last more than a week. Kimball deceives it.

This book started off slowly. I didn't care what happened to the characters because at least early on, none seemed to have any redeeming qualities.

As the story chugged along, however, I found myself sucked into the twisty-turny ride to the extent that it didn't bother me at all when, toward the end, I lost track of who exactly did what to whom when. It probably doesn't bear too much examination, anyway, as I suspect the author dropped a few threads here and there.

Some characters paid for their dastardly deeds in satisfying fashions; others redeemed themselves and were rewarded for same. So on the justice scale, all scores balanced at the end.

A very good read.