18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Vaguely disappointing ..., September 2, 2009
It pains me to say it, as this is one of my favorite series, but at 216 pages I am not sure this book is worth the hardcover price. It was a quick read, and one could only wish that real life victims of identity theft were "made whole" in the same way the victims in this book were.
On the plus side, identity theft is an all-too-common crime and Fern Michaels handles it well. As always, she makes great use of the secondary string of characters. As an added bonus, one mystery was solved early in the story. On the other hand, the capture of the dastardly duo did not work for me, and I was disappointed in the resolution. Unfortunately, I can't say more than that without posting spoilers.
One of the most important functions of a book in a series is to advance the arc. Does Vanishing Act do this? Yes and no. As fans of the series already know, the president of the US has promised the Sisterhood a pardon, but has yet to deliver. My hunch is that the pardon is not going to happen. Do I think this is a never-ending series? No, I have the feeling the sisters are getting weary of their roles as vigilantes. I just don't see any of them rebuilding their former lives, as much as they may yearn to.
Recommended, but I would either borrow this book from the library or wait for the paperback.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Really, It Is Not the Best in Series, January 16, 2010
As an avid reader of the Sisterhood Series, I too hate to admit this, but this was not one of the best, and in my opinion only, I was greatly disappointed in the actual book. The characters are still there, but there wasn't enough actually said or done about the original premise, and that's the incident that happened to the one-of-a-kind Harry, who belongs to the equally one-of-a-kind Yoko. It really seems as though this installment of the series was put together without alot of thought. The Sisters didn't mete out their usual brand of payback, and that was a little disappointing. Where's the fun? Where's the flying by the seat of their pants suspense? Where's the actual "payback" to the culprits once found?
I've looked forward to each and every book in this amagzingly fun and oftentimes funny series since I began reading them, but I dare say, I almost feel ripped off by this installment, and I can only hope the next one has the usual characters, the usual dose of the "uh-oh, here they come" that we've all come to expect. There wasn't any of the usual planning, disguising, flying by the seat of their pants scenarios, that it really leaves one wondering what prompted Ms. Michaels to actually call this book done. I mean no disrespect, but as stated, this wasn't one of the better books, and it really left me wondering what the heck happened to the Sisters I couldn't wait to read about.
There is a storyline here, all the same Sisters are present, but all the other richly described "helpers" aren't even mentioned and were never called upon to assist. That in and of itself may not mean anything, but each of the "helpers" is unique in their own way, and the most prominently missing "helper" was that of the FBI Director, who often found himself torn between his lady love, Kathryn, and his duties as the FBI Director, that you couldn't help sometimes but be nervous for him to see how the whole scarios he found himself or was thrown into would play out. To leave out some of the meatiest characters seems to have been a great disservice to the plot line and the storytelling itself. I'm afraid that there wasn't even really a plausible closure to the original plot line anyway, so you're really left in the dark as to when and how the dark stuff hit the fan, what the punishment was for the culprits, how things would change going forward, etc.
A highly disappointing read, and I probably should have paid closer attention to those that had already read and reviewed it, though I doubt I wouldn't have wanted to find out for myself. I'm only sorry I spent the hours I did reading it, only to be left with a vague "what's happening to our Sisters" feeling. Thank you for reading my review.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Vanishing Act, October 7, 2009
Dissapointed in this book. The first of this series were fun to read. This book seemed like it was written overnight and by a amateur.
Do not think I will waster any more money on this series
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