Customer Reviews

Zapped: A Regan Reilly Mystery (Regan Reilly Mysteries)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

I'm a fan of this series and look forward to a nice cozy when the newest Regan books come out. They're usually funny whodunits; this one wasn't either. I felt like it spent more time on all of the different "bad guy" plots than on the main characters. It just didn't live up to the other Regan books at all.

This is bad writing. Being a New yorker myself, I had to walk home that day, so I was pretty disappointed about the inaccuracies in the plot. There was no way to call anyone on the phone that day. The only cell phone up was Verizon.

Anyway, the book is a complete waste of time; I was sick, so I had plenty of time to kill, otherwise I wouldn't have waisted a single minute on it. I hope that this 'writer' gets a different job.

This was the first Carol Higgins Clark book that I have read and I'm afraid that it will be my last. Admittedly this book is a quick read so you don't waste too much time on it, but I suspect that it was very quickly written too.

The tone of the writing suggest a mildy talented teenager is writing the book. There are far too many characters who all seem to 'coincidentaly' wind up involved in the same farce. New York comes across as a small town, not a huge city!

The character names sometimes stretch the powers of belief - Mr Blankbucks and Huckleberry Darling??

Do yourself a favour and find something else to spend a couple of hours reading - even a local newspaper will have more entertainment value.

Why do so many authors insist on doing their own audiobooks? After 20 minutes of trying to listen to the first CD I had to give up. While Ms. Higgins-Clark has a lovely voice, she doesn't have the talent necessary to infuse life into her characters. Instead, I felt like I was back in 4th grade being read to by some overly-cheery new teacher who's more concerned with her eloquotion than with imparting any kind of depth or character to the words. What was worse, listening to this poor delivery only emphasized the Polly-Annaish prose.

I'm afraid that I have to agree with most of the reviewers. This was the weakest of the Regan Reilly mystery series. The book lacked suspense and pausibility. The reader knew early on what the outcome would be, and why would anyone attempt to break into a dwelling that one previously owned when contact with the new owners could easily be made, relating to them that some important papers had been inadvertently left behind. Also unexplained is how cellphones and laptop computers can be used so freely without without electrical recharging. Additionally, Georgina was not a believable antagonist. Branding someone in the midst of a NY City blackout does not appear to warrant the extensive involvement of either a private investigator, numerous unrelated strangers, or the head of the major crime division of the NYPD.

If this book is a precursor of what we can expect from Carol Higgins Clark in the future, I'm afraid her readership will suffer immensely. She may have,like so many other mystery writers, simply been zapped of any fresh and original plot twists.

I have enjoyed this series. I was truly looking forward to reading about the deepening relationship between the main characters. I felt as though I was rereading an earlier book. I went back and this book is almost identical to the stolen wedding dress book. What a disappointment! This is a good writer, I hope we get more original work in the future.

The reason this author is published? Two words, Higgins Clark! Worse than reading this book is listening to the audio version narrated by none other than the author. The story is full of her usual coincidences, miracles and tedious descriptions. I tried to listen to this while driving and found it utterly inane. The book is so bad that I fast-forwarded my way through 3/4 of it just to get it over with. The entire plot is ridiculous but outdone by the unbelievable luck that Regan Reilly has in finding the right people at the right time in a blackout in NYC. Perhaps this would be believable if classified as "fantasy" but the words mystery and suspense do not describe this artless, poorly written book.

If you have read any of the previous Regan Reilly books, don't waste your money as you have the "formula" already. Rich people are good, poor people are bad. The rich private eye daughter of a famous writer saves the day with the assistance of her rich husband who happens to be well-placed in the police department. The stories get more unbelievable but the formula remains the same. If you feel you must know (like it would be a surprise) how this one ends...read the final pages at the bookstore. You will miss ABSOLUTELY nothing worth paying to read. Carol has written on her mother's coat tails for far too long...it's time for her to retire Regan to a mansion in The Hamptons and for Carol to follow her lead.

I have listened to many hundreds of audio books. The only thing worse than worse than the writing in this book, is the reading by the author. She sounds like she's reading to a kindergarten class. Absolutely awful!

I just don't understand Carol Higgins Clark's appeal. Her characters lack any depth and you always know exactly what everyone's thinking. Dialog is flat and not particularly humorous. And soon we know, in v-e-r-y s-i-m-p-l-e t-e-r-m-s, what's going on with just about everyone. Not recommended.

I am a HUGE Mary Higgins Clark fan - and I've read pretty much everything she's ever written, including a few that she wrote with her daughter Carol. Why did I think that Carol's writing would be similar to Mary's. What a dummy I must be. Carol Higgins Clark's writing is really pretty bad. But, what's FAR worse is her attempt to narrate her audio book. Oh dear! The tone of her voice just grates on the nerves, her attempt to dramatize is pathetic, and her overall 'acting' is a total joke.