Showing posts with label thriller. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thriller. Show all posts

Friday, July 3, 2015

The Melody Lingers On

The Melody Lingers On by Mary Higgins Clark is a suspenseful romantic mystery thriller which I find quite enjoyable, although it comes nowhere near to the bestselling author’s earlier works. Perhaps, though Clark has regularly written thrillers that are a lot better than many other illustrious writers, there seems to be diminishing intensity in the plot, and one feels the finely etched characterization of her earlier novels are missing. What seems to be going against her is the inevitable appraisals of her latest novels against her earlier works which rightfully earned her the nickname, the “Queen of Suspense.”

However, that is not to say her latest release is a shoddy piece of work. Far from it, The Melody Lingers On is an intriguing story, quite enjoyable and it reminds me of how imaginative Mary Higgins Clark was and continues to be. The story revolves around the mystery surrounding the disappearance of hedge fund billionaire Parker Bennett from his sailboat leaving in its wake a whole lot of disgruntled investors, and his wife Anne Bennett and son Eric Bennett scrambling for answers. Anne had to leave behind her posh mansion and move into a townhouse to adjust with the changing times.

Elaine "Lane" Harmon, a thirty-year-old widow, is hired to decorate the house and when she meets Eric she instantly falls for him. Though many suspected Eric and his mother, Anne, of being hand in glove with Parker in duping and conning gullible investors out of billions of dollars, Eric avowed his innocence and went to the extent of hiring a security firm to prove it. When FBI agents tried to track down Parker and establish Eric’s involvement, coupled with one of Parker’s victims decision to take things into his own hands, Lane finds herself and her daughter Katie in great danger. Like most of Clark’s other novels, The Melody Lingers On is suspenseful and enjoyable. The only thing is you’d want it to be more intense and as compelling as her earlier works.

Publisher
Amazon 

Friday, August 22, 2014

Jack Reacher Gets Personal!

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Personal (Jack Reacher #19)

Jack Reacher walks alone. Once a go-to hard man in the US military police, now he's a drifter of no fixed abode. But the army tracks him down. Because someone has taken a long-range shot at the French president.

Only one man could have done it. And Reacher is the one man who can find him.

This new heartstopping, nailbiting book in Lee Child's number-one bestselling series takes Reacher across the Atlantic to Paris - and then to London. The stakes have never been higher - because this time, it's personal.

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Jack Reacher installment number nineteenth is both dramatic and riveting. Our man Jack is pitted against a top-notch assassin who has been hired and trained to carry out an assignment the consequence of which is impossible to imagine. His service is required to thwart the conspiracy to assassinate heads of state of the world superpowers while attending an upcoming economic summit. Jack is required to find the assassin and stop him before he strikes. Jack Reacher saw the classified ad appearing in the Army Times while in a bus station in Seattle, and immediately responded. Once in, Jack is swept up in a highly dangerous game of high-octane action and conspiracy that will leave you breathless.

The basic premise of Lee Child's latest action-oriented suspense mystery thriller is the personal agenda of the assassin to wreak vengeance on Jack Reacher. This would-be assassin had a personal score to settle with Jack which stemmed from the time Jack served in the US military police. Not to give away too much, suffice to say that he was put behind bars by Jack many years ago. Now he wants to have his revenge and our man Jack Reacher is a pawn, a bait in this high-drama the possible fallout of which is unfathomable.

Personal by Lee Child, the nineteenth book in the Jack Reacher series may not be among the best but it is still entertaining and enjoyable. Though some may be inclined to believe that this is quite different from the others, it is not. You have to read it to find it out for yourself. The huge expectation that has been hanging like the sword of Damocles is out and the sense of disappointment is understandable. An author like Lee Child is always expected to deliver the most absorbing and thrilling thriller. Measured against the high expectation, some would feel disappointed but weighed against the readability of this single book alone forgetting his earlier works, it is still a stunning Jack Reacher novel.

#Received an uncorrected proof advance reading copy for review.

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