- Hardcover: 352 pages
- Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group; First Edition edition (4 Dec 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0316726591
- ISBN-13: 978-0316726597
- Product Dimensions: 23.2 x 15.2 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,839,828 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
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Review
'In truth, Blanchard writes so well that even her quiet descriptions of desolate towns and lonely people are good enough to rattle the rafters' New York Times Book Review 'A heart-pounding, highly literary novel full of stunning art and science. Blanchard's descriptions of what it feels and looks like to be inside a tornado at its full power are riveting and addictive' Dick Adler, Chicago Tribune 'The Breathtaker is a dark and stormy novel and a particularly thrilling one' Sherryl Connelly, New York Daily News 'A well-crafted thriller' Booklist 'A relatively new writer, Blanchard is ready to take on the established authors in the genre with a book filled with polished prose and gripping tension. This book was a joy to read and a good scare to boot' Chicago Sun Times 'A complete treat for readers who like some thrills with their mysteries . . . Blanchard dips us into the odd little world of storm chasers, both the professionals and the hobbyists. It's a terrific thriller that does not insult the intelligent reader and just gets harder to put down as the pages turn' John Orr, San Jose Mercury News 'A brilliant study of violence and grief, powerful as the tornado itself' - Independent on Sunday 'The Breathtaker is a dark and stormy novel and a particularly thrilling one' - Sherryl Connelly, New York Daily News
Sherryl Connelly, New York Daily News
'The Breathtaker is a dark and stormy novel and a particularly thrilling one'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book rocks.,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Breathtaker (Hardcover)
"The Breathtaker" is a thrill ride. The story is bone-chilling. The characters are flawed and poetic. The writing is gorgeous. The stakes are sky high. It's exhilarating and original. Wow, this book is fun. There's nothing else quite like it out there.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Killer is as Destructive as a Tornado,
By
This review is from: The Breathtaker (Paperback)
At first it looked like the Pepper family had been killed by a tornado, yet Police Chief Charlie Grover, who is a single father trying to raise a rebellious teenage daughter, can't help but think that maybe it had been murder. Several of the marks on the bodies look like they could have been defensive wounds. Still it takes the discovery of the killer's signature in the lab - each victim had a tooth extracted and replaced with another - before he's convinced he's right.
And since there is only one group of people who are likely to know when a tornado is going to strike, the storm chasers, the list of suspects is pretty slim. Included among the storm chasers are his own father, an ex-alcoholic who used to beat him and his mother, as well as the local bad boy his daughter is seeing. To solve the case and catch the killer, who he suspects is stalking him and his daughter, Grover goes on a storm chase with Dr. Willa Bellman, a scientist at the local wind research facility who also tugs on his heartstrings. On that chase he experiences the awesome power of a tornado. The risk is high, the tension drips, the killer has to be stopped and I predict you won't be able to put the book down, even if you do, as I did, figure out fairly early who the killer is. This whirlwind of a book has movie written all over it, so don't be surprised if you see it at your local cinema sometime in the near future. Alice Blanchard has written another winner. Review submitted by Katie Osborne
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A refreshing twist on the crime genre,
By
This review is from: The Breathtaker (Paperback)
The blurb makes it sound supernatural - a killer who appears to be able to predict when and where a tornado will strike, and murder his victims at the same time. A family are found dead in their farmhouse, close to where a tornado hit, and Police Chief Charlie Grover quickly realises that their injuries were not caused by a freak of nature, but by human hand. So begins an investigation into a series of deaths in Oklahoma and Texas in which others have been suspiciously killed.
Alice Blanchard has stepped away from pure police procedurals and her forensic passages are much less frequent than a Patricia Cornwell or Kathy Reichs. Charlie Grover is almost the sole investigator here, with little focus on his colleagues. The central relationship that develops is that of Grover and weather expert Willa Bellman, who aids Grover as he questions a cast of suspects, principally the 'chasers' whose chief hobby is pursuing and observing tornados. Blanchard is not as strong a writer as, for example, Tess Gerritsen, Jeffery Deaver or James Patterson, but The Breathtaker is a very different novel to anything those authors have written, and a welcome twist on the traditional thriller. Red herrings are skilfully dangled in front of the reader, and despite the lack of conviction in the procedural details, on the whole this is a very satisfying tale. Definitely worth a read.
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