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Review
"Muller's series launched the modern hard-boiled female detective, and it has been setting a gold standard...for more than 30 years."--Booklist (starred review)
Book Description
Here is Marcia Muller's stalwart heroine Sharon McCone as you've never seen her before, in an explosive new novel set in California's high desert country
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
First Sentence: I sat on the bluff's edge, facing southeast, where a newly risen full moon cast a shimmery path over the waters of Tufa Lake.
After the last couple cases, Sharon McCone is seriously questioning whether she wants to continue with her business and is taking a vacation at her husband Hy's ranch. She sees a young woman who appears to be in trouble but refuses Sharon's offer of help. When the woman later turns up murdered, Sharon can't help but get involved in the investigation for her killer.
Once before, with "Wolf in the Shadows," Muller made a pivotal advancement in both her writing and in the character of McCone. Muller's ability to have McCone grow and change has made her one of the best female PI characters being written. Even though Hy is rarely on the scene, even their relationship has developed through the series. In this book, it's nice to see McCone being introspective and questioning her future while being self-deprecating. At the same time, she stays true to her instincts.
The story is tightly plotted with lots of twists along the way, few of which I saw coming. Involving McCone's Indian heritage and the information on the "moccasin telegraph" added an extra layer to the story. As always, Muller provides a very strong sense of place and believable dialogue.
I'm always afraid I'll get tired of this series. To her credit, Ms. Muller's writing brings me back and keeps me involved with each new book.
After the last couple cases, Sharon McCone is seriously questioning whether she wants to continue with her business and is taking a vacation at her husband Hy's ranch. She sees a young woman who appears to be in trouble but refuses Sharon's offer of help. When the woman later turns up murdered, Sharon can't help but get involved in the investigation for her killer.
Once before, with "Wolf in the Shadows," Muller made a pivotal advancement in both her writing and in the character of McCone. Muller's ability to have McCone grow and change has made her one of the best female PI characters being written. Even though Hy is rarely on the scene, even their relationship has developed through the series. In this book, it's nice to see McCone being introspective and questioning her future while being self-deprecating. At the same time, she stays true to her instincts.
The story is tightly plotted with lots of twists along the way, few of which I saw coming. Involving McCone's Indian heritage and the information on the "moccasin telegraph" added an extra layer to the story. As always, Muller provides a very strong sense of place and believable dialogue.
I'm always afraid I'll get tired of this series. To her credit, Ms. Muller's writing brings me back and keeps me involved with each new book.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
"Out of his mouth go burning torches:
Sparks of fire leap forth." -- Job 41:19
Burn Out opens with Sharon McCone at a low ebb, feeling overwhelmed by the dangers that threatened Hy and she in The Ever-Running Man. She withdraws to Hy's ranch in the Sierra Nevada's to get her head together.
While there, new challenges, including a supposedly friendly horse who isn't always, a young woman with a haunted look on her face, and more corpses than you can shake a stick at, refocus Sharon's energies on finding the murderer and the missing girl. Along the way, she encounters some pretty evil and corrupt people and her own demons. Strangely, the case revives her in a way that she doesn't expect. In the process, she comes to terms with her future.
One of my complaints about this series has been that Marcia Muller has introduced so many continuing characters that it's hard to fit them all into a story. When I saw that Sharon McCone wasn't going to interact much with her detective agency, I just assumed that would cut down the number of characters.
Wrong! Marcia Muller worked in all the usual characters and added a raft of new characters that appear just to make this story work. It's a virtuoso performance that few other than Marcia Muller could pull off with such aplomb.
As a result, Burn Out provides an entertaining police procedural, a great character study, lots of interesting issues about confidentiality and responsibility, and plenty of adventure. It's a fine ride and I'm sure you'll enjoy it!
Giddy up!
Sparks of fire leap forth." -- Job 41:19
Burn Out opens with Sharon McCone at a low ebb, feeling overwhelmed by the dangers that threatened Hy and she in The Ever-Running Man. She withdraws to Hy's ranch in the Sierra Nevada's to get her head together.
While there, new challenges, including a supposedly friendly horse who isn't always, a young woman with a haunted look on her face, and more corpses than you can shake a stick at, refocus Sharon's energies on finding the murderer and the missing girl. Along the way, she encounters some pretty evil and corrupt people and her own demons. Strangely, the case revives her in a way that she doesn't expect. In the process, she comes to terms with her future.
One of my complaints about this series has been that Marcia Muller has introduced so many continuing characters that it's hard to fit them all into a story. When I saw that Sharon McCone wasn't going to interact much with her detective agency, I just assumed that would cut down the number of characters.
Wrong! Marcia Muller worked in all the usual characters and added a raft of new characters that appear just to make this story work. It's a virtuoso performance that few other than Marcia Muller could pull off with such aplomb.
As a result, Burn Out provides an entertaining police procedural, a great character study, lots of interesting issues about confidentiality and responsibility, and plenty of adventure. It's a fine ride and I'm sure you'll enjoy it!
Giddy up!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
28 reviews
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Author definitely not burned out
27 Oct 2008
Format:Hardcover
Muller's latest book shows how far the author has come in her craft and highlights the uniqueness of this series. Few authors could pull off a novel where the heroine escapes to the country for some personal time out without subjecting the reader to introspective, sappy interludes. Even fewer can keep a heroine living on the edge after she's married. We don't get those long intimate scenes with Too Much Information.
So what do we get? Muller's pacing seems to be sharper than ever. Sharon McCone continues to grow as a person and detective. I liked the scenes where Sharon decides to make friends with the horse who seems to dislike her so much. I also liked the scenes where Sharon pilots airplanes (including a brief moment when she enjoys teasing a police officer who's flying as a passenger).
And of course we follow Sharon as she inevitably gets caught up in a mystery involving a range of characters from trailer dwellers to a wealthy East Coast magnate. Sharon combines her own peerless interviewing skills with a touch of "moccasin telegraph" and her nephew's special connection to the keyboard.
McCone defies female stereotypes without making a fuss about it. She's not afraid to call in "markers" with a politically connected client to get something she needs. When she briefly reconnects with her father, she reports family feelings without a touch of sentimentality. Sharon is one straight-up gal.
The plot was satisfying and the ending plausible. I suspect some readers will feel the solution was telegraphed but I say the author played fair and dropped hints. There's a tense scene where the suspense might seem too short and climax is, well, somewhat anti-climactic. If there's any flaw in the book, it's that penultimate chapter: plausible but not as hair-raising as a mystery reader might want.
In another episode, Sharon's nephew Mick turns up surprising facts about someone who has been in the public spotlight for quite awhile. These days, it's hard to believe a sharp journalist would not have been sniffing around many years earlier. Stories can be buried but with the Internet, it's harder.
So all in all, Burn Out was a deeply satisfying read. I'm writing this review in late October. If you're flying somewhere for the holidays, I'd save a few inches in a carry-on bag. But if you can hold off on picking up this book and reading all the way through, your willpower is a lot stronger than mine.
So what do we get? Muller's pacing seems to be sharper than ever. Sharon McCone continues to grow as a person and detective. I liked the scenes where Sharon decides to make friends with the horse who seems to dislike her so much. I also liked the scenes where Sharon pilots airplanes (including a brief moment when she enjoys teasing a police officer who's flying as a passenger).
And of course we follow Sharon as she inevitably gets caught up in a mystery involving a range of characters from trailer dwellers to a wealthy East Coast magnate. Sharon combines her own peerless interviewing skills with a touch of "moccasin telegraph" and her nephew's special connection to the keyboard.
McCone defies female stereotypes without making a fuss about it. She's not afraid to call in "markers" with a politically connected client to get something she needs. When she briefly reconnects with her father, she reports family feelings without a touch of sentimentality. Sharon is one straight-up gal.
The plot was satisfying and the ending plausible. I suspect some readers will feel the solution was telegraphed but I say the author played fair and dropped hints. There's a tense scene where the suspense might seem too short and climax is, well, somewhat anti-climactic. If there's any flaw in the book, it's that penultimate chapter: plausible but not as hair-raising as a mystery reader might want.
In another episode, Sharon's nephew Mick turns up surprising facts about someone who has been in the public spotlight for quite awhile. These days, it's hard to believe a sharp journalist would not have been sniffing around many years earlier. Stories can be buried but with the Internet, it's harder.
So all in all, Burn Out was a deeply satisfying read. I'm writing this review in late October. If you're flying somewhere for the holidays, I'd save a few inches in a carry-on bag. But if you can hold off on picking up this book and reading all the way through, your willpower is a lot stronger than mine.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Muller has a winner
17 Oct 2008
Format:Hardcover
BURN OUT
Marcia Muller
Grand Central Publishing
Hachette Book Group
$24.99 - Hardback
ISBN: 978-0-446-58107-3
309 pages
Reviewer: Annie Slessman
Sharon McCone, the main character of BURN OUT by Marcia Muller owns a private investigation service and has worked one to many cases. She is burned out and needs a break. She takes that break at a ranch she owns in California's high desert country.
Determined not to do another investigation, her resolve is softened when her ranch manager's niece is murdered and another niece is missing. McCone's friendship with her ranch manager and his wife draws her into a commitment to both find the murderer of his niece and to find the missing child. During her investigation, she also finds her drive to once again engage the work she is meant to do.
The storyline is a good one....the characterizations, vivid and believable. One feels an interactive quality while reading the story and the want to continually turn the page is ever present.
The character of Sharon McCone is not a new one. She first appeared in 1977 has lead to THE EVER-RUNNING MAN, Muller's 25th novel which was quoted in The Chicago Tribune as "one of the treasurers of the genre."
For the mystery readers out there, this one would be considered a must read. For those who just like a good story, well told, this is your book as well.
In addition to the Sharon McCone novels, Muller is the author of three novels set in the fictional Soledad County, a remote stretch of the northern California coast. The Washington Post has cited Muller's work, Cape Perdido as one of the best mysteries of 2005. Muller lives with her husband, mystery writer Bill Pronzini, in northern California.
Marcia Muller
Grand Central Publishing
Hachette Book Group
$24.99 - Hardback
ISBN: 978-0-446-58107-3
309 pages
Reviewer: Annie Slessman
Sharon McCone, the main character of BURN OUT by Marcia Muller owns a private investigation service and has worked one to many cases. She is burned out and needs a break. She takes that break at a ranch she owns in California's high desert country.
Determined not to do another investigation, her resolve is softened when her ranch manager's niece is murdered and another niece is missing. McCone's friendship with her ranch manager and his wife draws her into a commitment to both find the murderer of his niece and to find the missing child. During her investigation, she also finds her drive to once again engage the work she is meant to do.
The storyline is a good one....the characterizations, vivid and believable. One feels an interactive quality while reading the story and the want to continually turn the page is ever present.
The character of Sharon McCone is not a new one. She first appeared in 1977 has lead to THE EVER-RUNNING MAN, Muller's 25th novel which was quoted in The Chicago Tribune as "one of the treasurers of the genre."
For the mystery readers out there, this one would be considered a must read. For those who just like a good story, well told, this is your book as well.
In addition to the Sharon McCone novels, Muller is the author of three novels set in the fictional Soledad County, a remote stretch of the northern California coast. The Washington Post has cited Muller's work, Cape Perdido as one of the best mysteries of 2005. Muller lives with her husband, mystery writer Bill Pronzini, in northern California.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Both the author and character continue to develop
4 Dec 2008
Format:Hardcover
First Sentence: I sat on the bluff's edge, facing southeast, where a newly risen full moon cast a shimmery path over the waters of Tufa Lake.
After the last couple cases, Sharon McCone is seriously questioning whether she wants to continue with her business and is taking a vacation at her husband Hy's ranch. She sees a young woman who appears to be in trouble but refuses Sharon's offer of help. When the woman later turns up murdered, Sharon can't help but get involved in the investigation for her killer.
Once before, with "Wolf in the Shadows," Muller made a pivotal advancement in both her writing and in the character of McCone. Muller's ability to have McCone grow and change has made her one of the best female PI characters being written. Even though Hy is rarely on the scene, even their relationship has developed through the series. In this book, it's nice to see McCone being introspective and questioning her future while being self-deprecating. At the same time, she stays true to her instincts.
The story is tightly plotted with lots of twists along the way, few of which I saw coming. Involving McCone's Indian heritage and the information on the "moccasin telegraph" added an extra layer to the story. As always, Muller provides a very strong sense of place and believable dialogue.
I'm always afraid I'll get tired of this series. To her credit, Ms. Muller's writing brings me back and keeps me involved with each new book.
After the last couple cases, Sharon McCone is seriously questioning whether she wants to continue with her business and is taking a vacation at her husband Hy's ranch. She sees a young woman who appears to be in trouble but refuses Sharon's offer of help. When the woman later turns up murdered, Sharon can't help but get involved in the investigation for her killer.
Once before, with "Wolf in the Shadows," Muller made a pivotal advancement in both her writing and in the character of McCone. Muller's ability to have McCone grow and change has made her one of the best female PI characters being written. Even though Hy is rarely on the scene, even their relationship has developed through the series. In this book, it's nice to see McCone being introspective and questioning her future while being self-deprecating. At the same time, she stays true to her instincts.
The story is tightly plotted with lots of twists along the way, few of which I saw coming. Involving McCone's Indian heritage and the information on the "moccasin telegraph" added an extra layer to the story. As always, Muller provides a very strong sense of place and believable dialogue.
I'm always afraid I'll get tired of this series. To her credit, Ms. Muller's writing brings me back and keeps me involved with each new book.
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