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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A good book should be well-crafted, and the story told convincingly, but this fails that test on several counts. The scene changes between chapters, but the transition is not smooth. Instead either characters spend time telling each other what they know already, or the action is interrupted to enable the author to fill us in (a sort of "new reader start here"). Either way it's a lazy approach, the adoption of which interferes with the flow.
I was conscious also that the author was striving for effect, for example by describing the minutiae of events ("Joselyn pushed the toggle switch on the door that said 'lock' and the buttons on both doors snapped down" instead of "She locked the car doors"), padding dialogue unnecessarily, and using inept figures of speech ("Sleep now began to tug at her sleeve"!). The felony was compounded by recurrent misprints; either Mr. Martini wrote them and they were not edited out, or he didn't and they crept in when the type was set. Either way, they should never have seen the light of day.
Am I going to finish reading this book? I think not.
I was conscious also that the author was striving for effect, for example by describing the minutiae of events ("Joselyn pushed the toggle switch on the door that said 'lock' and the buttons on both doors snapped down" instead of "She locked the car doors"), padding dialogue unnecessarily, and using inept figures of speech ("Sleep now began to tug at her sleeve"!). The felony was compounded by recurrent misprints; either Mr. Martini wrote them and they were not edited out, or he didn't and they crept in when the type was set. Either way, they should never have seen the light of day.
Am I going to finish reading this book? I think not.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
With a storyline shadowed by the fear of nuclear terrorism and a complex plot which grips you with every page this definitiely ranks as one of the best thrillers I've read for a long time. Being a fan of Clive Cussler's works for some time now I was reluctant to pick this one up thinking it would be another one of those legal dramas found so often in the cinema and television these days, but once I started reading it I couldn't put it down. The tension and fast moving plot-line make this a complex and action-packed tale and a very enjoyable read, scenes are visualised well with good descriptions of what is going on without slowing the story down. Definitely an author I'll look out for and one hell of a story, buy it.
Format:Paperback
I like my serious thrillers and I like my daft thrillers. What I'm not particularly fond of is thrillers that are hoping to be serious, but turn out to be completely daft. This is the case with `Critical Mass' a pre September 11th book about a group planning a terrorist act on American soil. That is a pretty big concept to handle; it's a shame that Steve Martini is unable to do so. Firstly, a petty issue, you are told to never judge a book by its cover, but sometimes the cover tells its own story. The version I read had one of the worst covers imaginably of a handsome man looking moody - what has that got to do with international terrorism? Martini specialises in legal thrillers, but the token lawyer character could have been of almost any profession.
A second bizarre aspect of the book is the lawyer character's apparent mortality; she has so many lives in the book she must have had two cats strapped to her chest. Thirdly, the motivation for one of the villains is ridiculous; tax returns go bad. To compound a series of small issues is the finale that plays out like the most ill conceived storyline for a cheesy 80s cop show. There are thousands of ways to hide a devise in Washington; the way the bad guys choose is just plain stupid.
Played with a slightly more left field writing style might have given Steve Martini a fun action thriller. However, it appears that the author was trying to do his very best at serious and intelligent action - the book is anything but that. Flat and daft.
A second bizarre aspect of the book is the lawyer character's apparent mortality; she has so many lives in the book she must have had two cats strapped to her chest. Thirdly, the motivation for one of the villains is ridiculous; tax returns go bad. To compound a series of small issues is the finale that plays out like the most ill conceived storyline for a cheesy 80s cop show. There are thousands of ways to hide a devise in Washington; the way the bad guys choose is just plain stupid.
Played with a slightly more left field writing style might have given Steve Martini a fun action thriller. However, it appears that the author was trying to do his very best at serious and intelligent action - the book is anything but that. Flat and daft.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
ungripping
Up until the very end, I found this book shallow and hard to get in to, didn't grip me once and I found the characters very bland
Published on 8 Nov 2007 by kimmy
A brilliant piece of modern fiction
I love books that have a basis in the real world and i also like books with technology in them. I started this book on holiday and was unable to put it down. Read more
Published on 18 Oct 1999
Leaves a lot to be desired
Though the plot was good, a lot of questions were left answered in the end, leaving me with a feeling of the book being incomplete.
Published on 24 Mar 1999
Absolutely first class
'The List' was a great novel from Steve Martini, but with this, he has surpassed himself. The characters of Joselyn and Gideon are predictable, yes, but the shocking ending is a... Read more
Published on 7 Dec 1998
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