Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas (Unabridged)

Rating:
Summary: Heartbreaking
Review: I started to cry half way into the book and continued to sob for an hour after finishing it. If you've ever experienced true, selfless love, you will relate to this book.

Rating:
Summary: A love story for families
Review: I couldn't believe that the author of the Dr. Alex Cross crime novels could write such a touching and emotional book...but he did! The story of a young mother with a strong family history of heart disease (mom died at 40 and grandmother at 45)who had her own first heart attack at 35. She keeps a journal for her infant son because she knows she probably won't live to see him grow into a man. She shares her thoughts, hopes, dreams and even fears with him. She wants him to know who she was, what kind of man his father was as seen through her eyes, what kind of family the 3 of them formed together. All this, because he won't be able to remember his early years. You will go through a box of Kleenex while listening to this one but it is well worth it. Men, women, wives, husbands, mothers, fathers, sons and daughters should read it and learn the valuable lessons of love and family ties that we need to share with our dear ones. Then share it with someone you love!

Rating:
Summary: Nice Read
Review: The overall plot of this book was very good. However, the events and characters are extremely unrealistic. Matt, the character around which the other characters and events revolve, is a romantic man who always says and does the right thing (wouldn't we all love to wake up in the morning to our mate greeting us with "I love you more today than yesterday"?) Matt is a man that encompasses all the qualities we women dream about in a man and never lets us down. Girls - wouldn't it be great if your husband took you and your perfect child on an unbelievable weekend getaway while his friends surprise you by building an addition to your house? And this is all done so that you don't have to go to the office, but rather can work from your home - on Martha's Vineyard with an awesome view of the sea. The novel would have evoked more emotion if it was a little more realistic and the reader could relate to the characters better. If you're looking for a novel that will whisk you away to a perfect world and then expose you to the worst tragedy, this one's for you. A nice read.

Rating:
Summary: Huge disappointment!..
Review: James Patterson has established a reputation for writing fast paced, plot-driven thrillers. Unfortunately, he has not been able to successfully transfer this ability to the subtle, character-driven style necessary for his latest endeavor. The book is a disaster! The characters are cloying and two-dimensional. The minimal plot is practically non-existant and thoroughly predictable. Don't waste your time....

Rating:
Summary: Entertainment for One Evening.
Review: This was a first of James Patterson words for me and frankly, I could do without. I read somewhere that this book was a first romance novel for him and it shows. The characters are unreal and the plot too predictable. The idea was good and perhaps this story would have been better if he really took the time to write it instead of doing what seems to read as a rush job. I mean come on! The people were too perfect! I want someone I can relate to and the man in my dreams isn't THAT wonderful! I gave this book 3 stars because it was easy to read and a nice alternative to the same old shows on the tele.

Rating:
Summary: clicheed and predictible
Review: This was a very disappointing book. Great effort was made to make it contemporary by including the most predictible references ("the ordinary couple met unbelievably at JFK and Caroline Bessett's wedding!") - please! List of current restaurants, "in" places, etc. were used to fill the space that substance should have occuppied. Fortunately, the type was large and there are many divider pages so it didn't last long.

Rating:
Summary: Great Premise, but unreal characters - sappy
Review: When I heard the premise of the book - a man breaking off an affair, and giving his mistress his wife's diary - I was intrigued. But this book misses it by a mile. It could have been a real story, about how people go astray after marriage, or the stress a new baby brings to a relationship. And how a happy couple changes with time in ways they didn't forsee. That's a real story. This is the quality of a romance novel where all the characters are good looking and perfect (but yet apparently not bright enough to use birth control). In the end it's a sappy story about dull people.

Rating:
Summary: Sappy
Review: This is one of the worst books I've ever read. Patterson should stick w/ the horror genre. His attempt at romantic drama is sappy and insipid.

Rating:
Summary: Average, predictable
Review: This is the first James Patterson novel that I have read and expected much more. The writing is very simple and the story is very predictable. The author did not develop the characters enough for the reader to feel any emotional attachment, and therefore the reader is undisturbed when the characters are confronted with joy or tragedy. If you're looking for a touching love story, I recommend either Message in a Bottle or the Notebook by Nicholas Sparks.

Rating:
Summary: Great Summer Read
Review: What an easy read!! A compelling storyline...I could not put it down and finished the book in under two hours. I have never before read a Patterson novel and friends told me I had to read this. So glad I did!