First Victim

Rating:
Summary: A Good Thriller That Gets Too Bogged Down
Review: Being a big Ridley Pearson fan, I could not wait to jump into "The First Victim". What I found was the typical Pearson novel with great insight, solid character development and quick paced story. Pearson only delivers the first two in "The First Victim". The novel is a bear to start. The first 100 pages are down right dull and the action is very slow. What action there is mentioned on the side. Where the story does get rolling is the middle, as Lou Boldt and his team start piecing together evidence. Sadly the ending slows again and is very much a let down.

The story revolves around illegal immigrants, that are forced to work in sweatshops. An accident pulls Boldt into the investigation where he finds three illegals dead. Reporter Stevie McNeal starts investigating also looking for a big scoop. When McNeal's sister ends up missing, while helping McNeal by going undercover, the pressure to find her helps push the novel. It slowly becomes a three-way tug of war between Boldt, McNeal and an INS agent named Coughlie.

The one thing I took away from this novel is the fact that the news media have way too much power. The use of the First Admendment is all over this book. Half way throught this novel I started disliking the McNeal character. This may not be Pearson's best, but if you are a true fan you will give it a try. New Pearson readers may want to try one of his older novels and try this one later.

Rating:
Summary: "GOOD AND NOT SO GOOD"
Review: Boldt, LaMoia and company are called on to help stop the importing of illegal aliens. As it says on page 221, "it is a complex operation, involving ships, the containers, the cargo, the rendezvous, transporation, fake ID's, graveyards, brothels and sweatshops." The TV news gets in the act in the form of Stevie McNeal. Her adopted sister, Melissa, disappers. Some high ranking agent has to be on the take for it to work. Boldt and his group work their selves to death and everytime they get close some dummy from a TV news team messes it up for them. Never did know what happened to Coughlie or who he worked for. I really liked the character of Mama Lu. Hope she is used again. Pearson writes a fast paced book but I thought the several pages it took for McNeal to get on board the ship took way to long. The book is good, but some things you don't find out are not so good.

Rating:
Summary: The first Ridley Pearson book I didn't rush through.
Review: Don't let the title fool you, I liked the first victim but itdidn't grab and hold me like Pearson's books normally do(Undercurrents, Beyond Recognition, and No Witnessess). I was dissapointed in the lack of Daphne Matthews and don't understand the sub-plot involving Liz (Boldt's wife). I would like to see LaMoia fleshed out some more, as all I currently know about him is that he is a womanizer with pressed jeans and a expensive cowboy boots.

The First Victim was a good book in the thriller Genre, but Pearson so often transends genre writing to see him write a book that is strictly genre writing is dissapointing.

The best way to sum up is:

Any other author with the same book would get 4 stars. Ridley Pearson gets 3.

Rating:
Summary: What a letdown!
Review: Even the master must, I guess, have a letdown. Of all the Ridley Pearson books I have read, this one was easily the dullest. His plot was uninteresting, his characters little better than cardboard figures, the sense of peril nonexistent, and the organization was haphazard at best-and those were the GOOD points. I was turning the pages, all right, but only because I wanted to finish the book quickly. I found the plot hard to follow due to the short chapters. The characters, such as Madame Lu and Stevie McNeal, were unbelie- vable and totally unappealing. There was never any real sense of danger to any of the main characters, so one really did not have to worry if they would survive or not. Lou Boldt, usually a really interesting detective, does little more than mouth one platitude after another; it almost seems that all he does is say, "Be careful," or "This could be trouble," etc. This is a classic example of an "I don't care whate happens" book. I can only hope Pearson gets back to the technique of his previous Lou Boldt novels, all classics. This one was a real waste of time.

Rating:
Summary: A Crime Thriller for the Mind
Review: First Victim is an extremely well written and fascinating story dealing with illegal immigration, sweat shops and prostution. This is not a book to read if you are looking for blood, gore, lurid desciptions of torture victims, etc. it is a book that deals with the mind, strategy, trying to outthink the criminal as well as all the politics that go on behind the scenes of government agents - the in-fighting for credit, the hestitancy to work with each other or at least share information, the struggles of the police to make sure that they do everything within the law so that the criminal doesn't end up back on the street, and corruption. It is a treat for the mind. Ridley Pearson has given the main character Lou Boldt, police detective, a very well rounded character who tries to find balance between his love for his work and his love for his family. The other equally prominent characters of Daphne Matthews psychologist, Sergeant John LaMoia, and Forensic expert Bernie Lofgrin give the story added spice skillfully because of their extremely opposite personalities yet they blend well and compliment each other. The story line flows very well so there is no getting lost between one chapter and the next as can happen so easily in a thriller. One part of the thrillers I have always found fascinating is the forensic area of police work because no true police thriller is complete without it. Ridley Pearson has found a good balance in this area, there is enough detail when forensics is used in the book to keep someone fascinated in the area interested but won't turn off the reader who isn't and has it dispersed throughout the novel which adds to the suspense. This novel deals with the human spirit, the dark side of immigration, corruption and love. This was not the first Lou Boldt novel I have and most definitely will not be the last.

Rating:
Summary: Good but not great!
Review: First Victim was a good read but the subject was kind of non-interesting. I have read most of Ridleys books and I find the First Victim good but not one of Ridleys best. Check out Ridley Pearsons other great books. Ridley is diffently the best thrill writer goin.

Rating:
Summary: I expected more
Review: First Victim was very dissapointing. This was the fourth book in the Bolt/Matthews series that I read. I managed to get through it, I kept waiting for it to get better - but it never does. If this is the only Bolt/Matthews book you have read, please don't judge the series by First Victim.

Rating:
Summary: Best police procedural I've read in a long time!
Review: I always look forward to Ridley Pearson books, particularly the Lou Boldt series. Wonderful characters and always a mesmerizing plot. The First Victim focuses on the illegal immigrant trade and shows us what their plight might be when hitting the shores of the country whose streets are paved with gold. Also a fascinating look at the press/news media and how it can either assist and defeat the best interests of all involved in this thorny problem.

This author just keeps getting better and I always look forward to his new books. He never fails me and is among my favorite authors.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing after PIED PIPER
Review: I am relatively new to thrillers in general, and FIRST VICTIM is only my second Ridley Pearson book, the first being the excellent (five-star) PIED PIPER. This was a real comedown in comparison. Another in the Lou Boldt series, FIRST VICTIM doesn't have half the character development of its predecessor. The story of Boldt's relationship with his wife and kids is perfunctory at best. We are told that he loves his kids above all else, which I suppose makes him unique in the world. Detective Sergeant John LaMoia, so subtly flesh out in PIED PIPER, is a cartoon cutout here. Daphne Matthews is nearly invisible, appearing only in cameo, and the licentious Captain Sheila Hill is AWOL.

The plot revolves around the underground industry of illegally importing aliens and making them pay for their passage by forcing them into slavery and prostitution. This is villany at its worst, but the cops never get beyond low-level goons in ferreting out the bad guys. The special guest star of FIRST VICTIM is TV anchorwoman Stevie McNeil, who in Scott Rosema's audio interpretation is given a stilted accent of no particular nationality. She spends most of her time fretting over the disappearance of her adopted Chinese "little sister," while at the same time trying to frustrate the attempts of Boldt and crew too find her. We are never really told why she is so uncooperative, except to the extent that journalists don't trust cops in general. Well, few people like lawyers in general, either, but when we need one, we don't hesitate to seek out the best. Pearson gives McNeil the obligatory sumptuous cleavage, blond hair, and shapely legs, but her sexuality never gets beyond that of a Barbie doll. This is the most chaste novel I have read in a long time.

There are problems with motivation, too. When we finally find out what happened to McNeil's sister, it is never clear why she suffered this fate. Further, what happens to the bad guy, or whether or not he really was a bad guy, is never resolved. The novel just ends, abruptly and unsatisfyingly.

Rating:
Summary: Bolt is forever exhausted
Review: I enjoy Ridley Pearson and Lou Bolt his principla character.

BUT, I am sick to death of reading how tired Lou Bolt is.