Rating: 
Summary: great read, exciting and good characters
Review: great story! i like the development of the female lead, her romance, the intrigue - it was just too short!
Rating: 
Summary: Le President from the south of France
Review: Having not read other books in Iris Johansen's series about a mythical statue The Wind Dancer, I may be handicapped by not having some background that would be necessary to appreciate this book. But truthfully, with or without the statue as a part of this thin plot, I could not accept any of the characters or their actions as Johansen superficially described them. The failure in the area of character development is not the only reason that Final Target was a true disappointment however. Where can I even begin? What suffices for a story line has a president's seven year old daughter involved in a kidnap plot, plunged into a catatonic state, caught up in the search for a priceless art object, and reached in her fugue state through some sort of paranormal mind-melding by the sister of her psychiatrist. When I found that the book was partially set at the president's country home in the south of France (huh?) alarm bells should have gone off so loudly I would have been prevented from continuing. Alas, I persevered, to find even further disappointment. The child's father meanwhile is portrayed like a patsy serving as commander in chief, President Andreas. (The name is where my first leap of faith is required) His main function is to growl menacingly on the phone to kidnappers as he shows himself to be utterly unpresidential. The man, who sounds more like the French Ambassador to the UN, goes along with unrealistic demands without much apparent involvement by the Secret Service, CIA, FBI, Interpol, or even the child's mother, who remains conveniently bedridden in the last month of her pregnancy and does not even merit mention in more than a sentence or two. A plot that was superficial at best, characters that seemed flat and not well fleshed out, very little in the way of description and next to no scene setting made this book one I kept wondering why I continued to read. But I persevered, keeping alive hope for future chapters. I reminded myself that Iris Johansen is a well recognized writer and that the book made the New York Times bestseller list. In short I tried to believe that the best was yet to come. Now that the final page has come and gone and the book closed, the disappointment remains. There was no redemption in those closing chapters and no feeling of vindication. The characters continue to seem hollow, the detail sketchy and my disappointment deeper. I'm left shaking my head and wishing that I`d let my first impressions guide me. This book is one I wish I'd put back on the shelf after chapter one.
Rating: 
Summary: Convoluted tale that wasn't overly believable
Review: Heard the taped version of Iris Johnansen's FINAL TARGET,
a somewhat convoluted tale about a kidnapped girl who just
happens to be the daughter of the President of the United
States . . . I just didn't find it believable, nor did I care for any
of the main characters . . . only the ending, which involved
a love story of sorts, managed to pique my interest . . . I also
found Carolyn McCormick's narration excellent; in fact, much
better than the book.
Rating:
Summary: Final Target
Review: I am appauled at the nasty condescending tone of some folks . Obviously they haven't written a book themselves ! (or tried for that matter )
I found this book great !! It may have been unbelievable but are we looking for fiction or non-fiction ?? It was entertaining and very easy to read . I have found this to be one of her more interesting books.
Rating: 
Summary: A 5 if it wasn't for the french pronounciation!!!!!
Review: I really liked the book but the french pronounciation was disgusting!! It ruined the entire story for me.
Rating:
Summary: A 5 if it wasn't for the french pronounciation!!!!!
Review: I really liked the book but the french pronounciation was disgusting!! It ruined the entire story for me.
Rating:
Summary: Too Many Psychics in an Unbelievable Plot
Review: It's four hundred years or so later and the Wind Dancer has moved to a different continent, but sadly Iris Johansen didn't bring the reading pleasure along with the statue that I got from that trilogy she'd written and I'd read over a decade ago. She brought Sean Galen along from her last book, but even his capable presence doesn't quit pull this one off. I did finish it in an evening, and that's a good sign, but I was constantly put off by the reuse of so many simple phrases and the unbelievable plot. No president is going to let his daughter go off with a guy as shady as our flawed hero, under any circumstances. Also there were too many psychics in the story. Unless your name is Kay Hooper you can't get away with more than one character with abnormal, paranormal, supernormal or any other kind of powers. Sadly I liked the decade old, romantic Wind Dancer trilogy better than I did this one, though I'm still giving this book three stars, because I didn't put it down and even after all the off putting stuff I mentioned above, I didn't feel cheated. Reviewed by Vesta Irene
Rating:
Summary: Boring boring boring
Review: Stopped reading it halfway. I just found the whole premise, and the author's attempt to create a dramatic context, half-baked. This struck me as a book churned out in a hurry to meet some quota. Save your money...
Rating:
Summary: Ho Hum
Review: This is a very so,so thriller. I kept on thinking "So what?" If you need something to read on a plane, a train, or just help you relax on a Friday night this the book for you.
Rating:
Summary: I expected MUCH more
Review: This was the first Johansen book I read and it might well be the last. Actually Final Target was not that bad, but very close. The main flaw of the story was the lack of any background. Not only characters' background, but also information about the trauma condition and all the psycho-related things going on. And they were hardly believable. Toward the end it turns almost ridiculous. I was amazed by Johansen's lack of vocabulary. First the book has no descriptions whatsoever, that would establish some kind of mental picture of what and where the action is taking place. But also Johansen keeps using the same and the same words and phrases thorughout the whole book. Her characters "shudder," "stiffen" and "twist their lips" at least a couple of times in each chapter. As if the book was written overnight. No editing at all. If I can employ Johansen's style to comment on her book:
"Bland. Plain. Boredom."
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