The Eleventh Hour

Rating:
Summary: A Very Disappointing Book!
Review: After attempting to read The Target a few months ago, I decided not to waste my money on another Coulter mystery. However, because the cover of Eleventh Hour looked interesting and past books were by Coulter were enjoyable reads (The Maze), I bought the book. I was not able to finish it---and I certainly won't inflict this book on a friend! The characters were weak and one dimensional and the dialogue was stilted, silly and unrealistic. Please, Ms. Coulter--re-read your older books and find out what you're missing now!!

Rating:
Summary: A Toss Up
Review: Father Michael Joseph Carver is murdered while hearing the late night confession of a murderer. Unknown to the murderer, a young homeless woman was waiting in the shadows of the church to speak with Fr. Carver and witnessed the murderer's exit from the confessional. The woman is Nicola (Nick) Jones who is on the run from a mysterious past and who does not wish to be connected with Fr. Carver's murder. Fr. Carver's twin brother, FBI Special Agent Dane Carver, is working with the local police to find his brothers killer. Dane personally takes Nick into protective custody when it becomes apparent that someone is trying to kill Nick. They discover that the killer is using the scripts of a popular television show to commit the murders. Dane calls in fellow FBI agents, Dillon and Sherlock Savitch to assist him in keeping Nick alive and finding the killer.

This is the first Catherine Coulter book I have read. The story line is good and there are multiple mysteries going on at the same time that kept me interested and guessing until the end. However, the interaction between the weakly built characters was astoundingly trite. The dialogue was embarrassingly silly and amateurish. It remains a toss up as to whether the plot and story line are good enough to offset the characters and the dialogue.

Rating:
Summary: Two for the Price of One
Review: This is a fast moving, well plotted story with two two interrelated mysteries to solve.Father Michael Carver is murdered in his confessional in S.F. and the only witness is Nick Jones, a homeless woman on the run and with a desire to keep her past a secret. Father Michael's twin brother Dane,an FBI agent, of course devasted by the news of his brother's death,immediately rushes to SF from DC and unofficially joins the murder investigation being conducted by the local police.Dillon and Sherlock Savich, Dane's FBI compatriots, soon become involved when evidence of a serial killer develops.(While this is the first book by Coulter that I have read, it is clear that these are characters who have previously appeared in her series of FBI mysteries and readers of those books may be glad to become reacquainted with them.)
This is not an FBI procedural, but rather an action story (potential TV movie) with multiple plot twists and a plethora of suspects.The ingenious device of the murders mimicing a recent TV series adds further complications to the police investigation, as does the unknown relationship of the current events to Nick's past. And, as could be guessed, romance also manages to blossom as Dane and Nick become attracted to each other as they try to stay alive and solve the mysteries they both confront.
I was one for two, as I was kept guessing until the conclusion as to Father Michael's killer but did unravel the clues regarding Nick's real opponent.This had the advantage of being a fast read but still having a complicated plot and good character development. I definitely plan to read another one of the series both for enjoyment and in order see whether the author is simply a formulaic writer or sufficiently varies her stories to keep my interest.