Rating: 
Summary: Margolin Is Back!
Review: After being slightly disappointd by his last few novels, I have to say Phillip Margolin is back on top again. I could not put this book down! Even though I had pretty much guessed the killer, there is still a surprise ending and it's very fast- paced. This is what a thriller is supposed to be!
Rating:
Summary: Title Should Read Beauty and the Beast
Review: Another good book by Philip Margolin. In this case the Beauty is Ashley Spencer, a teenage soccer player who watches her best friend and father murdered. The beast is Joshua Maxfield, a one hit wonder bestselling author who now teaches at the elite Oregon academy that Ashley starts to attend after the horrible murder. Joshua has a reading group and Ashley's mother who is a budding author, joins his class. Ashley's mother, Terri begins to suspect that Joshua might have killed her husband and her daughter's best friend when Joshua reads an excerpt of a book in the reading group which has details from the crime that was never released. Terri decides to share her suspicion with Casey, the Dean of the Oregon academy but before she can say anything, Terri is stabbed to death and Casey is knocked into a coma. Ashley who hears the screams happens to see Joshua bending over the bodies with the bloody knife in his hand.
At this point the story starts to pick up because Joshua flees the scene of crime. The book keeps flipping back and forth from the past which details the murders and to the present where Miles' the brother of Casey is doing a book tour on this serial killer.
I liked this book because Margolin kept the plot moving by going back and forth (past and present). I must admit that halfway through the book I had an idea as to the identity of the killer but that did not make the book any less interesting. As a matter of fact, I wanted to finish reading the book to find out if I had figured it correctly and to also answer the questions of WHY?
Margolin is one of the few authors that I will buy and read because he does not disappoint. His books are not "literature" as one of the reviewers mentioned but if I wanted literature, I would pick up Charles Dicken or Tolstoy. If I want exciting read then Philip Margolin it is.
Rating:
Summary: Enough Twists in This Tale to Keep You Guessing All Night
Review: Ashley Spencer fell asleep dreaming of the victory her soccer team had won just that afternoon. Her best friend Tanya is asleep beside her. In celebration of the victory, Tanya was sleeping over. Ashley's mother is away, her dad is asleep in his room. Then all off a sudden she's awake, an intruder is on Tanya, he binds her, then he's on Ashley. The binds her as well. Then he murders her father, well almost murders him, comes back, but before he drags Tanya to another room, where he rapes and kills her, he says to Ashley, "See you later."
Ashley hears the killer as he uses her friend, hears her screams, hears his joy, then her father, bloody and dying, crawls into her bedroom and frees her. He is finished, he says. She must run, he says. And run she does.
When her mother, a reporter named Terri, comes home they find that Ashley has been accepted into a private school run by Casey Van Meter. This is good, because Ashley needs to start over. One of the instructors there is a one novel wonder who runs a writer's group. He invites Terri to join and at the first meeting, he reads from a story he's writing and Terri is shocked, because he's reading a fictionalized account of the murders that had taken place in her house. However, she does not go straight to the police, instead investigating herself and she is killed during a meeting with Casey Van Meter. Casey survives the killer's attempt, but is left in a coma and the killer tries again to get Ashley, killing her police bodyguards.
Now Ashley is a girl on the run and she runs far away to Europe, not coming back until her friend and attorney tells her that Casey is her real mother and that her Uncle, Casey's brother, wants to pull the plug on her life support systems. They need Ashley to apply for guardianship to keep her alive. This Ashley does, but Casey comes out of the coma. And after all this time the killer comes back, trying yet again to get Ashley, but he's caught, tried, convicted and gets the death penalty.
But is that it. Not on your life. This super thriller has pages and pages to go and those pages will surly steal away your sleep as they did mine. Mr. Margolin has served up a thriller that will keep you guessing and he's peopled it with great characters who I cared about. I especially liked the tough and gritty black prosecutor Deputy District Attorney Deliah Wallace and how she interacted with Ashley. I liked the twists in the tale a whole bunch, and I especially liked the killer of an ending, one that I didn't see coming. This is just a super book.
Rating:
Summary: Shocking and suspensful...A definite MUST read!
Review: Ashley Spencer is your typical teenager. She has great parents, makes good grades in school and she is a star on the soccer team, but her perfect life is about to be shattered by a shocking act of violence. While her reporter mom is on assignment, Ashley spends quality time with her father and her best friend until a stranger enters the Spencer home and changes things forever. The man stabs Ashley's father and then moves on to her friend, raping and killing her while Ashley sits tied up. As Ashley sits waiting for the killer to return her father crawls in to help her, setting her free to escape. Barely getting away alive, Ashley makes it to a neighbor's house where she calls the police. The police begin investigating the crime scene to discover a key piece of evidence left behind by the killer. Ashley's mom returns to home to deal with the tragedy and to try to make a new start for her and her daughter. Terri Spencer finds The Oregon Academy a private school with a top notch girls soccer team. Once at the school, Ashley settles in quickly and soon has a good relationship with the Dean, Casey Van Meter. As Terri settles into her new life she discovers a crucial piece of information that may lead to the capture of her husband's killer, a discovery that she shares with Casey Van Meter, but before anything can be done with the information she is killed and Casey is beaten into a coma, both victims to the same man who killed Ashley's father...a man who just happens to be a teacher at the school. Things begin to spin out of control and the key to finding the identity of the killer, or killers lies in a true crime book called 'Sleeping Beauty' a book written by Casey's brother Miles. 'Sleeping Beauty' is a twist filled shocker that's as smart as it is suspenseful. The complex plot will keep you guessing right up until the end and even then you won't have it figured out. From the gripping opening scene until the surprise ending you will be held captive by a spellbinding thriller filled with gruesome murders and sharp courtroom scenes. Phillip Margolin is a master story teller and his imaginative new novel proves he is at the top of his game. Fans of Margolin's previous novels will find this to be his best book in years. A definite MUST read! Nick Gonnella
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down!
Review: Excellent book. The first chapter captured me and I was in suspence till the end.
Rating:
Summary: A Chilling Premise & One Fantastic Read!
Review: For years, some of the best authors around have said one very important fact about writing novels: Write what you KNOW. So, what IF someone were to draw extensively upon their own experiences and pen an enormously popular novel hailed by readers and critics alike as fantastic...and while attempting to write a follow-up fails miserably because almost everything had already been tapped when writing the first book? What IF this author's 3rd novel was a murder/mystery, and to continue to write what they KNEW, they actually committed an unspeakable act of violence in order to draw upon this experience -- JUST to write a book? This is the incredibly creative and facinating storyline of Phillip Margolin's 10th novel. Would an author be so desperate to write that NEXT runaway bestseller that they actually might consider murdering someone JUST for the experience? As chilling as this premise is, I assure you it is one that will entertain you throughout this incredible page-turner. The novel delves into the mind of someone such as this (thankfully it ISN'T Mr. Margolin himself) and creates quite a thriller indeed. Young Ashley Spencer is a gifted Soccer athelete whose life becomes literally torn to shreds when Joshua Maxfield rapes and kills her best friend shortly after mortally wounding her Father. She escapes, only to have this tragedy repeat itself when the same killer takes her Mothers life and nearly kills the Dean of the Oregon Academy, putting her into a coma. Terrified the killer will stop at nothing to hunt her down, Ashley leaves the country hoping never to return unless he is caught and put away for eternity. Casey Van Meter, the Dean of the Oregon Academy, who was left in a coma following the most recent attack has a twin brother (Miles) who is determined to keep the story in the spotlight by penning a true crime account of these horrific attacks on his sister and Ashley's parents. Miles is on yet another book tour to promote the re-issue of his novel, 'Sleeping Beauty' when events take a dramatic turn and Ashley is forced out of hiding when a shocking twist to the story unfolds, bringing her back to Portland, all while knowing that serial killer Joshua Maxfield is still on the loose. The plot twists begin to really mount as the story goes into overdrive at this point. IS Joshua Maxfield, once an amazingly popular author, but now considered to be a one-hit wonder really desperate enough to risk it all for a chance to pen a new best seller...OR could he be set up by someone who wants everyone to know about their crime, all without having to suffer any of the consequences? TRUST me, I could reveal a LOT about the intricate plotting of 'Sleeping Beauty' all without really giving away the genuine story, and you would still be caught by the surprise ending -- but don't worry, I won't. I absolutely HATE it when some people review novels here at amazon and spoil it by revealing many of the surprises in some novels. Don't worry, I won't go into detail about what happens, nor will I reveal the absolute surprise ending to this incredibly entertaining story, but what I WILL do is encourage you to pick up this thriller and clear away some time on your schedule, because Phillip Margolin has the distinct talent for writing novels that while reading you promise yourself you will stop...after the NEXT chapter, and before you know it, you are finished, not necessarily because you wanted to finish, but because you simply HAD to find out how things ended. Bravo to Phillip for writing my personal favorite since 'Wild Justice'. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Mediocre Effort
Review: I admit I am dismayed to see so many people rave about Margolin's latest novel, Sleeping Beauty. I admire the plotting and technique of Mo Hayder, Denise Mina, and Val McDermid--this book is slick, superficial, and undeserving. The characters are two dimensional. The writing is simple, with very few alterations in a short, high-schoolish sentence structure. For readers familiar with this genre, the villain(s) of the story are easily identified--and early on in the narrative. It is almost painful to trudge along with Margolin through the midsection of the book, knowing at any minute a contrived plot twist will burst upon the scene. Like many American authors of popular fiction, the writing is of poor quality. Most of the text is short, terse dialogue (the worst practitioner of which is Catherine Coulter), and any paragraph longer than two sentences seems added in as an afterthought to lend "substance" and "atmosphere" to an unremarkable plot. This can't have taken long to write for a man with as much education and experience as Phillip Margolin. Skip this one!
Rating:
Summary: Sleep No More, Margolin has awoken
Review: I got this book today and it was a stunner. Margolin reaches back to Gone, But Not Forgetten and After Dark and writes his greatest book. I read this book non-stop and it is truly an epic mystery novel. I have been critically of some of his newer works but this was worth the wait. If the rest of the spring novels are like this one. it will be a season for the ages. I would recommend buying this novel to anyone. You will have to excuse me since I want to reread it again tonight.
Rating:
Summary: WHAT A GREAT READ!
Review: I have read everyone of Phillip Margolin's books and each time, they are books I can't put down. Once again, with Sleeping Beauty, I was hooked from page one and read the book in a day! It kept me at the edge of my seat with suspence and with each turning page, I did not know what to expect. Can't wait for the next book! Keep em coming.
Rating: 
Summary: not good
Review: I have to echo the previous comments regarding the wooden dialogue and two dimensional characters. This book had such a good premise, but Mr. Margolin hasn't taken much effort to flesh out his characters. They are typical "stock" mystery type characters: the gutsy survivor/heroine who falls in love with her tender young savior. The sassy, nurturing and buxom black female district attorney. The sinister and wily bad guys. And some of the legal details within the story are not plausible. I just wish the writer had put more effort into developing characters, it's tiring reading about such stereotypical people.
|
