Temple

Rating:
Summary: It had possibilities
Review: Reilly's first published novel, "Ice Station" was pretty good. Fast paced, good characters, poor plot, but who cared, the action was wild.
In "Temple" Matt decided to throw out any attempt to base his book in the "real" world. The BASIC story is excellent, but the plot twists, conspiracies, and bad guys (3 separate groups) leave the reader shaking their head, wondering how stupid does the author think we are?
The Hero, Race, a quiet university language professor, seems to need a cape and super-strength to pull off half the stunts he himself can't believe he's doing. Even the wildest Willis, Schwarzenegger or Ford movie can only do a third of the stunts "Temple" slaps us with in the first half of the book.
Matt, here's a hint, if your own characters don't believe what's happenening or what they're doing, why should we?
p.s. Stay away from the military conspiracies side stories, they really ruin your work.

Rating:
Summary: It is not supposed to be serious
Review: Many critics have said Reilly's books are unrealistic, and that is where they don't get it. Reilly writes james Bond and Indiana Jones style stories that are more sattire than realism. It is not supposed to be realistic. It is fun, pure entertainment, and it is good entertainment too. Temple is a damn good book, full of adventure and if that is what you like, you will like the book. When you want pure science, read textbooks. AND WHAT IS UP WITH PEOPLE GIVING AWAY THE PLOTS OF BOOKS IN THESE REVIEWS? TRhat is rude. Very rude. Please knock it off. Read the book, you will enjoy it, but it is sattire. Imagine Indie or Bond doing this stuff, then it makes sense.

Rating:
Summary: Hooked and Loving it
Review: The Temple was a great book, i absolutely loved every moment of it. It's not my normal type of book, so when i went on my va-kay i avoided it as much as possible. However, once i began reading it, i was hook and loving it. Matthew's book are totally unrealistic but u enjoy them anyway. He adds so much suspense and action that there is not a moment in the book when u can possibly be bored. Great Book, i would give it more than 5 stars because it was superb!

Rating:
Summary: Someone open a window...
Review: and air out the stench from this one. Obviously the author has never been exposed to even an elementary school science class, because science has no place in this book. An extra-terrestrial element that "fossilizes"; has a density 10-times the heaviest materials on earth, and yet people toss around a head-sized idol like it was made from balsa; engineers who can't distinguish between the metal original and a stone imitation; and a hero who manages to survive falls off cinder cones, down open pit mines, and the best - a 22,000 foot fall in a tank, only to be saved at the last minute by a miniature rocket pack he doesn't know he's wearing, that automatically ignites 80 feet before impact.

Give me a break. Give yourself one too, put this one back on the shelf.

Rating:
Summary: Just enjoy it for its entertainment value...
Review: This book is good entertainment. Period. Nothing more. Nothing less. Just sit back, relax, put your brain on cruise control and enjoy the book.

The main character, William Race, is a likeable sort of fellow. He reluctantly agrees to be part of a team of DARPA scientists and Green Berets on a journey to Peru to retrieve a long lost Incan artifact, the Spirit of the People. Little does he realize, he's on a trip into chaos.

Just when you think the story is over, you realize you're only half-way through the book. Race is plunged into one adventure after another on his journey to becoming a reluctant and unlikely hero.

Well done.

Rating:
Summary: fun
Review: This book was fun, not realistic or challenging, just a fun read. Love the way it takes you between the 2 diffrent time periods.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing and Captivating
Review: William Race is a simple university professor that brings a lot of action in the book. Although he is not fit to be a hero, he does bring a lite touch of fantasy in the story.

This is the kind of story that brings fiction in a high speed reading to see what will happen next. Always difficult to finish a chapter and not start another right away.

The action is a fast paced as it was in Ice Station and the fiction level is at is highest.

Rating:
Summary: Gravely Disappointed
Review: Although the book started out well enough for me to go out and buy Ice Station, I'm sorry I did. This is one of the most absurd display of literature--even by fiction standards. Nothing is believable, and these last second saves become so redundant that the storyline becomes predictable. Stick with Clive Cussler if you want a good read.

Rating:
Summary: Fun, but leave your bs detector at the door
Review: I think that it must be fun to be an author and be able to call on the divine to handle all of the tough spots. There are places that it is inappropriate, and then there is a book like this. It's fun, even if you roll your eyes.

This book is a page-turner and a quick read. It is well written, if not well researched. Despite believability problems, the main story is compelling, the characters are well defined, and the author has a good grasp of suspense. What keeps Temple alive, and why it deserves 4 stars, is the frame tale. Where the main story is in some places laughable, the frame tale (well-spaced, well thought out) is extremely well written, weaving in and out of the main plot. In some places, it is more compelling than the main story. A nice bit of craftsmanship, it really forms a sort of dialog between characters.

Reilly has his strengths - he takes a worn out plot and really makes it sing. His characters are all stock, but they exhibit remarkably realistic qualities and interactions. And in the end, thanks to a little deus ex, it all makes sense and comes together well. This is a good book to read, make no mistake. Just don't hold the microscope too close.

Rating:
Summary: Insults the reader
Review: This book is insulting to the intelligence of its readers. This writer obviously did ABSOLUTELY NO RESEARCH of any kind into the science of the subject about which he is unsuccessfully attempting to write. Anyone with an 8th grade education would be dismayed by this writer's grasp of science. It is OK to be ignorant about a subject, but don't stick your finger in the public's eye by writing about it.