Rating: 
Summary: good story...
Review: that would have been more interesting for me had i read it (instead, head the a 4-tape cassette version that seemed abridged) . . . nevertheless, there were lots of twists and turns, and the story kept me guessing until the end.
Rating: 
Summary: Patterson scores B+ with Silent Witness
Review: The pedestrian opening of Silent Witness almost bored me enough me to put it back on the shelf at the end of the first chapter. However, the second chapter was slightly more energetic and started to gather my interest.I wasn't able to really connect with any of the characters in the story. More than anything, the simple curiosity of "whodunnit" kept me interested. Overall, Silent Witness was passably entertaining bedside reading. I'd recommend it for a holiday or vacation... but don't expect to morn the loss of any of Patterson's characters when you're done.
Rating: 
Summary: Better than Prozac!
Review: My mother read SILENT WITNESS and recommended it to me. I reluctantly picked it up-and couldn't put it down! I liked the small-town feel of the book, with all of its dark secrets. I loved the Tony Lord character (although a bit too heroic-am I reading wish-fulfillment from the author here?). Patterson has written a carefully thought out novel, with enough surprises to keep the reader glued. I dragged out the last 50 pages because I didn't want it to end. For the genre, this is a book to treasure!
Rating:
Summary: But Who Is the Silent Witness?
Review: Silent Witness is a story of the friendship of two boys, from high school into adulthood. Tony and Sam are close friends, yet fierce competitors. rivals who respect each other's talents, yet secretly resent each other's triumphs. They compete with each other, not only for the Most Valuable Player award, but even for top scorer playing one-on-one basketball AGAINST EACH OTHER, for crying out loud. Perhaps only athletes--male and female alike--can appreciate this kind of staunch, unwavering friendship. Silent Witness is courtroom drama worthy of john Grisham. The first half of the book is a meticulous buildup to the trial scenes in the last half, yet the buildup is not boring description as in Dean Koontz' Hideaway , for example. On the contrary, it is gripping, absorbing. Richard North Patterson advances the story by action, rather than by descriptive narration. Patterson even gives us sports writing worthy of Jim Murray or Grantland Rice. The final 10! 0 seconds of the football game for the high school cham;pionship is drama Hollywood might kill for. Patterson's treatment of the Tony-Sam relationship raises ambivalent feelings in the reader. We want a victory for the Good Guy, even while harboring sympathies for the Bad Guy. The character's self-image of the faded athlete who saw himself as "shepherding young girls on the field where he once excelled, which now had become the treadmill of a stalled life" poignantly reminds us of our own youthful dreams and aspirations. Pattersons's description of the middle-aged man who "looked like a once youthful actor who, ten years past his prime, had not so much aged as dissiapated...the boyishness showing through" tweaks the conscience of ex-jocks everywhere. As to plot twists, Patterson in Silent Witness is at once predictable and surprising. We may guess--correctly--at the real murderer and at the jury verdict, but in neither case can we guess ! with any degree of certainty. And for what more can the a! vid mystery reader wish? The silent witness? The reader may envision Patterson chuckling mischievously to himself here. He gives us only subtle clues in answer to that question
Rating:
Summary: Simply a Page Turner.
Review: Silent Witness is the first Richard North Patterson book that I've ever read and I want to tell you that I was hooked. The characters are well developed and I enjoyed the way the author moved from the past then back to the present with such smooth style. The action is fast paced. A good courtroom drama and good character analysis. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes a good legal thriller.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: I first read Private Screening and thought it was excellent and couldn't wait to read Silent Witness. When I started it I couldn't put it down. It was as if we were experiencing everything the characters were experiencing. You could feel what Tony Lord was feeling. You are trying to figure out what happened just as fast as Tony wanted to. It would be a real "who dunnit" movie. I wouldn't want to ruin the ending for anyone but I sure wasn't disappointed. I can't wait to read more of Richard North Patterson.
Rating:
Summary: Draws you in, then keeps you
Review: My first R.N. Patterson book and won't be my last. A great summer read.
Rating:
Summary: "Silent Witness" is an excellent book!
Review: I haven't been much of a reader in my time, but for the past two months I have read five books to kill time at work. I'm still reading the fifth book and it is called "Silent Witness" by Richard North Patterson. This book by far and away is the best book I can recall ever reading! When you read this you feel like you are right there in the story experiencing what the characters are going through. The main character Tony Lord is introduced in the beginning and you learn right away that he is a powerful lawyer who just successfully defended a client accused of murder. Shortly there after he recieves a call from an old friend in need of help, legal help. Patterson then takes you back twenty eight years in the past and explains what involvement Tony's old friend played in his life at the age of 17. We learn that Tony Lord was a bright, athletic and a popular student who on one romantic turn tragic night his life would change forever. I don't want to ruin this book for anyone so I'll just say that I was moved more than once when reading what happened to these characters. I rated this book four stars, probably will be fives stars when I finish reading it. If you like suspense mixed in with love and mystery, get "Silent Witness". This book is excellent!
Rating:
Summary: The first I have read of Pattersons, and the best.
Review: I read this book whilst on holiday in the United States, and couldn't put it down. My fingers were glued to the next page, a real nail-biting, cliffhanger, edge of the seat story. I recommend people read this book and if you have read it again. I have now read it three times, and have picked up small parts of information which have informed me of happenings from the past of Tony Lords life to the present. Very captivating book, and appeals to all audiences, and it doesn't really matter if you don't like this genre, READ it. This story borders on the best mystery, action, adventure book I have read. Watch out Grisham, the bookcase is depleting of your books and filling up with Pattersons.
Rating:
Summary: Captivating, Unable to put it down!
Review: It was a great story. Spinning a tale around romance, murder, doubt and self respect. Tony Lord character is greatly admired for his endurance and that he overcame a great deal of hardship.
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