Riptide

Rating:
Summary: A Must Read!!!!
Review: This was my first Catherine Coulter book. I could not put the book down. The plot is very suspenseful - The romance was very lite. Could have been a little more - but I'm not complaining. Best book I've read in a long time that kept me up until I finished it!!! I like books that are easy to read and follow, without a lot of detail - this is a very fun read indeed! Enjoy!!!

Rating:
Summary: Didn't Like It
Review: I should've checked it out at the library. The story was not enjoyable and left me with an immense sense of dissatisfaction. The characters are not as compelling as those from The Maze ( love that book). The story line was weak in the sense that the mystery can easily be solved within the first half of the novel by readers. The 'surprise' twist at the end is easy to figure out before it is revealed. Steer clear of this book and spend your money else where.

Rating:
Summary: A Catherine Coulter Triumph
Review: I automatically buy her books and have since the 1980's for I am never disappointed. Riptide is super.It has been a long time since I read until the wee hours of the morning and then couldn't wait to get home to read some more.The plot does keep one going, the characters are warm, human,likeable, and interesting.I do enjoy the author's way of having people from former books enter into the new story. I cheered when Sherlock and Savich were brought back.Catherine Coulter is really a wonderful author. Most of all I appreciate her humor.It is such a treat to be able to laugh out loud when reading a good book.

Rating:
Summary: Eagerly devoured
Review: I have really grown to enjoy Savich and Sherlock but was disappointed (slightly) to have them only appear after 100 pages. This book is entertaining and well written. However, towards the end there is a spell where Coulter seems to feel romance should take over. Then it drags. Perhaps if Coulter had cut about 25 pages out of the last 100 this could be remedied. The story of a woman who has lost her mother and is targeted by an unknown stalker does hold one's interest. Tyler is an interesting character but not necessary as a subplot. The workings of the FBI and CIA are entertaining enough. These opinions do not mean I took much time to read the book - two nights actually. However, I can't wait for the next book and hope it is dedicated strictly to that dynamic duo of Savich and Sherlock.

Rating:
Summary: Suspense, not Romance.
Review: Speech writer Rebecca Matlock is terrorized by a stalker who kills an innocent old lady and shoots the governer in the neck. When police not only don't believe her, but think Becca is involved in the shooting, she flees to Riptide. Adam Carruthers has been asked by Becca's father, Thomas Matlock, to protect her. Thomas had pretended to be dead since Becca was little to protect his family from a vengeful KGB agent.

First warning, if you're a fan of Coulter's romantic fiction, you may be disappointed with RIPTIDE. This book is suspense. While there is some romance, it is not romantic suspense (the emphasis is on the mystery, not the romance). It is better than THE EDGE, but it is obvious that Coulter is going mainstream, with more bulk and less romance. The characterization is up to Coulter's usual high standards, and we see old friends Sherlock and Savich again. I see a new readership for Catherine Coulter in the mystery/suspense genre, but I will miss her romantic fiction.

Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: Riptide by Catherine Coulter is a book that packs everything into it. I was captivated and exhausted by the time I finished it. There are so many plots and twists to this story; it is almost impossible to review it.

Becca Matlock is a speechwriter for the governor of New York. She is being stalked and terrorized by an evil man who identifies himself as "her boyfriend." There is no one to turn to. The police and her coworkers refuse to believe her. Her father is dead and her mother is in a coma dying of cancer. Becca flees to a small town thinking to outrun her stalker. There she meets up with her old college pal, Tyler McBride and his stepson Sam. Despite changing her appearance, she knows someone is still watching her. She sees a man in the woods watching her and decides to confront him in an explosive scene. That man is Adam Carruthers. He tells Becca to think of him as her "guardian angel." He refuses to tell Becca who has sent him to watch over her.

Listen up, Ladies! Adam is the man to die for. He is smart, sexy, and funny. Even in his "macho mood" you have to adore him. I absolutely loved this character. Becca is no slouch herself. She is strong and capable of looking out for herself. This gal has brains and isn't afraid to use them. Maybe not wisely at times, but at least she doesn't depend on the big, strong man to protect her. The icing on the cake is the return of Dillon and Sherlock featured in Ms. Coulter's last three books.

I gave this book a four because even though it is a dynamite story, it is almost too much. I felt exhausted when I finished it. Like every book, there are parts that are not believable, but it is still a great read. I also want to add my two cents about the appearance of this book. This book is huge with thick paper. It is really sharp looking and ought to last a lifetime.

Rating:
Summary: Coulter is one of the best writers of suspense
Review: Some spies prefer to never come out of the cold, but thinking about secret agents would never enter the mind of speechwriter Rebecca Matlock. Espionage belongs in movies and books to her. That changes when her father, who she thought died when she was a child, surfaces with a deadly enemy after him and now her. Working for the Governor of New York, Rebecca begins to receive threatening calls from a person demanding she end her affair with her boss. Not having an affair and a bit frightened, Rebecca turns to the Albany police, who discount her story.

She leaves the state capital to stay with her dying mother in the Big Apple where she receives another call. Not long after, someone is killed outside her window. The police treat Rebecca as the suspect.

After her mother passes away, Rebecca goes into hiding using a new identity and changing her looks. She resides in RIPTIDE, Maine, but her stalker follows. So does Adam Carruthers, a security expert who is close to Rebecca's father. Her foe kills a woman in RIPTIDE and abducts Rebecca. Everyone involved knows that they must work quickly to stop a rogue deep cover agent from assassinating the Matlocks.

Catherine Coulter's suspense thrillers seem to get better and better with each new release. Her latest tale, RIPTIDE, is filled with complex charcaters, who have appeared in previous novels and provide continuity. The heroine is a strong person who is just an everyday individual thrust into extraordinary circumstance outside her normal existence. Her heroic efforts insure Ms. Coulter's novel will appeal to fans of suspense, thriller, police procedural, and romance.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Page-turner of a plot!
Review: Well, this was a great read. I was a bit uncertain after the last hard cover release by Coulter (The Edge). I was glad to see Coulter return to her 3rd person style of writing. I also enjoyed the plot twists. It was a bit of a challenge to pull the different plot strings together from time to time. It was almost as if there were two books in one. I really did enjoy the primary characters of Becca and Adam. The only missing element in this great suspense was the deeper development of the romance between Adam and Becca. It was almost an afterthought in the story. However, I truly was engrossed and couldn't put it down until I finished it. So, overall it was very enjoyable.

Rating:
Summary: Not Good at All-Couldn't Get Through It-Dumb!
Review: The beginning was fine. But after that, it all lost me. Becca has a stalker on her tail, so she takes off for Riptide Maine.
When she gets there,she finds a house to buy and moves in, and it is there that she finds a strange skeleton in the basement.
The story then just poops out from there.

From that point, comes all these other characters that are strange. It makes you say, "What?" I couldn't find it worthwhile enough to even continue, and just quit. When you're reading and the story isn't making sense as this one didn't, why continue?

Don't waste your money!

Rating:
Summary: More than Minus tide
Review: Take a look at the reviews for any of Coulter's FBI series and the comments are all pretty much the same. She is the author people love to hate.
If you are looking for an excellent writer that can keep you in suspense while using very descriptive language that adds to the enjoyment try Michael Connelly for one. No slang expressions here that sound like some teenager's writing and the FBI agents sound like FBI agents. They don't drag their 6 month old baby on the job for sure.