Rating: 
Summary: Sordid tale of torture, murder and revenge.
Review: Jan Burke's new thriller, "Nine," is a complicated suspense novel with so many characters and such a dense plot that it may confuse the casual reader. After finishing the book, I went back to the beginning to figure out exactly what had happened and why. "Nine" deals with vigilantes who have decided to kill all of the suspects on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List. They methodically track down these felons, then torture and kill them. Many people across the country applaud the vigilantes, since they are catching dangerous criminals who have thus far eluded the FBI's dragnet. However, Los Angeles Homicide Detective Alex Brandon does not applaud the vigilantes; he considers them to be criminals, not heroes. As Alex gets more deeply involved in the case, he finds to his horror that the perpetrators may be targeting not just wanted felons, but him, as well. Although Burke is a talented writer who knows how to build suspense, "Nine" has some glaring weaknesses. The vigilantes are cardboard characters whose motivations and behavior are implausible. Most of the dialogue is stilted and the plot becomes more far-fetched as the book lumbers on to its melodramatic conclusion. At almost 400 pages, "Nine" is too long, and it goes off in too many directions. Tighter editing might have helped the book flow more smoothly. Although "Nine" does provide thrills and gore galore, I did not find it realistic or truly entertaining.
Rating: 
Summary: Murder and Revenge !!
Review: Jan Burke's NINE was a terrific read. A story about murder and revenge. Very exciting !!
Rating:
Summary: Murder and Revenge !!
Review: Jan Burke's NINE was a terrific read. A story about murder and revenge. Very exciting !!
Rating:
Summary: full of action packed high drama and adventure
Review: Malibu, California is the location of Sedgewick a school where the rich send their offspring who get in trouble with the law. These juvenile offenders bought their way out of jail time and while Everett Corey was there he put together a gang that stayed close friends once they left the school. These wealthy adults are, with the help of friends in very high places, kidnapping and killing the members on FBI's ten most wanted list. They are not doing this for altruistic reasons but for the adrenaline high and to thumb their noses at authority. The group is also going after people they have a grudge against including LAPD homicide detective Alex Hartwick, Meg Taggert and former Sedgewick student Kit Logan. To lure this enemy threesome into a trap, they use the people that the trio care most for as hostages. NINE is a dark and gritty urban noir crime thriller that is nothing at all like the author's Irene Kelly series. For the most part readers don't care about the villains or heroes one way or another. The good guys and gals are remote and distant while the villains are simply nasty so it is difficult to relate to anyone, yet the story line is very exciting and is full of action packed high drama and adventure. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: Slow and forced
Review: Sedgewick, a reform school in Malibu for troubled rich kids, has produced Project Nine, a group of sadistic killers bent on eliminating the FBI's ten most wanted felons ... and a few other people as well. After the first three felons are found strung upside down over bathtubs, Homicide Detective Alex Brandon of the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department is assigned head of the investigation, along with his tough talking partner, Ciara -- as if they didn't have enough problems of their own already, her with her secret tragidy and he with his only nephew showing up on his doorstep in lieu of being arrested for car theft. Brandon soon notices the bodies of the victims are strickingly similar to a serial killing case he investigated ten years ago, one wrapped up when the perpetrator was killed by his own son, Kit Logan, while he was at work on his ninth victim. Kit, connected to a wealthy family, never went to jail. Instead he went to Sedgewick. But now Brandon can't get a hold of him. Does someone somewhere know too much? Although NINE hooks the reader from page one and promises a good read, it soon fails on all counts. The plot is forced and laborious, hopping between a variety of cardboard viewpoint characters, from the too good and gorgeous Alex Brandon to the too nasty and wooden bad guys. At least three of the people in the book have green eyes (a geneticly remote possibility), and none of them can speak realisticly. The only interesting character is Brandon's uncle and surrogate father, John, retired from the LASD. A quarter of the way through this novel I stopped reading word for word, and by page 251 I was skipping whole chunks. The ending was a huge disappointment and left me hoping none of these poorly motivated paper people come back for an encore. While Jan Burke obviously has talent, it is not displayed well here. If you like fast, well plotted books peopled by characters with convincing motivations, this book is not for you. However, Jan Burke fans will no doubt find things to appreciate here, and should certainly give NINE a try.
Rating: 
Summary: Another great Book by a great author
Review: They say there are only about 4 or 5 plots for all the stories ever written. That may be true, but Ms Burke can do more with all of these plots than most authors with one in their best moments.
This is a well thought out and technically correct thriller with a premise that could easily come to life in this world we live in today. Ms Burke has captured the essence of hero vs antihero(es) in this, one of her best works. I can only hope this is the start of a new series, although if she keeps making hits with stand alone works, hurray!! Buy this one, you won't go wrong.
Rating:
Summary: SPECTACULAR , 10 STARS ;
Review: THIS IS BY FAR THE BEST THRILLER I HAVE EVER READ. I'M GOING TO WAIT A COUPLE OF YEARS AND THEN READ IT AGAIN.
THE CHARACTER'S ARE VERY INTERESTING, TO SAY THE LEAST, AND VERY WELL DEVELOPED.
THE PLOT TO KILL THE 10 MOST WANTED CRIMINALS ON THE FBI'S MOST WANTED LIST IS JUST GENIUS. AND THE WAYS IN WHICH THESE YOUNG MEN PULL IT OFF JUST MAKES ME GRIN. (I WON'T GIVE IT AWAY FOR YOU.)
THIS IS ONE OF THOSE BOOKS WHERE I COULDN'T GUESS THE END, AND I USUALLY CAN. AND THE ENDING WAS FANTASTIC. IT ENDED EXACTLY HOW I WANTED IT TO. (WON'T GIVE THAT AWAY EITHER)
I NEVER WANTED TO PUT THIS DOWN; I NEVER GOT BORED; AND I COULD NEVER GUESS WHAT WAS COMING NEXT. NOW THAT'S A BOOK WORTH 10 STARS.
Rating:
Summary: a new fan
Review: This is my first Jan Burke book and I really enjoyed it. I found it to be suspenseful and entertaining. I hope she writes more adventures for Alex Brandon!
Rating:
Summary: a new fan
Review: This is my first Jan Burke book and I really enjoyed it. I found it to be suspenseful and entertaining. I hope she writes more adventures for Alex Brandon!
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: You start out thinking that this can't be what it seems. Early on, we learn about a small group of spoiled rich kids (early- to mid-twenties) who have decided to go after the criminals on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List. That's right. Four guys with no police training or other relevant experiences start capturing and killing the most dangerous criminals in America. It does not matter if the criminals are heavily guarded drug kings or international terrorists. These four guys, with nothing but money and antisocial personalities, can do easily what the FBI and police can not. Not only can they find, capture, kill and return the bodies to southern California, they are able to take care of several of these most-wanted criminals a week (even the ones living outside the country). Of course, a savvy reader sees this as preposterous and expects the author will soon make clear what the real story is behind the murders. But halfway through, you realize that Jan Burke is serious. She wants us to buy the premise along with a number of other absurdities (one example -- a suspect is found murdered, and law enforcement people start to act as if the case is solve; the lead investigator does not even bother to inform his partner of this development until the next morning). I won't give away the rest, except to say that the motive, when we learn it, does not even come close to accounting for the main antagonist's behavior. I suppose if you like cartoonish plots and characters, this story works. With enough suspension of disbelief, I can see how the book could even be fun. However, it is apparent from the writing that Burke wants us to take her plot and characters seriously. Unfortunately, she makes this difficult.
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