Line of Sight

Rating:
Summary: Comfortable yet stimulating
Review: "Nobody's innocent," says Sheila, one of the key characters in Line of Sight.

Ain't that the truth?! In fact, plain, ordinary, law-abiding folks can easily be drawn into a wicked web of lust, intrigue, greed, and power. The beauty of this book is in the way that Jack Kelly explores how any of us can be tempted to cross the line.

Rating:
Summary: Spare - Gripping - Hard to put Down
Review: I read "Line of Sight" in one sitting. It is a spare, tightly drawn story in which the main character, a police officer, is making the wrong moves, knows it, and still can't help himself. Jack Kelly writes with style and has an ear for dialog. I've recommended this book to all my friends.

Rating:
Summary: excellent noir thriller
Review: In Mansfield, New York everyone considers Ray Dolan to be a by the book police officer. Though he enjoys his job and his simple lifestyle, Ray remains a lonely person having no family, girlfriend, or close friend. That changes when the Travis family moves near Ray. He becomes obsessed with sexy but sad Sheila who acts like the victim of spousal abuse.

Sheila senses Ray's infatuation and begins to take advantage of him. When her husband is murdered, Ray comes to Sheila's aid. Even as he knows who the killer is, Ray cannot stop interfering with the official investigation in order to keep Sheila safe, even at the cost of his own life.

LINE OF SIGHT is an in your face Noir novel that never slows down for a moment. The story line is filled with twists and turns that continually fool the audience. Sheila is a great female character in the mode of Double Indemnity (or perhaps Jessica Rabbit). Readers will feel empathy towards Ray, but at the same time want to smack him awake because he seems a bit too ingenuous. Fans of non-stop action filled with double crossing twists will enjoy Jack Kelly's taut tale.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Bad Broad Gets Good Guy
Review: Jack Kelly explores sexual obsession and how it leads good to become evil in this sharp and moody novel. The characters are thoroughly modern (a girl named Brie can only happen in modern America), their situation as timeless as Adam and Eve. The writing is funny, acute, and poetic. Ray and Sheila propell the plot to its cathartic conclusion, completely believably. This is a writer who knows how to combine the best crime writing with the best literary writing. Don't miss it.

Rating:
Summary: Perfect book to curl up with
Review: Line of Sight is a fast-paced, plot-driven page-turner. Like a bowl of freshly-popped pop corn, you just can't put it down until you've reached the last kernal. Kelly is masterful at imitating the noir genre while giving it his own unique twist. Predictable and yet surprising. Perfect book to hunker down with on a cold night, take on vacation, escape with.

Rating:
Summary: Comfortable yet stimulating
Review: Line of Sight is full of classic noir-cop-detective elements, so I thought I was nestling into comfortable fiction territory as I settled into reading the book. But Jack Kelly has written a book that is simultaneously familiar yet new, nostalgic yet fresh. Kelly's characters are familiar with a twist, predictable yet surprising. His telegraphic style at first seemed choppy and awkward to me, yet by page three his concise words were painting vivid scenes of landscapes both psychic and physical. I thoroughly enjoyed the synthesis of familiar and new in this book. Its images and emotional mood will stay with you for a long time.

Rating:
Summary: a real page turner
Review: there were so many twists and turns in this book it was like riding a roller coaster at night. ray was a nice guy that you'd like to strangle for being so dumb. it was like watching a good friend make a whooper of a mistake, and not being able to stop him. and like a good friend you couldn't leave this book alone till the end.

Rating:
Summary: Well done noir fiction
Review: While there is nothing truly original here, this is nevertheless a very well done noir novel in the classic mold: as the back cover says, a cross between Body Heat and The Postman Always Rings Twice. Very true. This is a gripping read for sure; Kelly does know how to make you keep turning pages.

Officer Ray Dolan lives just down the way from the Travises, a very wealthy couple--Lance and Sheila--and their teenage daughter Brie. Dolan, single, has ambivalence about his job, possibly stemming from his father, also a cop, having committed suicide. But he gets along well with his fellow officers, especially Frank Kaiser, who, after many years of marriage, finds his wife having an affair. Also on the scene is Leanne Corvino, a local TV news anchor.

Dolan and Corvino hook up briefly, but after catching sight of his sexy neighbor, Sheila Travis, Dolan forgets about Corvino and develops serious hots for Sheila. Needless to say, complications ensue. Turns out Sheila's husband has questionable morals. Turns out Sheila is not happy with Lance. Turns out Sheila and Ray (Dolan) get something going.

It also turns out that Sheila, Lance, Frank, Ray, and Leanne all have stuff going on involving each other that does not seem apparent initially and that definitely makes for noir-themed fiction at its best.

This is a great read for those who like their noir juicy and involving. Yeah, I liked it a lot.