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Someone To Kill

Someone To Kill

List Price: $27.95
Your Price: $27.95
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: An Well Written Unoriginal Plot
Review: Here's the plot: Hero's family killed and he goes on a man-hunt for the perp(s). He finds a new love and together they are menaced by the baddies. Of course they have to run through various locales, foreign and domestic. Although this novel is well-written, the charaters solid, and the tale holds interest, this author will have to do better plot-wise to become a force in this genre. The one original twist in this book is that it introduces a note of spirituality. I'm still arguing with myself as to whether that added to, or detracted from, the story. Not a great book but a good average "thriller."

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Top Notch
Review: I bought this book from the reviews I read in this forum, so I was already pumped. I couldn't find this book locally so I bought it here at Amazon. So I was really pumped up when I received it in the mail. So now I'm expecting this book to be great, but being too excited can lead to disappointment. NOT!!
This was one of the best reads I'd had in a long time. Once you pick up the book, you're in. No letting up. I became lost in the story and as the plot unfolds it held me prisoner all the way to a great climax. A book I won't forget.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Captivating and exiting page turner
Review: I have been looking for a book like this since I read Grisham's "A Time to Kill". I was hooked from the 1st page and I could not put it down. Exiting, unpredictable and captivating do not even begin to describe this novel. Kurt Corriher is brilliant, I can't wait to read his next book.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Terrific way to spend a weekend!
Review: I have been so disappointed, lately, with the offerings of "best selling" authors, that finding this new writer was wonderful! I hope that there will be more of his work available in the future....and, as much as I would love a steady supply of his books, I hope he does not fall into the familiar routine of putting out mediocre work every four or five months!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: East German intrigue
Review: John Pavlak, the athletic director of a small North Carolina college is drawn into a web of intrigue when his estranged wife, Judith, an investigative reporter, and his daughter are apparently murdered in a car bombing. Pavlak, a Phd. in German literature, was a highly decorated special forces soldier in the Vietnam war. His despised father, Gustaf, a German war refugee, is a multi millionaire industrialist with ties to the formerly communist East Gemany.

Suspecting both FBI and CIA involvement in his family's demise, Pavlak embarks on a vengeance motivated, clandestine fact finding mission in Germany. He learns that his wife's best friend, Brigitte, a native of Berlin has also suspiciously perished in a recent auto accident. Pavlak joins forces with Brigitte's sister Karin to search for the killers of both women. Incessant probing leads them to former agents of Stasi, the East German secret police. Not surprisingly, a link is made between the CIA and the communist East German regime through an operation called "Fool's Gold". It involves the sharing of sensitive military secrets between the U.S. and Germany with Pavlak's father Gustaf being the intermediary. Pavlak believes that his wife has uncovered damaging secret documents which reveal the plot and hence her killing.

Corriher does an admirable job in his inaugural novel in spinning a tangled web of both foreign and domestic bureaucratic
espionage. His plot is riveting and flows smoothly. He has unlimited potential to be a major force in this genre.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the best mysteries I've read recently!
Review: Kurt Corriher has done an excellent job on his first mystery. Couldn't put it down! Very well written. The story really kept moving along right up to the very last page. I look forward to more books from Kurt. I put him right up there with Grisham, Deaver, Patterson, and Baldacci. I agree with others that it would make a great movie.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Two thumbs up! Ten stars!
Review: Someone to Kill is a great thriller. I literally couldn't put it down. The plot moves at a relentless pace, with twists and turns that continually build suspense and seemingly disparate strands that come together beautifully in the end. What's more, the book has characters who are real. Pavlak is masterfully drawn -- complicated, gutsy, sharp, and with a negative streak that breaks the hero mold. Karin is a great contrast -- warm-hearted, non-violent, attractive, and very bright. What a refreshing change to read a thriller that combines action, suspense, and intrigue with lead characters who don't fit stereotypes and who change each other in genuinely human ways.
...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: move aside John Grisham!!!
Review: This is the most refreshing thriller I have read in a while. It is very difficult to put down, and there are surprise twists and turns at every corner. Korriher has a command of the language seldom seen in books of this genre and his characters come to life in an amazing way. If Grisham is starting to get old for you, and you like action-packed stories that are well-researched and take you on a roller coaster ride, this book is for you. It would make an excellent movie!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Fantastic Debut - Expect Great Things from Corriher
Review: This novel was simply excellent. I'm wary at times when so many people give short reviews extolling the virtues of a previously unknown author. However, I liked the premise of the book and decided to give it a try. I'd recommend that you do the same.

The central character of the story, John Pavlak, loses his wife and child in a car bombing at the beginning of the story. He then makes it his life's mission to hunt down those responsible for their deaths. This storyline has been tried before, but Corriher writes with originality and insight that most novels of this type lack. Pavlak's mission takes him from his home to Germany, Crete, and to the highest power circles of international intellegence agencies. During this, the FBI is trying to track him down.

I thought that the character development in this novel was excellent. Pavlak is a likeable, strong, yet imperfect hero. He hates his father, which adds to the personal drama, since he has to ask him for money to fund his quest. Pavlak's relations with the sister of his wife's murdered German friend serve to make him all the more human. Jack the Mercenary is a great character, as are most of the other peripheral players.

I'm quite surprised that this book isn't more popular. It hints of Robert Ludlum and Daniel Silva, two of my favorite authors in this genre. I recommend that you read it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Strongly recommended thriller debut
Review: What could possibly generate more anger and sympathy in a reader's mind than a mother and young child being blown apart by a car bomb. This is just what happens to the ex-wife and daughter of John Pavlak, a small college athletic director and ex- military hero. The question is, why? Pavlak will stop at nothing to discover the truth no matter the cost in dollars or loss of life. As we accompany Pavlak on his search for "someone to kill", we enter into the world of the cold war and its spies. Pavlak must also search for answers in his own family's history including his relationship with his physically abusive father.

Kurt Corriher is a student of the international thriller sub genre. This is quite evidenced by the fact that his first novel is almost a survey of what makes a thriller successful. First of all is a sympathetic hero with a military background who can be realistically expected to step into the role of savior of the universe. John Pavlak easily fits that part. The loss of his ex-wife and young daughter, not only make him a victim, but generates much anger against the villains by, not only Pavlak, but the reader, as well. Pavlak needs a beautiful love interest and Karin, sister of another victim eventually is just that. The scenery must change and with the book comes a free ticket to such widespread places as Germany to Crete. Most important of all, the plot must be plausible, have a certain level of complexity and move like the wind. All of this is successfully accomplished. A problem with this book, albeit a minor one, is the length. Thrillers can be quite lengthy. However, this particular book is a bit too long as the book appears to run out of steam into a somewhat disappointing solution and predictable conclusion. However, there is much promise in this book and it is one that is strongly recommended.


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