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abaugher's review against another edition
3.0
good female vigilante hero story. probably the first in a series. Doesn't go very deep psychologically, but has some intense scenes that set the stage for the evolution of the protagonist. Will I read more of this series? Meh, maybe, but probably not. I'm looking for more depth right now.
villianess's review against another edition
4.0
Martin's mother Judy Alzheimer and has moved into a nursing home. Because of her condition, Martin is given papers, diaries, and a key. What he finds is that his mother was once the Black Stiletto. He learns of a person to totally different from the mother he knows. When he tries to ask her about it, she doesn't know what he is talking about.
There is one person from her past that would like to avenge the death of his brother. Can Roberto find the real Black Stiletto and finish what his mafia family started so many years ago or will Martin find out enough information to save them all.
A simple mystery with enough action to not get bored, and believable enough to draw you in.
There is one person from her past that would like to avenge the death of his brother. Can Roberto find the real Black Stiletto and finish what his mafia family started so many years ago or will Martin find out enough information to save them all.
A simple mystery with enough action to not get bored, and believable enough to draw you in.
tamdot's review against another edition
4.0
The explosions of an action movie or the “Pow! Bam!” of a comic strip are always exciting, but, for most superhero fans, what really makes a successful hero is the story. Setting aside the science-fiction bent of teens with mutant powers or mad scientists exposed to chemicals, underneath the mask is usually a normal person. What made him (or her) reach for a cape and start prowling city streets at night?
Raymond Benson’s The Black Stiletto offers a case study to answer such questions. Eisenhower’s in the White House, and Judy Cooper escapes an abusive stepfather, only to find herself embroiled in romance, murder, the mafia and vigilantism in New York City.
Her exploits as the Black Stiletto (named for her favorite knife) make her a household name through the 1960s. The police don’t know what to make of her, but, since Judy keeps her identity hidden successfully, they never have a chance to catch her.
When the book opens, Judy’s son, Martin, is going through her belongings at their old home. Stricken with Alzheimer’s disease, Judy is now in a nursing home. Benson skillfully switches from the son’s point of view to Judy’s diary as the reader and Martin uncover his mother’s secrets.
Benson’s previous credits include several James Bond novels and several movie and video game adaptations. His experience writing action sequences works well in The Black Stiletto. Judy’s escapades have more than a note of comic-book/action-movie realism to them, but this works well within the context of the novel.
What doesn’t work so well is the introduction of a third point of view. This one is from Roberto Ranelli, recently out of prison and with a vendetta against the Stiletto. The information in Ranelli’s sections is important and of interest, but the point of view is jarring. It makes sense for Judy’s sections to be written in the first person – we’re reading her diary along with her son. And since Martin is the first character we meet, it is easy to accept his sections in the first person. But when Ranelli is introduced, questions about how readers know what he’s thinking start to interfere with the story. Benson may have been better served to write Martin and Ranelli from a third-person point of view, saving the first person for Judy’s diary.
The point-of-view problem is a small quibble (as is the unnecessary preternatural hearing, grace, etc Judy exhibits from puberty). The Stiletto comes across as a believable vigilante, albeit one in a mask and black leather outfit. Her motivations are straightforward and she has justifications for becoming involved in the crimes detailed in the novel. Yes, she ends up with an almost-cliched job at a boxing ring and some of her back story reads as if Benson worked his way down a checklist of genre tropes, but he uses the cliches and tropes well. The story and Judy’s character remain the most important aspects to The Black Stiletto. And Benson captures the voice of 15-year-old Judy.
Benson’s website announces a second book in the Stiletto series (coming in May 2012). If the first novel is any indication, the second will be an exciting read.
Raymond Benson’s The Black Stiletto offers a case study to answer such questions. Eisenhower’s in the White House, and Judy Cooper escapes an abusive stepfather, only to find herself embroiled in romance, murder, the mafia and vigilantism in New York City.
Her exploits as the Black Stiletto (named for her favorite knife) make her a household name through the 1960s. The police don’t know what to make of her, but, since Judy keeps her identity hidden successfully, they never have a chance to catch her.
When the book opens, Judy’s son, Martin, is going through her belongings at their old home. Stricken with Alzheimer’s disease, Judy is now in a nursing home. Benson skillfully switches from the son’s point of view to Judy’s diary as the reader and Martin uncover his mother’s secrets.
Benson’s previous credits include several James Bond novels and several movie and video game adaptations. His experience writing action sequences works well in The Black Stiletto. Judy’s escapades have more than a note of comic-book/action-movie realism to them, but this works well within the context of the novel.
What doesn’t work so well is the introduction of a third point of view. This one is from Roberto Ranelli, recently out of prison and with a vendetta against the Stiletto. The information in Ranelli’s sections is important and of interest, but the point of view is jarring. It makes sense for Judy’s sections to be written in the first person – we’re reading her diary along with her son. And since Martin is the first character we meet, it is easy to accept his sections in the first person. But when Ranelli is introduced, questions about how readers know what he’s thinking start to interfere with the story. Benson may have been better served to write Martin and Ranelli from a third-person point of view, saving the first person for Judy’s diary.
The point-of-view problem is a small quibble (as is the unnecessary preternatural hearing, grace, etc Judy exhibits from puberty). The Stiletto comes across as a believable vigilante, albeit one in a mask and black leather outfit. Her motivations are straightforward and she has justifications for becoming involved in the crimes detailed in the novel. Yes, she ends up with an almost-cliched job at a boxing ring and some of her back story reads as if Benson worked his way down a checklist of genre tropes, but he uses the cliches and tropes well. The story and Judy’s character remain the most important aspects to The Black Stiletto. And Benson captures the voice of 15-year-old Judy.
Benson’s website announces a second book in the Stiletto series (coming in May 2012). If the first novel is any indication, the second will be an exciting read.
kimcheel's review against another edition
2.0
Clumsy writing, terrible editing, and a long build-up with too quick a resolution.
sassyporcupine's review against another edition
3.0
I found it super annoying that the character writes ha ha! in their diary a lot. Otherwise a decent book.
minnemiska's review against another edition
3.0
The concept of the book is fun and different--son learns his Alzheimer's-ridden mother may have been a vigilante in the late 50s--but the writing is terrible. Seriously terrible. Still provided some good brain candy/beach reading material.
weweresotired's review against another edition
2.0
The Black Stiletto is split between three different points of view: Martin, as he discovers his mother's secret identity; Judy herself, in the form of her written diaries from the 1950s; and Roberto, an elderly mafia member who has a grudge against Judy. Judy's portions were the most engaging, as they made up the bulk of the action of the story. She's a real spitfire, a feminist before most people had any idea what that was all about, and absolutely unafraid to speak her mind. She has a family of her own making in New York, and while most of her New York friends stay as secondary characters, they're still interesting and help provide motivation and understanding for Judy's extraordinary actions. I almost would have preferred the story be focused entirely on Judy, rather than taking side trips back into present-day with Martin and Robert. I preferred hearing her story in her own words, rather than navigating Martin's shock over the revelation, or Roberto's need for revenge.
The Black Stiletto is one of those books that I kept reading even though I felt it had its share of problems. While I enjoyed reading about Judy's exploits during the '50s and '60s, when she engaged in her own form of vigilante justice on the streets of New York City, I felt that the author had a hard time maintaining a consistent voice for her. It alternated between being appropriately girlish (for a young woman keeping a diary) to being almost too technical and clinical-sounding. I managed to suspend my disbelief over several plot points in order to just enjoy the ride. After all, it's a story about a woman in her teens/early 20's who discovers that she has a heightened set of senses and decides to use those for the greater good, taking on thieves, abusers, the Mafia, and Communists. Some suspension of disbelief is a given!
As I mentioned, I had a harder time connecting with the sections focusing on Martin and Roberto. Martin is a mostly unsympathetic character: he has a few moments where he's interesting, but spends the rest of the time being bewildered, or irritated, or unsupportive of his teenage daughter, who appears mostly as a way to connect to the Alzheimers-stricken Judy. Roberto, written in a style that just screams 'tough guy Mafia member' -- think every stereotypical Mob movie ever -- was so forgettable that I kept forgetting what his name was. His role in the story was pretty predictable, although it did tie together Judy's past life with her present.
The book raises many mysteries, but only reveals a few of them, and the last few pages clearly set the stage for a sequel. Being a superhero/crime novel, there is a moderate amount of violence, as well as some sexual content, both consensual and otherwise. Most of this is recounted in Judy's voice, so the violence is often written about in a very clinical manner, due to the way that Judy writes about her own actions, and the sex isn't described in detail, but is still a part of the storyline.
The Black Stiletto is one of those books that I kept reading even though I felt it had its share of problems. While I enjoyed reading about Judy's exploits during the '50s and '60s, when she engaged in her own form of vigilante justice on the streets of New York City, I felt that the author had a hard time maintaining a consistent voice for her. It alternated between being appropriately girlish (for a young woman keeping a diary) to being almost too technical and clinical-sounding. I managed to suspend my disbelief over several plot points in order to just enjoy the ride. After all, it's a story about a woman in her teens/early 20's who discovers that she has a heightened set of senses and decides to use those for the greater good, taking on thieves, abusers, the Mafia, and Communists. Some suspension of disbelief is a given!
As I mentioned, I had a harder time connecting with the sections focusing on Martin and Roberto. Martin is a mostly unsympathetic character: he has a few moments where he's interesting, but spends the rest of the time being bewildered, or irritated, or unsupportive of his teenage daughter, who appears mostly as a way to connect to the Alzheimers-stricken Judy. Roberto, written in a style that just screams 'tough guy Mafia member' -- think every stereotypical Mob movie ever -- was so forgettable that I kept forgetting what his name was. His role in the story was pretty predictable, although it did tie together Judy's past life with her present.
The book raises many mysteries, but only reveals a few of them, and the last few pages clearly set the stage for a sequel. Being a superhero/crime novel, there is a moderate amount of violence, as well as some sexual content, both consensual and otherwise. Most of this is recounted in Judy's voice, so the violence is often written about in a very clinical manner, due to the way that Judy writes about her own actions, and the sex isn't described in detail, but is still a part of the storyline.
apopenhagen's review against another edition
1.0
I really wanted to like this book. The title was interesting, the time period was different. It had a lot going for it, but it just didn't live up to what I wanted it to be.
Judy is a girl growing up in the nineteen-fifties. Her stepfather abuses her, so she runs away and gets a job and trains at a gym and lives with a man who's kind of like a father-figure. She learns karate and starts to date a gangster. He's a "good" gangster, apparently. But when his "family" turns on him and kills him, then they're the bad gangsters and she goes after them and kills a couple of them. I don't quite understand how her boyfriend was a "good" gangster, considering he killed people, but apparently since they were also gangsters, that was okay. I didn't really get the logic there, but okay. When she kills these men, she decides to call herself the Black Stiletto and is now a type of superhero, which is pretty awesome. And come on, the Black Stiletto just sounds awesome, right? (Stiletto, referring to the knife, although it would sound pretty cool if it was stiletto referring to the shoe, too.)
I had no feelings about Roberto or Martin. Neither of them were likeable or memorable in any way. I did like Judy, but the writing of her diary seemed juvenile. And maybe it was supposed to, after all, she was fourteen when she was supposedly writing the book. But it still grated on me a bit.
None of the other characters were particularly memorable, either.
It was still a reasonably decent book, and I didn't hate it, it just wasn't for me.
This book was an ARC from netgalley
Judy is a girl growing up in the nineteen-fifties. Her stepfather abuses her, so she runs away and gets a job and trains at a gym and lives with a man who's kind of like a father-figure. She learns karate and starts to date a gangster. He's a "good" gangster, apparently. But when his "family" turns on him and kills him, then they're the bad gangsters and she goes after them and kills a couple of them. I don't quite understand how her boyfriend was a "good" gangster, considering he killed people, but apparently since they were also gangsters, that was okay. I didn't really get the logic there, but okay. When she kills these men, she decides to call herself the Black Stiletto and is now a type of superhero, which is pretty awesome. And come on, the Black Stiletto just sounds awesome, right? (Stiletto, referring to the knife, although it would sound pretty cool if it was stiletto referring to the shoe, too.)
I had no feelings about Roberto or Martin. Neither of them were likeable or memorable in any way. I did like Judy, but the writing of her diary seemed juvenile. And maybe it was supposed to, after all, she was fourteen when she was supposedly writing the book. But it still grated on me a bit.
None of the other characters were particularly memorable, either.
It was still a reasonably decent book, and I didn't hate it, it just wasn't for me.
This book was an ARC from netgalley
miapboyer's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this book OK. It feels cutesy, Like how I felt about the Pretty Little Liars books. And maybe that's because the voice of the narrator Sounded like a teenage girl but I just didn't feel like I could take this book seriously as a thriller or a mystery. I did like the story line though and I am curious to see what the remaining books in the series could possibly be about because this book felt like it could have been a stand alone.