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bunrab's review against another edition
2.0
I don't know whether this one is a substitute writer, or a serious editing failure, but it's quite bad. Punctuation errors and word misusage (affective instead of effective, for example) are obvious, but the bad writing is the real sin. The dialogue is pretty unbelievable in many places, too - since when would a teenager refer to himself as a "dreadful actor"? He'd use 'awful' or 'terrible' but I don't think teenagers have used 'dreadful' in that sense anytime this past 70 years or so.
And 'manikin'? And 'plum nuts' instead of 'plumb'? Didn't anybody copy edit this at ALL?
The bad writing. Some egregious examples:
"'He told me his father's brothels patronized all sorts of men.'" Um, I suspect the men patronized the brothels, not the other way around.
And "The web site for the Cervical Dystonia Center was founded twenty-five years ago by Baroness Graciela Johannesbourgh.' I suspect this one should be that the web site /says/ that the /Center/ was founded twenty-five years ago. We didn't have a web 25 years ago, we had an internet with bulletin boards and email and forums and a few specialized portals, but we didn't have a web and web sites - HTML and things like URLs were invented in 1990, and even once we did have the web, I doubt the founder of the center created her own web site...
And the list of snakes, done in a random odd font, bold and enlarged, totally unnecessarily. And the gratuitous call to Dr. Delaware, Kellerman's husband's series character - not only unnecessary, but unbelievable, since it's a question not even faintly in his area of expertise, and the answers he gives are in totally unprofessional terms.
I could go on, but you get the idea.
And 'manikin'? And 'plum nuts' instead of 'plumb'? Didn't anybody copy edit this at ALL?
The bad writing. Some egregious examples:
"'He told me his father's brothels patronized all sorts of men.'" Um, I suspect the men patronized the brothels, not the other way around.
And "The web site for the Cervical Dystonia Center was founded twenty-five years ago by Baroness Graciela Johannesbourgh.' I suspect this one should be that the web site /says/ that the /Center/ was founded twenty-five years ago. We didn't have a web 25 years ago, we had an internet with bulletin boards and email and forums and a few specialized portals, but we didn't have a web and web sites - HTML and things like URLs were invented in 1990, and even once we did have the web, I doubt the founder of the center created her own web site...
And the list of snakes, done in a random odd font, bold and enlarged, totally unnecessarily. And the gratuitous call to Dr. Delaware, Kellerman's husband's series character - not only unnecessary, but unbelievable, since it's a question not even faintly in his area of expertise, and the answers he gives are in totally unprofessional terms.
I could go on, but you get the idea.
jimmacsyr's review against another edition
3.0
Enjoyable read (or in my case, listen). Nice continuation of the series, no real surprises.
retiredlibrarylady's review against another edition
4.0
I have loved the Decker/Lazarus series, and my main complaint is that in the last several there is less and less of Lazarus. The victim is a recluse with some very kinky tastes. I found it highly improbable that he could have 4 different apartments connected in secret ways, with wild animals, even with the connivence of the building manager, without more notice from other tenants. It still works as a police procedural and there is the added interest of the family dynamic.
derekerb's review against another edition
4.0
I have read every book in the series over the many, many years.
These characters are like family. It's the police characters that are the most interesting for me ...
I can't wait until the next one!
These characters are like family. It's the police characters that are the most interesting for me ...
I can't wait until the next one!
heathersbike's review against another edition
4.0
Forgotten how much I liked these books. Going back and picking up on the ones I missed.
skiracechick's review against another edition
3.0
3 1/2 stars. Pretty entertaining, but not to the level where you can't stop reading. I guess the next book I'll read by this author will be the First one in the series. Whoopsies.
felinity's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
I liked this more than the last book with Gabe and Yasmine, but it does seem that all the characters have fallen into a bit of a rut. Rina is relegated to the background, Peter is continuing as always (but starting to think about a change) and Marge and Scott's partnership just keeps going. Even Donatti seemed a bit 2-dimensional.
That said, the interactions with Gabe were very interesting, and somewhat alarmingly I discovered myself firmly on the "adult" side of the conversations, even though I clearly remember the traumas of being a teenager myself. In many ways, Gabe was still the focus of the book despite the mysterious recluse-with-tiger issue.
I liked this more than the last book with Gabe and Yasmine, but it does seem that all the characters have fallen into a bit of a rut. Rina is relegated to the background, Peter is continuing as always (but starting to think about a change) and Marge and Scott's partnership just keeps going. Even Donatti seemed a bit 2-dimensional.
That said, the interactions with Gabe were very interesting, and somewhat alarmingly I discovered myself firmly on the "adult" side of the conversations, even though I clearly remember the traumas of being a teenager myself. In many ways, Gabe was still the focus of the book despite the mysterious recluse-with-tiger issue.
cj_mo_2222's review against another edition
4.0
Good book, but I miss the days when Rina was more involved in the cases Peter was investigating. Developments at the end of the story could be setting up some interesting situations in future books.
yapha's review against another edition
4.0
Excellent continuation of the series, with a couple nice twists! I feel like the series might be winding down, though, and I really hope it doesn't!