MORTAL MEMORY
By Thomas H. Cook
Imagine your father killed your mother and sister, then lay
in wait for your return home to kill you. The only reason
you escaped being murdered is that you were delayed in
returning! This is the premise of this highly entertaining
thriller -- I recommend it, due to the totally shocking surprise
ending.
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You're an average "Joe", just working at a an ordinary career. One day while out in the woods, you come across an airplane crash site -- and as you stumble through the small plane wreckage, you find the two pilots dead as well as a load of money in unmarked bills. There's no record of this crash; you finally conclude it's dirty money from a drug deal...and you can keep the money without being found. Or can you? What ensues from this chance fortune for two average men will stand your hair on end; it's truly a novel that will keep you up all night reading until the last page!
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And a bad desire it truly is for this small-town mayor who becomes sexually obsessed by a 17-year-old girl. Watching his life start to crumble has the feeling of watching a train wreck happening right before your eyes -- but it's the twist ending that will leave you gasping long after the story ends. A great suspense-thriller, without pornographic description, focused more on the emotional impact of lust-gone-wrong.
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This novel has a premise that has been developed before: An innocent man on death row about to be executed, and the news reporter who attempts to save his life by digging until the truth is uncovered. It's an excellent suspense story, rocketing along at a breakneck pace until it crashes head long into a surprise ending.
However, I found the social issue of capital punishment was underscored thousandfold simply by the riveting portrayal of the condemned man's last days, hours, seconds. Truly, Klavan's rendering of a death row inmate's thoughts, feelings and overwhelming helplessness in the face of injustice should make anyone consider their stance on the death penalty.
Overall, this novel has a profound theme well-defined by suspense and superb storytelling skills. The title fits perfectly, because it proves conclusively that fiction is far superior to the real true crime books proliferating the marketplace.
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This is another excellent novel that has an intrepid reporter seeking to save a condemned man on death row, but it has an entirely different theme, deeply disturbing, which has not been recognized by the majority perhaps.
The disturbing aspect is that a journalist CAN be manipulated; awards are given out based on mistakes; sociopathic serial killers are capable of nothing but murder and deception. The talented Katzenbach writes prose that flies, soars with poetic brilliance; I'd read his work, even if the storyline didn't interest me. I love beautiful prose, even if it's describing gutter-life. Kudos for ALL his books!
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Day of Reckoning
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In The Heat Of The Summer
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The Traveler
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This is a short, searing novel with deceptively lean, exacting prose that cuts as sharply as a surgeon's scalpel. Though it is about doomed erotic obsession, Hart has expertly captured the death dance of maddened desire without a single line of pornographic description.
Personally, I have always been fascinated by obsessive love/lovers -- in fiction, that is! (Stalking is far too dangerous in real life to be 'entertainment' fare!) But as a source of fiction, such stories carry the weight of primal sexual instincts -- raw, powerful erotic desire, relentless, ruthless, helpless needs and wants, ego-driven passion fueling ultimate disaster. This serves sometimes as a trigger for being warned of potential romantic situations to avoid, a good theme.
Hart brought these primitive human hungers into focus in this novel -- and left me wondering about a quiet, respected, reserved English gentleman awakened to such fiery intensity, and if perhaps we all might be capable of insatiable lust and dark madness?
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If you ever wanted to pretend you were someone else, somehow escape guilt and remorse or throw off your morals and conventional life, you might like this novel. When a high society lady in the fashion business can't stop mourning the loss of her child, she slowly slides into the life of a beautiful model who has been murdered. Though somewhat alleviating her guilt, this new role takes her into a dangerous man's lair of erotic S&M mastery. Soon, she's at the mercy of his escalating cruelty and descends into his trap.
This novel takes the reader into an artist's deviate behavior which he uses to create stunning art from real-life scenarios -- including murder. But most disturbing, it subtly raises the issue of what might happen if erotic 'games' are taken to an extreme. A good read, and interesting theme.
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Obsession again -- but in this novel it is a ghostly haunting tale with magical elements. A historian doing research into the supernatural/occult encounters a beautiful young woman from the past. His increasing obsession for her begins to take over his life and threatens to destroy his marriage.
If you like the paranormal element, this is an interesting, emotionally evocative read -- rich in detail and history. As for theme, perhaps it is simply 'Be careful when you seek to practice alchemy!'
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