A Good But Not Great Read
345120
After seeing this book was #2 on the NYT bestseller's list, I read the jacket and dove in. The book starts extremely well with a modern and interesting narrative. The flashback scenes are well done and at no time lose the reader.

About 2/3's of the way into the book, the characters become well defined and start to gain a mild complexity. Unfortunately that is where the development stops. In an attempt to create a dramatic ending the book takes on a sit com like aspect. The characters become one dimensional, the story line predictable and you feel the author racing to create a tidy ending.

If the author had further developed the auxiliary characters and ending, it could of been on par with similar books in this genre like "The Bridges of Madison County".
4824908
It is a good book but not a great read. I have begun book 2 and it appears to be better. Both books have a tremendous amount of characters which makes it a bit confusing. The history in both books seems to be very accurate and that makes both books worhwhile.
323957
Donna Tartt's new book "The Goldfinch" was an enjoyable read, but not a great one. It certainly kept me reading however in some places it seemed to drag on, eg Boris's adventures became very tedious and unbelievable at times. I also felt that Tartt overdid the descriptions, every little thing was described to the "nth" degree, a bit of editing wouldn't have gone astray.
I really couldn't warm to any of the characters. While I had sympathy for the main character, I kept hoping he would take himself in hand and stop wallowing in self pity.
2411906
The story of 3 sisters and the tragedy that comes to the family. The death of one sister affects the whole family and those around them. The story unravels the reasons behind the death. I enjoyed the book, but found the change in point of view part way through the book a little jarring. I liked the sisters point of view the best. Overall, a good, but not great read.
919737
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review. I have to be honest it wasn't the best read. There were moments that made me think it was going to be an epic read and then it just fell flat. Still a good read, just nothing spectacular.
3084936
I enjoyed this book.  That said, it was a bit of a dry read.
2457776
It was an interesting read but not a great one.  While the author is a decent writer, there were parts that could have used a LOT of judicious editing.  This is book I'm glad I read but not one I would ever read a second time.
2107607
This was neither the best nor the worst book I've ever read. I found parts of it very disturbing to read, particularly at the beginning. However, McKinty does an excellent job putting the reader inside the villain's head. I was reminded of Ted Dekker several times throughout.

Overall, the book doesn't flow very well. The point of view switches characters often, sometimes in mid-paragraph, making it somewhat difficult to keep up with. That being said, the story was an interesting read. While it does involve a killer and a school with a "supercontrolled environment," the publisher's summary really has nothing to do with the plot of the book. There was an anti-religion undertone to the novel that also had nothing to do with the story line itself, and I often found my questioning why it was there.

I give it 3 out of 5 stars, and believe teenage boys would probably enjoy it more than I did - as well as horror/suspense/mystery aficionados.
2953227
Not a mesmerizing book but a good read none the less. The characters are interesting but the switching from plot line to plot line is distracting and could be done in a more seamless fashion. A fair read to pass time.
1081230
The story kept me interested, but it wasn't one of those stories that you have to keep reading. This is just an average read.
3687980
I would say that this book is good but far from great. The kindle version had some spelling errors in it, but since we're getting it for free I can't complain too much. They're was a lot of foreshadowing that went on in the book making it fairly predictable. However, having the view points of several people every other chapter or so was enjoyable. I look forward to reading the rest of the series.
2043629
This book was not as good a read as I had hoped. It is well written but not exactly what I had anticipated.
2242641
Good but not great. There were some very predictable parts that didn't make it a great book. Author is great and I wish she would have made it a little more shocking in the end. Hoping "Probability" will be great.
3998657
this book is quite good, but it has some fluff in it that isn't extremely important to the storyline.
3778417
This was a good book but not a great one.  It was well written but I found the religious aspects which became more predominant as the book progressed rather annoying.  Religious readers may, however, really like this.  Historically and culturally it was extremely interesting (before and during the American Civil war).  Presumably, it gave a reasonably accurate account of life at that time, including life as a Southerner trying to make money out of growing cotton and the forces for and against success.
393633
The Call of the Mountain was a good, not great read. While the mechanics of the story were fine, I felt that the author missed a chance to enhance the feel of the area a bit more, go a bit deeper than some of the surface descriptions that those who have lived there will go, Yeah, thats right, but those who haven't probably won't get a true feel of the place. That doesnt mean there weren't some nice touches, the being out of breath, the increased appetite, and the ease with which lowlanders can get drunk at altitude. Ive lived in Boulder and been to the real places in the story. More would have made this book standout better. Julian was drawn a bit denser than I thought he should or could have been. He was slow on the uptake to what was going on which irked me a bit. But the Rambo cop at the end just didn't feel right. Nor did the add on chapters after the climax. If he felt he had to wrap things up a bit more, I feel there should have been a stronger lead into those issues and resolutions. It felt like a mild hint there might be a follow-up novel. While I can still give this book a middle-grade 4, Im not sure Id sit through another Julian adventure.
1094581
This is not a bad read, nor is it an exciting read. You'd think, from the cover and description, it would be chock full of adventure, romance and intrigue, but it isn't chock full of anything. A rather mundane, slow paced and confusing mix of incidents that don't quite mesh, The Librarian and the Spy is very ordinary and not very exhilarating.

That said, Ms. Mann has the talent and her characters are interesting, though underdeveloped. With better plot development she should come up to scratch. I will read more of her work, hoping for a better outcome.