Not Crowell's best effort.
589191
I like Rodney Crowell's music.  I thought his "Houston Kid", "Fate's Right Hand" and "The Outsider" were all very good and interesting records.  They all kept my attention throughout.  On the other hand, "Sex and Gasoline" gets to be a chore trying to listen all the way through it.  Other than the title track, there are no songs which stand out and most of the writing, to me, is banal.  Nothing on "Sex and Gasoline" really hits home the way the three aforementioned CD's do.  If you do not have Crowell's other CD's, I suggest you get them prior to purchasing this one.  The only reason I bought this CD was because: I already have his other music and I wanted to be familiar with these songs when I see him again in a few weeks.  Hardcore Crowell fans might not agree or appreciate this review, but I am not into hero worship and call 'em the way I see 'em.  Of course, your mileage may vary.
1601715
Although I haven't read all of this author's books, the ones I have read were fairly well written and plausible enough. However, this one did not live up to her previous novels. The story line stretched credulity, and the writing was somewhat immature. That being said, I'm not sorry to have read it; I only wish it had been a bit better, and perhaps some of you would find the plot more believable.
918148
Rowell would do well to continue to sharpen her acting skills as her abilities to develop and write an interesting and compelling work of fiction are sorely lacking.  I have read stories by other black authors that were much more sophisticated and showed a better understanding of character and plot development.  Ms. Rowell apparently gained the attention of a publisher because of assumptions that sales would occur based on her presence in TV soap operas.  Well, they were right about that one thing but picking up this "author" demonstrated that they could fare better to invest in some of the unknowns.
3064170
There are some songs I liked on "Undefeated," but overall I found this disc--Bare's first album in four years--disappointing. It doesn't have the energy of either or his last two albums--"A Storm, A Tree, My Mother's Head" (2010) or "Longest Meow" (2006). Nor does it have the personal, stripped-down charm of 2002's "Young Criminals Starvation League." The drums are kept pretty soft and the keyboards are emphasized more than on any other Bare, Jr., album. There's not much of a southern feel to the music, which Bare has employed quite well on previous works. Lyrically, I didn't find anything as kooky or laugh-out-loud funny as "Rock and Roll Halloween" (from "Storm") or "Visit Me in Music City" (from 2004's "End of Your Leash"). That said, I don't know how Bare could've topped his last effort, which I liked a lot. Still, there are some good songs here, especially the ones that deal explicitly with the South, such as the opening track and "Don't Wanna Know." The disc ends on a high note with "Don't Stand at the Stove," a song that might sound better done live, louder, and for a few minutes longer.

As a footnote, there is nothing "Explicit" about this album. I don't know why the tracks are tagged that way.
3389952
Not one of Mr Grisham's best, rather slow moving story line.  I've read all of his novels and this ranks low on the scale.
95802
Miss Caroline Smythe throws herself under the Marquis of Reston's carriage to save a dog from certain death. The dog is saved but in the process, Miss Smythe is knocked unconscious. Damien, Lord Reston, feels a responsibility for the poor wretch that is injured. Unfortunately, his reputation as a rogue has preceded him to this small town. Caroline's reputation is tainted because of their association and she loses the governess job that she had been hoping to fill.  Damien offers Caroline a governess position at his home in Windmere, schooling his sister.
  A Perfect Rogue has a decent storyline. There are several subplots and surprises that help the story along. However, I would have to agree with the previous reviewer who complained of the author's writing style. Several times during the course of dialogue, the author inserted a thought in parenthesis. It is a distracting habit and does not flow very well. It causes one to wonder if the character is saying the thought or thinking it?
I also didn't care for the way great historical figures made cameo appearances in the middle of the book-Prince George, Byron and his wife to name a few. I thought the scenes were a bit contrived and a bit too "Forrest Gump". I also found it doubtful that all those important people would notice a mere chaperone, after all.
  There were too many distracting situations that I was not able to set aside for the sake of the story. It was a so-so read.
1640194
I wanted to like this movie but it never really got off the ground.  Crowe needs to let his hair match his beard, awkward mismatch.
1869285
This movie was a disappointment.  I make that declaration on the strength that Rachel McAdams can NOT be expected to carry an entire film.  I have truly enjoyed her performances in many films and noticed that she has an uncanny ability to allow her authenticity to bleed into a scene.  She actually made the plot of Wedding Crashers feasible and realistic, despite the rampant abuse of shock comedy.  When I saw the previews, I just knew that she was going to bring something palpable through the screen.  I was a bit confused as to the selection of Mr. Tatum as her leading actor, but I just ~knew~ that if she signed onto this project, it was going to be well worth it.  Unfortunately, there was not a healthy balance throughout the movie.  There was no real angst, confusion, or despair that seemed to emanate from Mr. Tatum.  It felt as if McAdams was performing opposite a really bad intern.  Furthermore, there seemed to be little support offered from the people represented in his side of the partnership.  I was not looking for a sequel to "The Notebook", but I was not looking for the prequel to "Magic Mike" either.  Honestly, I would advise you to SAVE your money, and if it is on your cable during a rainy weekend -- perhaps then.
159568
I have to agree with most of the other reviewers here, this was not Randy Wayne White's finest work.  Even his early Randy Striker series, which he admits were not well written, are better reads than this book.

I've been a fan of White for years and have pre-ordered the last dozen books months before release.  Like the other books prior to this, I read this one the first night but, unlike the others, I was left feeling cheated, looking for the real book, characters and stories I had grown to love.  In this work, the characters are cardboard, I can't relate to any of them.  Even Doc Ford and the ever-present Tomlinson.  The writing is polished, it's just that there's not much of a story, a pretty basic description of the action and a lack of suspense found in earlier works.

Here's hoping White makes a comeback.
3213840
For my money, this isn't one of the better Mike Shayne mysteries.  For one thing, despite the bloody corpses, there's not a whole lot of action.  Moreover, this is one of those convoluted plots involving a whole bunch of connected suspects but the twists and turns are simply not interesting.  And, the whole idea that every case has to involve Shayne withholding information from Chief Gentry for no special reason is a tired plot device.  You get a scandal reporter, threatening letters, gambling syndicates, and unhappy couples, but that's about all you get.
3696261
"Pestilence", one of the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse showed up out of nowhere about 5 years ago, randomly riding his horse through towns and cities to indiscriminately spread death with his plague. The world has apparently fallen to ruin with the fall of technology and communication. When Pestilence is expected to ride through Sara's town, she draws the short straw and has to stay behind to make a last ditch effort to kill him (she's a firefighter).  She ends up biting off more than she can chew and Pestilence takes her prisoner, determined to make her suffer for trying to off him.

I didn't mind that Pestilence was cruel and downright abusive towards Sara at first (his actions DID verge into the territory of unforgivable but I ultimately think the author pulled it off - I also happen to like romances where the characters hate each other at first). In fact, I enjoyed the romance here, but I think this book would've been way better if the author had developed the characters and world better.

As it is, this story felt a little too basic and repetitive. The characters travel from town to town and do the same thing over and over again, barely interacting with the world or any other characters. Pestilence felt a little flat as a character; he doesn't seem to have much reason for his judgmental perspective and hatred of mankind. Sara was also a little too Mary Sue, at times. The ending, while not a cliffhanger, was not very satisfying IMO. I guess you have to read the next ones to figure out just who Pestilence and his brothers really are and where they came from...

The author presents Pestilence and the other four horsemen as being actual messengers of God, but she didn't bother to develop a mythology or their origins or anything beyond that. Pestilence is here to kill mankind and states that the Bible and other forms of religion are just creations of man but that's it (as in Pestilence and his 3 bros came in the form of the four horsemen because that's the only way humans would understand what they were, I guess). This kind of felt like a cop out on the author's part. I don't know if it was because she didn't want to get into religion or is planning on developing this later on but this lack of development combined with the lack of world development in the rest of this story made it all feel a little too stripped down and flat.

Ultimately, I liked this story and think it's worth reading if you're looking for a romance where the main characters hate each other at first, just don't expect an epic adventure.
4808245
I have bought and read several of Evan Currie's books. I have found them to be well written, interesting story line, with good characters. These don't apply as well to King of Thieves. The pace of the story seemed caught in quicksand by the middle of the book. The characters were not as well developed as in previous books. Frankly, I was glad it finally ended. Not Evan Currie's best effort to be sure. Read his other books, which were quite good, and skip this one.
316127
Compared to previous works from Brown, this was not nearly the page turner his other books were. Maybe he should try out some new themes with Langdon at the center.
4892553
This was not John Grisham's finest novel. Mildly entertaining, I continued reading the book while being frustrated at the lack of depth & intrigue to the plot lines. The final 75-100 pages finished the novel well. However, this novel does not crack the top 10 for Grisham.
95419
I love Morrell's work. This one starts out good but by about 1/3 of the way through it becomes very unbelievable. Not in the way that most of his novels become unbelievable. The dialogue was a mess. There were way too many instances of characters finishing each others' sentences. I know it was done to show parallels but it got annoying fast. Entire paragraphs were repeated, again there was a reason, but it was still bothersome.

The constant extreme emotion of Savage bothered me too.

It was an ok read. Nowhere near the caliber of First Blood or Creepers. More like Double Image or The Shimmer.
4154325
Professor Ray Atlee and his brother Forrest are summoned back to their father's home.  Their father is the imposing Judge Reuben Atlee and he's dying.  Ray arrives to find the judge dead and to find several million dollars in cash.  Should Ray share the money with his drug-abusing brother?  Should Ray keep the money?  Who knows the money is there and what are they willing to do to get their hands on it?

Unfortunately, finding the answers to these questions requires reading the book.  And the book is not worth reading.  While Grisham once again writes a highly readable, southern inflected legal drama, this one lacks enough plot to justify its 200 and some pages.  Simply stated, very little happens and what does happen is belabored and not entirely convincing.  It reads, quite frankly, like Grisham is fulfilling a legal obligation to produce a novel.

It may be worth noting that this book contains some connections to other Grisham novels, including A Time to Kill.
2797184
I've read every one of the JBL Dave Robicheaux novels. This one must have been written by one of his interns. It certainly didn't measure up to his earlier efforts. This might have made a good short story - it's overly long. If you cut out the almost constant introspection by both Robicheaux and Clete it might be readable.