It's a good story, nice plot and flows well but falls ...
595933
Some say that Cage stank in this movie... I think it is more a director issue, and writing. It's a good story, nice plot and flows well but falls short in places. Again, bad director, bad writers, good camera work, but actors seem rigid due to directional request...
4028366
I didn't mind this book. It was an enjoyable read. It is not full of action but the plot is nicely woven throughout the book with a good flow until nearly at the end. This is what killed it for a higher rating from me. The end was very rushed and inconclusive. It is finished more like a novella that continues with the next book (I hope).

I was also very surprised at the mistakes especially with the punctuation in a book that is represented. Maybe I bought one from a bad batch with a movie cover.
2076713
A good Terry Brooks story however it is becoming cliche with the plot devices. there are a number of moments that are very deus ex machina and others that make the character stupid for no reason. Example a character gets a item that could very well be a bad thing and then just blindly uses it to try and do good with no grounds that it will do so but could have easily taken 5min to research but skips it for sake of time when nothing was time sensitive. Its this type of thing that holds me back from 5 stars and I am being generous cause I just love Terry Brooks Shanarra.
4222315
It's a good book with a good plot but there were a lot of spelling errors that should've been looked at before the stories were posted
1910870
I always enjoy a good murder mystery, and I am also on the lookout for books with gay characters. So I was quite happy when I found the first book by this author, "Untouchable." I enjoyed the characters and plot, so I ordered his second book, "Confessional." I enjoy the story, but there really are two areas where this author needs to improve. First of all is editing and grammar. There are a number of errors, but the most noticeable is the consistent misuse of the verb "sat." For example: "He was sat at his desk." No, "He sat at his desk." or "He was sitting at his desk." This occurs so frequently it becomes annoying. Another item was an apparent lack of familiarity with the Catholic church and the Anglican church, which is important, as much of the story takes place in a church in England. One of the characters is a recently "inaugurated" woman priest (by the way, priests are not inaugurated, they are ordained). She talks about having difficulty being accepted by some of her parishioners as a woman priest in the Catholic church. The Catholic church does not ordain women priests, so this is a pretty significant error. Another priest in the church is referred to as the Vicar, which sounds very much like it takes place in an Anglican church, which does ordain women priests.
1679896
I enjoyed the story and the characters. I hope the author will find an editor who will help cut out the unnecessary words, which are just space fillers, and make the writing leaner and more impactful. If the writing was as good as the plot, this would have earned double the two stars I gave it.
232148
It was a pretty good read. A compelling plot and well developed characters kept me turning the page.  I do wish, however, that the author hadn't emphasized over and over and over again how beautiful and gorgeous the lead gal and guy were.  Seriously, that got old.  Don't care much about their looks.  Pretty sure we can care about their journey together without being hit over the head every other page with descriptions of Lily and Thorpe's unparalleled beauty.  It was just too much...Anyhow, enjoyed the story and may visit another book by this author.
2746299
Good plot, great setting, but...Hero had niece dropped off on him for two weeks,he doesn't even know how old she is (three) and she screams loudly because she doesn't know him, he doesn't know what to do, how to talk so he hires a nanny the one who happens to be in the office he stormed in and then he "forgets" his niece and leaves her in the waiting room while talking to the boss of the agency.  The nanny calms the child and since she isn't screaming anymore Hero wants her.  The boss and the nanny, ok good, two weeks, sounds good, story moves along, good story, good writing, little conflict, not too much just enough to get interesting, then BAM story over I love you-I love you too?  What? No closure, no figuring out how, just done?  It needed a little more getting to the HEA and an epilogue, heroine shouldn't have had to completely change her whole persona and not get to change back a little.  Yes growing up is hard, but her change is 180 degrees you can grow up and take responsibility without totally changing into a drudge.  Book didn't feel finished.
2995194
I liked the story, but it did fall down sometimes.

SPOILERS!

 one of the characters is picked up by his 'member' and tossed off a ledge, all 200+ pounds of him.  I don't care if it is a ghost, that's impossible.  'Something' will break or tear away, because it's not made of bone or steel, no matter what you might have heard.
 there is a mention of many voices being heard in the house and the 'ledge'-guy shows up as a ghost, but there is no explanation of who the other voices are or why they can't move on.

Otherwise it's entertaining and the ending makes me want to read the next book.
1324745
Other reviewers have described the qualities of this book well; it is emotionally gripping, written in a pleasing, readable style, and the subject of Afghanistan is, as the narrator himself says, of great interest today.  However, the story rather loses steam as Amir leaves Afghanistan, and the final conclusion seems hurried.  Moreover, the author exploits parallelism too far, and rather than using this technique to create a satisfying plot, the technique itself is obvious to the reader. (While Sohrab's revenge struck me as too neat a plot twist, Amir's split lip just left me groaning.)

The story is good, but suffered a bit from the writing, which I believe will prevent it from becoming great literature.  Basically, the slightly artificial plot is just waiting for a Hollywood screenwriter.
1284285
Author creates a wonderful plot and inspiring characters. This book kept me reading and was interesting until like the two before it just ended. I read all 3 because I kept hoping I would find closure for the others. Once again I am disappointed. The author truly has a gift for storytelling and creating characters with depth and humanity but needs to find a better way of concluding her excellent stories. Unfortunately I am done and will not be reading the last book in series as there are lots of good books with strong finishes that won't leave me aggravated instead of uplifted.
1329026
The story line is good, and innovative in an overwritten genre.  The characters are well rounded, the writing is good and the plot is steady moving and intriguing.  My only issue with the book is that some of the story line seems frenetic and disjointed.  I felt she could have taken a bit more time to develop the events and story with more details leading up to some of the twists and turns.  A story like this really would do well with a longer, more in depth book.
4212681
(3.5 stars)  Don't analyze the plot or the characters' actions very carefully because that doesn't hold up well.  Just appreciate the interaction between Adam Baswich, Duke of Greaves, and Sophia White, unacknowledged and illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Hennessy and employee of the Tantalus Club for gentlemen.  As a romance, this is very satisfactory.

The plot itself has been done many a time before:  How can a duke find happiness with an illegitimate, scandalous woman?  There are also some familiar stock characters often found in HRs:  snobbish upper-class folks, hearts-of-gold servants, a duke with daddy issues, the sister from hell, exemplary "fallen" women, etc.

It's a house party story, with the party intended for the duke to choose a wife from the eligible women invited.  But the party starts with only the heroine, hero and his sister in attendance, to be joined later by the rest of the attendees.  Sophia has been invited because her best friend Camille and Camille's husband (from&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Taming-an-Impossible-Rogue/dp/0312534523/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Taming an Impossible Rogue</a>) will be there.  However, the collapse of a bridge causes a delay in all guests' arrival (except Sophia).

That gives Adam and Sophia lots of time to get to know each other (in all senses of the word).  Once the other guests arrive, of course, issues arise because of Sophia's illegitimacy and scandalous occupation.  Therein lies the conflict.  Adam has to come to terms with his daddy issues and also to realize that love is more important than reputation and what other people think.

BTW, as I mentioned before, don't expect the characters to behave the way you assume people would in the 1800s.  For example, Sophia is much too chummy with the help.  Nothing wrong with being friendly, but I do believe the maids et al should have addressed her as "Miss Sophia", not "Sophia".  They were waiting on her, after all, and that's an implicit difference in social hierarchy.  Also the borrowing of clothing was quite unbelievable.  That Sophia could believe these up-to-date, beautiful fashions came from the closets of cook's and maids' relatives made her seem a tad obtuse.

But the romance was very good.
121707
This is mostly an enjoyable read.  Diverting and entertaining, no real surprises in the plotting.  A fairly straightforward mystery with some secret society conspiracy variants.  While not new or unexpected, the story holds the attention and moves along at a good pace.  I would be more generous in my rating, but the author fails to be true to the characters he creates.  His protaganist is a priest.  In the process of defending himself from a murderous attack, the protaganist causes the death of the attacker - and then does not demonstrate any qualms about his actions?  I have known priests who would defend themselves in a similar manner if physically attacked, but they would all feel deeply if their defense of self resulted in the death of the attacker.  This is a notable problem with the author, but he shows potential in his pacing and story development.  I hope that he will fulfill that potential and improve as a novelist.  My primary advice to him is that if he wishes to use a priest as his protaganist he should get to know more priests - and if it is to be a priest in orders, get to know the order as well.  (The orders each have their own character, and tend to attract members who find that character amenable.)

While flawed, this tale is still worth you time.  It is diverting and entertaining.
3694396
This book actually does have a great story and the characters developed nicely through the pages. David and Layla's relationship takes some turns that, were they happening in real life, seem a little farfetched but the author touches on some things momentarily, but doesn't dwell and that made it work anyway.
What's interesting about this plot is that it seems predictable and yet it's not. A was left behind with a mixed feeling and I really needed to think a little about this book before rating it. I liked all these things I have mentioned but it also seemed like a first novel. The writing was fine but it wasn't stellar and flowing all the way.
3746084
I downloaded this as a free book from Amazon. A multi-layered plot and great storytelling keep this well-paced novel moving along. This Romeo-Juliette-esque plot gets a fresh make-over with mature, strong-willed protagonists trying to unwind a devious plot to start a war. Sadly, the story ends abruptly at 90% without resolving some of the major threads.
1600061
If you can get past the occasional Romance novel style, this is a good story, good characters, good plot, good twist. A few cheesy lines and a few lifted from popular culture (live, laugh, love, really!). One more pass by a more serious editor could fix all that, or be a patient reader.