Interesting idea, but plots were too much of a stretch
591376
I generally am pretty forgiving of SciFi series, but this one... while based on an interesting premise was too prone to do the 'Star Trek thing' send in the top brass to dangerous situations with no back-up and never the right equipment.  I found that simply too visible a fault to enjoy the shows.
1545097
Seeing that this was a book about a couple that go on a cruise where some bad things happen, I thought I should give it a look.  Who doesn't like books about the things that happen, right or wrong on cruise ships?  It was an interesting concept, but the author ended up coloring outside the lines more than just a little bit.  Were he to stick with the plot and maybe beef up some areas where things were a bit slim, it would have been an OK read.  But the conspiracy theory stuff that was brought in did little to advance the plot.  And the same can be said for the more blatant spiritualism references.  At times, my eyes glazed over and I ended up skimming through the next few pages until that particular God, No-God debate ended.  The spiritualism was a bigger turn off than the conspiracy theory stuff.  The plot was a bit twisted, but you figure it out in the end.  On a rainy Sunday afternoon, it might keep you entertained for a few hours.
3809845
I would have liked to have liked this book. The basic idea--a silent movie comedian who has vanished, but kept making films--is intriguing. And it comes fairly close to working, at least for the first half of the book. The last half doesn't work, however. It requires us to believe some of the characters would act in inexplicable ways and it asks us to accept a much too fortuitous timing of events. I can't imagine, for instance, that the protagonist would go back to Vermont and leave his new-found love to join him later. I can't believe that the wife of the vanished comedian is as nuts as she must be to do what she does. Of course Auster is a good writer. There's plenty of evidence for that in his other books. But I don't think he really thought this one through sufficiently. Not recommended.
3508962
When Terry Sheffield moves from England to a town outside of San Francisco he lands at the airport with the expectation that his wife Sarah, whom he married in Vegas after a whirlwind courtship, would meet him. No Sarah. He takes a cab to their home and still no Sarah.

As Terry traverses another culture he hunts for Sarah with a quirky acquaintance turned friend named Oscar Meyer. Terry, a scientist,  also starts his job at Genevax where something seems very wrong. With the help of Oscar and the town's Sheriff, takes a journey to find his wife.

The book had promise. The plot is interesting, the premise intriguing, but the book fails to live up to the promise. The two main characters Terry and Oscar are likeable, but come off as caricatures rather than fully fleshed characters. If you read a lot of mysteries you pretty much know what the outcome is going to be in terms of the bad guys. The author tried to throw in a few curve balls, but they did't work for me.

I'd like to try another book by this author in hope that some of his other books live up to the promise of a good mystery with a decent plot and fleshed out characters!
4237525
The main disturbing part of this book, is its uncanny parallel to another that takes place at St Patrick's Cathedral (I'd wager a book by James Patterson, but maybe my brain has too much tunnel vision).  Anyhow 'Cathedral' was mostly good, but dragged on with a plot that exceeded real-time changes.  The author was more than fair in who lived and died, but he really, really stretched the credibility factor for some of the mystery characters.  One, in particular, was introduced to the story in a good manner, but then this Brit takes on mythical capabilities.
4867146
This one was just okay for me. The idea behind the plot was good, but it covered only a couple of days and most of it was filled with long political descriptions and dialogue. There wasn't enough action to support all those slower passages. The book did advance the overall storyline, and further developed several of the characters (while adding more), but it wasn't enough to overcome the "bogginess" of it. Hopefully the next one will be better.
1221025
This story started well. It had a lot of potential, and it had an interesting, and unusual theme. But after a while I felt that it went in the wrong direction and took on way too much. Going after some law breakers would have made for a far stronger story than trying to tackle terrorists, let alone major terrorist planned assassinations.  Because of this the story lost all credibility, which is a shame because it could have, and should have been very good.
676111
Interesting premise, but the quality of the writing is just too much to wade through.
664932
This book was based on a good concept--almost 1984-ish, but the writing got bogged down too often in what seemed to be off-the-wall "technicese" dissertations much too frequently. There was some good character development, but there was also a lot of bouncing back and forth between point of view. I had trouble finishing the book.
2222635
I really liked the premise of this book, but the execution of it left much to be desired.
4231748
This was an intriguing idea, an interesting plot, and mostly likeable characters. It was a quick, entertaining read. That said, the plot and the description of what was going on and how the map reading worked (and what Nix did vs what her father did, at least in the beginning) was sometimes a bit convoluted. Also, I object to people taking the Lord's name in vain, and the author does this multiple times.
2189434
While the premise was good, I wound up skimming in a lot of places. The author need to show more than tell, and there needs to be more dialogue. Insta-love as well as lust. There were too many unbelievable factors, such as the bestie the MC initially makes winds up being the other prince's choice, and they both get pregnant the first night, and they both get abducted. Parts were silly with over-dramatic dialogue. The MC omega cries too much--even sobbing on occasion. Repeated information and no real sub-plot to speak of other than the rebel alien thing, which would have been unraveled into a decent plot if the author had taken the time to make a more realistic, interesting plot. This was more of a soap-opera-ish sex story than anything else.
1347869
This book has an excellent premise-- aliens (with a very hard to understand, and therefore suspicious) motive, grant humans access to a number of new habitable worlds.  And these world were, in fact, formerly occupied by several "Elder Cultures," who have technology well beyond human achievement and, in fact, human understanding -- and some of that technology can in effect infect human minds.

Good setup.

The book, however, then moves to a multi-world murder mystery which mixes basically human motivations (greed being one) with inhuman events to produce a bit of a mashup -- which is emphasized by the inter-cut time-shifting in some of the chapters (or so I thought).

Overall a good effort, but because the author bit off more than he could comfortably chew, it was hard to swallow.  I did have the disadvantage of reading this book over an extended period of time -- which is not conducive to being fully immersed in the author's world -- but the themes/ideas seemed a bit unresolved at the end (although this may have been part of the new trend of writing serial books).

Good.  Not great.  I'd try the author again, however, because such excellent ideas are hard to find.
3342069
Enticing, with interesting twists that kept me avidly reading and guessing up to the end.  But I don't give it more than three stars because I agree with other reviewers that you have to suspend reality a lot to read this book.  The investigating police officer and even Chris's husband were violating law enforcement ethics and possibly jeopardizing the case when it comes to trial by allowing Chris access to crime scenes and sharing case information with her.  Also I thought Chris lowered her own ethical and moral standards in this book by withholding information because the daughter asked her to do so.  And why was Chris so gullible that she would travel all over the country with someone that she barely knew?  The basic premise of these Chris Bennett Brooks stories is getting worn out - she isn't the ex-nun, housewife/mother, and part-time teacher any longer.  She's really now a private investigator, so why not remake her into that role?
4021101
This is Rice's strongest book so far, but the plot is too convoluted, which results in the book running too long by about eighty pages. Some of the characters could have been developed better(I found myself going back pages in order to better recall certain characters). And there are just a few plot contrivances too many for my taste - leave that to Charles Dickens. This is beach-reading material, not a must-read book.
2319418
The Traitor has an interesting plot -- A British secret agent is captured by the Nazis and, in a decision some considered to be treason,  acts out of love and strikes a bargain with his captors. The deal is that in return for his wife who is interned in a concentration camp, the agent agrees to lead a clandestine unit of the SS called the British Free Corps. However, while the author has created an interesting premise and credible characters, the plot didn't move along at a brisk enough pace and the amount of action was somewhat limited for my taste. Further, Walters got too bogged down in describing the motivations for what seemed like every move and thought of the main character. All in all, I'd rate The Traitor  as "fair." It is not a bad book; it's just not a book I'd recommend that you rush out to read.
2538935
written well enough to finish reading, but plot is a bit too contrived.