Download And Enjoy Fatal Depicted By John Lescroart Available In Interactive EBook

think I've read almost every Dismas Hardy book John Lescroat has written and most of his other series books as well And I found them uniformly good So I was thrilled to get this stand alone book from netgalley The plot concerns a married woman who acts on an attraction to a married man she meets at a dinner party Her best friend Beth is a police detective who tries to talk her out of acting on her fantasy to no avail Given the premise I had trouble liking Kate the married woman in uestion I never felt like her strong attraction to Peter was ever sufficiently explained so it just seemed so odd that she decided to cheat It's also not adeuately explained why Peter goes off the rails after this one encounter and upends his life From a single encounter to leaving the wife kids and screwing everything in sight I just didn't get it It's not until ⅓ of the way in after a terrorist attack and Peter is killed does the book start to come alive It's a big old messy case for Beth with either no suspects or hundreds I like that it's not nice and neat Or that Beths life isn't nice and neat The novel moves along at a good clip once Peter is murdered Beth is a good character and I would be interested in seeing her show up in her own series This was a decent mystery Yes you have a pretty good idea where it's heading but that doesn't make it any less of a page turner My thanks to netgalley and Atria Books for an advance copy of this book I have to admit FATAL felt like a mishmash of a few too many ideas crammed in to one novel It all starts with an in your face bold betrayal of marriage vows followed by a random terrorist attack that eventually morphs in to a predictable murder investigation I get the message the author was trying to send actions can have severe conseuences but there was something about it all that wasn't cohesive enough for meFrom the opening of the story I expected this to be a wild ride We meet Kate a woman determined to get her man or one carefree romp with him at least She initially meets Peter at a dinner party with some mutual friends and shes relentless in tracking him down The only problem theyre both married That doesnt stop her from scheming though Its actually uite shocking how aggressive her seduction is Peter had absolutely no idea what the heck he was walking in to Thats not to say he failed to participate Peter and Kate kind of end things on a “see you around” note with no plans to ever relive the experience but something in him sort of snaps He realizes he isnt happy in his life any and goes wild or so were told I think it was a mistake that the author chose not to give us of his unraveling first handSkip ahead six months Kate and her best friend Beth are recovering from a terrorist attack they both barely managed to survive and Peters body has washed up on a beach with a bullet hole This is where Beth takes over the storyline Shes one of the lead investigators set to track down the person responsible for Peter feeding the fish I have to say Beth was my favorite part of the entire story Is it possible we might get another book with her character The witty and sarcastic banter she shared with her partner and her beau was pure gold Have I mentioned Im

a complete sucker for great banterOnce the investigation began I felt like I knew exactly where the story was headed The whodunit wasnt a surprise by any stretch of the imagination even amongst the thick San Francisco fog it could be seen from a mile away Thats not to say this was horrible or even unenjoyable it just wasnt everything I hoped it would be especially after that shocking opening Sad to say but been there done that many times over already THANK YOU to Atria and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive That time honored line from Sir Walter Scott's Marmion kept running through my head as I read this book a terrific standalone from the author of the popular Dismas Hardy seriesThe story revolves around three married couples Kate and Ron Peter and Jill and Bina and Geoff The first two didn't know each other until they meet at a dinner party at the home of the third But just one meeting was all it took for Kate to become obsessed with Peter leading to a one time tryst Kate gets what she wants and tries to move on with her life which includes occasional long walks near San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge with her old friend and police detective BethBut Kate's life certainly isn't all roses and clover she and Ron have kids to deal with he's having a rough patch at the law firm with his partner Geoff and Kate continues to wrestle a bit with her dalliance Peter and Jill have sons with attitude problems thankfully Peter has longtime legal secretary Theresa's shoulder to cry on Beth is trying to manage her hectic life on the force without alienating her daughter Ginny as a result of one investigation she takes a young victim under her wing who then becomes fast friends with Ginny who has a good looking unmarried brother Andy no surprise where that last one is going but it's interesting to see how it gets thereGradually what's going on in the lives of all these players is revealed clearly all of them are dealing with issues of some kind Character development is a strength here with layers of backgrounds and feelings peeled back as the story moves along amid plenty of action twists and turns I might add Did I figure out whodunit Well yes and no and I'll leave it at that In conclusion I'll note that the advance copy I received in exchange for an honest review includes a political joke that I suspect may be deleted from the post election published version If it is that's too bad because it was doggone funny to me but if it's left in it's likely to trigger a Twitter rant from the other side Inuiring minds would love to know While I'm a big fan of John Lescroart's Dismas HardyAbe Glitzky series this stand alone didn't do very much for me The book and I got off on the wrong foot right from the start when the main protagonist did something incredibly stupid just for the sake of setting the plot into motion and once that happened I simply couldn't generate much sympathy for her or much enthusiasm for the plotKate Jameson is in her mid forties happily married to a great guy with two children and a generally wonderful life in San Francisco At a dinner party she meets a man named Peter Ash who like Kate's husband is a lawyer Kate feels an immediate attraction to Peter which she confesses to her best friend Beth Tully an SFPD homicide detective Beth like any other rational person the reader included understands that it would be extremely foolish for Kate to even think about getting involved with Peter Ash the conseuences could be devastating and might destroy her virtually perfect lifeKate naturally agrees with this logic right up until the point where she doesn't She lures Ash into an encounter at a hotel where the two of them have a mind blowing sexual experience even though Ash also realizes that this is a Really Stupid Thing To Do Kate insists that this is a one time only experience and good luck with that idea Inevitably of course the dominos begin to fall a homicide will occur the case will be assigned to Beth Tully any number of lives will be destroyed and the world will never be the same againI understand that normally intelligent people do really dumb things all the time especially in the sexual arena But the problem here at least for me is that the author gives us no good reason why either Kate Jameson or Peter Ash should do such a thing If either or both were unhappy in their marriages their actions would make sense But Lescroart sets them up in a nearly perfect world where both of them appear to be leading about the best lives anyone could possibly imagine Again I just couldn't buy into the premise that either one of them let alone both of them would so casually jeopardize the lives they had worked so hard to build up to that point I'll look forward with a great deal of enthusiasm to the next HardyGlitzky novel but I certainly don't need to meet these characters again This book felt like a made for TV movie it was okay but it could have been a lot better The story itself was good but at times the book was a bit dull Fatal by John Lescroart is aAtria publication I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review Any fan of John Lescroart should be aware this is not a Dismas mystery In fact this stand alone novel is a completely off the beaten path from Dismas which is a good thing in my opinion I love to see an author step out away from the security of their trademark series and write something that might be a little outside of their comfort zone without hiding behind a pseudonym Having said that I have mixed feeling about this one Kate has a solid marriage and a life many would envy but she decides pretty much out of the blue to blow all that up by pursing a man she met at a dinner party Naturally despite her having gotten it all out her system there are conseuences and things spiral out of control in ways she could never have thought possible If you didnt learn your lesson about the conseuences of adultery from Presumed Innocent or Fatal Attraction then maybe you should read this book in order to refresh your memory or to drive the point home once and for all This twisty story is not only a crime story but a cautionary tale reminding us of how selfish adultery is how it touches so many lives from spouses children friendships and careers employees you name it Lives literally blow up and its never pretty But when a murder takes place the suspects are many the secrets explosive and no one will walk away unscathed This is a nice effort by Lescroart but it felt a little heavy handed because the obvious message was driven home so hard it was like being hit over the head with it The characters actions and the dialogue are often stilted or unconvincing and the plot needed a balance check a time or two For those who need a character to like or cheer for be forewarned you wont find one here with Beth being the possible exception at least in my opinionThe ending is unsettling but also a little disappointing and while we know how everything ended up the conclusion left a bitter taste in my mouth However the story is interesting enough that I kept turning the pages and I never guessed how things went down or whodunit but for me this is just an okay read not bad just a little tepid and nothing here has stirred me or left me thinking about the book for too long after completionSo Ill go with the take it or leave it middle of the road ratingIt starts with thoughts of having an affairThen it becomes having an affairAnd the affair ends badlyEverything in between those lines above is written by one of the Masters of psychological thrillers Mr Lescroart does it again with his latest release “Fatal” only the third standalone novel he has written outside of his series books I have now readof his novels so yes I am a fanThis book starts out strong and doesnt let up There are many connections between the characters in this book including old friendships new friendships friends surviving a terrorist attack and other links that put Beth a homicide detective in a very awkward situation Included in the mix is her detective partners young daughters health problem which leads to breakdowns in their communicationI like that we are given subtle clues early on regarding who probably committed one of the major crimes in the novel Any element of certainty unravels steadily and if I were on a jury trying the case I would be hard pressed to make it past reasonable doubt There are as many suspects as there are reasons or motives or opportunities to have committed the crimeTo add to the complexity there isnt and never will be a trial here because people who might be able to help with solving this continue to turn up dead Murder Suicide Nothing is clear cut except for a little red beam that keeps shining on the Probably Person Yet how when and why have to be determined and there are people doing their best to ensure those uestions dont get answeredI enjoyed this book a lot Yes it is an entertaining crime story but as always with Mr Lescroarts books there are other elements to his novels that make one think and empathize and get in touch with ideas that may not have occurred to us beforeAnd so I continue to be a fan.