reviews
Oct 01, 2009
Locked In is the latest Sharon McCone mystery from author, Marcia Muller. This book opens with a bang. Sharon is headed back to the office. When she arrives, she goes to unlock her office door but it is already unlocked. She heads into her office and hears a loud bang, right before she passes out. Sharon wakes up to find herself lying in a hospital bed with her husband by her side. The problem Sharon now faces is that she is trapped inside her body in what is called “locked-in syndrome”. A syndr
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Nov 08, 2010
This book will give you nightmares. It will make you want to put a phone in your coffin. You will want to take out oodles of disability insurance. Because what if ...
San Francisco P.I. Sharon McCone was shot in the head by an intruder in her office. When she groggily regains consciousness, she finds that she cannot move or talk, but she has perfect awareness, just no way to communicate that. Marcia Muller has been writing Sharon McCone stories since 1977, and this book represents a ver More...
San Francisco P.I. Sharon McCone was shot in the head by an intruder in her office. When she groggily regains consciousness, she finds that she cannot move or talk, but she has perfect awareness, just no way to communicate that. Marcia Muller has been writing Sharon McCone stories since 1977, and this book represents a ver More...
Jul 16, 2010
I don't know why this series doesn't get as much press as Sue Grafton's alphabet books. I think Sharon McCone is at least as compelling a character as Kinsey Millhone, and always seemed to me a little more real and realized. Muller started writing the series in 1977 and since then, McCone has morphed from a legal investigator into an early-middle-aged married woman who owns a large PI agency in San Francisco. In the first pages of this book, McCone is shot and ends up a victim of locked-in s
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Dec 21, 2009
Private Detective Sharon McCone is shot outside her agency and her injuries result in "Locked-In" Syndrome, where a patient can see and hear everything going on, but she can't move or communicate except for blinking her eyes. Her agency tries to solve her shooting while she tries to help from her bed.
I have not read any of the other books in this series about this detective, and I believe that could be why I didn't like the story much. There was a large cast of characters More...
I have not read any of the other books in this series about this detective, and I believe that could be why I didn't like the story much. There was a large cast of characters More...
Dec 02, 2009
First Sentence: A typical July night in San Francisco.
That typical July night ends up as anything but when private investigator Sharon McCone returns to her office late one evening, and is shot. But bullet has lodged in her head and left her, not in a coma, but locked-in. She can hear, see and think, but neither talk nor move. Her husband, Hy, and her McCone Investigation team are focused on finding the shooter.
The story definitely starts with a bang. From there, eac More...
That typical July night ends up as anything but when private investigator Sharon McCone returns to her office late one evening, and is shot. But bullet has lodged in her head and left her, not in a coma, but locked-in. She can hear, see and think, but neither talk nor move. Her husband, Hy, and her McCone Investigation team are focused on finding the shooter.
The story definitely starts with a bang. From there, eac More...
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Oct 26, 2009
Locked In, by Marcia Muller, A-minus, narrated by Deanna Hurst, produced by BBC Audio Books America, downloaded from audible.com.
In this book Sharon McCone goes back to the office at night on the deserted wharf to get her cell phone, and surprises someone in the office who shoots her in the head. Sharon enters into “Locked In” syndrome, where she is alert in her mind but totally paralyzed. She has to learn to use her eyes to make contact with her husband and her staff. Everyone be More...
In this book Sharon McCone goes back to the office at night on the deserted wharf to get her cell phone, and surprises someone in the office who shoots her in the head. Sharon enters into “Locked In” syndrome, where she is alert in her mind but totally paralyzed. She has to learn to use her eyes to make contact with her husband and her staff. Everyone be More...
Oct 22, 2009
There is no doubt that Marcia Muller is one of the top mystery writers working today. She has the Grand Masters Award from the Mystery Writers of America plus a host of other honors to prove it. However, her army of readers don't need these affirmations to know that a Muller book is going to intrigue and entertain them.
Best known for stories featuring private investigator Sharon McCone this author suprises us with her latest, Locked In. McCone has been a top favorite since her debut More...
Best known for stories featuring private investigator Sharon McCone this author suprises us with her latest, Locked In. McCone has been a top favorite since her debut More...
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Apr 07, 2010
One of my all-time favorite writers is Marcia Muller and since I voraciously consumed (and got caught up on) all her other books, I anxiously awaited another...for, it seems, a long time. Well, it finally came...and I wasn't disappointed.
Sharon McCone has had her own private detection agancy for quite some time now, and has dealt with self-doubt about continuing it in previous installments. In this book she is forced into another kind of personal testing in which the loyalty and lo More...
Sharon McCone has had her own private detection agancy for quite some time now, and has dealt with self-doubt about continuing it in previous installments. In this book she is forced into another kind of personal testing in which the loyalty and lo More...
Dec 15, 2009
This was my first time reading a book by this author or featuring this private eye and I was not disappointed. Not only was the story suspenseful and a great mystery, but it also appealed to me as a Speech-Language Pathologist. After being shot in the head, Sharon McCone suffered from Locked-In Syndrome, a very rare and misunderstood condition that results in the inability to speak or move while you understand everything going on around you. Individuals with locked-in syndrome can only commun
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Mar 11, 2010
The 27th Sharon McCone mystery finds McCone hospitalized, paralyzed by a gunshot wound to the head, in a "locked-in" state, meaning that she can hear, she can think, but she cannot move or talk. At best, she can respond by blinking - once for "yes", twice for "no".
Her colleagues gather to try to find out who attacked her, delving through old files on the not unreasonable assumption that this was likely related to one of her old cases.
Ordinar More...
Her colleagues gather to try to find out who attacked her, delving through old files on the not unreasonable assumption that this was likely related to one of her old cases.
Ordinar More...
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Nov 10, 2009
With over 30 novels to her credit, Marcia Muller still finds ways to remain fresh with her latest story featuring Sharon McCone, her mysterious husband and the whole crew from her PI firm on Pier 24 1/2 in San Francisco.
Confined to a hospital bed, unable to control anything except to blink, Sharon is faced with her most important case yet: who shot her and put her into this locked in syndrome?
Each chapter is told by a different character with a different point of view. Ea More...
Confined to a hospital bed, unable to control anything except to blink, Sharon is faced with her most important case yet: who shot her and put her into this locked in syndrome?
Each chapter is told by a different character with a different point of view. Ea More...
Nov 21, 2009
I have a problem but it's not the book--it's me. I'm pretty sure that I've read all the McCone series--and there are a ton of them. In this book Muller reprises the background of all the people we've come to know--operatives and family. While the refresher was helpful, I realized I just didn't care. Since her early days as a struggling PI at All Souls, McCone has practically become a CEO. She has so many people working for her that it took me awhile--and sometimes the backstories--to sort them
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Nov 07, 2010
In the last McCone book (Burn Out), Sharon was experiencing depression; in this book, she is paralyzed. Is Muller trying to tell us something about her relationship to this long-time protagonist? Yeah, I know that Locked In won the 2010 Shamus, but both books left me with the feeling that Muller is just tired, tired of Sharon McCone. And her writing shows it. While I did enjoy the variety of perspectives that Muller chose for this book and the ability it gave us to delve more closely into the us
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Jul 31, 2011
I have always liked this author and Sharon McComb is a consistent protagonist, occasionally irritating in her "need to be independent" issues, but over the last several books has been more at peace with her relationship with Ripinski. In this one she is shot in the head early on, and others do the leg work for her while she is first locked in then on the surgical table. THe plot is about average for the series, the book is well paced, maybe a little on the short side but not egregiou
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Nov 08, 2009
I've read Marcia Muller's stories from the very first book she wrote. Her characters have evolved with each book she writes. Her writing is clean and precise and I don't get lost in the details of solving the case, something that can happen while reading other mystery writers.
Muller writes with sympathy and warmth while pulling no punches.
Because of the premise of this book, the Locked In syndrome, the reader is taken through the stories from all of the usual characters More...
Muller writes with sympathy and warmth while pulling no punches.
Because of the premise of this book, the Locked In syndrome, the reader is taken through the stories from all of the usual characters More...
Jan 05, 2010
Its been awhile since I visited Sharon McCone, so I was happy to pick this new one up. It begins with Sharon surprising an intruder in her office after hours and getting shot in the head. For most of the book she is in the hospital fighting for her life. Hy and the rest of the members of her investigative company share alternate chapters as they review cases in an attempt to track down the shooter. Eventually various threads come together with an unexpected results. It was a quick read and
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Nov 08, 2009
This is the latest installment in Marcia Muller's long-running Sharon McCone mystery series, about a San Francisco PI. I have often been impressed at Muller's ability to keep the series fresh, and here she pulls off an especially impressive one: McCone is shot in the head at the very beginning and paralyzed in body, although alert of mind. Some of the book is from McCone's point of view, as she struggles to communicate; the rest is told from the POVs of her husband and her friends and associates
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Mar 09, 2011
I have read all of Marcia Muller's McCone series, and have enjoyed them all. This book took an interesting tack--a brain injury for the protagonist so that she is unable to tell the story of the crimes being investigated, and then telling the story through the eyes of her husband and employees. I thought this was a creative and clever way to shake the series up a bit, and help us get to know the supporting cast better. But the story floundered a bit as a result--the rapid switching from narra
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Oct 11, 2010
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Jan 28, 2011
I really like the McCone series. It isn't an exciting roller coaster ride, but a steady solid investigation of facts leading to a cleverly constructed ending. Sometimes it was hard in this one to follow the story, as it was divided up between all of the characters trying to solve murders and each character was announced and followed separately as they followed their leads. This method of storytelling fit into the plot of this book, as Sharon McCone is shot and her parts are basically told from i
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Dec 18, 2009
Sharon McCone is a highly sucessful private investigator from humble origins who has managed to cobble together a wonderful family, and several loyal and dedicated employees and colleagues who will do just about anything for her. Sharon is a vibrant member of the community and an investigative professional at the top of her game.
She is also used to being in the middle of it all – involved in every way- so when she is shot and critically injured one night after returning to her offic More...
She is also used to being in the middle of it all – involved in every way- so when she is shot and critically injured one night after returning to her offic More...
Sep 04, 2010
I usually enjoy the books in this series, but this one was just OK. Private investigator Sharon McCone finds herself "locked in," unable to move or communicate except for blinking after a gunshot wound to the head. This scenario proves to be challenging not only for McCone, but the author, as the narrative switches between the many characters who work for her and her husband. As the investigative team search for the assailant who has gravely wounded McCone, Sharon deals with prospect o
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Jun 18, 2010
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Mar 18, 2010
Muller has still got it! Sharon McCone is back, but she's the victim of "locked in" syndrome after being shot in the head by an unknown assailant. All of the operatives in the agency are on the job, taking another, harder look at their recent cases in an effort to identify Sharon's shooter. Slightly different approach as the reader sees in turn what each person is doing in the investigation, but it all comes together in the end. Well-written, highly readable as usual.
Sep 25, 2009
The premise is scary - the idea of being fully aware but unable to move a muscle... I enjoyed the book, and didn't want to put it down till I had finished, but I found it a little choppy - every chapter is from a different character's pov, and I had to keep going back to refresh my memory. Still - I would recommend it - there were lots of dead bodies, but no gratuitous gore, and the characters were interesting.
I would mention that this was the first book I have read by this author, More...
I would mention that this was the first book I have read by this author, More...
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Jan 24, 2012
This is my least favorite of the Sharon McCone series. It seemed too disjointed, with multiple voices and multiple cases going on while McCone languishes in the hospital with "locked in" syndrome. [return]All the wonderful characters are here, but not enough of each as they narrate alternating chapters.[return]Fans of the series should probably at least skim this book, my reason left unexplained as it would be a spoiler.
Feb 03, 2010
Muller is consistently reliable in providing an interesting, well-written mystery. But in this one she pulls off quite a trick, putting her heroine into locked-in syndrome after being shot in the head. The book then moves from inside the central character's head to the efforts of all the agency staff trying to track down the shooter. The short, varied chapters all work together to produce the usual satisfying read.
Nov 29, 2010
Another great mystery by Marcia Muller. Sharon is shot and then after surgery gets the "locked in" syndrome where she can't communicate or move. She is able to talk with blinking here eyes...yes for one blink and no for two blinks. Her husband,Hy, and her staff try to find the person who shot her and a couple of other cases. They all evolve into one big case.
Jul 14, 2010
Sharon McCone has been shot in the head & lies in a hospital being able to see & hear, but the only movement she has is in her eyelids. Meanwhile, every one of her family & friends is out looking for her attacker. The interaction of all these characters is very interesting as is Sharon's ability to participate in the investigation with such limited abilities.
Jul 31, 2010
McCone's propensity for forgetting her cell phone finally gets her in real trouble. (My sister and I make fun of how often McCone's cell is never where she is; or if the phone is near her, the battery is usually dead.) McCone returns to her office one night to retrieve her cell phone and is attacked by someone lurking in the office after hours. As McCone languishes in the hospital in a "locked in" state, her husband and staff try to find out who attacked her. We get to learn more a
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