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Jan 01, 2011

Laura rated it:

I'll be the first to admit I'm not a great fan of the thriller genre, and this book didn't convince me I was missing much. Quite possibly it wasn't the genre's fault, but the fact that this is a gimmick book. What's the gimmick? Gather a bunch of thriller writers (the only names I recognized were Jeffrey Deaver and Lisa Scottoline, but I'm sure the others are well-known to thriller fans) and have them add chapters to the stories.

While the plot hung together as much as one would More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Mar 14, 2011

Susanhayeshotmail.com rated it:

So, I grew up in the rainy part of the Pacific Northwest which means there were a lot of rainy afternoons and Saturdays to pass. When almost, but not quite, desperately bored my best friend and I used to entertain ourselves by one of us starting a story, yammering on (sometimes on tape) for awhile, building the plot to as fevered a pitch as our 13 year old brains could conceive of and then passing the storyline and the mic to the other, who would then take off from there and continue building t More...

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Dec 25, 2010

Tammy rated it:

Jeffery Deaver is one of my favorite authors. I am half in love with Lincoln Rhyme and I really like his Catherine Dance series. Having said that, I know I was taking a chance an a novel written by several authors. No matter how great. Deaver put together a group of top-selling novelists to collaborate on Watchlist. Deaver wrote the first two chapters and last one while each writer took one chapter in between to expand the story.
What entailed, for me, was an average thriller. I have a feeli More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Feb 28, 2010

Cheryl rated it:

At the request of The Book Trib, a HC copy was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest review
From the Book's Jacket:
Watchlist: Two powerful novellas featuring the same thrilling cast of characters in one major suspenseful package
Synopsis: Harold Middleton, former crimes of war investigator takes the reader on a non-stop journey around the world in both story lines. The first novella he is on the hunt and then hunted for a never before seen Chopin manuscript. But is there a secr More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 25, 2010

Cheryl rated it:

Harold Middleton is a former war crimes investigator. He was heading back to the States when he was detained. He thought it was because he held in his possession an unscripted manuscript of composer, Frederic Chopin. The police inform Harold that he is a suspect for murder. Harold is the most unlikely person to commit murder or is he? Also what Harold thought was a fake manuscript has turned out to be the real deal. Join Harold as he races from Poland to America in The Chopin Manuscript.

More...

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Feb 17, 2010

Jim rated it:

After listening to a radio interview with Jeffery Deaver, I thought that the concept for this book was really interesting and might be worth reading. I was able to get the book from our library system and got a brand new copy. I felt lucky to get it so quickly.

Was I ever wrong! I've read "thrillers" before, some good, some not. Both stories in this book were such a chore reading. I found the stories so ridiculous that I was eventually bored beyond belief. Normally I d More...

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Jun 27, 2011

Matt rated it:

i am 75% thru this one (reading on my Kindle)... very tough to follow the plot line since you must get used to a different authors voice and style every chapter. I have been very tempted to just stop reading (more than once) and I still might!

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added 6-27-11

Uncle... I've had enough already!

okay that's it. Another new chapter and another lousy author transition. "It's all I can stands... I can't stands no more..." to quote Pope More...

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Dec 17, 2010

Lori rated it:

The gimmick behind the book is great -- 22 authors get together, each writing a chapter of a thriller. It was captivating, interesting, and novel. I'd said I'd given up Jeffery Deaver because he was becoming too formulaic, and while he came up with this idea and gather the authors, he DID write the first and last chapters of each of the two sections of the book -- and the endings were all nicely wrapped up as I'd expect from Deaver. But I'll cut him some slack -- it would be too difficult for More...

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Jan 06, 2011

Stephanie rated it:

This novel has an interesting idea--the first and last chapters are written by Jeffery Deaver (of Bone Collector fame), one of my favorite authors. But the intervening chapters are each written by a different, also notable, mystery/thriller writer. The result is that it is exceedingly well written, but... every chapter being that author's only moment to shine means that every chapter has all the twists, turns, double crossings, surprise plot devices, and total shockers that usually are in one no More...

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Dec 26, 2010

Katie rated it:

I'll admit, I'm usually not someone who ends up in the Thrillers section of a bookstore, but this one sounded interesting when I was scanning the list of Kindle freebies. It's actually two shorter stories, and well worth the read. The stories were a collaboration between multiple authors, with each one writing a chapter. The action moves fast as a result- I imagine no author would want to write a chapter of boring background info. (The characters still felt fleshed out, though.) I'll be adding s More...

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Feb 17, 2010

Robyn rated it:

This was an interesting idea and an entertaining book; however, if you like to get lost in a plot, you might find yourself clocking the different writers' styles as you read instead of truly getting caught up in the story. THe book is made up of two novellas. While the first is more enjoyable, it is less seamless than the second. Sometimes the twists each author takes the characters through almost feel as if the writers are playing a game of chicken: can the next author make this work? One More...

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Aug 01, 2011

Dixie rated it:

We read this for book club in May. No one really liked the "thriller" storyline, as there was so many characters and most of them were killed. I thought it was too close to the national news lines, which I try to escape when I'm reading for entertainment. I think guys would enjoy this book more than all of us women did. What we did like about the book was that each chapter was written by a different author. Jeffrey Deaver wrote the 1st chapter, then someone would write the next, etc. p More...

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May 25, 2011

Emily rated it:

I love Jeffery Deaver novels, especially earlier ones where the 'surprise twist' is still a surprise rather than an annoying requisite at every page turn (e.g., The Devil's Teardrop over say, The Twelfth Card). Side note: Lee Child does contribute a chapter. Harry Middleton is no Jack Reacher, but there are enough similarities for fans to try him. Though Deaver starts the series and creates Middleton, I don't see enough of Deaver in Middleton to recommend specifically for Deaver fans.

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Dec 24, 2010

J. rated it:

Don't usually read books that are written by a group of authors. This book provides a good reason for tht decision. However, it gave ony one author when I received it.

Story was ok, but a little jerky as you can imagine with a group of authors and one ending a chapter to give problems that the next author has to undue or at least chnge for their ownl purposes.

Ok if you like this kind of thing.

J. Robert Ewbank author "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the 'Is

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Feb 04, 2012

Kw rated it:

I thought the authors did a good job of collaborating on these two novellas. I notice each rated 4 stars individually, but this combo only garnered three.
Oh, well. I liked both of them and the writing seemed well-blended,
as in no abrupt style changes from chapter to chapter, though each was written by a different author. Yes, maybe it's a gimmick, but I hope they do some more! Interesting characters and locales. Harry is a very likeable hero.

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Jun 27, 2011

Sadiq rated it:

My first thought after completing this book..."okay".
It is a less intense then Jeffrey Deaver's books. You can sense and feel the changing pace as you go through different chapters written by different authors. It is an interesting concept and I liked the book but was a little disappointed in the end. It could be 'cos i am a Deaver fan and was expecting his trademark pace, excitement and jaw dropping twists and turns.

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Mar 18, 2011

Cheryle rated it:

On the surface, a good idea. In reality, not so much.

Gather a group of big-name mystery writers and have them collaborate on a book - each providing a chapter and furthering the story. Unfortunately, it was all too clear that the voices changed with each chapter, causing a loss of "flow." The second part was better than the first, but I hope they don't try it again. If they do, I'll have to be really bored to pick it up!

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jan 25, 2011

Jennifer rated it:

Very fun serial thriller if you like thrillers/mysteries you'll enjoy this one. I think I got it for free or really cheap on kindle. Basically it's written by a series of authors - they each take a chapter. I loved all the unexpected twists and turns, sometimes an author would take over an really change the whole course of the novella, very unique. Of course there's a lot of killing the bad guys and near death experiences.

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Mar 30, 2010

Susan rated it:

What a deal! Two books for the price of one. The premise is that the first chapter is written by one author and each subsequent chapter by a different author. The last 2 chapters are wrapped up by the first author to bring everything to a conclusion. As it were, the story was actually pretty good. The second book was a sequel to the first, if not quite as good as the first. The story is a combo spy/thriller.

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Jul 09, 2011

Chantelle rated it:

Eh. Typical thriller. Kept me interested, I read it in a few days, I was in the mood for a thriller novel, so the stars aligned to make it doable. I was intrigued, didn't know anything about the book going in, so I was a little thrown by the different authors' voices throughout, but it didn't throw me for a loop or keep me from enjoying the story. Fast-paced, well-written, I'd give it 3.5.

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Feb 09, 2011

Marcie rated it:

Another Kindle freebee. I liked the idea of different authors writing each chapter. But sometimes I think that it made the book feel pretty choppy. You could tell the chapters were all written by different people. It was a spy type thriller. It was okay, but I just couldn't get that into the story. Each chapter seem to be way too overloaded with information and action. Just an okay book.

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Nov 24, 2010

Polly rated it:

I was intrigued with the premise of many authors writing a chapter in a novel. I wasn't sure if it would really work or really irritate me. I read the first of the two novellas, and I decided I didn't like it. The changes in voice, the feeling that there's no overall arc to the story, and the characters who come and go at different authors' whims outweighed the fun of seeing what they would do.

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Feb 18, 2011

Stephanie rated it:

I enjoyed reading this book, however it wouldn't go on my "Favorite" list. I enjoyed the first story in the book more, because it kept me intrigue and wondering what twists and turns the next author was going to have in their chapter, and actually I had to smile and have an "Oh, man" reaction at some of them. The second story is more cohesive but less enjoyable for me. I did receive this book as a freebie on my kindle, and it kept me entertained.

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Jun 11, 2010

Ellen rated it:

I thought that every chapter being written by a different author was a very interesting concept. Unfortunately it led to the story being a bit uneven and written in different styles, which could be a little distracting. Despite that, I enjoyed the first story enough. That one would have gotten 3 stars. But the second story didn't really hold my attention and I gave up on it, so I took a star off.

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Jan 29, 2012

Dominique rated it:

So this is an interesting idea. It's a thriller novel with each chapter written by a different author. And. Um. It was fine. Not particularly brilliant, but I kind of like how disorienting it was when the tone would change with each chapter. It kept me on my toes. It was a free download for my Kindle. I'm not sure I would have paid for it.

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Apr 11, 2011

Mollie rated it:

This book kept me guessing (partly because I misread the subtitle and thought it said "serial killer" instead of serial thriller - so I kept waiting for a serial killer to show up in the plot). I like the idea of each author writing a different chapter - I think it kept them guessing what direction the story was going to take too. The end chapters did a nice job of tying up the loose ends created by having 20+people contribute the story, so it made for a good beach read.

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May 20, 2010

Carrie added it

I had high hopes for this book - it looked so neat and the main writer is from Durham. Several thriller novelists took turns writing chapters. I got about 3/4 through and decided I have better things to do & read. I got really tired of the F word and other things. The plot jumped around a lot and I just didn't care enough. Oh well!

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jun 27, 2011

Carole rated it:

Considering that the two novellas were written by a total of 22 authors, I found them remarkably readable. The whole endeavor could have been a complete disaster, but I rather enjoyed it. I doubt it is anything I will read again, but it has introduced me to many authors I might have otherwise missed.

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Feb 13, 2011

Laura rated it:

It is a little tedious because the writing style from chapter to chapter is different. That is to be expected because of the collaboration between authors. Deaver does a great job of tying up the loose ends and completes the story. Interesting if you are aware of the world problems in South Asia.

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Feb 05, 2011

Cherrybomb rated it:

Even though I only gave this book 3 stars, I believe it would be a 4 star book for fans of this genre. It's not something I would normally read. I got it free on my Kindle and decided to give it a try because I was interested in the multiple author angle.

This book has more twists and turns than I have ever read anywhere. Every chapter has new surprises. If this were a movie, you couldn't blink without missing something. I assume that's because none of the authors wanted to write the More...

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