Victimes

by Brigid Fitzgerald

255pages. 23x14x3cm. Broché.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller

Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

Reviews

[Jeanne]

The only Victim was me. I should have put it out with the recycling like I intended to do, but I didn't. Well written and interesting till halfway through and then it began to fall apart. Too much detail about stupid things like a cop eating his pepperoni hero and no details to help figure out the ending. And really did the main character have a halo over her head? She could do no wrong.. so smart, so beautiful, so intriguing...she did nothing but listen intently and flutter her eyes before glaring at the ground... it made me nauseous. The last two chapters seemed to set up the next book which I will not be reading. Big waste of time. At least it'll go towards my 2019 reading challenge. That's probably why I finished it.

[Nancy Zorn]

The Good: To point out the fact this book was written 30+ years ago, feels like I'm making excuses. I think the basic story held up and didn't read like it was stuck in a time warp. I also like that it was written by a policewoman.

The Bad: The author's incomplete sentence writing style annoyed me at the beginning. "Over the sorrow she felt when seeing Captain O'Conner's face." OK. I get it. When taken in context with the surrounding words, I understand what she's getting at....that's just her thing. It took a little getting used to for me. I kept thinking I was missing something.

The Ugly: There were several points in the story that veered dangerously close to romance novel territory.

The Epilogue: Why? Just why? Unnecessary....unless you were planning a sequel.

Casting: JoLo as the beautiful, savvy policewoman Miranda Torres. Am I right?

[S.A.]

Two stars for the knowledge behind the research but by and large the writing was painful to read. Too much reliance on repetition and jargon spoiled the characters. The way the characters reacted spoiled the characters. Weird.

I know I need to look at this as a book written a few decades ago, but still, do we really need to have the female character described as a sex object time and time again?

Worst of all, the ending seemed to set up a sequel. No thank you!

[Judy]

I have read this author before and rediscovered her way with words with this one from 1986. It hearkens back to a real-life attack of someone back in the 80's where they begged for help and nobody came forward.

Human nature is displayed in all of its horror and glory in this one. There is only one seemingly honorable character in the whole book. Hang on to yours hats for the ending.

[Sean]

The first book I read after putting of the habit for so long.
I loved everything about it, but i do wish there was a follow-up story. A sequel or prequel at least.
The character of Miranda Torres stuck with me and will continue to define who I am.

[Carol A]

Descriptive. Describes all characters well. Keeps moving.

[Laura Talley]

Thrilling! Great book!

[Nick121235]

I really enjoyed Dorothy Uhnak's writing style and intend to read more by her, however there were a few weak points to the story.
First of all, the plot starts out so compelling that I really expected more and was therefore disappointed by the way it was quickly wrapped up in the last two chapters. I really felt like there was more to the story than what was revealed because there was so much time and care taken in setting it up.
Also the parts about Miranda's innocence and goodness were fine if somewhat sappy and boring and I was willing to overlook this because the novel was published in 1985. I would have overlooked it had these lengthy praises not lasted for paragraph upon paragraph, every other chapter until the very end of the fucking book. It was tiresome and made reading this piece that much less of a thrilling experience.
Lastly, I really did enjoy the social aspects and the interviews that Stein had with the residents of Barclay street, I really felt that these were the highest points of the novel.
Overall, I did enjoy the book despite it's shortcomings and look forward to reading more by this talented author.

[Zainab Al Darwish]

1- the book start fine just like any other murder mystery and gets interesting after few chapters, but then the story fall apart and turns to a complete nonsense.
2- I just don’t understand why the writer had to mention some of the characters origins: Ahmed, the Indian doc, who is racist against American girls, a psychopath Iranian, a scared Russian who suffered a lot back in his country, a Jew, the Spanish girls and a street full of racist white people who think high of themselves.
3- Miranda, the main character, the most and super everything :professional, smart (not too smart really) beautiful, Cleopatra , expressionless, emotionless, which is funny as she often lose control of her emotions and at first chance she showed her weakness to the journalist, and she couldn’t even keep it together around Galvez the ghost 😄.
4-It seems the writer planned a sequel, even tried to keep the readers interested by the new whatever between Miranda and Galves and of course by reminding the readers that the beast is still out there killing.

I think I will pass the book to my sister,she is not a reader at all but use the books to decor her living room 📚

[Kathi]

Somewhat dated but interesting characters, a plot full of twists and turns, and (at least for me) a truly unexpected ending.

So why only 3 stars? A few too many unanswered questions and the bleak ending...

[Libby Mcelwaine]

I liked how this book was realistic. It was different for me. Though many complain about how it repeats itself what do expect.? Real life is repetitive. The end kind of ticks me off,it could have been better. Other then that I like the book.

[Theresa Kinney]

Liked the book...unlike other review did see what ending was coming....

[Micky Parise]

First time reading Dorothy Uhnak and really enjoyed this book. Great storyline, characters and the book just flowed. Recommend.

[Arthur]

Not terribly interesting. Good writing most of the way through but dull and often it seems witless.