Vanishing Act (Jane Whitefield, #1) in SSG: Spy/Spec-Ops Group

Nov 18, 2017 Mike (the Paladin) rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, thriller

Humm...I'm often a little reticent when I'm not fond of a book. I considered going 3 stars on this one but I finally decided that my feelings were a little more negative than positive... I decided just now as it was something that happened at the end of the book that decided me. It's a device I'v seen used probably thousands of times with/about heroes/protagonists in books, movies and TV and it pretty much drives me crazy each time. I'll note it under a spoiler warning at the end of the review.

O Humm...I'm often a little reticent when I'm not fond of a book. I considered going 3 stars on this one but I finally decided that my feelings were a little more negative than positive... I decided just now as it was something that happened at the end of the book that decided me. It's a device I'v seen used probably thousands of times with/about heroes/protagonists in books, movies and TV and it pretty much drives me crazy each time. I'll note it under a spoiler warning at the end of the review.

Other than that why had I settled on a 3 to 2 rating? Well it's not really the plot. The book is built around the idea of an individual who makes people disappear when they're on the run for their lives.

The problem is that story constantly bogs down. In the middle of a scene where the characters are being chased through the night and the 2 people get involved in a long convoluted discussion on native American genealogy. This kind of thing happens over and over. An action scene is suddenly broken up by what turns out to be simply long, long, long description or plot exposition.

The story itself has a nice set of twists with a good surprise plot twist and it is as I noted a good idea. i just found the execution very weak.

Now that is a subjective opinion and there are books in the series so others do like this better than I do so maybe fall back on prior learning and if you have found that I get annoyed at longer winded story telling more than you maybe give it a try and see what you think.

(view spoiler) ...more

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Jan 09, 2020 Mark rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I've been engrossed in a number of series involving strong Native-American women and their mysticism, from the Hillerman's, Margaret Coel or even Craig Johnson, but this is the first that dealt with one from an East Coast, woodland tribe...Jane Whitefield, of the Seneca, is a "Rock Your World" heroine who runs kind of a "private" Witness Protection Program for people who want to disappear...In the first of the series, someone has "hacked' into her pipeline and some of her contacts have been kill ...more

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