Customer Reviews: Read 20 more reviews...
 great people in bad situations June 18, 2008
Julia M. Walker (NY Finger Lakes)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Dr. Alan Gregory is a durable hero. He's been shot, stabbed, pushed off of cliffs, almost pushed off of cliffs, stalked, variously assaulted, and attacked by at least one wild animal. And yet he remains a mensch - tiresomely physically fit and over-addicted to healthy living, perhaps, but still a mensch. He admires his wife, cherishes his friends, and generally respects his patients. He loves his dogs, present and past. The supporting cast is equally attractive/compelling: Lauren Crowder's independent intelligence and relentless bravery, Sam Purdy's common sense and generosity, Adrienne Arvin's dementedly charming chutzpah, Diane and Raoul's wit and trendy whimsy, all serve to anchor the series. And the presence of Grace in the later novels promises to develop into a great child character, possibly rivaling Lucy Karp in the early Gruber-authored Tanenbaums. The incidental characters are vivid and generally believable, almost without exception. Some authors are better at male characters than female, or the reverse, but White is excellent at people, all people. Most of the books are first-person narration by Gregory, but White can shift to third-person with aplomb.
Aside from the great characters, the plots of this series are outstanding. We learn about a private end-of-life corporation, cold-case volunteer groups, the Mormons, DB Cooper, the cult of personality, Grand Canyon adventures, and the fallout from the JonBenet case, all without stretching the seams of the community based in Boulder, CO. When the plots call for suspense, the books are literally terrifying, real white-knuckle reads. White is witty and insightful and the very best craftsperson of the English language I've read in years. His casually correct use of the subjective fills me with delight, as do his always-agreeing pronouns, and his elegant but unpretentious syntax. His prose is a pleasure to read.
The settings are wondrously vivid - views, trees, coffee houses, the streets and walks of Boulder and environs. White brings food to the table and vistas to the eye. You can track his characters on GoogleEarth and see just what he describes. I fell into this series at a gruesome time for me, professionally, and reading them all in a period of a couple of weeks has been an exercise in staying sane. Some are, of course, better than others - Kill Me, The Program, Higher Authority, Manner of Death - and there are some weak links (Cold Case, Private Practices), but I can't imagine reading 15 books by any other contemporary author sans break and still wishing for more.
Dead Time makes use of the series' favorite mode: the flash-back. We re-meet Merideth, Alan's first wife who appeared briefly in the second novel. She's an unsympathetic character presented with skill sufficient to buffer her warts, and her ego-centered plot pulls Alan in. He's in his own Slough of Despond, and fairly unattractive with it. As a portrait of failed and floundering marriages, the book is keenly insightful. There are many, many characters, but each is drawn so clearly that the reader doesn't get confused. White nails the exquisitely self-involved, massively self-righteous world-view of recent undergrads, where no nuance is too small to agonize over, no desire too fleeting for collective scrutiny. The ending leaves us hoping for better days for the Gregory-Crowder clan.
 Too convoluted, not his best June 17, 2008
J. White (New York)
Too many characters, too much switching around. I'm one of his biggest fans, but this one just doesn't do it. I had to work at finishing it. One character referred to by three different names?!?!? Why was that necessary? Not a bad story, but it doesn't flow or hold you rapt like most of his books. Still contains that wonderful White whit, but definitely not his best. It took forever to get anywhere and where it ended was just so so.
 Dead Time June 15, 2008
Suzanne Accomando (Sherman Oaks CA)
Dead Time was a very fast paced read. I spend alot of time driving as I live in So California. I listened to Dead Time on CD. Dick Hill made the characters even more real! It took Dr. Gregory and his pal to new places and opened new doors. I am looking forward to his next book in hopes that he will not be just in Colorado. The new characters and life challenges made him even more belivable. I think this is one of his best recent books.
Excellent read June 9, 2008
McNellus (Shreveport, LA)
I really enjoy the Alan Gregory series. This one is as good as any he's written.
Consistently good series June 5, 2008
Gloria Feit (Long Beach, NY)
At the outset I found the shifting points of view utilized by the author somewhat disconcerting, something I didn't remember from Mr. White's earlier books, which I have uniformly loved. The chapters written from the p.o.v. of Alan Gregory, the clinical psychologist who is Mr. White's protagonist in this series, are headed "Her Ex," while those from the p.o.v. of his former wife are "His Ex." These are in turn interspersed with a separate story line dealing with the mysterious disappearance a few years back in time of a young woman last seen on the Canyon floor at the base of the Grand Canyon, those chapters headed simply "The Canyon." These disparate lines are joined quickly enough when we learn that these latter passages are flashbacks to an incident in the life of Alan's ex's current fiancé, the repercussions of which are still being felt, and in which she enlists Alan's help.
I must quickly state that the alternating p.o.v. and varying voices are handled so skillfully that they proceed swiftly and the reader becomes engrossed in the tale - or tales - being spun, and any negative reactions quickly disappear. And when another woman disappears, in the contemporaneous story, the action ratchets up, as does the reader's tension and absorption.
The action takes place variously in Boulder, Colorado, where the author and his protagonist live, as well as New York City, Los Angeles and of course the Grand Canyon, with wonderful descriptions of each. The novel deals with "buried things that refuse to stay buried," and with several parenthood issues, all engrossing. The writing contains just the right amount of humor at appropriate times to lighten the suspense-filled story, as would be expected from this wonderful author all of whose prior books - did I mention this? - I've thoroughly enjoyed. The book is hard to put down, and is highly recommended.
|
