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Nabaza.net-The MarketPlace - Blind Fall: A Novel
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List Price: $26.00
Our Price: $17.16
Your Save: $ 8.84 ( 34% )
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Manufacturer: Scribner
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780743293990
ISBN: 0641946031
Label: Scribner
Manufacturer: Scribner
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 304
Publication Date: 2008-03-11
Publisher: Scribner
Studio: Scribner
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Editorial Reviews:
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From three-time New York Times bestselling author Christopher Rice -- whose novels have been called "bold and ambitious" by The New York Times, "chillingly perverse" by USA Today, and "shocking, sexy...intricate" by Glamour -- comes this startling psychological thriller about an Iraq War vet who seeks redemption and revenge when a fellow Marine he failed to protect during the war is brutally murdered. John Houck became a Marine to become a hero. But his life changed when he failed to notice an explosive device that ended up maiming the captain of his Force Recon Company, a respected Marine who nearly sacrificed himself to save John's life. Home from Iraq, John pays a visit to his former captain, only to discover the captain has been gruesomely murdered. John pursues a strange man he sees running from the scene, but he discovers that Alex Martin is not the murderer. Alex is, in fact, the former captain's secret male lover and the killer's intended next victim. When it becomes clear that local law enforcement has direct connections to the murder itself, John realizes that to repay his debt of honor, he must teach Alex Martin how to protect himself, even if that means teaching Alex to kill. In the process, John confronts the painful truth about the younger brother he was unable to protect and the older sister he always felt he failed. Blind Fall is a story of honor and integrity, of turning failure into victory. It is a stunning departure for Christopher Rice: the story of two men, one a Marine, one gay, who must unite to avenge the death of the man they both loved -- one as a brother-in-arms, one as a lover -- and to survive.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Okay, but I expect better
Comment: I should state at first that I rank Mr Rice's "A Density of Souls" and "The Snow Garden" among my favorite books and I quite enjoyed his third novel, "Light Before Day". His fourth novel, "Blind Fall", the story of a war-traumatized Marine named John Houck and his attempts to discover who brutally murdered his former commanding officer, sounded like a very compelling story, especially when the reader realizes that the murdered Marine was gay and living with a secret lover in California's back country. This story sounded intriguing, like a wonderful suspense novel, and I dearly hoped it would be that.
Unfortunately, I was very disappointed in this novel. While the jacket description makes this novel sound like a thought provoking suspense thriller, it is not quite what I expected from Mr Rice. I realize that he is trying to make a statement regarding gays in the military, serving openly, and I admire him for attempting to make that point. It is a pity that the United States Armed Forces still lives by the "don't ask, don't tell" policy which so terribly deprives men and women of their very right to serve their country honorably because of their sexual orientation. This is an intolerable abuse of power. I was expecting some great statement to be made about why the policy is so terrible, but Mr Rice fails to live up to that hope, and instead creates a rather watered down whodunnit mystery that manages to disappoint rather than offer more insight into the characters.
I found John to quite fleshed out, but his realism sways from over the top traumatized solider to a character whom I was unsure of whether or not to like. I wanted to root for John, I really did, but his character becomes less and less likable and more and more unpredictable as the novel goes on that I wonder if Mr Rice's intention was to make John as lackluster as he becomes. The dead Marine's lover was far more compelling, I thought, a fully fleshed out modern gay man who realized exactly who he was in love with and what he was willing to do in order to avenge him. This character I quite liked, far more than the main man, John.
I suppose that Mr Rice wanted to take a break from the rather hard-boiled nature of "Light Before Day" but I found "Blind Fall" to be that most unforgiving of thrillers: a boring one. Unfortunately nothing happens in the novel to make me care one way or another about John and his colleague, even as they hunt a killer who appears to be the very stereotype of gay-hating white male. I was rather appalled by this stereotyping as Mr Rice has always seemed to be above that level of characterization in his novels.
Overall, "Blind Fall" is a weak step in Mr Rice's writing career and I hope he can return to his previous level of success with his next novel. As I stated previously, "A Density of Souls" and "The Snow Garden" are two of my favorite books, but "Blind Fall" easily ranks among the most boring books I've read this year. It's not a bad book, no, but criminally boring.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Comment: It feels like this book has a 'mission' to teach a lot to gay and straight readers alike, at the expense of a believable plot and in-depth characters. There is too much action, too much drama, too much didactics. Still I was able to read it through the end, which should speak to something positive about the book, hence the second star. My humble opinion is that Mr. Rice has so much to learn from other openly gay mystery authors like Nevada Barr.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Fragmented
Comment: This book hops all over the place without any real reason. After I finished the book, I thought to myself, "I could have watched TV instead." Not a great endorsement.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Surprises untill the end...
Comment: This book is one of the best I think everyone will learn something from it...It tells us how secret and lies can tear apart family's and friends because one person cannot accept another for who he/she is....
Customer Rating:
Summary: Worth a read, but don't race to the store for it
Comment: I discovered Christopher Rice's work early on as I was a fan of his mother's. I've read all four of his books and enjoyed each of them. His first book, A Density of Souls, was one of his best work, along with Light Before Day. My only major complaint with his novels, to include this one, is that several times in each book the characters make decisions or take paths that stretch the grounds of believeability. While this does lead to more dramatic encounters and conflicts, I sometimes have to suspend the little voice inside saying "Who would actually do this in real life?" in order to get through the sections. But then again, this is fiction, right? Overall, I would recommend this book, but if you haven't read any of his work before and can only pick one, his first and third novels were much better.
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