Search - To the Power of Three

Although I love all of Lippman's Tess Monaghan mysteries and have read all of her books, I have to say I think this was her best book ever, by far! It was really unexpected for me, to see this kind of story from her. It wasn't even so much about "the secret" or the mystery element of it, but just her writing was really, really well-done. Each of the characters - even those who had minor parts - had developed personalities and characteristics. Even if a character only spoke once or twice, you knew about them from the perspective of one or more of the other characters, and I was able to visualize them even. And boy does it ever grab hold of the angst of going to high school - without being overly melodramatic - and the true power of friendship.

I highly recommend it!!

This was the best suspense I've read in quite a while! I was glued to this book from page one, and I read it every spare chance I had within the past week.

The book reminded me a lot of the Columbine Massacre and the movie "Homeroom", which was about another school shooting.

I really appreciated the pop-culture references throughout the book because it made for a fun read in addition to the suspense.

I was only slightly disappointed in the ending because I had expected something a little more clever to come out of it, however it was still an unexpected surprise.

I can't wait to share this book with others! Excellent read. :)

A great thriller with a surprise twist! Lippman makes a strong case for responsible gun control.

Unexpected ending

This is the first Laura Lippman book I have read that was not part of the Tess Monaghan series. It was a pretty entertaining work of suspense; Lippman spends a lot of time creating her characters.

So far I am in the minority after reading this book. Perhaps having read Nineteen Minutes and The Pact by Jodi Picoult already makes me reaction to this book subjective, rather than objective. The latter books were riveting compared to "To the Power of Three" which I was in no hurry to finish (but I did).

Lippman writes well as far as plot and character development, but I felt this story wandered back and forth in time and between characters without accomplishing much. This is the same technique Picoult uses with ease.

Sorry, there just wasn't enough suspense for me and adding several subplots were more of a distraction than an improvement of the story.