10 member(s) found this review helpful.
This is one of those rare instances where I liked the movie more than I did the book. Probably because I have the hots for Clive Owen and he made the main character, Charles, more likeable. Because in the book I didn't really like old Charlie at all - even when he redeemed himself in the end. Here's an ordinary guy with a great family and a good job, who becomes involved with another woman and gets caught (literally) with his pants down. A ruthless blackmailer sees a prime opportunity and proceeds to exploit it - which stupid Charles goes along with - up to a point. That's when Charlie gets a new set of cujones and things really get interesting. PS - this book is pretty graphic in detail, so don't read it if you are easily offended.
4 member(s) found this review helpful.
Very suspenseful! I couldn't put this book down. Really great plot that moves along quickly, with awesome twists and turns. I saw the movie the next week, and it didn't come close to the thrill of the book. I highly recommended this book to my reader friends.
4 member(s) found this review helpful.
What a great book. I was completedly surprised at the ending, I had no idea! Which is saying a lot since I read all the time and usually have a clue about endings. I saw the movie after reading the book and was very disappointed with it. The movie was nothing compared to the book.
4 member(s) found this review helpful.
Awesome book! Very suspenseful! I literally couldn't put it down. Just a study of how one ordinary man gets himself into so much trouble, and then struggles to get out of it. Constantly kept me guessing. A thrill ride from beginning to end.
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
Oh wow - what can I say? This was the best book I've read in a long time. It caught my attention from the first page to the last. Shocking suprises all through the book.
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Fatal Attraction meets The Usual Suspects in this dazzling thriller about a businessman whose life becomes a nightmare when he gets involved with the wrong woman. When an English teacher at Attica State Prison asks his incarcerated students to write about why they're in prison, he is astounded by the story of Charles Schine. Schine is a white, upper middle-class ad exec who meets Lucinda, a married woman, on the Long Island Railroad. Sharing pictures of their kids soon leads to a rendezvous in a sordid downtown hotel. But before they actually enter the room, they are held up by a man who rapes Lucinda, assults Charles, and steals both their wallets. He then proceeds to blackmail them. Desperate, Charles hires someone to eliminate him-but it's the hitman who ends up dead. In a world where no one is who they seem to be, Charles sinks deeper into a labyrinth of deceit, murder, and betrayal. And in a final act of stunning retribution, it's clear why Charles is in Attica-and what he's come to do there.
This copy is a 2005 issue with the movie tie-in starring Clive Owen and Jennifer Aniston on the cover.