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Smoke Screen (Thorndike Press Large Print Basic Series)

Smoke Screen (Thorndike Press Large Print Basic Series)
List Price: $35.95
Our Price: $29.63
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Manufacturer: Thorndike Press
Average Customer Rating: Average rating of 4.0/5Average rating of 4.0/5Average rating of 4.0/5Average rating of 4.0/5Average rating of 4.0/5

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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9781410405630
Format: Large Print
ISBN: 141040563X
Label: Thorndike Press
Manufacturer: Thorndike Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 631
Publication Date: 2008-08
Publisher: Thorndike Press
Studio: Thorndike Press

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Editorial Reviews:

#1 New York Times bestselling author Sandra Brown is back, with a blistering story about corruption, betrayal, and the ultimate abuse of power.

When newswoman Britt Shelley wakes up in bed with the handsome and hard-partying Jay Burgess, a rising star detective in the Charleston PD, she remembers nothing of how she got there...or of how Jay wound up dead.

Five years earlier, Jay was a hero of a disastrous fire at Charleston's police headquarters, which would have been even deadlier if not for the bravery of Jay and three other city officials who led others to safety. Firefighter Raley Gannon, Jay's lifelong friend, had been assigned to investigate the fire, but the investigation ended in a scandal that shattered Raley's world, and forced him to surrender the woman he loved and the work to which he'd dedicated his life. For five years his resentment has festered, but he was helpless to set things right. That changes when he learns of Jay's shocking death.

As suspicion against Britt Shelley mounts, Raley realizes that the newswoman might be his only chance to get personal vindication -- and justice for the seven victims of the police station fire. But there are powerful men who don't want to address unanswered questions about the fire, and will go to any lengths to protect their reputations. As Raley and Britt discover more about what happened that fateful day, they realize that they're not only chasing after the truth but running for their lives. Smoke Screen is Sandra Brown's most intense novel yet.


Spotlight customer reviews:

Customer Rating: Average rating of 3/5Average rating of 3/5Average rating of 3/5Average rating of 3/5Average rating of 3/5
Summary: OK read, not a good mystery book.
Comment: I have to admit I am a little baffled by the 5-star reviews. The book did flow well and the story kept moving, but you could have seen the end coming from very early in the book. I am one of those people who rarely can predict the outcome of a book, but this was almost a joke how obvious the "bad guys" were. I kept thinking some huge revelation or surprise plot would be revealed, but nothing, which was disappointing. If you want an easy read go for it, but if you are looking for a real mystery, don't waste your time.

Customer Rating: Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5
Summary: My favorite Author is back!
Comment: Smoke Screen is Ms. Brown's best work in years. She is my favorite author and she always will be. However, I was disappointed with Play Dirty and I wondered if Ms. Brown has jump the literary shark. She redeemed herself with Smoke Screen. True there was a lack of development with the characters but the story was well written, fast paced, and just plain entertaining. If you are looking for a fun, entertaining read, then Smoke Screen is for you!

Customer Rating: Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5
Summary: From J. Kaye's Book Blog
Comment: Britt Shelley, a TV news reporter in Charleston, wakes up to find herself in bed with Jay Burgess, a police detective. The bad news is he's dead and parts of the night before missing. The only person who believes her story is an ex-firefighter, Raley Gannon, a person's career she helped to destroy.

In the past, I've had trouble reading Brown's books without skipping to the end to see who's behind whatever scandal the author created. Not so with SMOKE SCREEN. I enjoyed the entire ride. The only problem I had was believing the entire ending. It seemed a bit off. Even so, it's a fantastic book. I believe fans will absolutely love one.

Customer Rating: Average rating of 3/5Average rating of 3/5Average rating of 3/5Average rating of 3/5Average rating of 3/5
Summary: Oh Sandra....
Comment: Before I really get to the meat of this review, I'd like to state that I am a fan of Sandra Brown and despite my complaints, this was still not a bad book. The plot was good, nice twists and turns, nice surprises. So, what went wrong? Well, the characters had very little development, the ending was tacked on and abrupt, and the romance that keeps most Sandra Brown-ers coming back was pretty much lacking. But, now onto the meat of the story...
The whole plot ironically revolves around events the main characters either can't remember, or weren't there for. Five years ago Jay Burgess and a handful of friends displayed an amazing amount of heroism during the great courthouse fire in which seven died, but many were saved. At a celebration after the fact thrown by Jay, his best friend arson investigator Raley Gannon's good life hits a snag. He has one margarita only to wake the next morning next a strange woman with no memory of the night before. And surprise! She's dead. Although the death is ruled an accident, it completely derails Raley's life, costing him his career, his fiancee, and his friendship with Jay. Not to mention his reputation thanks to some slanted reporting by up and coming journalist Britt Shelley. But back to the present where Raley is living alone in the swamp and Britt is a local celebrity. But not for long. In eerily similar circumstances, Britt awakes one morning next to a sleeping Jay Burgess and no memory. And Jay's dead too. Although it's common knowledge that Jay is terminally ill, no one is buying the natural death angle and the fingers are pointed firmly at Britt. Naturally Britt and Rayley end up joining forces to clear their names and bring the biggest story of a lifetime to light: the truth behind Jay and the events of the courthouse fire five years earlier.
While the plot is wonderfully twisty and curvy, the characters are poorly developed. We never really know what changed Britt from a ambitious up and comer more that willing to slant a story, to a still ambitious but also apologetic and truthful journalist. There's also no viable reason behind the main characters sudden shift from animosity to love. And the romance is also left by the wayside. As for the ending, while a tiny bit surprising it still feels tacked on a rushed.
All in all not Sandra's best effort, but still a fun escape for her already die-hard fans.

Customer Rating: Average rating of 3/5Average rating of 3/5Average rating of 3/5Average rating of 3/5Average rating of 3/5
Summary: Sandra Brown is a very talented lazy writer.
Comment: All of her books I have read suffer from shortcomings that always point to the same problem:

1) Hastily put together plots that just do not hold water.

2) Hastily written stories that always, with some rewriting would have been much, much better.

3) Stories that clearly show she did not bother to do any decent amount of research.

And yet not a single one of her books is without redemption. Many of them are page turners that keep us entertained even if we have to badly suspend disbelief, and disregard one dimensional characters, to be able to enjoy them.

My take is that she is a very talented writer; so talented, in fact, that she can constantly put half baked stories in print and they still hit the best seller lists all the time. I don't think there are many writers that can get away with that. She is one of the best, but she is lazy.

There must be other writers that are almost as good as her, and still take care to give us polished stories. I am off to search Amazon.


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