Cruel Intent (Ali Reynolds Series #4)

Confusing... main storyline gets lost

Author confuses the reader with too much of a sub storyline and not enough of the primary storyline. The pace is slowed due to the secondary story and the reader is lost in the middle of the book, making it a chore to finish the book. The story would have been better if the author laid out the story line better. I hope the next Ali Reynolds book focus is better and the story is not diluted.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

An exciting fast-paced thriller

In Sedona, Arizona former TV news reporter Ali Reynolds is renovating a house when the wife of her contractor is found brutally murdered in their home. Police Detective Dave Holman suspects the husband Bryan Forrester killed his stay at home wife and mom Morgan as the violence implies someone passionately involved with the victim. Ali believes Bryan¿s proclamation of innocence, but no one else does.------------- Feeling obligated and also needing her home ready for the Thanksgiving invasion, Ali investigates, which leads her to singleatheart.com, a website where ¿married singles¿ can harmlessly flirt. As she digs deeper, she realizes a serial killer is hacking into homes with Morgan being number five. With all that info, she remains ignorant to the fact that the culprit is watching her.------------- The fourth Reynolds investigative tale (see HAND OF EVIL) is an exciting fast-paced thriller that starts at hyperspeed and accelerates from there. Although a couple of key late spins subtract from the plausibility, fans of J.A. Jance will enjoy her latest whodunit especially when the heroine finds family members wanting to help her but for the most part hinder her except for one key late intrusion.-------------- Harriet Klausner

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Too many distractions from the Mystery

I am truly baffled at the four star review for this book. This story is told with the idea of "why use thee words when twelve will do".

The mystery itself is classic an interesting. A hardworking father that we can feel for when he loses is wife and then is framed for the murder. The problem is that the mystery get's lost in the shuffle of far too many subplots (home renovation, wedding planning, scholarship winners, Thanksgiving Dinner, family conflict, etc.). The killer was interesting if not cliche; though at times he did things far below his supposed intelligent level.

Let's be clear, this book is trying to be a "thriller". In that genre the reader knows who the villain is and the suspense comes from wondering when the "hero" will intersect them. Of course, there is nothing thrilling about this as it moves so slow. There are so many spectacular mysteries and thrillers out there, I cannot possibly recommend this one. Unfortunately as this is my first book by JA Jance, it will also probably be my last.

good read

good book, but then all her books are good.

Highly recommended

As with all the Ali Reynolds books, a very good and riveting story!

Another Jance character to grab you.

I have been a fan of J.A. for some years. I love her characters...Brady and Beaumont...and the inidividual stories she has done. Now we have another character...Ali Reynolds. I love them all because they are so different but good reads.Now I have to finish what I am currently reading so I can read #5.

Have anybody read this book?

????

J A Jance and Ali Reynolds at their best

Great story with lots of twists and turns will keep you guessing and rooting for Ali 'til the very end. Definitely worth the read.

Another Winner from JA Jance

This is one of my favorite authors, and as always she has produced a great story. Allison Reynolds is her third series, and I highly recommend her J.P. Beaumont and Joanna Brady series, too. She's a fantastic writer, and I've enjoyed all of her books.

Ali Reynolds

I enjoy and read all the Ali Reynolds series. I look for J.A. Jance books.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great story

This book kept you on the edge of your seat. You knew he was going to go after Ali but you couldn't have imagined the violence he used on her. He was a depirate man

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

NOT WHAT I EXPECTED

I did not care for this book. I expected it to be more interesting. Too much was written about other things that did not have anything to do with the plot of the book.

J. A. JANCE KEEPS SUSPSENSE HIGH

JAN 1, 2009 In CRUEL INTENT J. A. Jance delivers another dead on thriller chock full of suspense and intrigue with bodies aplenty. Ali Reynolds has returned to Arizona and becomes embroiled in a nasty case of accumulating dead bodies who became that way at the hands of a monomaniacal serial killer.After resigning her job as an investigative television reporter and becoming a widow while in the process of divorcing her husband, Ali Reynolds has returned to her roots in Sedona, Arizona. When her odious agent heard she purchased the old Arrabella Ashcroft's, mother's desperately in need of repair Victorian manse, he talks her into using the project as the theme for a "reality show." He pressures Ali into agreeing to do the show by promising that her house would be the first whole house makeover for the pilot episode. But he didn't fool Ali who had been his client "forever," she thought he probably was going to find an insignificant role for her and boost the career of a new face as host . a male face.Nevertheless she agrees and the film crew shadows the renovation crewf with a camera and they seems to have their own agenda. They hope to find some "hot item" they can sell for their own reasons. And of course, a battle erupts every so often when the cameras are in the way or the builders are not quite worrying about the next close-up. But overall production moves along its slow paced path. And though they are slightly behind schedule Ali hasn't pressed the panic button as CRUEL INTENT by J. A. Jance opens.Just painting a room in one's house can be stressful, but a complete overhaul is more than stressful it's like taking a ride on an out-of-control roller coaster while you are riding upside down. But Ali is an optimistic and pragmatic person who is willing to put up with the chaos because she is eager for the house to become a home as soon as possible . she wants to have Thanksgiving in her new digs. And to her good fortune, when she purchased the house she inherited Leland Brooks, the Ashcroft butler who sees Ali as bird with a broken wing who he is determined to heal. She lives with her son, a teacher in a nearby high school, who just became engaged to a colleague and the two young people add a breath of fresh life to a narrative that soon becomes very strange. Ali's parents are alive, well and happy as their restaurant that is the central meeting place for all of the townspeople.The action picks up when Detective Dave Holman, the Sheriff's deputy, tears into the middle of the parked vehicles that sit like abandoned settlements beside the construction site. When Ali stands to greet him she is shocked by the expression on his face.He rudely asks for whereabouts of Bryan Forrester the general contractor on the job. When he appears the Deputy is brutal in delivering the news that his wife is dead-brutally murdered on the lawn outside their house--and his little twin girls found her when they got home from school. Forrester immediately asks about his children and is informed they are at the police station he can see them there. Ali can barely take the words in and doesn't understand why the sheriff is being so harsh and cruel as he pushes the stricken man into the back seat of the police cruiser. From where she stands Ali thinks he looks very much like a guilty man on his way to police headquarters.Twists and turns keep the action going. REVIEWER BARBARA LIPKIEN GERSHENBAUM

Internet Stalking and Murder

Ali Reynolds is in the process of having her house renovated in Sedona, AZ, by contractor Bryan Forester. That is until Forester is arrested for the brutal murder of his wife Morgan. Ali doesn't believe he's guilty and sets out to look into Morgan's life.

She finds Morgan had been dating men through singleheard.com, a site set up for married people to find others willing to have an affair. So Ali joins to see if there could be any correlation with why she was murdered.

Leland Brooks, her inherited butler and personal assistant, continues to coordinate the renovations when Forester's men decide to stay on the job. What a great help he is!

Once Bryan is out on bail, he notifies Ali that the money she gave him for her new kitchen cupboards is missing. His wife had always done the books. He has discovered she was embezzling money from him. Ali, believing in Bryan, pays the cupboard contractor directly as she wants to have the upcoming Thanksgiving dinner in her newly renovated house.

Yavapai Co. Sheriff's Detective Dave Holman believes Bryan to be guilty and isn't too happy with Ali for supporting him. Ali and Dave have had an on again off again relationship. This just strains it further.

To complicate things further, Chris, Ali's son, has recently become engaged to a coworker. Edie, Ali's mom, unknowingly puts a strain on this new relationship when she "helps" them with their engagement party.

Plus Edie has just purchased a pink taser. Ali's father fear she will get herself into big trouble with it.

As the holiday looms closer, Ali finds herself deeper and deeper in internet stalking and danger.

I love this series. Ali is such a wonderful character. I think the addition of Leland Brooks to the series was terrific. Ali's family always provides a lot of material for the series as well.

I think the internet stalking is such a timely subject and was handled so well in this book. It really helps people to think before putting information out there and believing everything people say.

This fast-paced mystery thriller will keep you turning the pages. I highly recommend this book and the complete series.

my favorite author

I enjoy reading her books have read everyone of hers. Enjoy her joana brady series very well.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

She has done it again!

JA Jance is such an interesting writer. She can write a lot of books with each one having a complete and interesting character study. I find it hard to put them down. Each of her series has different settings and this one is my favorite. The main character, Ali, is a very gutsy woman. I cant wait to find out what she will do next or what will be done to her.

Another Nail-B iting Ali Reynolds M ystery!!!!

Cruel Intent by J.A. Jance

In her new Ali Reynolds suspense novel, we see Ali up to her neck in identity theft, computer hijinks and house remodeling mixed in. Ali's construction boss is suspected by most of the townsfolk as being the one who murdered his wife, but Ali is sure of his innocence and with a computer geek's help, goes out of their way to prove it, even with endangering their own lives and those close to them. It takes Ali and her pistol-packin' mother to save the day and render the killer defenseless until the cops show up. If you like your murder mysteries laced with a slice of humor, you'll love this new offering from Ms. Jance.

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