Lifeguard
by Andrew Gross, James Patterson
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Book Reviews of Lifeguard
Book Review: A fast-paced suspense
Summary: 5 Stars
Life is good for Ned Kelly. He's just met a girl he's crazy about. He's working as a lifeguard on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world and has just gotten his big break. At least if all goes according to plan.
Seems simple enough at any rate. All Ned has to do is run around town setting off alarms in various locations to distract the police from where the real action is. In the meantime, his friends will be stealing three paintings that will net them a payoff of $5 million. Then he's home free.
As is usually the case, easy money is never easy and something goes wrong. Before he knows what's happening, Ned's friends are dead, his dream girl is dead, and Ned is a wanted man on the lam, not knowing who's a friend and who's a foe.
As Ned frantically tries to get to the bottom of the killings and the heist gone wrong, the FBI is hot on his trail. But the FBI has one agent who is not so sure of Ned's guilt, and if he can just gain her trust, he might have one person on his side in this whole mess.
It's a race against time as Ned tries to find out who's behind the double-dealing that's taking place and who's sending hired killers to make sure Ned never finds the answers he's looking for.
Using beautiful Florida beaches and posh neighborhoods, homes and hotels as the setting, LIFEGUARD is a fast-paced page-turner. There's lots of action and the reader will be trying to figure out exactly who's behind an all-out campaign to make Ned's life miserable if not extinct. This is the first James Patterson novel I've read --- but if this is representative of his usual work, then he has just won himself a new fan.
--- Reviewed by Amie Taylor
Book Review: A thrill charged page-turner!
Summary: 5 Stars
Ned Kelly makes his living as a lifeguard at a Florida resort, but when he meets Tess he realizes he'll need an increase in his salary to keep her in the lifestyle she is accustomed to. Ned's friends offer to cut him in on a deal if he agrees to be their look-out man and driver...
The plan is simple, Ned is to set off a series of house alarms to send the police in a frenzy, while they run around checking the false alarms Ned's friends will break into a house holding a fortune in priceless art. In and out, it's an easy job until they enter the house to find all the art already stolen. Within hours, all of Ned's friends are murdered as well as Tess, and he is on the run for his life as the police want him for murder and the killer wants him dead.
Ned has no one to trust except Ellie Shurtleff, the FBI agent assigned to the case and together they must clear his name, bring the real killer to justice and avoid falling in love.
'Lifeguard' is another guaranteed page-turner. The characters are well-drawn, the action scenes exciting and the plot twists genuinely surprising...what more can you ask for in a summer read.
There is absolutely no one better than James Patterson when it comes to un-put-downable thrillers and his newest, while a different style of thriller from his usual, is one of his best. Don't plan on doing anything once you begin this novel because you won't stop reading until you finish it, most likely in one sitting.
Expect 'Lifeguard' to fly to the top of the bestseller lists!
Don't miss this MUST read novel.
Book Review: Note worth it, whatsever!!!!
Summary: 1 Stars
I am a very big fan of James Patterson and normally find his writing to be of the highest quality and quite suspenseful. The book "Lifeguard" however, is neither good, nor surprising in any way.
The hero, Ned Kelly, is a whiny, complaining. know-it-all, n'er do-well. This book would have more aptly been titled, "Ned Kelly's 300 Page Pity Party for Himself". If that,in itself, isn't bad enough, the things that he is constantly moaning about, all came about, in one way or another, because of HIM!!! Many times throughout the reading of this book, I sat wishing the protagonist would simply blow "Neddy" away and put me out of MY misery in reading this book.
As if Neds insideous complaining throughout the book is not bad enough, the plot unravels to the point of actually financially REWARDING Ned for his participation in illegal activities and unwitting responsibility for the deaths of his brother and friends. Even a multi-million dollar pay off does not shut up Neds whining. I was so disgusted after finishing this book I will have to seriously investigate the next novel I read by Mr. Patterson. I am VERY disappointed!!!
The only saving grace in this book is an Aussie character named Champs. Unfortunatly, he is not utilized very much at all.
I wonder if the author is of Irish-American descent himself because he paints an EXTREMELY unflattering picture (drunks, theives, criminals, and whiners) of a truly industrious, hard-working, group of nationalites (the Irish).
If you have already bought this book, Good Luck, if you haven't, consider yourself forewarned.
Book Review: Dissapointing.
Summary: 2 Stars
I gave this book 2 point because of Billy Campbell the narrator from audio book I read. He narrated this book very well.
But he was the only plus point from this book. The characters was unbelieveable. The suprise twist is not suprising at all, it had been used in so many books or even movies before.
The worst thing is the lead character, Ned Kelly. He like to say the same things over and over. He kept saying to people he met that he didn't kill his friends and cousins. Over and over like broken music.
And in this book the FBI look like an amateur detectives. They don't know anything about Ned life beside police record before he told Ellie and she check it at the internet. The most ludricous point is when Ned and Ellie lure the bad guy to her house and the culprit confess all his evil doing in front Ellie and Ned but Ellie as FBI agent didn't record it. Instead we had to see Ned gambled his life at end of the book.
If this book write by a first time author, I can understand it. But by Mr Patterson?
I just hope that Mr Patterson only write one book peryear and really write to make his fans happy. Not write 4 or 5 books peryear with lots of co-author and gave us a miss hit one after one.
After reading Lifeguard, I cancel my intention to bought Honeymoon and 4th of July. Better borrow it from the library in case it turn out as bad as this one.
Book Review: I'm curious???
Summary: 3 Stars
The Margin
I was in Wal-Mart recently looking for a fast read. There was the usual array of books including several by James Patterson, and I chose The Lifeguard.
To me it was predictable, flat (lacked multi-demensionality)and the intended exciting scenes were unrealistic. The motorcycle escaping the Hummer turned a few pages for me, but when it was over I thought about the possibility of the driver and his passenger doing all that stuff while driving at a very high rate of speed and just shrugged the image off.
But before that happened Ned's closest friends and relatives, the very people he grew up with, are set-up by the bad guy and then summarily murdered. Then Ned's brother is murdered while in the process of trying to help Ned.
He needs to visit with his father, who he'd not seen in a while, to find out if he (the father) knows who the bad guy is. Does the father know who the bad guy is? Probably, but the diseased and dying old man rejects his son's questions, and at a ball game, of all things.
Oh yes, Ned and his pursuer, a cute female FBI agent, fall in love and sleep together, and this is after he kidnaps her and holds a gun to her head.
There are some nice twists and turns that are a little unexpected, and it is a quick read, so don't let this review discourage you from reading The Lifeguard.
Marvin Wiebener, author of The Margin