The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
imperfectcj's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
2.5
 I finished this one, and it occupied me during 5 hours of driving and a couple hours of flying, but I can't say that it's very good. It's ridiculously convoluted, characters' motives don't make sense, and people kept referring to key cards as "scramble cards," which was weird. I can't find any references to that usage online.Â
alykat_reads's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
In case you forget the title of this book, don't worry. It's mentioned about 80 times throughout so you'll never forget it. The MC doesn't make the smartest decisions either, and not very believable that some random tech CEO is going to do basically a police investigation on a missing escort. But putting all that aside, Connelly can write a good story. Of course, he made a Hieronymus Bosch reference. I like the Bosch and Haller series better than this stand alone, but still enjoyed Connelly's writing.
abrswf's review against another edition
5.0
This is an earlier Connelly novel, and because I now gobble these up like M&Ms, I was pleased to find one I hadn't read. The writing style is a bit stiffer and the characterizations a bit less developed than in his current books, but this is a heck of a good story, with a bad guy I did not spot at all and many surprises en route. The book is set in a molecular research company and I was also fascinated to read about the science at the time (2002) which still has not quite borne out the promise it showed 20 years ago.
heathersbike's review against another edition
Michael Connelly is always a good read. Not sure how I missed this one.
ebbie_casuallereading's review against another edition
2.0
Read through audiobook.
As a stand alone, it's ok, though I preferred other ones from Connelly.
This one is a bit convoluted without really making sense much towards the end as ti who exactly is behind it all.
I usually like Connelly's characters, even though they are not the greatest, but here, there's no one to like. And I guess that's the major issue with this book as I wouldn't mind the other issues as much if at least the main character was not someone I probably wanted to hurt as well.
As a stand alone, it's ok, though I preferred other ones from Connelly.
This one is a bit convoluted without really making sense much towards the end as ti who exactly is behind it all.
I usually like Connelly's characters, even though they are not the greatest, but here, there's no one to like. And I guess that's the major issue with this book as I wouldn't mind the other issues as much if at least the main character was not someone I probably wanted to hurt as well.
nferre's review against another edition
4.0
This was a fun listen. I was sick and needed a quick entertaining book to listen to and this one fit the bill perfectly. Fast paced with just enough characters that I could keep track of the names, a plot that was well developed and an ending that was surprising, but totally plausible.
lwalker77's review against another edition
3.0
Not a typical Michael Connelly novel, but this could have easily been a Bosch novel. I think any Connelly fan would enjoy this book. My only complaint is that the story seemed to make some leaps that I had trouble following at times and the main character, who is supposed to be a brilliant chemist, sometimes came across as stupid because of some of the things he did. Otherwise, this book was very enjoyable.
weaselweader's review against another edition
4.0
Weaker than Harry Bosch ... but stronger than most!
Henry Pierce, a brilliant scientist on the cutting edge of nanotechnology, biotechnology and quantum computers, is about to become very, very rich when his company Amadeo Technologies files the patent on the latest discovery he and his team have put together.
But he's also toting a suitcase jam-packed with distracting baggage at the moment. Recently separated from his lover, he's just moved to a new apartment and has discovered that his new phone number used to belong to one Lilly Quinlan, a high-priced escort (and almost certainly a prostitute) whose services are advertised on a web page called "LA Darlings". When the wrong number calls continue by the dozens, Pierce suspects that something has happened to cause Lilly to disappear and begins to worry that she may be in serious trouble.
Still deeply disturbed by the disappearance of his own sister many years earlier who had fled home, taken to a street life of drugs and prostitution and was ultimately murdered, Pierce decides to search for the missing girl. He soon discovers that there are some very mean, very motivated people out there who will stop at nothing to let him know that he is putting his nose into places where it definitely doesn't belong. When he takes his discoveries to the LAPD, he is shocked to discover that he is in top place on the police's list of possible suspects for Lilly's disappearance and murder.
Previous individual reviewers (and even editorial reviews) have criticized Connelly's basic premise suggesting that Pierce's response to the stimulus of a series of wrong number calls was weak, melodramatic and unbelievable. I beg to differ! Brilliant scientists can almost certainly be correctly stereotyped as outside-the-box thinkers; driven, workaholic people who look internally for solutions to their problems; and, single minded individuals who march to the tune of their own drummers. They are often people who interact poorly under normal social circumstances and who respond differently than you or I might to the same mental stimulus. From that point of view and particularly considering the guilt and grief that Pierce would be subject to on the matter of his murdered young sister, his decision to conduct a one-man police hunt, while a long way from sensible or appropriate, at least might be considered understandable and reasonable under the circumstances.
"Chasing the Dime", like all of Connelly's other novels, is chock full of well-developed, colourful characters. And, no matter what one might believe about the basic premise of the novel, any reader will have to admit that Connelly's plotting is tight and the revelation of the ultimate villains arrives out of left field entirely unseen and unpredicted. Admittedly, the dialogue in "Chasing the Dime" seems a little more clunky and forced than his previous work. It just doesn't have the darkness, the depth or the psychological angst that made his previous Harry Bosch novels such works of art.
By comparison to Connelly's previous body of work, I'd probably award "Chasing the Dimes" no more than three stars. But - and let's be honest here - if James Patterson, Clive Cussler or many of the other "crank-'em-out-six-a-year" thriller authors had written it, it would be getting raves as a tour-de-force! So I think perhaps a rating of four stars is more appropriate in the context of the thriller field at large.
Recommended.
Paul Weiss
Henry Pierce, a brilliant scientist on the cutting edge of nanotechnology, biotechnology and quantum computers, is about to become very, very rich when his company Amadeo Technologies files the patent on the latest discovery he and his team have put together.
But he's also toting a suitcase jam-packed with distracting baggage at the moment. Recently separated from his lover, he's just moved to a new apartment and has discovered that his new phone number used to belong to one Lilly Quinlan, a high-priced escort (and almost certainly a prostitute) whose services are advertised on a web page called "LA Darlings". When the wrong number calls continue by the dozens, Pierce suspects that something has happened to cause Lilly to disappear and begins to worry that she may be in serious trouble.
Still deeply disturbed by the disappearance of his own sister many years earlier who had fled home, taken to a street life of drugs and prostitution and was ultimately murdered, Pierce decides to search for the missing girl. He soon discovers that there are some very mean, very motivated people out there who will stop at nothing to let him know that he is putting his nose into places where it definitely doesn't belong. When he takes his discoveries to the LAPD, he is shocked to discover that he is in top place on the police's list of possible suspects for Lilly's disappearance and murder.
Previous individual reviewers (and even editorial reviews) have criticized Connelly's basic premise suggesting that Pierce's response to the stimulus of a series of wrong number calls was weak, melodramatic and unbelievable. I beg to differ! Brilliant scientists can almost certainly be correctly stereotyped as outside-the-box thinkers; driven, workaholic people who look internally for solutions to their problems; and, single minded individuals who march to the tune of their own drummers. They are often people who interact poorly under normal social circumstances and who respond differently than you or I might to the same mental stimulus. From that point of view and particularly considering the guilt and grief that Pierce would be subject to on the matter of his murdered young sister, his decision to conduct a one-man police hunt, while a long way from sensible or appropriate, at least might be considered understandable and reasonable under the circumstances.
"Chasing the Dime", like all of Connelly's other novels, is chock full of well-developed, colourful characters. And, no matter what one might believe about the basic premise of the novel, any reader will have to admit that Connelly's plotting is tight and the revelation of the ultimate villains arrives out of left field entirely unseen and unpredicted. Admittedly, the dialogue in "Chasing the Dime" seems a little more clunky and forced than his previous work. It just doesn't have the darkness, the depth or the psychological angst that made his previous Harry Bosch novels such works of art.
By comparison to Connelly's previous body of work, I'd probably award "Chasing the Dimes" no more than three stars. But - and let's be honest here - if James Patterson, Clive Cussler or many of the other "crank-'em-out-six-a-year" thriller authors had written it, it would be getting raves as a tour-de-force! So I think perhaps a rating of four stars is more appropriate in the context of the thriller field at large.
Recommended.
Paul Weiss
mrsr_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0