Reviews

Winter And Night by S.J. Rozan

lian_tanner's review against another edition

4.0

I was a little way into this when I realised I had read it before, under the title of 'Winter and Night'. But it was well worth the reread. I love Rozan's writing, whether it's from the p.o.v. of Bill Smith or Lydia Chan, and this is both a terrific thriller and a deeply relevant look at the adulation of sports stars and what that adulation can do to young people.

nocto's review

I couldn't wait another year again for the next Rozan so I splashed out on the US hardback. This one is narrated by the male half of the PI team, Bill Smith, and the characters are closer to home investigating in New York City and New Jersey.

I didn't like this as much as other episodes in the series, something about it missed me. I think it was that the setting was mainly concerned with American football and high schools and that Rozan was taking it for granted that I'd know a lot of details that as an Englishwoman who's totally ignorant about American football I missed. I couldn't work out what time of year the book was set, only that it was at the end of the football season. In the UK the football (soccer) season ends in May or thereabouts but taking it to be that didn't seem to make sense with some of the other things in the book.

That isn't to say that I didn't like the book or that I missed the whole point. Just that some of the details went over my head when I'd rather that they hadn't done.

Mostly this book is about young people trying to live up to what adults expect of them and about how lousy some of those adults are. I did feel that some of Rozan's characters were painted in black and white in this book. One of the things I usually like about her characters is that no one is all bad but I thought that a few of the adult characters in this book were painted in pretty dark shades of grey. I think that level of characterisation was used on the adults so that the adolescent characters who were the main focus of the book reflected the adults but I still found it disappointing.

I'm sounding very negative when my main reaction to this book was positive, it's just that I think that Rozan can and has done better.

fauxbot's review

2.0

This book dates itself pretty hard with a lot of the references and phrases used. It would also be about 1/3 shorter if they pulled all the glorified smoking references.

Overall, it wasn’t a super compelling or satisfying story. Bummer!

gawronma's review

4.0

Since I couldn't get a copy of the book, I listened to an audio version. The reader was good. The story really held my attention and I liked the complicated characters. I do agree that this book will lead to an interesting discussion.

happy_hiker's review

3.0

Overall, this book was suspenseful enough to keep me interested and I liked the writing style. I had no idea this book was part of a series when I started, but I don’t think not having read the first seven books was a problem at all. In a pinch, I would grab another book in the series.

margenotbutter's review against another edition

3.0

I liked the characters in this and the dialogue made me laugh several times but I have only rated it 3 stars because I felt the pace dropped off a number of times in the book, most significantly around the beginning of the second third. Also I felt that the ending wasn't a proper conclusion. As this is part of a series of books, it was difficult to grasp Lydia and Bill's relationship without knowing their background, so that was occasionally annoying. However I did like the plot (though it was quite stereotypical the characters made it readable - though there were several "macho men" which were slightly repetitive) and based on the writing style I would read more S.J. Rozan books.

prgchrqltma's review

It seemed like bad things would happen/have happened to children.

psalmcat's review against another edition

5.0

Uh-oh--yet another List Author.

This series features P.I. Bill Smith and in this book we meet his family, such as they are since he hasn't actually seen any of them in decades. Yet, his nephew Gary shows up unexpectedly, just long enough to make it clear he's in trouble and then disappears again. Even though everyone involved wants Smith to back off, he feels compelled to nose around, "stirring up trouble."

Somehow, Rozan weaves together high school and small-town sociology, bullying, and family history without losing the flow of suspense.

bob_muller's review

4.0

This one is about Bill Smith's real anger problem coming from his family experience. I had flashes of Robert B. Parker's book Early Autumn, but Smith isn't that much of a role model. At least he emerges from this novel without serious injury :).

clambook's review

4.0

Might be the best so far in the series (it's the sixth I've read), or at least the best featuring Smith. I continue to be impressed by how well Rozan writes about subjects one would think are foreign to her, in this case high school football.