Okay, just to prove that authors DO read rotten Amazon reviews, here are my three favorites for MIXED BLOOD in 2009:

[roger smith]

rogersmithbooks.com

J. STORM: “It was like sitting through jury duty, waiting for your name to be called, all the while pretending to glance through the subpar magazine selections in the waiting room. (Not a lot of love in that waiting room . . .)

SALLY ATMAN: “I barely made it through this book; I dreaded what I was going to find on the page every time I picked it up.” (Bits of yesterday’s breakfast burrito, perhaps?)

R. PHILLIPS:“Mixed Blood is suspenseful and readable, and the author is perceptive, talented and technically proficient. Nonetheless, I recommend you pass this one and wait for author maturity that sometimes comes with later works.” (Man, talk about setting that bar HIGH!)

Thank you and happy holidays!

[I. J. Parker]

Oh, nice! We find some doozies sometimes. :)

[Dave Zeltserman]

Roger, I'm pretty sure he didn't read it. He talks about quitting the book, but then proceeds to blast the ending.,. and the gratuitous violence line comes from the one other negative review up there (and I do that reviewer was genuinely disturbed by the violence, although I don't there's anything gratuitous in Pariah). Most likely this is a wannabe writer from Virgina who got pissed off reading the rave review in WP, and took out his frustrations writing this review.

[roger smith]

Dave, he reads a library book and then goes onto Amazon and trashes it. That's low.

[Dave Zeltserman]

okay, I'll play. This one was added to amazon right after the Washington Post gave Pariah a rave review. Notice he first talks about quitting the book, but then proceeds to talk about how bad the ending. This Richard Orlin is clearly not the sharpest knife in the drawer...


I didn't learn my lesson..., November 12, 2009
By Richard Orlin (Centreville, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
...after reading Zeltserman's previous novel, "Small Crimes". At least THIS time I only wasted two hours of my life. The writing hasn't gotten any better and the characterization is still thin. The plotline exists only to further the gratuitous violence. Like "Small Crimes", the ending finishes with a "pop", rather than a "bang". Zeltserman needs to work on his endings and learn a little about foreshadowing. Again, I'm glad that this was a library book.