Customer Rating: 
Summary: Unworthy of the Author's Talent
Comment: SUMMARY: The latest in Jackson's series revolving around the ever-expanding family of tragic heroine Faith Daniels finds Kristi Bentz, a secondary character from the previous installments, at the forefront. Recovered from a previous attack, Kristi decides to re-enroll at her alma mater, All Souls College, to further her aspirations of becoming a true crime writer. The fact that several female students have gone missing from the campus only intrigues her more.
WHY YOU'LL LIKE IT: Jackson has a knack for creating and developing likable heroines, and Kristi Bentz no different. As she was established in other books, it's nice to see her get a turn as a main character. Jackson endeavors to capture the gothic allure of New Orleans in these epic potboilers, and adequately succeeds.
WHY YOU WON'T: Despite the potential of this series, the plots have become formulaic and often ludicrous. How many serial killers can one family, disjointed or not, attract? Jackson's antagonists have become predictable and boring, whispering their bland threats into the ears of the reader, usually mixed with laughable profanity about his desire to violate sexually the protagonist; the killers are no longer distinguishable from each other and it's frankly impossible to care what their motives are or what drives them; it has become simply a matter of counting the bodies they leave in their wake until the inevitable concluding showdown. The romance scenes are pedantic and pejorative, and it's offensive to read the women of Jackson's novels become so besotted with their paramours that they become caricatures of themselves, not to mention the predilection the author has of shining the light of suspicion on said suitors, making her heroines' eventual submission all the more pathetic. Most aggravating is the heroines' penchant for putting themselves in harm's way (often planned) while not having taken the necessary precautions and thus requiring a man to ride to their rescue; regardless of self-defense training or that can of mace for which they never reach in time, it would be nice to see one of these women let someone know what they're up to and where they're going prior to racing off on a half-cocked 'mission'. The plotting is haphazard and shoddy, and the novel runs about one hundred-fifty pages too long with several redundant passages.
BOTTOM LINE: Jackson is a talented author with many illustrious works to her credit; this is not one of them. She's in danger of becoming generic in a genre in which she was once a leader.
Customer Rating:
Summary: slow going
Comment: I have just started reading this book and have to force my self to read each night. Usually I can't put her books down. This one is slow going. I am hoping it will get better.
Customer Rating:
Summary: WOW, how can anyone find this book boring???????
Comment: I just finished reading Lost Souls and found it to be one of the most interesting books I've read in a long time. I probably could have read it in one night it was so "on the edge of your seat" but as I was up late by myself I actually got a little uneasy and yes, I admit it, a little scared. I had to put it down and finish it in the daytime. Thanks Lisa, for a good "killer" read!!!!
Customer Rating:
Summary: From J. Kaye's Book Blog
Comment: With LOST SOULS, I decided to go with audio, just in case there were some dry spots, like in her last book. With this book, there were none. In fact, I think out of all three - SHIVER, ABOSULTE FEAR, and LOST SOULS, this was the best of the best. It wasn't until I read ABOSULTE FEAR, that I realized there were two previous books - HOT BLOODED and COLD BLOODED.
I can only speak for the last three. This is a great series to get caught up in!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Major Disappointment
Comment: I so wanted to like this book. I gave it a longer shot than most books. But the author doles out important facts like a hospital giving out pain meds. Not nearly quick enough! It took me over a week to read maybe a quarter of the book. I kept thinking one more chapter, it will pick up after one more chapter. No such luck. It had good potential with the premise, but fell way short on execution! If you want to be a lost soul and get lost in boredom and minutiae, then this is your book.
Summary: Unworthy of the Author's Talent
Comment: SUMMARY: The latest in Jackson's series revolving around the ever-expanding family of tragic heroine Faith Daniels finds Kristi Bentz, a secondary character from the previous installments, at the forefront. Recovered from a previous attack, Kristi decides to re-enroll at her alma mater, All Souls College, to further her aspirations of becoming a true crime writer. The fact that several female students have gone missing from the campus only intrigues her more.
WHY YOU'LL LIKE IT: Jackson has a knack for creating and developing likable heroines, and Kristi Bentz no different. As she was established in other books, it's nice to see her get a turn as a main character. Jackson endeavors to capture the gothic allure of New Orleans in these epic potboilers, and adequately succeeds.
WHY YOU WON'T: Despite the potential of this series, the plots have become formulaic and often ludicrous. How many serial killers can one family, disjointed or not, attract? Jackson's antagonists have become predictable and boring, whispering their bland threats into the ears of the reader, usually mixed with laughable profanity about his desire to violate sexually the protagonist; the killers are no longer distinguishable from each other and it's frankly impossible to care what their motives are or what drives them; it has become simply a matter of counting the bodies they leave in their wake until the inevitable concluding showdown. The romance scenes are pedantic and pejorative, and it's offensive to read the women of Jackson's novels become so besotted with their paramours that they become caricatures of themselves, not to mention the predilection the author has of shining the light of suspicion on said suitors, making her heroines' eventual submission all the more pathetic. Most aggravating is the heroines' penchant for putting themselves in harm's way (often planned) while not having taken the necessary precautions and thus requiring a man to ride to their rescue; regardless of self-defense training or that can of mace for which they never reach in time, it would be nice to see one of these women let someone know what they're up to and where they're going prior to racing off on a half-cocked 'mission'. The plotting is haphazard and shoddy, and the novel runs about one hundred-fifty pages too long with several redundant passages.
BOTTOM LINE: Jackson is a talented author with many illustrious works to her credit; this is not one of them. She's in danger of becoming generic in a genre in which she was once a leader.
Customer Rating:
Summary: slow going
Comment: I have just started reading this book and have to force my self to read each night. Usually I can't put her books down. This one is slow going. I am hoping it will get better.
Customer Rating:
Summary: WOW, how can anyone find this book boring???????
Comment: I just finished reading Lost Souls and found it to be one of the most interesting books I've read in a long time. I probably could have read it in one night it was so "on the edge of your seat" but as I was up late by myself I actually got a little uneasy and yes, I admit it, a little scared. I had to put it down and finish it in the daytime. Thanks Lisa, for a good "killer" read!!!!
Customer Rating:
Summary: From J. Kaye's Book Blog
Comment: With LOST SOULS, I decided to go with audio, just in case there were some dry spots, like in her last book. With this book, there were none. In fact, I think out of all three - SHIVER, ABOSULTE FEAR, and LOST SOULS, this was the best of the best. It wasn't until I read ABOSULTE FEAR, that I realized there were two previous books - HOT BLOODED and COLD BLOODED.
I can only speak for the last three. This is a great series to get caught up in!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Major Disappointment
Comment: I so wanted to like this book. I gave it a longer shot than most books. But the author doles out important facts like a hospital giving out pain meds. Not nearly quick enough! It took me over a week to read maybe a quarter of the book. I kept thinking one more chapter, it will pick up after one more chapter. No such luck. It had good potential with the premise, but fell way short on execution! If you want to be a lost soul and get lost in boredom and minutiae, then this is your book.