Dead Time (Dr. Alan Gregory) by Stephen White Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Dead Time (Dr. Alan Gregory)
Book Review: A Grand Miss
Summary: 3 Stars
A potentially engaging story line that was overwhelmed by too many tangential threads that failed to weave into a satisfying whole. In the face of an overabundance of reading choices, writers tend to be more convoluted than complex as they attempt to produce a book with depth and a difference. Tighter editing that pared down the conversations between Alan and Sam, Meredith and Alan would have helped ~ rather than adding to the totality of these characters, they distracted. Support your public library and borrow this one rather than investing your hard earned dollars in a book that is more tedious than compelling.Book Review: A change of pace
Summary: 5 Stars
The fifteenth installment of the Alan Gregory series is a change of pace, a novel of wry humor and introspection. After the intensity of the previous episode, Alan Gregory needed some time to take stock and regain equilibrium. As a fan of Stephen White and all the characters in this great series, I needed the respite as well.
Dr. Alan Gregory observes, not in these exact words, that irony is the gods' way of amusing themselves. They have a great time with poor Alan throughout this book, especially at the end.
This book gives a little more insight into Alan because of the multiple points of view, but I hope White doesn't abandon using Alan's viewpoint exclusively. I wasn't particularly happy with so much information coming in the last chapter; his books are usually more evenly plotted. However, the canyon-floor mystery is only half the story, and the shifting viewpoints probably account for the packed last chapter.
Anyone who is expecting Alan Gregory to be like Joe Pike or Spenser will be disappointed. Dr. Gregory is a psychologist, not a PI and not a cop. He doesn't carry a gun or practice kata on his deck. He is a "touchy, feely" type of guy who would happily give his friend Sam a hug, but he knows Sam would deck him if he did. He is, however, insightful and lucky (he might think unlucky) in helping to solve a mystery. He doesn't set out to get involved, but his good-hearted attempts to help always land him in the midst of trouble. I'm sure he can hear the gods laughing.
Although I heartily recommend this book, I recommend starting at the beginning of the series. One might very well enjoy this fine novel without reading the others, but knowing the characters and how they got to where they are makes it even better. Start with PRIVILEGED INFORMATION and enjoy the journey to DEAD TIME. For anyone new to Stephen White who wants to give his work a try before starting the series, I recommend KILL ME, a stand-alone with Dr. Gregory in a very minor role.
Book Review: An interesting effort that doesn't quite gel
Summary: 3 Stars
I've enjoyed White's Alan Gregory novels over the years, though the quality has varied; he has some habits that are sometimes annoying.
In this book, the disappearance of a female hiker years ago in the Grand Canyon is the spine that drives this story, as that foundation leads Gregory into a search for the surrogate mother of his ex-wife's baby, one she's having with her fiance, who was ALSO in the Grand Canyon on that fateful day.
In many ways this is an attempt at modern noir, along the lines of "Out of the Past", but that's also one of its failings. In the noir genre, the central character is involved because of decisions he's made or actions he's taken in the past that are now catching up to him. But that's one of the failings of the book: Gregory is virtually a mere bystander or observer as the actions unfold. A character will tell him something, which he passes on to a different character; that character will act on the information, and in turn pass that on to Gregory, who then gets his buddy Sam to take some action; Sam then reports back to Gregory, who then tells another character..... well, you get the picture. Gregory is basically a traffic cop directing the flow of information and actions of OTHER characters as the story unfolds; he doesn't do much of anything himself. Further, there were so many characters being juggled around third-hand, that it was hard to keep them straight. You need a scorecard. There's one major character from the Grand Canyon segment who doesn't even ever really appear in the story except as a dead body -- which we never even "see"!
To be quite honest, the soap-opera timbre of Gregory's marriage and his relationship issues with his wife are also becoming very tedious, and yet again nothing is resolved in this book. How long is White going to drag this out? Gregory is, frankly, a wuss in addressing issues with his wife, very annoyingly passive-aggressive. As a shrink himself, I wonder if White is even aware of this unattractive aspect of Gregory's character? Is Gregory an alter-ego reflecting White's OWN passive-aggressive nature? Interesting to ponder, but the bottom line is it's very monotonous and irritating.
I also have to say that for a major house like Dutton, in publishing one of their upper-tier authors, this book sure had a lot of typographical and grammatical errors: misspelled or entirely missing words, missing or incorrect puntuation, and others. Surprising and distracting.
It did hold some interest, and the flashback scenes to the Grand Canyon were interesting and well done. The solution to the mystery was certainly surprising in that again, there was no real foundation laid for the denouement. That enhanced the surprise, at the expense of believability and the satisfaction quotient.
Like I said; a mixed bag. Three stars.
Book Review: Another Great Read
Summary: 4 Stars
Funnily enough both Jonathan Kellerman and Stephen White released new novels within weeks of each other. They both are clinical psychologists in real life as are their protagonist.
White's character Alan Gregory practices psychology in Boulder, Colorado. His sidekick is Detective Sam Purdy. Sam is on suspension for offences committed during the last case Alan and he worked on. Gregory's wife Lauren suffers from Multiple Sclerosis. The mysteries that White writes about are fascinating, but so are the interpersonal relationships of the main charaters, particulary between Lauren and Alan.
This book is a bit of a departure from previous books in the series. Lauren and Sam do not figure as predominantly. Instead every other chapter is from the standpoint of Alan's ex wife Merideth, who has remarried. Her new husband Eric and five friends were involved in a tragedy that happened in the Grand Canyon years ago. One of the five is also the child of a fellow psychologist. Meredith asks for Sam and Alan's help to locate a surrogate mother that they have engaged. She has disappeared. There may be a connection between the two incidents. Alan's personal life is also undergoing great stress.
I found it interesting to explore Meredith's character a bit more. This novel seemed to overdo the personal introspection a bit. Some of the story surrounding the Grand Canyon event is a bit convoluted. I was a little hard pressed to find all of Alan's support of Meredith believable. Nonetheless, Dead Time is still a great read.
Book Review: Another good read from Stephen White
Summary: 5 Stars
I had a hard time putting it down. Fast paced plot, and good character development.