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: Downhill
Summary: 1 Stars
I've been reading White's novels for years, and I found when I picked this up I was bored with the entire thing. Alan Gregory is an incredibly passive character in this book, and his thoughts are consistently uncharitable. It makes it impossible to care. Given his nature, I could understand why his first marriage failed. She seems to have grown and changed over the years; Gregory remains the same.
Unfortunately now it's tedious. His inability to simply be a person is now a fatal character flaw. Does the guy ever laugh? I doubt it. In other novels Gregory has found his patients unbearable in their tedium, in this he's attempting to diagnose Tourette's in less than five minutes because a new introduction is nervous, fidgety and not as sensitive to their surroundings as Gregory is. Once again Gregory is more sensitive to everything than anyone else is.
I found the character of Merideth to be far more interesting than Gregory; when it was his "turn" again (they alternate first person from chapter to chapter) I found myself sighing. A very bad sign indeed.
It's time to dump Gregory, take a break, and write a book that doesn't have a single therapist in it.
Book Review: Excellent read
Summary: 5 Stars
I really enjoy the Alan Gregory series. This one is as good as any he's written.Book Review: Jet Lag and Death Combined
Summary: 4 Stars
Stephen White usually keeps his main character, Dr. Alan Gregory close to home in Boulder Col. But this time out, Alan is all over the place, and so are the supporting characters.
The way this book is laid out is a bit confusing at first. We have Alan's ex-wife coming back to Colorado looking for help. Oh, great, just what he needs? Alan is a laid back easy-going kind of person, but it appears that ex-wife Meredith can still push buttons and make him crazy. Alan himself, reluctantly travels to New York and California.
The fact that current wife, Lauren is drifting from Alan's sphere is also a problem. Having a new son in the family, from the tragedy in White's previous novel, and the fact that Alan's best friend, Sam is still on suspension, all team up to add many threads to this winding story.
We travel from the relative calm Colorado to hectic New York, then on the wild and woolly California. Sam detours to the Grand Canyon and along the way both he and Alan are tempted by members of the fair sex. And both are surprised to find themselves in such a situation. Will Alan stay faithful to Lauren? Will Sam decide he is still celibate, and why? Or do the tempting women get to our stoic friends?
The tale goes back and forth to a previous time frame and chance encounter of the characters involved in the storyline. It jumps back and forth in the present to the various venues, and keeps us guessing up till the end what actually did happen and when. Alan is not a detective, Sam is suspended, so both wind up calling in favors, and tracking down a murderer. In Alan's case, he is much more comfortable solving cases using his head, but this one gets him physical as well.
The ending leaves us hanging, as did White's previous novel. So we hope there will not be too long a wait until Dr. Gregory becomes Super Sleuth Doc and he and sidekick Sam find another murder to solve.
Book Review: Kind of boring.....
Summary: 2 Stars
This was a tough one to finish. Some other reviewers have mentioned that this book needs tighter editing; I agree. I skimmed so much, especially the conversations between Sam and Alan, which were tedious, boring, too long...you probably get my drift. Meredith's situation had nothing to do with the main plot line of the book and was unnecessary. Then there was the one character with three names, and a character with the last name "Poteet" and another with the last name of "Peet". And, also like other reviewers, I'm bored of the drama surrounding the Gregory's marriage. Please Mr. White-either have them be married or split them up. Please.Book Review: More Like Dead Story
Summary: 3 Stars
I've never read a Stephen White story before. I got this one as a Christmas present and had my opportunity to try him out.
After the first half of the book, I was wondering when and if anything was ever going to happen besides the main character talking psycho-babble. It was no surprise to find out Mr. White is a psychotherapist, as it really shows in the writing.
The story picked up a good bit toward the end, but I still did not come away totally satisfied. I can't really pin it down either, but it seemed the end just did the job and nothing more. A lot of stuff converged at the end to tie things up, but it didn't have the impact I thought it would.
I must say that his writing is good enough that I didn't just put the book down. There was enough there to keep me going. I just wish the payoff was a little better done.
As for the writing, besides the psycho-babble, the POV was all over the place. I'm no fan of first person, but he takes it to a new level, when two of the main characters are in first person. Not only that, he switches to third for flashbacks. What really bothered me was the head hopping and author intrusion, especially when we're supposed to be in the main characters head. Then there are a few minor typos. I distinctly remember two. Actually, that is not bad for a novel.
If this is supposed to be a suspense novel, then there is very little, at least in this one. Maybe his other books do it. In a way, I get the impression this is "literary" suspense.
Also, I never got a good sense of the MC and his cop friend Sam's past. There was some incident that went bad for both of them. The author keeps referring to it, but he never gives a full explanation, or at least a full enough satisfying explanation. He kind of left me hanging on that one. Guess I'd have to read that first book to find out.
All in all, I don't regret reading Dead Time, but now I know another author to avoid at the bookstore. Just not my thing.