Official Review: Moving Target Live Longer

[debo9967]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Moving Target Live Longer" by Linda Rappoport.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Moving Targets Live Longer by Linda Rappoport is a book in the crime thriller genre. It follows the story of three women and how they get trapped in a brutal plan of a sadistic murderer.

Ellie Sherman is a Park Ranger with commitment issues and a past she doesn't want to remember. Jane Harrington is also a respected Park Ranger, but her domestic life is in shambles. Celeste Gold is a famous socialite but everything is not perfect in her seemingly perfect life. These three women get entangled in a web of terror and death, when Ellie is found in a remote area of the park, injured and without a clue as to how she got there. Things turn worse for Ellie when a brutally mutilated body is found, whose death is timed around the same time as Ellie’s disappearance previous night. While the cops are suspecting Ellie’s hand in the latest murder, which is the second of the horrific murders that have troubled the peace of the area, the real murderer is getting close to his target.

What impressed me about this book was how the lives of the three female protagonists are sketched in the story. I liked how the author showed Jane and Celeste grappling with their married lives. The parts of the book where Jane is trying to help out her hypochondriac husband or Celeste is making excuses for her failing marriage are done quite well. Another interesting character is Celeste’s daughter, Deidre, and the mother-daughter relationship is dealt with quite well by the author. I liked how the author captured the element of inertia felt by Celeste and Jane, where they put up with their failing marriages only because it is too painful to change and they are scared of being left alone for the rest of their lives. The author has interwoven the sentimental elements of the book with the suspense elements quite well. Some portions of the book, like the chapters where the murderer is stalking Ellie, or when Ellie’s memory is coming back to her in sudden flashbacks, are done quite well. I was impressed by the author’s attempt to delve into the psychology of a killer and the author’s treatment of the psychopathic elements of the book.

However, I was a little disappointed with the end of the book. I felt that the author did not explore all the possible climaxes for the book. Also, some parts of the storyline were pretty cliché and the author could have come up with something else.

I rate this book 3 out of 4 since it’s an engaging and fast paced thriller.

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Moving Target Live Longer
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[ananya92]

Nice review.

[gali]

Thank you for the lovely review.

[bookowlie]

I enjoyed reading your review. I do like fast-paced thrillers and this one seems to fit the bill.

[resqueranger]

Moving Targets Live Longer by Linda Rappoport

I was surprised to read the end of the review by ananya92. Hi praises were given all the way through the book until the very end. The fact that Celeste, a frail, arthritic and timid elderly women risked her life to ride a high spirited mustang to rescue her friends showed change of character and great risk taking. Also the ending displayed a side of Celeste that showed even the upscale and socially correct has a breaking point.

The book was reviewed by a literary agent who worked at William Morris who felt the ending was the strongest part of the novel. Either there are some cultural differences that the reviewer had that clouded the reviewer's perception or the reviewer didn't grasp the significant psychological impact of the ending.

[debo9967]

Hmm, in my opinion, the ending was a bit unrealistic and did not suit the rest of the novel. The climax in isolation was not bad, but taken together with the rest of the story it somehow did not fit correctly. Anyhow, this is my opinion and as you write of cultural differences, perhaps I am too bored of this brand of climax, since we Indians have a lot of it already in our movies.

-- 11 Mar 2015, 15:11 --

Thanks Gali & bookowlie

[ananya92]

@Resqueranger Er,the author of this review is debo9967, I just commented on it.

[resqueranger]

I don't find it unrealistic for a 70 year old woman who grew up with horses and showed in competition to get back on her horse again in an emergency. I have ridden horses all of my life and know many people in that age range that are still riding, showing, jumping, and even training horses. I was also a park ranger and having done some rescues and been in a few situations and accidents with horses I can tell you that all is possible. By the way, half of my family are Mexican so the culture remark wasn't meant to be disparaging. And my family didn't find the climax boring. If you are referring to the violence at the end, well it was just that kind of book. Thanks again for the review.

[ALynnPowers]

Nice review, and it sounds like an interesting read. I love it when there is a web of relationships going on, like you mentioned with these three women.

[debo9967]

Thanks

[PashaRu]

Thanks for a nice, well-written review.

[debo9967]

Thanks

[TammyO]

Nice review, Debo. It sounds like a really interesting story. It's too bad about the ending, it is so disappointing when it is such a letdown. But overall, the book seems really good.

[debo9967]

Thanks Yeah, overall the book is really engaging.

[kio]

nice review, I liked how you handled the different aspects of the book.