Ian Fox (3)

If you’re the wife of a researcher; be prepared to take the back burner to mice, rats, rabbits and other critters that come cheap and can be tossed if they die. If you’re married to Dr. Simon Patterson like Helen is; even Dorothy the rabbit upstages you. A plus might be that if his experiment works, Simon Patterson will have discovered the way to a much longer life. Not that Helen is anyone’s idea of a gem. She is shrill, nagging, shrill, beautiful, shrill, nagging….you get the idea. show more She wants something – ANYTHING – other than what she has. She is openly envious of all who are rich and can travel, vacation in exotic spots and tells them so with every breath.
Then Simon saves the life of a very special man: Carlo Vucci and instantly is in Carlo’s inner circle. Possibly a little too in as Carlo’s wife Christine starts finding excuses to visit Simon at the hospital. Soon they have gotten closer than planned and if a comparison of Helen and Christine, Helen isn’t even on the dance card. The closeness evolves into an affair and, knowing that Carlo will kill them if he finds out, the couple go through many moves to stop that from happening. Alas, you know they never work.
Simon is hiding from Carlo, Catherine is pursuing Simon, someone kills Helen in her bedroom, Simon’s chief assistant is gunning for Simon’s job. Such chaos, several murders and near riots ensue. Someone is double-crossing everyone else and there are several suspects. Figuring it out is the fun part! show less

I was asked to review this book by the author. The premise definitely sounded intriguing, so I agreed. I’ve been reading this one in small chunks here and there for nearly a month now, and I wish that I could say that it was a great book... but it just wasn’t.

I didn't care for this book, but I think that it had quite a bit of potential to be very good. The writing, the details, the stiffness of the story just didn’t get it anywhere close to where it should be. There was far too much show more erroneous side information given, far too many characters, and things just seemed to take far too long to actually get going in the story. The first 50 pages barely even nudge the door open on the story. We’re taken on rounds and visit quite a lot of patients, but the story wasn’t even close to starting at that point. We’ve met a couple characters, but it doesn’t really provide any useful information. I’m OK with side information… when it serves a purpose. It didn’t here. It was just unnecessary filler, and when it comes at the beginning of the story, I start worrying.

The dialogue throughout was stiff and unnatural, and the characters never felt like real people to me. When the main character’s wife is murdered, all I felt was a sort of relief that I wouldn’t have to listen to her nag anymore. She was greedy, selfish and immensely irritating. I know quite a few women who are just like that, but that doesn’t make it realistic or good. There was no depth, no personality, no life in the story. It was like cardboard cutout marionettes, with bad voiceover actors doing the dialogue. I feel harsh saying that, but it’s true. There’s the brilliant scientist on the verge of a breakthrough if only he wasn’t stuck in his tedious middle management neurosurgeon job. The fact that he actually, petulantly, threatened to let a patient die because his boss wouldn’t fund his science experiments made me seriously want to throw the book against the wall. The fact that he even thought it is a violation of what makes people go into medicine in the first place – the desire to help people. And further, the fact that his pet project is an anti-aging drug, I felt like it was both hypocritical and completely superficial at the same time. He wants to help people live longer, right? So he’s studying within his field to try to find a cure for illnesses of the brain, right? No. He’s making glorified botox.

I didn’t get it, and never really warmed to this book at all. This could have been a book much more worth reading if it was edited and trimmed down. This is over 400 pages long, and in my opinion, at least a quarter of that should have hit the cutting room floor. There’s just too much going on, and it became distracting. So, overall, this was not great, but some work could get it closer to it. show less

How to describe this book, written by Ian Fox..This is a tough one, as i would rate it 1.5 stars for plot, but 4 stars for characters. Because of this, you will find a very confused review follows below.

Quick synopsis. Successful Neurosurgeon is depressed and has a home life that can only be described as extreme emotionally abusive. He is consistently ripped into, which causes him to be distant, which exacerbates his situation. Neurosurgeon saves the life of a known gangster after a car show more wreck, then falls head over heels for the gangsters wife. Obviously, not the brightest move, but people do stupid things for love.

Anything more would be spoilers.

Suffice to say that there are about ten total characters, and each has their part, though maybe not in the same story arc. This novel is more of a character exploitation in the realm of greed where love is involved. It is enjoyable, but if you are looking for action packed gripping plot line, you should look elsewhere. This is a book for Character lovers and those who enjoy a meandering stroll through the inner thoughts of people as lost as most of us fail to admit we are. The plot twist is less surprising and more “I knew that was going to happen” but the reaction of those involved is less expected. The main character blooms at that point becoming something I would not have guessed at. Again, all about the characters

Promise Me Eternity was a good read, but painful in one important (to me) regard. Taking place in Oregon, where I live, I had a rough time getting past the fact that all the characters spoke and thought like Europeans. It was off putting. Perhaps this is something that would not impact people from another part of the world, but for someone who lives here, it was very inauthentic feeling. I felt like the author had visited, but never stayed more than a couple days.

Descriptions of the area were also very lackluster, seeming to be from pictures found on the internet rather than an actual live experience.

I think the author would be better served in revamping and moving the location to a European location. else wise simply stating “so and so moved here from such and such after medical school”. This would not serve all characters the same though as one admitted to being born and raised local. The Euro feel to the language, thoughts, and conversation would be too difficult to fix, where relocation would be cut and paste, could even be a made up place, as the place is not important to the story.. From my view, this book could be set anywhere, the region mattered less than the characters. This in-genuine feeling took the novel and put it in an uncomfortable position. It went from plausible to “not sure if I care” multiple times per chapter.. The Grants Pass/Medford/Ashland area has a very vibrant individuality that was just “missing”.

Best suggestion, read the author’s synopsis and make your own decision. It won’t be for everyone, but it was not a bomb either.
Overall good work on this, worth reading, but if you are an Oregonian, you may find similar concerns.

I just couldn’t get past the language issues!! show less

Everybody wants something from Dr. Simon Patterson; his wife, Helen, wants him to make more money so she can have better things, his chief at the hospital wants him to just concentrate on being a neurosurgeon, and his assistant, Jerry, wants Simon to let him become an associate. With all these people harping on him for something Simon finds himself running into the arms of Christine Vucci, the wife of local mobster Carlo Vucci. In the end no one is safe from all the revenge going around. show more

There are many characters in this book which at first had me a little confused but once I got used to all the characters I was hooked at how all their lives seemed intricately connected. While the book is mainly about Simon it does also follow the relationships of others and some glimpses into the lives of the other characters. Throughout many of the relationships in the book there seemed to be one character that was controlling and the other that seemed weak. This can be seen through the many romantic relationships, i.e Simon and Helen, Anita and Jerry, Carlo and Christine. I liked the contrasting of the controlling and weak characters.

I loved the action in this book, it was fast-paced and I couldn't get enough of it. I also liked that with the action there was also some mystery, like who really killed Helen? I have to say that I was surprised when it was finally revealed who killed her.

In regards to Simon's arrest and trial, from what I had read I didn't think the police really did have enough evidence to arrest them and really not enough to try him for murder. That is probably just the paralegal student in me though.

I was happy to see some characters get their revenge in the end. In the end those characters who were driven to do deceitful things get knocked down a notch.

Overall this is a fast-paced book that jumps into the action right away. Readers are shown characters with different wants and just how far they are willing to go get what they want. For some of these characters you'd get chills just to see how far they are willing to go.

[I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.] show less