2008-03-21 Too self indulgent to be considered anything more than a mediocre read.

This book starts off well but loses momentum at about 200 pages. The story started to drag out abit and i was regretting even starting the book. But by about the halfway mark it picked up again and managed to keep me interested till the end. However the story was far too self indulgent in the matters of Schizophrenia and the Legal system. Which I agree are both integral parts to the story but there was no need to go into such depth of either subject. There was also an unneeded romantic sub plot chucked in in the later part of the book seemingly out of nowhere. And the supposed cliffhangers at the end of chapters could be seen 2 or 3 pages coming. There's all that and the fact that since her first book I've lost track of the amount of times i've read the line 'Sliced to ribbons' in a Hoffman book.
Faults aside I still seem to hold faith in Hoffmans talent as a story writer. Even though she's yet to churn out another as good as her debut 'Retribution'. But compared to her dire second attempt of 'Last Witness' this is somewhat a breath of fresh air as Hoffman atleast seems to be on track to eventually getting back to the heights of her first attempt.
So all in all this is a pretty run of the mill legal book. Not so much a thriller unfortunately. It's 600 pages of legal matters and a pretty in depth class in Miami law and the effects of Schizophrenia.