An Isolated Incident

This plot of this book is pretty much given away before you really get very far into it, plus it’s fairly obvious from the start that the author wants to show us that prejudice is bad. Now while that is a great goal, it is so obviously and clumsily done that it doesn’t make for interesting reading.

This book is a well-written suspense. I thought I had the mystery figured out in the first two or three chapters and was reading to verify that I was correct. The author never once loses sight of making the reader believe that the police are on the right track, that the real killer has been released on a technicality, that the sniper has a good motive even though he is legally wrong. The identity of the killer is not revealed until the last paragraph -- but when the reader reviews the clues, the solution is airtight. I couldn't put the book down.

I have read the other reviews and while I see there were loose ends, etc, I do think it was a great vacation book, unexpectedly picked up from the library and enjoyed. I will look for her first book.

This is an TRULY EXCELLENT novel. I literally could not put this book down! Generally, I never read a book that does not have either the Literary Guild or the Book-of-the Month Main Selection designation. I read "An Isolated Incident" because Susan Sloan's 1st novel was so GOOD. Why this second novel did not get the LITERARY GUILD designation is beyond me. This novel should have been on the NATIONAL BESTSELLER LIST for at least 6 months! Perhaps the publishers marketing of this book was at fault. Sometimes the cover itself is the only reason a book doesn't make it to the list. Can't wait for her 3rd novel!

I had already read Guilt by Association, but found this much more riveting. Unfortunately, I could well imagine the 'set-up' happening in the type of community described and it held my interest to the very last line.

I admit I got this book because of the customer comments made about it. Readers either loved it or hated it, nothing in between, and I wanted to find out for myself. Well, now I have, and it's a superb book, full of rich, wonderful characters, with a story that will keep you involved to the very last page. Does it have a sappy live-happily-ever-after ending? No. It has an all-to-real-life ending, which is much more valid. In fact, now that I reflect, it couldn't have ended any other way. But the best part of the book is its depth, its intricate layer upon layer, that makes you think about what Sloan is really saying. I wish I'd written this. I'm getting her other book today.