Life Penalty: A Novel

It doesn't take long for this thriller to hook you in and take you for a grisly ride until the very last page. Truly a great suspense and still timely even through it was written in 1984. The main character Gail is very believable and honestly reveals what a woman will bravely and sometimes recklessly do to avenge the rape and murder of her six year old daughter. A must read for fans of Joy Fielding.

I really like this author but this wasn't my favorite book. I think she spends too much time talking about the mothers grief than actually writing about what's happening. There isn't much action until you get to the middle of the book and it takes a long time to develop. It doesn't even have a great ending unfortunately... But kiss mommy goodbye is like my favorite of hers!

I read "Life Penalty," by Joy Fielding, and found this book interesting enough to give it four stars. I would have given it all five stars, but the story, although reasonably interesting, was less than perfect. Unlike most of the negative reviews, however, I did not dislike the character of Gail. I agree that the lengths she went to in trying to find her young daughter's killer was extreme, yet in a way it could also be understandable. Gail was a mother who was outraged by the senseless killing of her little girl, as most normal mothers would be. In fact, in reading the story, the character interaction gave the essence that Gail seemed to be the only one who was so deeply affected by Cindy's murder. Gail's so-called friends were unbelievably callous at times and I really didn't get the sense that Gail's husband or teenaged daughter were as affected. The story seemed a bit abrupt after Cindy's murder, and it seemed everyone (except for Gail) "got on with" their lives a little too quickly, without much outrage or determination to find the killer. Gail's family and friends should have been more comforting to her, but reading this book, I just had the sense that Gail was grieving alone. Other than these character flaws, I found "Life Penalty" to be a reasonably easy, quick, and interesting read.

I was surprised to see the poor(?) ratings on this book. I thought that the book had been very well written and couldn't put it down. Gail, her husband Jack, Jennifer her oldest, and Cindy the youngest, were one happy family. Having plenty of wealth, a beautiful home, and all that goes with a richer lifestyle, you wouldn't want for anything more. But perfect doesn't last forever when six-year-old Cindy is raped and murdered. Her killer leaves her under a bush afterwords like a piece of trash. When Gail comes home after an afternoon with her friend to find police there waiting on her, she is very fearful. Of course the minute she learns the news, she is in denial big time, a state of shock, and takes forever to even be able to talk at all. As life continues on, Gail has her mind on one thing only-and that is finding Cindy's killer no matter what. She does very dangerous things; hitchhikes on the streets, and goes to very dangerous parts of town to find the killer. The police just won't work fast enough for her. She nearly gets herself killed many times over, and not only that she wants to die. She finds crazy ways to injure herself so that she can end her life and be with Cindy. There is no end to the agony until-you must read and find out.

I picked this hardcover up during the 80's when it first came out and I enjoyed the read. Sure some of this sounds far-fetched but Joy Fielding along with Mary Higgins Clark were at the top of women writers in the 80's given readers chilling suspense and a good fast read. It seems now a days all these stories they wrote about so well, have been put through the mill and rehashed a million times over. I guess when you look back they may seem somewhat tame and maybe even dull compared to what they write about these days but I still remember this story and reading it till 4AM till finished and enjoying it, thats what readings about. Its really not as bad as many of the reviewers claim.

Joy Fielding once again releases an incredible book. The books main points were placed strategically throughout the book creating a feeling within the reader that they were the lady who's child had been abducted, sexually assaulted, and murdered. The ending added an interesting twist to the plot--defiantly not a story to pass up. I would recommend "Life Penalty" to anyone who enjoys murder/mystery/revenge books.