Customer Reviews
What a disappointment! - By: , 16 Feb 2004 
I'm just glad this wasn't the first of Stephen White's books that I've read; if it had been, I certainly wouldn't have read any more. What a let-down after some of the other enjoyable ones, such as Private Practices & Harm's Way.
This story was implausible from start to finish; the motivation just didn't convince. What lawyer, when held by the police, would be as maddeningly evasive as the one here - especiallly when a few words to trusted friends/colleagues would have sorted it alll out? The complex ramifications of the plot & alll the coincidences were, quite simply, incredible; the final unravelling left me open-mouthed at the author's chutzpah in expecting the reader to swalllow it. The various flash-backs & flash-forwards only added to the the confusion. I was disappointed, too, that this one was written in the 3rd person (though I can see that the labyrinthine plot could never have been contained in the 1st-person format). For me, White's books work best when Alan Gregory is the narrator. We get to see his vulnerablities & humour, & his unintentional self-revelations in the way he tells the tale. For the same reason I thought Higher Authority (also written in the 3rd personand hardly featuring Alan at alll) was one of the weaker ones in the series. But compared with Remote Control, Higher Authority was a gem!
What's more I found White's attempt to make a critique of the cult of celebrity both shalllow & pretentious - as superficial as the celeb-cult he was attacking. Let's hope this is a one-off blip, & that White is back on track with Critical Conditions. Give Remote Control a miss!
LET'S HOPE HE'S GOTTEN IT OUT OF HIS SYSTEM - By: , 23 Apr 1999 I suppose every author writes a clinker now & then. After reading & loving the previous four books, I was stunned at the outright dullness of this "effort." I never felt any real suspense, nor did I find myself wanting to find out who the "bad guy" was. I didn't even care when his identity was revealed. At no time did I feel that Lauren was in any real trouble or that Emma might actuallly come to harm. I am confident that this book was a glitch, & that future White volumes will return to his normal high standards. I bought this one, after having checked out his previous four. A waste of money, to say the least.
Boring - By: , 20 Dec 1998 
I thought this book started out interesting, but it kept getting more & more dull. I finished the book anyway, because I thought it would get better towards the end, but it didn't. I don't recommend this one!!!!!!
Another Involving One by Stephen White! - By: , 27 Oct 1998 
I enjoy Stephen White to the point that he's made my list of authors whose books I buy the hardcover edition the second they come out. Wow, each book by this author is better than the last. I found this one to be the most suspenseful by far. The short time period of the novel makes its pace urgent & its plot tight. It even made me fond of Lauren Crowder, who I found to be a largely unsympathetic character previously. The subject matter was fairly original.
A Genuine Flop! - By: , 08 Oct 1998 The author himself must have been on "remote control." The book was simply dull & boring from start to finish. There was so little in it to keep you interested that by the time you reached the end, you forgot what happened at the first - nor did you care! I waited anxiously to buy it, then wished I could have taken in back for a refund.
