Discount Price: $7.99
Price fluctuation possible.
How soon does it ship: Normal ship time within one day
Shipping? Absolutely FREE if you qualify for Super Saver Shipping.
Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780515116472
ISBN number: 0515116475
Label: Jove
Manufacturer: Jove
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 336
Printing Date: June 01, 1995
Publishing house: Jove
Sale Popularity Level: 422352
Studio: Jove
Other books you might be interested in perusing:
Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
athleen Mallory, an extraordinary wild child turned New York City detective, is propelled onto the street when her adoptive father--a police inspector--is found stabbed to death subsequent to the body of a wealthy woman. The murders are linked to two homicides her father had been investigating and now his cases become Mallory's, his death her cause. 2 cassettes.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
-
I have never failed to read a book to the end. Although this is the second worst book I've ever read, I did finish reading it. Actually skipped and skimmed a lot. Boring. No interesting characters. Unresolved plot diversions.
The book reads like something written by an eighth-grade English teacher who was hired mainly as an assistant coach for the girl's volleyball team. The language is incredibly bad--". . . crumbling raw ground beef into a bowl." How can you possibly crumble raw ground beef? Why would you need to do so?
Attempts at literary usages leave you scratching your head, wondering how anyone could write such an absurd phrase--"Perhaps she did have the unrepentant-till-pigs-fly soul of a thief . . . ."; ". . . her stomach gnawed at her like a separate animal with teeth to bite her from inside." ; "She heard a snap of bone when she hit the hard cement which hates old bones and breaks them when it can." ; "The woman turned to him with fire alarms in her eyes and in her voice."
Praise for this work from some well-known mystery writers puts me in mind of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Emperor's New Clothes."
Rated by buyers 
-
My mom loves mysteries, but I haven't ever been able to get into the traditional "Who Dunnit?" types. She recommended Mallory's Oracle with the promise I would really get into it. And I did! So yeah, in Mallory's Oracle you want to find out who did it, but that is only part of the journey. This book is mystery, supsense, and thriller combined. Plus, you get these glimpses of these complex characters and it left me just wanting to know more. I have read five books in this series now! I love Mallory's Oracle!
Rated by buyers 
-
I'd like to give this book 5 stars just for the very fresh approach the author takes to the narrative. I devour mystery series, so I was expecting the standard "introduction of characters" in the very first few pages. Not that I necessarily mind that, but in this case the reader is *dropped* into a scene and has to play catch-up and try to figure out what's going on. I liked it.
But there were distinct weaknesses as well. The prologue is entirely superfluous. What? Why? I kept waiting for it to make sense, but it never did except in the most tangential sense. That was very annoying indeed.
Second, the resolution is rather weak. There were not enough hints to decide who the killer was, or even why. Convoluted and not very interesting.
Third, I'm sorry that O'Connell has fallen into the typical rut of crafting the ooooooh sooooo gorgeous heroine. Yes, Mallory is soooo beautiful that she can't even do a stake-out without people noticing her. Oh snore. That's so typical in mystery novels. One of the few exceptions is Julie Smith, a writer I adore.
All in all, I do still give this book 4 stars, because of its newness. Her beauty aside, Mallory is an atypical heroine, and one I look forward to getting to know in the rest of the series.
Rated by buyers -
A large percentage of mystery readers seem to want to imagine themselves as the likeable protagonist. If this is you, skip Mallory (don't call her Kathy). Whoever says you need a hero(ine) you can identify with for a successful book, I suggest Hannibal is clear evidence to the contrary, as is Mallory.
If you like detectives with recognizable, distinct traits, then this is for you. The book is not formulaic and it is very entertaining, intriguing, and simply a good read. By the end of the book I knew Mallory, and the reasons behind some of her behavior. Reading Stone Angel some weeks later, I felt I was meeting an old colleague - someone I knew well, but someone who would never be a close friend.
Rated by buyers 
-
MALLORY'S ORACLE is the very first novel in the "Mallory" series by Carol O'Connell. These novels are unique due to the fact that they feature a main cop character who is a borderline sociopath; she is not a likable or a moral heroine.
I must admit that I didn't care for this book at any level. I personally felt that it was overwritten and wordy, and the plot didn't move forward in a logical fashion. There were too many scenes that were confusing and didn't make complete sense. None of the characters, with the exception of Charles, were fleshed out at all. The main character is difficult to identify with. A lot of the dialogue was stilted and unrealistic. It was a chore to finish this novel.
To me, it's a rather sad statement about the publishing industry that so much hype surrounded this book. O'Connell got paid a ton of money for this novel (after a bidding war between publishers), and the back cover of this novel is filled with glowing reviews about how entertaining and brilliant MALLORY'S ORACLE is. Apparently, the book industry has grown out of touch with what mainstream readers want -- an entertaining story with characters the reader can relate to. You don't get that here. I think the Publishing houses Weekly review does an excellent job summarizing the many shortcomings of this rather heavy-handed work.
My advice is to skip MALLORY'S ORACLE and try a writer who knows how to entertain. There are many of them out there -- Jan Burke, Tess Gerritsen, Laura Lippman, Michael Connelly, and Dennis Lehane are good examples.
Find other books like this one:
