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Goodnight, Irene
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Manufacturer: Pocket
Author: Jan Burke
Publisher: Pocket
Average Customer Rating:
Our Price: $7.99
You Save: $ ( % )
Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Pocket
Author: Jan Burke
Publisher: Pocket
Average Customer Rating:
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Goodnight, Irene Description
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780743444514
ISBN: 0743444515
Label: Pocket
Manufacturer: Pocket
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 384
Publication Date: 2002-05-01
Publisher: Pocket
Studio: Pocket
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780743444514
ISBN: 0743444515
Label: Pocket
Manufacturer: Pocket
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 384
Publication Date: 2002-05-01
Publisher: Pocket
Studio: Pocket
Editorial Review of Goodnight, Irene
For thirty-five years the identity of the dismembered woman found under the Las Piernas pier has remained a mystery. What secret did she take to her grave? Southern California reporter Irene Kelly has uncovered a maze of forensic records and confidential files that suggest a motive far more sinister than anyone imagined. The discovery has brought her close to Detective Frank Harriman, and closer still to exposing a killer who will resort to anything to keep his secrets buried -- and Irene silenced forever.
Customer Reviews of Goodnight, Irene
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Excellent read!
Review: My brother bought this book for me and I am so glad he did! This was my first book by Jan Burke and it won't be my last. This book was a great introduction to the Irene Kelly series and after reading it, I am tempted to go out and purchase all of the others in this series. I finished this book in less than a day. After beginning it, I couldn't put it down! It was full of page-turning mystery with a touch of romance...my kind of book. Read it!
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: A Superb Debut Mystery - Irene Is A 21st Century Lois Lane!
Review: Irene Kelly, the woman referred to in Jan Burke's "Goodnight Irene," is a veteran reporter for the News Express, in the fictional Southern California town of Las Piernas. She is presently working for a public relations firm, however, after having quit her job at the newspaper. Kelly made the temporary career change as a result of an argument concerning professional ethics with the publication's very unprofessional editor-in-chief. Then Conn O'Conner, Irene's beloved best friend, and longtime mentor at the Express, is brutally murdered. The only clue Irene can come up with is O'Connor's obsession with a long-unsolved homicide and an unidentified female body discovered in Las Piernas 35 years before. The corpse's face had been destroyed, and her hands and feet cut off so that her identity could not be established. The police dubbed her Hannah and tried for years to solve the case, to no avail. Newspaperman O'Connor wrote the original stories back then and had never given up on finding the identity of this Jane Doe. Every year, on the anniversary of her murder, he wrote his famous "Hannah" column, usually targeting more recently disappeared people.
Homicide cop Frank Harriman, Irene's love interest from years before, is working on the O'Conner case, and asks Irene to get her job back at the Express in order to take over her former mentor's assignments. The rationale is that she might be able to find information useful to the investigation while continuing the dead man's work. In O'Conner's confidential files, she discovers a maze of forensic records that suggest a motive far more sinister than anyone imagined for the newspaperman's violent death, the unidentified woman's murder, and more recently, three horrific and separate attacks on Irene's, Frank's and O'Conner's son's lives. The unknown killer will obviously resort to anything to prevent past secrets from coming to light. And Irene and Frank develop a closer relationship as they work together to find the murderer(s).
I had never read an Irene Kelly mystery until last month when I picked-up "Bloodlines," the most recent book in the series. As that extraordinary suspense thriller goes back in time to Irene's initial days as a reporter, and tells the tale of her burgeoning relationship with Conn O'Conner, I was fortunate to read it before beginning "Goodnight, Irene." Jan Burke has written a wonderful series of mysteries, which are more than just good sleuth novels. She creates characters who are three-dimensional and grow as the series progresses. Her people are both sympathetic and flawed, and Irene Kelly, a combination of Lois Lane, Nancy Drew, with just a touch of Katherine Hepburn, makes a memorable heroine. Unfortunately, one of her flaws is stubbornness which borders on the extreme. As intelligent as she is, she frequently acts on impulse and winds up doing what she has been specifically told not to do, often with life- threatening results. Ms. Burke has surrounded Irene with a number of interesting and memorable friends and family members, characters who add to the depth and richness of the novels.
Overall, this is a well-paced debut mystery, filled with enough twists and turns to keep the reader riveted. I plan to read book two, "Sweet Dreams, Irene" ASAP!
JANA
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Medium boiled crime novel with much to praise
Review: This is a very proficient debut novel in what has gone on to become an established series about Californian newspaperwoman Irene Kelly.
The book has -quite literally -an explosive start ,when Irene's friend and mentor the veteran journalist O'Connor is blown to pieces by a parcel bomb .Soon afterwards she herself is shot at in her own home and her former brother in law Kenny ,a resident in O'Connor's home is savagely beaten up and hospitalised .
She begins digging into O'Connor's recent cases and one turns out to be the key to events -an unsolved "Jane Doe " murder from 30 years previously about which O,Connor had repeatedly written . He was getting close to revealing both the identity of the murdered girl and in the process uncovering facts which several prominemt local politcal and social figures would rather leave in obscurity .
By continuing where O,Connor left off Irene is placing herself and others in harm's way -and the body count is by no means over
with Irene the target of two attempted murders before the case is wrapped up
Along the way she re-ignites a previous relationship with the detective in charge of the case and finds time to act as matchmaker to her oldest friend as well as getting closer to her sister
The book is moderately violent but not in lip smackingly gloating way and it occups the mid ground betwen cosy and hard boiled styles .
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Gonna read them all now!
Review: I read NINE because Amazon recommended it. I liked it so much that I thought I'd give the Irene Kelly series a try and I enjoyed the first one. I imagine her writing gets better (it did in NINE) - this story is a little dated (they use pay phones not cell phones, use the term "yuppies" - stuff like that). I am going to read the next in the series - I found the main characters real and likeable.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Worth reading - not overly impressed
Review: This book was definately worth the time and money it took to read it, but I was not overly impressed. I have been worn out on all the typical mysteries - so I thought I would spend some time getting to know Irene. I did like the character and plan to read the next books in the series. Irene was well rounded and well written. If you're bored and need a new start - try this series out. It was enjoyable - just not breathtaking.
Review Summary: Excellent read!
Review: My brother bought this book for me and I am so glad he did! This was my first book by Jan Burke and it won't be my last. This book was a great introduction to the Irene Kelly series and after reading it, I am tempted to go out and purchase all of the others in this series. I finished this book in less than a day. After beginning it, I couldn't put it down! It was full of page-turning mystery with a touch of romance...my kind of book. Read it!
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: A Superb Debut Mystery - Irene Is A 21st Century Lois Lane!
Review: Irene Kelly, the woman referred to in Jan Burke's "Goodnight Irene," is a veteran reporter for the News Express, in the fictional Southern California town of Las Piernas. She is presently working for a public relations firm, however, after having quit her job at the newspaper. Kelly made the temporary career change as a result of an argument concerning professional ethics with the publication's very unprofessional editor-in-chief. Then Conn O'Conner, Irene's beloved best friend, and longtime mentor at the Express, is brutally murdered. The only clue Irene can come up with is O'Connor's obsession with a long-unsolved homicide and an unidentified female body discovered in Las Piernas 35 years before. The corpse's face had been destroyed, and her hands and feet cut off so that her identity could not be established. The police dubbed her Hannah and tried for years to solve the case, to no avail. Newspaperman O'Connor wrote the original stories back then and had never given up on finding the identity of this Jane Doe. Every year, on the anniversary of her murder, he wrote his famous "Hannah" column, usually targeting more recently disappeared people.
Homicide cop Frank Harriman, Irene's love interest from years before, is working on the O'Conner case, and asks Irene to get her job back at the Express in order to take over her former mentor's assignments. The rationale is that she might be able to find information useful to the investigation while continuing the dead man's work. In O'Conner's confidential files, she discovers a maze of forensic records that suggest a motive far more sinister than anyone imagined for the newspaperman's violent death, the unidentified woman's murder, and more recently, three horrific and separate attacks on Irene's, Frank's and O'Conner's son's lives. The unknown killer will obviously resort to anything to prevent past secrets from coming to light. And Irene and Frank develop a closer relationship as they work together to find the murderer(s).
I had never read an Irene Kelly mystery until last month when I picked-up "Bloodlines," the most recent book in the series. As that extraordinary suspense thriller goes back in time to Irene's initial days as a reporter, and tells the tale of her burgeoning relationship with Conn O'Conner, I was fortunate to read it before beginning "Goodnight, Irene." Jan Burke has written a wonderful series of mysteries, which are more than just good sleuth novels. She creates characters who are three-dimensional and grow as the series progresses. Her people are both sympathetic and flawed, and Irene Kelly, a combination of Lois Lane, Nancy Drew, with just a touch of Katherine Hepburn, makes a memorable heroine. Unfortunately, one of her flaws is stubbornness which borders on the extreme. As intelligent as she is, she frequently acts on impulse and winds up doing what she has been specifically told not to do, often with life- threatening results. Ms. Burke has surrounded Irene with a number of interesting and memorable friends and family members, characters who add to the depth and richness of the novels.
Overall, this is a well-paced debut mystery, filled with enough twists and turns to keep the reader riveted. I plan to read book two, "Sweet Dreams, Irene" ASAP!
JANA
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Medium boiled crime novel with much to praise
Review: This is a very proficient debut novel in what has gone on to become an established series about Californian newspaperwoman Irene Kelly.
The book has -quite literally -an explosive start ,when Irene's friend and mentor the veteran journalist O'Connor is blown to pieces by a parcel bomb .Soon afterwards she herself is shot at in her own home and her former brother in law Kenny ,a resident in O'Connor's home is savagely beaten up and hospitalised .
She begins digging into O'Connor's recent cases and one turns out to be the key to events -an unsolved "Jane Doe " murder from 30 years previously about which O,Connor had repeatedly written . He was getting close to revealing both the identity of the murdered girl and in the process uncovering facts which several prominemt local politcal and social figures would rather leave in obscurity .
By continuing where O,Connor left off Irene is placing herself and others in harm's way -and the body count is by no means over
with Irene the target of two attempted murders before the case is wrapped up
Along the way she re-ignites a previous relationship with the detective in charge of the case and finds time to act as matchmaker to her oldest friend as well as getting closer to her sister
The book is moderately violent but not in lip smackingly gloating way and it occups the mid ground betwen cosy and hard boiled styles .
Good start to a series I will explore more deeply
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Gonna read them all now!
Review: I read NINE because Amazon recommended it. I liked it so much that I thought I'd give the Irene Kelly series a try and I enjoyed the first one. I imagine her writing gets better (it did in NINE) - this story is a little dated (they use pay phones not cell phones, use the term "yuppies" - stuff like that). I am going to read the next in the series - I found the main characters real and likeable.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Worth reading - not overly impressed
Review: This book was definately worth the time and money it took to read it, but I was not overly impressed. I have been worn out on all the typical mysteries - so I thought I would spend some time getting to know Irene. I did like the character and plan to read the next books in the series. Irene was well rounded and well written. If you're bored and need a new start - try this series out. It was enjoyable - just not breathtaking.