Third Degree: A Novel

Greg Iles

Edition	Paperback
List Price	$9.99
	$9.99 (Save 0%)

Published by	Pocket
Release date	2008-09-23
ISBN	1416524541
Availability	Usually ships in 24 hours

Sometimes the gravest dangers -- and the darkest souls -- live right beside us....

In the span of twenty-four hours, every-thing Laurel Shields believes about her life and her marriage to a prominent doctor will be shattered -- if she survives a terrifying ordeal. The day begins with the jarring discovery that, soon after ending an affair, Laurel is pregnant. But when she returns home to find her husband ashen, unkempt, and on the brink of violence, a nightmare quickly unfolds. In the heart of an idyllic Mississippi town, behind the walls of her perfect house, Laurel finds herself locked in a volatile standoff with a husband she barely recognizes. Confronted with evidence of her betrayal, she must tread a deadly path between truth and deception while a ring of armed police prepares a dangerous rescue. But Laurel's greatest fear -- and her only hope -- lies with her former lover, a brave man whom fate has granted the power to save both Laurel and her children -- if she can protect his identity long enough....

Customer Reviews - courtesy of Amazon.com ( Marked4Sale.com is not responsible for review content )

Third degree bomb

Until this book I was an enthusiastic Isles fan. I would buy his latest book as soon as it came out with absolutely no reservations. No more. This book is a disservice to all his loyal fans. We should be able to get our hard-earned money back on this stinker.
He stretches the accusation & denial theme to excruciating lengths. He builds no sympathy or empathy for any of the characters. We simply don't care. It is like watching a TV show of COPS where they show a domestic confrontation; yeah, there is some heated emotion on both sides, but we really don't know or care about the combatants. Same thing in this book. I had no problem, halfway through, with considerable skimming without missing anything, putting the book, and myself, out of our mutual misery, by pitching it into the trash. I would not even give it away, for fear of someone thinking: "He reads this crap?".
I don't entirely blame Isles. There must be considerable pressure on authors to crank out a new one every year. This problem has periodically befallen many authors that I have enjoyed over the years. The publisher really should have deep-six'd this one. Publishing something this pathetic merely alienates the loyal fan base and makes future purchases more uncertain. I will assuredly wait for many reviews on his next book before making a decision to plunk down my hard-earned cash the next time.

Lurid

Third Degree is one overly long gossip column. There is an obsession with male sex acts. What is the point. Extended commentary on sexual prowess and income tax evasion are apparently to serve in lieu of a plot.
I read it because I paid $10 to read an "electrifying bestseller of Southern small-town suspense." What suspense? Everything is highly predictable. Save your money.

Iles trademark formula - but missing the magic

This passes as an acceptable thriller - but only because Iles still uses his standard formula of time-constrained tension (in fact, it all pretty much occurs in a day), combined with a unique premise, a couple of red herrings and some surprising actions based on the character's personality. All which result in an "I can't put it down" type book.

This one lends itself to more to stereo-typical characters and stretches believability. After the first half I picked it up in smatters just so I'd know the ending, before I tossed it.

The first book I read by Iles was 24 Hours. In this genre, to me, that one was worth five stars for it's premise, plotting and roller-coaster tension. If you're a first time Iles reader that's the one to go for.

Very Bad Plot---Sluggish Characterizations

I have read all of Greg Iles books and except for Sleep No More, which I found boring, I have loved them. In fact, Mr. Iles is one of my favorite authors. Third Degree, however, is a disaster. It gets two stars only because of Mr. Iles excellent style. The plot, which has been overworked in many other books, descended into cliches, hyperbole, and even soft porn. The characters were unbelievably shallow. And frankly, I'm tired of the unwarranted praise heaped on the state of Mississippi. Please Mr. Iles, change the venue for your next one. This book tarnishes the integrity of Mr Iles. I won't bother summarizing the story line---other reviewers have done that. If you have read and liked other books by Mr. Iles, skip this one. If you have not read others, do not begin with this one. In other words, the literary world would have been better off if this book had not been written. Sorry Greg.

Taut, suspenseful a True Iles fan's Read

As in 24 Hours, Iles takes his true fans on a taut suspenseful ride that begins with an innocent email warning to find something incriminating in prominent Dr. Warren Shield's home to BLACK CODE/THIRD DEGREE: Hostage situation with Fatality in the span of one day. Adultery, small town values, secrets, corruption, fraud, racism, and debilitating illness and betrayal thread this fast paced read while remaining an intimate story of a family's disintegration in an idyllic Mississippi town. Iles fleshes out his characters slowly, methodically and this reader came to like the fallen heroine, the demented physician, and the other man, amid numerous plot twists and turns that true Greg Iles fans expect.

Awaking in her beautiful home, Laurel Shields has a sense of foreboding. All is not right. Her husband Warren has been up all night frantically searching for a document for an IRS audit and is increasingly becoming more disturbed. An EPT test confirms what the special education teacher already knows. She's pregnant perhaps by the man she loves or by Warren. She stands before her mirror and shamefully realizes that she's become a stereotype the shallow Doctor's trophy wife before heading to school with her two children. Struggling between reassuring her children about their father's odd behavior and her own jarring secret, Laurel must prepare for her imminent parent/teacher conferences before a debilitating migraine headache incapitates her. During their interview about his autistic son Michael, Laurel struggles to tell her former lover that she is pregnant. After agreeing to meet Major Danny MacDavitt, Laurel rushes home to get something for her headache, but finds her husband ashen, unkempt and leveling a pistol at her, demanding to know who she has been having an affair with.

Laurel realizes the only hope she has to remain alive and protect her children is to refuse Warren the name her of her former lover as the dark obsessive side of the man she has lived with for 12 years intensifies. Amid gripping fear, Laurel knows that Major Danny MacDavitt will take care of her, her children, and his unborn child because has a secret link to him and the ring of armed police outside her home as they prepare a dangerous rescue. That is until her 9 year old son, Grant returns back home through the same way he escaped to get help for his mom.