karen mulhern

did i read the same book as the rest of you???, Jan 8 2004

i wanted to love Harvard Yard as much as Back Bay and Cape Cod (2 of Martin's earlier books) but something about it fell terribly flat. Although similar in its blend of past history with present day mystery, in 'Yard, too much time was spent developing the historical characters to the detriment of the central plot. at times i found myself counting pages and wondering when I'd get back to the real story!

another complaint i have is sloppy editting. too much repetition; "a man is known by his books" was quoted at least a thousand times...and the inability to do simple computation: Fallon's age wasn't figured correctly for the time period in which the story took place… Read more

newsflash: 8yr old ghostwriters penned this one!!!!, Oct 29 2003

midway through this shockingly BADLY written novel, i put it down!! after reading the other reviews here, i see i'm not alone in my opinion, but...even MORE startling: it's pretty pathetic when amateur reviewers write BETTER than the highly accoladed Dr. Cook, begging the question, "did he use his advance to employ a staff of 8 yr old ghost writers! yes, the dialogue was THAT stiff and juvenile, the characters and plot THAT slimly drawn, making Seizure a total waste of money and time.

strange disparity of language, Oct 4 2002

Bird's Eye View is the story of an academician on "sabbatical"--
euphemism his high-brow, genteel mother uses to describe her son fritz's termination as a tenured history professor--who finds himself an accidental witness to an international incident.

others have reviewed the plot at length, but not many have pondered the strangest disparity of language ever seen in a novel, which in my opinion makes fritz an implausible character.

fritz is highly educated, fairly likeable and expresses himself intelligently in dialogue and narrative with one GLARING exception. all physical contact with women throughout the book is referred to as [bad word] and his descriptions of female anatomy… Read more