Hand of Evil (Ali Reynolds Mysteries) | 
| Author: J.a. Jance
Publisher: Touchstone Books
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  17 reviews
Sales Rank: 183558
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 384
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9
ISBN: 1416537538
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9781416537533
ASIN: 1416537538
Publication Date: December 18, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: torn dust cover moisture damage
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Product Description
In this latest book of the series featuring the ex-anchorwoman Ali Reynolds, the mystery begins when an elderly woman finds a brutally mutilated corpse while taking her daily walk in Arizona. Is it just a coincidence that, later that day, Ali is
summoned to tea with the most powerful woman in her hometown? Once again, Ali is on the trail of a killer...but will she survive to recount the tale on her popular blog, cutlooseblog.com?
Like Sue Grafton and Janet Evanovich, J.A. Jance has created heartpounding suspense featuring a strong, sympathetic woman who's been around the block. Also like those authors, Jance delivers stories that appeal enormously to both male and female audiences of all ages.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 12 more reviews...
 Like Jance's writing, didn't like this story June 30, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Unemployed blogger Ali Reynolds can't say know when her friend's daughter vanishes. When the girl turns up, an apparent runaway, Ali takes it upon herself to straighten the girl out--taking away her phone, ordering her around, and threatening to leave her on the side of the road if she doesn't conform to Ali's rules--it's the kind of tough-love that Ali implicitly knows will get the girl behaving again. In the meantime, one of Ali's father's projects, a formerly homeless man, is beaten on the side of the road and the woman who once financed Ali's way through college demands that Ali drop everything and visit her--and then dumps a bombshell. Arabelle, she says, was repeatedly raped by her stepbrother. The stepbrother is dead, but now his son is blackmailing Arabelle and she wantes Ali's help.
A mysterious beating, long-ago incest, and present-day runaway teens (with child sexual issues) might seem like enough to keep Ali fully occupied, especially when the young man behind the beating decides to become a celebrity by going on a killing spree. Jance loads the story further, though. In addition, though, one of Ali's regular blog readers has been diagnosed with cancer and is angry that the doctor, who just might be in cahoots with the woman's son, is refusing to treat her.
Author J. A. Jance can be counted on to deliver a page-turning adventure and HAND OF EVIL is no exception. Jance's writing keeps the reader involved, wanting to find out what's going to happen to these people.
Unfortunately, HAND OF EVIL is also badly flawed. I found Ali's bossy and overconfident treatment of the wounded runaway Crystal, to be insensitive and offensive. Crystal is clearly hurting, obviously running from something horrible, but Ali doesn't bother taking the time to find out what. Sending her back into the environment that she fled without an understanding of why it didn't work the first time seems doomed--and none of Ali's bossing around and intimidation is really likely to result in a change. From a logic perspective, I had a hard time understanding why Arabelle contacted Ali in the first place. The supposed reason, to look for advice on writing a book, is clearly false but we were never given another. The whole Arabelle subplot felt like something glued on to give us an incest threat (and a bit more physical danger for poor Ali). Finally, am I the only one who thought the coincidence of Crystal being a witness to Kip's beating was a bit of a stretch.
Jance is a good enough writer to engage my interest, to make me keep reading in hopes that she'd finally pull things together--perhaps having Ali learn a lesson about being so sure she's right all the time. For me, though, this story didn't quite coalesce. Then there's the whole idea of being a full-time blogger. Are there really enough people in the world so lacking in their own lives that they'd pay to read Ali's?
J. A. Jance is a great writer. HAND OF EVIL is a very long way from the top of her game.
 Never a Dull Moment May 23, 2008
This is the second J.A. Jance novel featuring Ali Reynolds. She is an interesting character being a 40-year old Sedona resident who lives in a life of chaos. She has much going on, dealing with the loss of her job in broadcasting, deaths of her husband and a close friend, then her own brush with danger. Ali likes to try and solve murders so she is kept busy with the disappearance of her father's handy-man, the young daughter of her detective friend and a woman who has some ugly secrets to share with her. So the book never has a dull moment with Ali trying to solve all these mysteries and finding the answers she seeks.
Murder and evil April 23, 2008
Even though this is a fictional story, it depicts what can happen when a child is molested at a young age.
Ali Reynolds is grieving for a wandering eyed husband. The wealthy family that offered her a college scholarship wants to see her but a friend's daughter goes missing just as the meeting was requested. Ali steps in to help her friend find his daughter and gets entangled in a web of evil that is more than a quarter of a century old.
The daughter witnesses a brutal murder and is afraid to go to the police because of what she was doing at the time. Ali's parent's have a friend who has gone missing as well. Is all of this tied to the wealthy family in some way? Murder and child molestation are involved but in what way?
Karen Ziemba reads HAND OF EVIL and has a clear and easy voice to listen to. You are able to tell who is talking with her various inflections.
WONDERFUL BOOK March 28, 2008
I had read the first 2 books in this series and I wanted to read the 3rd. I found it on Amazon at a much lower price than at the book stores. So I ordered it and I got it in a very timely manner and I would recommend to anyone who loves to read to use Amazon to get their books that are either higher priced at book stores or if they are hard to find. I have also found books on here that are not readily available in book stores. I love shopping at amazon.
Slow read March 18, 2008
I can usally get tuned in pretty early reading Jance's books, but this is not the case. Half way into it and I'm still waiting for my interest to peak.
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