Third Degree: A Novel

Frustrating read...begging Iles to get on with the story...add another abandoned mansion to find the baddest guy...oh and be led by a high school cheerleader...yeh, right.

Greg Illes is kind of a frustrating author for me. Some of his stuff is just addictive but the rest is so not that you'd think it was a different author. This was one of the few that straddled the fence. It had potental but needed a serious plot editor. It took a good story and gave it some

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predicable details and then stretched it out so that at the end, I really didnt' care any more.

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This book starts off ok, its also quite a good story. Laurel and Danny both married to different people are having an affair.

Laurel's husband Warren finds out and quite rightly goes nuts.
The whole story takes place over one whole day. I got bored reading it I finished it though but was very

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disappointed.

I have read some other of Iles books some are good but others like this one just annoyed me.

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This book was too violent and the main characters were not likeable. Plot was tight and very readable, compulsively so, but I ultimately put it down.

Rather disappointed in this offering by Greg Iles, one of my favorite authors. Found the story to drag on, and it just seemed like this was a book that was put together out of necessity rather than passion. Was he pressured to churn out this book by the publisher?? Not inspired enough? I wonder,

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because usually I find his books to be quite good, especially "The Quiet Game", one of my all time favorites. Although the story line seemed good, the delivery was rather shallow and boring. I found myself anxious for this one to end.

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I’ve seen a wide range of reviews for this book, and I think I understand why. I had no respect for any of the main characters. Laurel and Danny are cheating on their respective spouses, and Warren is not only holding his family hostage, he’s been cheating the government through his business.

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There were frustrations, like why didn’t Laurel fight harder? Why did they insist on keeping the affair a secret, even after discovery? That’s probably the point I found most ridiculous… that as Warren found out secret after secret, Laurel still admitted nothing — much to her detriment, and the detriment of her children.

But despite all this, I found myself actually leaning forward in my seat as I listened, completely caught up in the suspense. Turns out, I don’t have to like the characters to like the story! I was engaged and anxious throughout the whole thing, because you know there will be no happy ending for everyone… and perhaps for no one. So, if you don’t care about the morals of your protagonists, I recommend this as a good read. Otherwise… you should probably skip it.

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An interesting read that follows a somewhat predictable formula.

I was surprised to find myself reading this book in one sitting. It kept my interest, but I'm not even sure if I liked it.

One of the latest books by my favorite author and another great read. A husband takes his wife and children hostage over the matter of a day. The suspense will keep you reading. I finished it in a day. Can't wait to read the latest Greg Iles book, and as always I recommend everything by him.

Returning to a format similar to his 24 Hours, Greg Iles constructs another thriller occurring over roughly a one-day period. Though for this one, he tackles the tension of a domestic upheaval. Laurel Shields learns she is pregnant and unsure who - her husband or her lover - is the father, at the

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same time she becomes a witness to, and later the victim of, her husband's seemingly inexplicable breakdown.

The tension builds as Laurel, then her children, and finally her husband's partner become drawn into the situation. Meanwhile, outside the sheriff's department, the FBI, and finally Laurel's lover, Danny, form alliances and battle each other to bring the crisis to an end.

Though a slightly different setting for Iles, he still shines. The characters are well-written, and the situations are reasonably believable, especially once the reasons behind Warren's breakdown become evident. I'm pleased that an adulterous woman - so often the scourge and graphic victim of other writers - is treated reasonably honestly. Danny might be a little too good, however, though it's also reasonable that he might want to shield Laurel's children from more pain. Not Iles' best, but still very, very good.

As an audiobook, this was well done. I usually only listen to audiobooks when on solo trips, and haven't taken any in a while, but I recently discovered the benefit of listening to books vs. music at the gym (not so boring, and I will stay longer to hear what's going on) and also just driving around town. The reader was excellent, he displayed the emotions properly to help build the tension. This audiobook gets an A.

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Iles (Mortal Fear) has penned a Southern superthriller that rivals John Grisham's best. Fast-paced action, surprise tactics, and down-and-dirty legal maneuvering played out below the surface calm of the deep South will transfix the reader to the very last page. LJ Breezy, Grisham-style read that

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tweaks the conventions of southern gothic. kirkus

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This one holds you on the edge of your seat.  Not easy to put down.

Laurel Shields, thirty-five and mother of two, awakens to find that her husband, Warren, a prominent local physician, is not in bed with her. Creeping out to the kitchen of their palatial home, she sees him through the doorway of his study, wildly pulling books from the shelves. Two weeks earlier,

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Warren and his partner were informed by the IRS that their medical practice was being audited; since then the stress on Dr. Shields has steadily ratcheted up.

But Laurel has problems of her own. Quickly returning to the bedroom, she locks herself in the master bath, opens a home pregnancy testing kit, and fearfully tests herself. PREGNANT, announces the digital readout. Laurel closes her eyes as though absorbing news of a death, then quickly hides the evidence. She is not sure who the father is. Summoning all her strength, she walks into the kitchen to carry out the acting performance of her life.

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Good plot, fast pace, flawed heroes and raw emotion. Excellent Greg Iles again

Have you ever been watching television, reading something, or even had something happen to you that makes you think, “Damn, that’s a bad day”? I do this on a daily basis. All while reading Greg Iles’s Third Degree that is what I was thinking. That being said, I couldn’t put the book down.

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It was fantastic!

Laurel Sheilds wakes up one morning to find out that she is pregnant. This is just after ending an affair that she had been having for a year. While she is reeling from the news, she knows that the show must go on and so she begins to go through the day. Her husband is acting a bit strange, but she thinks nothing of it. She knows he has been stressed about troubles with the IRS at work. Later that morning Laurel isn’t feeling well and returns home. This is when things start going downhill. Something obviously is not right with her husband Warren, and Laurel’s only hope is Danny McDavitt, her former lover and a retired serviceman. And that’s all I’m saying, because I don’t want to give anything away.

Something that I really liked about Third Degree was that the book takes place during a single day. In the span of one day, a man who many had thought of as a stable family and working man shows that there is another side to him. You spend the majority of the book wondering what happened to inspire such a change in one man. At the end though blood is spilled, secrets are revealed, and there is no shortage of shock.

Greg Iles didn’t just write a book that had me at the edge of my seat, he wrote a book that gripped my emotions and had me feeling for everyone, primary and background characters, the ‘good guys’ and ‘bad guys’ alike. I had several moments where I reeled in shock or shook my head in plain disbelief. And then things would just keep moving onto the next big thing. There is no ‘come on… let’s get moving’ with this, while reading Third Degree. The book is a page turner and, if you are like me will keep you up all night until you find out what happens.

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This book really had me hooked and wanting to know what happens next. My only compliant is that I listened to the audiobook and was too long.

Man finds out his wife is having an affair and holds her hostage in their home until she tells him who her lover is. The tension builds as he goes through

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her computer email and downloads a password cracker program. Meanwhile the lover suspects something is wrong when she doesn't show for their meeting.

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Greg Iles is a great author. This book had lots of twists and turns especially in the last 150 pages. Excellent book! [James - Patron]

I "read" this book as an audio book, while driving. I was never eager to get where I was headed -- I was more interested in finding out what was going to happen next! The audio version is wonderfully performed, so you get the sense of experiencing both a great read and a spell-binding drama.

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Narrator David Colacci has never been better; there is a lot of dialogue and many characters in this epic story of one bad day and a bunch of messed-up lives! I had read - or heard - one other Greg Iles book, and remembered it as being a page-turner. Third Degree is that in spades. It's part thriller, part hostage drama, part psychological study, part morality play. Every single character in the book -- both the white hats and the black - is lying about something; some, many things. The book is really about "Oh, What a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive." All the way through, you're wondering if there is any getting out of this mess for anyone, any possibility of a satisfactory ending for anyone. Well, read it or listen to it, and find out!

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I have found Iles books to always read so easily and leave you not wanting to stop, AGAIN not let down. More and more I find myself advising freinds to pick up Greg Iles. The characters are so entwined in one another's life and you find yourself quickly taking sides.

Not as good as other titles. The character's actions were not totally believable. It also went on way too long.

Fast paced and gripping, however most of the story is predictable, and ultimately falls into place. Sort of hollywoodish. Does show human fallabilities well, and believably.

Good news, everyone! This one doesn't take place in Natchez!

Adultery, hostages and a descent into madness. A little different for Iles, but a page-turner nevertheless.

Quick, exciting read about a disturbed doctor, who decides to regain control of his family's lives. His wife is devastated to learn just how little about his life he shared with her.

Good; definitely not a fave.