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Heartstone
by Phillip M. Margolin
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Bantam (1995-02-01)
ISBN: 0553569783
EAN: 9780553569780
Dewy Decimal #: 813
Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
Release Date: 1995-02-01
SKU: BX004-060815006
Condition: Collectible: Good
Comments: SIGNED BY AUTHOR, gold Autographed sticker on cover. Gently read, spine lightly creased. Pgs tanning but clean, tight, unmarked.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
From Phillip Margolin, New York Times bestselling author of Gone, But Not Forgotten, comes a shattering novel that begins with two vicious murders -- and ends in a web of corruption, lies, and twisted passions.
Richie Walters, all-American boy. Elaine Murray, cheerleader. They made the perfect couple. And that evening out at Lookout Point -- Richie fumbling at the buttons of her blouse, Elaine thrilled and terrified -- they were about to take the final step.
But the step would never be taken. Richie Walters would die that night -- die in a hot and savage ecstasy of violence. Elaine Murray too would die. But not that night. Or the next. She would live long enough to know just how lucky Richie had been...
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Customer Reviews
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Heartstone
Rating  (5)
Date: 2006-10-25
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
A young woman struggles to remember what happened the night two of her fellow classmates were brutally murdered. The only problem is, are these memories fact, or are they manipulated by the hypnotist and overzealous cop who needs her to be the case winner? This was a very fast read and his characters great.
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Page-Turner
Rating (5)
Date: 2006-06-12
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
i have read everyone of Philip Margolin's books and Heartstone was the first one that i read. this book is a MUST-READ. I read the whole thing in about 3 hours, i could not put it down once i started.
The ending that you thought would be by the middle of the book takes a different turn TWICE, making you say "What the Hell", but its awesome.
this book is worth it.
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Just Get Past The Beginning
Rating  (4)
Date: 2005-07-29
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
I had this book for a year and could not get past the first few pages. I purchased the book in anticipation of a 4-hour Chicago-California trip and fell asleep on the plane from boredom! The book lay dormant for a year when I grabbed it on the way out the door to (of all places) Jury Duty, the theory being that I could pass it on to some poor soul who was mindlessly sitting in the jury pool room, waiting to be called. The wait to be called dragged on and I forced myself to get past the first chapter. After that, it was a breeze, and I was somewhat put out when I was finally called to sit on a jury! Needless to say, I found the plot compelling and the characters believable. I particularly enjoyed the author's writing style (after the first chapter).
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All of the other reviewers are right...
Rating (4)
Date: 2005-02-26
4 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
...this book is both a gripping, page-turning crime story and a tedious, mind-numbingly dull piece of prose. It literally depends on the section of the book you are in.
Prosecutor Al Caproni has a message brought to him that a drifter named Heartstone wants to see him a about a long-past high profile double murder that he helped to prosecute. The narration then flashes back to the night of the murder and follows the original investigation and prosecution of the case.
At times, this section really drags. A star witness is hypnotized and the reader is forced to wade through pages of probing by the psychologist/hypnotist as he tries to unlock her repressed memories(Skimming is recommended). Margolin introduces too many characters but he ties them together wonderfully in the end. As we come back to the present Margolin delivers and ending that hit me like a kick in the belly. Very powerful. I did not see it coming.
All in all - good job!
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HEARTSTOPPING HEARTSTONE
Rating (5)
Date: 2002-09-26
8 out of 8 customers found this reveiw helpful
The criminal justice system is given a once-over in this well-developed, and well-written mystery. Margolin gives us the murder of two upstanding young people on a November night in 1960. Richie Walters has just asked cheerleader Elaine Murray to go steady with him. Their love and hopes for a future together are gone before you know it.
As we examine this murder in depth, we find there are many people involved, and we find ourselves wondering, who really killed this couple? And why?
The immensity of characters doesn't overwhelm the book; you may stop and ask yourself, why are these characters introduced? But by the time the book is finished, you'll see why.
Although the lawyers and the suspected killers are certainly strong focus in the book, I found the heart of the book to be Esther Peglosi, the rather ... teenager who becomes the key witness in the prosecution's case. We first meet Esther as a rather well-developed young woman who doesn't have trouble bedding anybody, but we are also introduced to horrifying facts about her childhood and her parents. Later on, Esther is cunningly seduced by a cop obsessed with the case into being hypnotized, and here we begin to see how the power of suggestion breaks down this girl, and how her love for this cop propels her toward inevitable disaster. Esther's character is very, very well written and she holds the book together.
It's interesting, also, to see the development of young Mark Shaffer, the up and coming lawyer, who finds himself defending the accused Bobby Corbett. He starts out totally ineffectual and enamored with the defendant's live-in girlfriend, and ends up becoming savvy and accomplished. The denouement of this novel is shocking, in what happens to Bobby and Esther. Also, the deathbed confession of the titular character is a whopper.
Can't forget to mention the true villain of this book and that is officer Roy Schindler, who uses his authority to basically fix the case and use poor misguided Esther. Although Al Caproni is culpable, too, he is just another victim of the political schematics.
A STUNNING AND WELL WORTH IT BOOK.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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