Double Take: An FBI Thriller

I'm not much for romance novels, but when Coulter write her FBI series, I find I have to read each one. I'm not finished with this book, but I am finding I can't put it down! I want to know, "Who did it!" Coulter has managed to intertwine 2 story plots very effectively, and her story lines are very easy to follow. I don't have to stop to try to remember who the characters are and what has happened in their particular plot. Her twists and turns keep me interested and surprised. This is a great read!

Once I started reading "Double Take", by Catherine Coulter I didn't want to put it down.I enjoyed the intrigue and the twists of the plot. It wasn't a predictable story line and I plan on reading it again in the future.

It boggles the mind that those who trash this book are so clueless of the sheer artistry and perfection of writing skill that Catherine Coulter has achieved. The way this author creates a flow and unfolding of the story is incomparable and a master work for other authors to study and try to imitate. Chapter 31, where she unfolds the dynamics and life history of the psychopathic murderer Xavier Makepeace is so compactly and clearly written that it was like being inside the character's head reimagining it oneself. Catherine Coulter invites you into the story and there you stay until it is over. I loved the final chapter where Dillon Savich gets his heart's desire with his new wheels. What a scene. I found myself grinning like the characters in the final scene where this book ended. Overall, this book is packed with truly riveting, convoluted, intricate plots, interweaving two story lines and bringing them into a whole that truly satisfies the reader with all it's quirky characters of psychics, mediums, channelers and so on gave the book a sense of the mystical and esoteric practices of some gifted individuals who are truly masters of the mind. Just like Coulter is mistress of the pen. I loved this book best of all the FBI Series. It is the most complex of all she has written to date. Read it like you are tasting the finest wine, or a delectable chocolate or other favorite taste treat. This book gives you a convincing perspective of the "woo-woo world" like none I have ever read. There is never a time when you laugh at the way she has addressed those psychic practices claimed by the practitioners in the story. If she doesn't already have one, then this is Coulter's PhD in Creative Writing. You are the best!

I've recently been introduced to Catherine Coulter. This is the second book and although the story wasn't great, it wasn't the worst book I have ever read either. There are many characters with fancy names which cause some confusion; however, the author manages to tie these characters together albeit in a roundabout manner. To summarize, Julia Ransom, widowed for six months as a result of someone murdering her husband, is rescued from being killed herself near Fisherman's Wharf by Cheney Stone, FBI agent. Dix Noble, father of two and a Sheriff in Maestro, Virginia, is called by his father-in-law in California to say that his missing daughter of three years (Dix's wife who everyone has presumed dead) was spotted by a friend. Dix is also involved with an FBI agent, Ruth Warnecki, who helps out with his 12 and 14 year old sons, Rob and Rafe. Everyone ends up in San Francisco as these two stories collide and Savich and Sherlock step in to help out. The plot to find August Ransom's murderer and the how and why of the Charlotte Pallack/Christie Noble look-a-like mystery starts to intersect into a very convoluted story. There were many psychic-related characters and incidents in the book which I felt derailed the authenticity of the FBI-based heroes and heroines. As I turned the last page, I still wasn't quite sure why August Ransom was murdered. I believe it was because he knew the identity of another murderer but again, that wasn't made clear, at least to me. Double Take is a mediocre read but Catherine Coulter is an excellent author and certainly worth another try.

Being something of a Catherine Coulter fan, I of course enjoyed this read. It was like visiting an old friend, and indeed, this one is filled with tried and true characters from books past.

I will say though, that this was not my favorite offering from this prodigious author. There were elements that I did not care for. On the other hand, her sheer story telling ability made up those problems that popped up here and there and for me, made it a worthwhile read. I can fully understand though why some of her readers may have been a bit put out.

This is another in a long, long line of FBI Thrillers. The story, as with many of this author's works, has at least two plot lines going. Julia, a young lady who is the prim suspect in the murder of her husband is the victim of a failed assassination attempt. We find that her murdered husband was a well known, renowned psychic. Thus begins the first plot line.

Back in Virginia, Sheriff Dixon Noble, who we last met in "Point Blank," hears about a woman whose resemblance to his missing wife in uncanny. She, if you remember, went missing some three years ago. Thus begins the second plot in our story. Is this woman his beloved wife? Why is she in California? If not his wife, then who and why?

As with Coulters other works, this story is filled to the brim with characters and characters and characters. It is lucky for us that the author has enabled us to keep track of this plethora of souls...actually, I found it quite easy.

Humming through the background, and quite often the foreground of this entire book is the hook the author hangs her work on...psychic abilities, cult like members and of course there is the every present romance and sexual tension between various member of her cast.

The author did tend to float around a bit with this one to the point of seeming almost confused herself as to what she was writing and in fact, where she was with her story at times. I found this very distracting. This novel simply was not a "tight" as many of her previous works. I found, in several cases, where the dialog was, for lack of a better word, "cheesy."

Oh well, you cannot bat a thousand year after year I suppose.

On the upside, I found the author's drift through the world of the psychic absolutely fascinating. A good friend of mine is in this business and the stories she tells me ring true to what the author has to say on the subject.

I feel the book is worth a read, especially for Coulter fans, and am glad I read it.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

If you enjoyed Ms. Coulter's previous two FBI books, Blow Out and Point Blank, you will really enjoy this story where incidents and characters from both previous books are entwined in this fascinating mystery.

Julia Ransom's famous psychic medium husband Dr. August Ransom was murdered 6 months ago and she was the San Francisco PD's top suspect but for lack of evidence. She is out walking on Pier 39 and admiring the view of Alcatraz when a stranger, tall, black, well-dressed and well-spoken, after beginning an innocuous conversation, punches her and as a man yells to stop that he is FBI, the stranger tosses her over the rail onto the rocks and into the water below.

Lucky for Julia that Cheney Stone a local FBI agent was on the dock having followed his blind date for the evening outside of the restaurant. He rescues her, calls in police and takes her home as she insists on not going to a hospital. As Cheney gets involved in the investigation of who murdered August Ransom and who is now trying to murder his widow, he also involves his friends, Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock.

At the same time, Chappy, Sheriff Dixon Noble's father-in-law, has notified Dixon that a friend of his and godfather to Dixon's missing for over 3 years wife, saw a woman at a fund-raising party who is a dead ringer for Dixon's missing wife. This party was in San Francisco. To find out more about the woman and her current husband, Dixon enlists Savich and Sherlock as well as FBI agent and current lover Ruth Warnecki to investigate. Dixon flies out to San Francisco where Sherlock's parents put him up and the Judge who knows him, helps set up a dinner so Dixon can meet the wife himself. Almost immediately Dixon knows that Charlotte Pallack is NOT his missing wife Christie. However, she is pretty much a dead ringer for her right down to her mannerisms so when she calls the next day and asks to meet the sheriff for lunch he agrees. Dixon realizes she wants to flirt and start something with him but he is not interested. He is interested however in her diamond bracelet which looks indentical to one he bought Christie when on their second honeymoon. This one does not have the special engraving on it.

As Cheney Stone uses Julia Ransom's help to speak with other psychic friends of her late husband's and find out who wanted him dead. Dixon with Savich, Sherlock and Ruth's help investigates his missing wife's lookalike. Many mysteries with many twists and plenty of action and danger with some romances as well.

The climax is exciting and the "wrap ups" for all the couples are well done. An enjoyable read!

Most of the book was incredibly fun to read. Cheney's reactions to the psychics had me repeatedly laughing and cheering him on. But I cannot give it five stars because I thought the ending was surprisingly poor and there was confusion with characters (Cheney, Dix, Dillon, Sherlock).

and by that, I mean literally unbelievable.

A rundown of the first chapter: An FBI agent sees an unknown woman get punched in the face, and then the assailant pulls a knife on her. When said FBI agent yells at the assailant, he runs away, after tossing the woman over the side of the pier into the bay. FBI agent, because he's not only an FBI agent but also an honorable man, rescues woman from the ocean, and revives her with CPR. Then, because she tells him to, he doesn't call the police. Instead, FBI agent carries (still) unknown woman to his personal vehicle, drives (still) unknown woman to her mansion home, takes (still) unknown woman upstairs to her bedroom and her master bath, then strips down (still) unknown woman and himself to their underwear and gets into a warm shower with her. Then, FBI agent puts on men's clothes that (still) unknown woman provides for him, and decides he will now call someone he knows in the local police department.

And then, finally, finds out who unknown woman is.

T-o-t-a-l-l-y unbelievable. Not to mention that the dialogue throughout the book is so stilted that I found myself groaning more often than grinning. Where I used to love the Dillon and Savich stories, Ms. Coulter's newer works have left me longing for the books of old.

If you must, check DOUBLE TAKE out from your local library. Or wait until it comes out in paperback. In my opinion, it's definitely not worth the hardcover price.

If you enjoyed Ms. Coulter's previous two FBI books, Blow Out and Point Blank, you will really enjoy this story where incidents and characters from both previous books are entwined in this fascinating mystery.

Julia Ransom's famous psychic medium husband Dr. August Ransom was murdered 6 months ago and she was the San Francisco PD's top suspect but for lack of evidence. She is out walking on Pier 39 and admiring the view of Alcatraz when a stranger, tall, black, well-dressed and well-spoken, after beginning an innocuous conversation, punches her and as a man yells to stop that he is FBI, the stranger tosses her over the rail onto the rocks and into the water below.

Lucky for Julia that Cheney Stone a local FBI agent was on the dock having followed his blind date for the evening outside of the restaurant. He rescues her, calls in police and takes her home as she insists on not going to a hospital. As Cheney gets involved in the investigation of who murdered August Ransom and who is now trying to murder his widow, he also involves his friends, Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock.

At the same time, Chappy, Sheriff Dixon Noble's father-in-law, has notified Dixon that a friend of his and godfather to Dixon's missing for over 3 years wife, saw a woman at a fund-raising party who is a dead ringer for Dixon's missing wife. This party was in San Francisco. To find out more about the woman and her current husband, Dixon enlists Savich and Sherlock as well as FBI agent and current lover Ruth Warnecki to investigate. Dixon flies out to San Francisco where Sherlock's parents put him up and the Judge who knows him, helps set up a dinner so Dixon can meet the wife himself. Almost immediately Dixon knows that Charlotte Pallack is NOT his missing wife Christie. However, she is pretty much a dead ringer for her right down to her mannerisms so when she calls the next day and asks to meet the sheriff for lunch he agrees. Dixon realizes she wants to flirt and start something with him but he is not interested. He is interested however in her diamond bracelet which looks indentical to one he bought Christie when on their second honeymoon. This one does not have the special engraving on it.

As Cheney Stone uses Julia Ransom's help to speak with other psychic friends of her late husband's and find out who wanted him dead. Dixon with Savich, Sherlock and Ruth's help investigates his missing wife's lookalike. Many mysteries with many twists and plenty of action and danger with some romances as well.

The climax is exciting and the "wrap ups" for all the couples are well done. An enjoyable read!

Most of the book was incredibly fun to read. Cheney's reactions to the psychics had me repeatedly laughing and cheering him on. But I cannot give it five stars because I thought the ending was surprisingly poor and there was confusion with characters (Cheney, Dix, Dillon, Sherlock).

and by that, I mean literally unbelievable.

A rundown of the first chapter: An FBI agent sees an unknown woman get punched in the face, and then the assailant pulls a knife on her. When said FBI agent yells at the assailant, he runs away, after tossing the woman over the side of the pier into the bay. FBI agent, because he's not only an FBI agent but also an honorable man, rescues woman from the ocean, and revives her with CPR. Then, because she tells him to, he doesn't call the police. Instead, FBI agent carries (still) unknown woman to his personal vehicle, drives (still) unknown woman to her mansion home, takes (still) unknown woman upstairs to her bedroom and her master bath, then strips down (still) unknown woman and himself to their underwear and gets into a warm shower with her. Then, FBI agent puts on men's clothes that (still) unknown woman provides for him, and decides he will now call someone he knows in the local police department.

And then, finally, finds out who unknown woman is.

T-o-t-a-l-l-y unbelievable. Not to mention that the dialogue throughout the book is so stilted that I found myself groaning more often than grinning. Where I used to love the Dillon and Savich stories, Ms. Coulter's newer works have left me longing for the books of old.

If you must, check DOUBLE TAKE out from your local library. Or wait until it comes out in paperback. In my opinion, it's definitely not worth the hardcover price.

Sometimes I enjoy fast paced thrillers, but when I want a well-thought out mystery novels then I read a book by Catherine Coulter. I have enjoyed her FBI series books with Sherlock and Dillon and in "Double Take" is was good to see Cheney and Dix make their return after appearing in Point Blank, which happens to be one of my favorites.

Overall, I didn't think this was one of Ms. Coulter's best books. I had a hard time keeping track of the characters and almost got to the point of keeping a score card as to "who" was "who". For me this "family tree" of characters caused a lot frustration on my part. However, let me say that mid-way through the book the story moved along at a brisk pace giving me plenty of exciting scenes. Soon, I found myself reading page and page until I finished it. Except for a few "kinks" in the story Catherine Coulter didn't disappoint me in this terrific story. And as always I look forward to reading her next novel.

It has been six months of being the "black widow" feeding frenzy for the media, but now Julia Ransom can whistle for the first time since her renowned husband the medium Dr. August Ransom was brutally murdered. In San Francisco she looks forward to dinner with her late spouse's friend Wallace Tammerlaine but now leisurely walks on Pier 39 to the rail looking out at the Bay when a man punches her in the jaw and takes out a knife. Another person shouts FBI so the tosses her into the Bay. Special Agent Cheney Stone saves her life. He calls his pal SFPD Captain Frank Paulette to take charge of a professional hit attempt probably connected to August's unsolved homicide.

At about the same time as the Julia assault across the country, though three years have passed, Maestro, Virginia, father of two boys Sheriff Dixon Noble has begun to move past his grief for his wife Christie who disappeared three years ago, thanks in part to meeting Ruth. However, he learns of Charlotte Pallack, who is a dead ringer of his spouse. He travels to San Francisco to see first hand this Charlotte though he has no hope she is his beloved Christie who he assumes is dead. Soon these seemingly divergent cases connect bringing agents Savich and Sherlock joining with Dix, and Cheney as they investigate the murky otherworld of psychics while an apparent serial killer is sending the mediums to join their spirit compatriots on the other side.

DOUBLE TAKE is a terrific S&S FBI thriller refreshed by the appearances of Cheney and Dix (who appeared in the previous tale POINT BLANK). The story line is fast-paced and ties up a major loose end from POINT BLANK (what happened to Christie?). The psychic connection adds a bit of fun and mysticism to the mysteries. Though the motives will prove too standard, fans will enjoy Catherine Coulter's latest suspense thriller.

Harriet Klausner

Probably the main thing with Catherine Coulter is she understands Vica's `keep moving' rule. This basically says that you can get away with a lot of crap as long as you keep the action coming and keep the plot moving. Catherine Coulter gets away with a lot of crap.

This book is set in San Francisco (where I live -- I read and review detective/noir/crime novels set in San Francisco) and Coulter lives just North across the Golden Gate Bridge in Mill Valley, but the descriptions of San Francisco seem oddly stilted, like they were done based on reading a guide book instead of on actually spending time in the city. For example: two rich Pacific Heights swells are going to meet for dinner on Pier 39, in the heart of tourist kitsch? I just can't see it.

Despite a serious WTF element to the book (one of the law enforcement people begins to manifest psychic abilities but Coulter does absolutely nothing with this, so why bother to put it in the plot?), Coulter keeps things moving briskly and ties up all the plot lines at the end, though it takes some ridiculous coincidences to do so. That is much more than most movies seem to be able to do these days and there's something to be said for being kept in suspense by a complex, if implausible, plot rather than figuring out a routine murder plot in the first five minutes. So you have to give Catherine props and this style has served her well. Call it summer reading.

This book is sort of amusing, although it drags, and is out of touch with reality. The characters have no depth, the dialogue is contrived and boring, the whole reason behind the murder (when finally revealed) doesn't make much sense. Fortunately, MAX the omnipotent god disguised as a computer doesn't have too much to do with this book.

On the plus side, you have to admit that Coulter writes good, structurally sound English.

I don't know about anybody else, but I can do without the cutesy-wootsy scenes with the baby. If I want dripping sentimental goo, I'll read the Family Circle. My guess is that people who read a murder mystery would prefer Pearls Before Swine.

I purchased this as an abridged audio CD for listening to while commuting. It was 5 disks and approximately 6 hours long. It had 2 different voices doing characters, listed as Sandra Burr and Phil Gigante. He did a much better job than she did. It was on sale, and I can see why. Perhaps the unabridged was better, but it was still enjoyable, but like many books,it seemed to follow a format. I bought it because it was sold as an FBI Thriller, and if you like that from time to time, it would seem interesting. It was entertaining enough considering why I bought it, but no real surprises.

This book was so bad, the dialogs were like nails on the blackboard, the plot was lame and many parts of the story were just unbelievable. For example one investigator is based in Virginia. He has an interest in talking to someone in San Francisco. So another person suggests that this investigator talk with his inlaws who live in San Francisco to see if they knew this person. Well surprise the inlaws not only know this person but invite everyone to dinner the very next day. There were many more reasons not to start this book, just don't waste your time.

I've always enjoyed Catherine Coulter's books and this one is no exception. Sandra Burr and Phil Gigante are fine readers on their own. In this reading, Mr. Gigante reads the book as well as all the men's parts, Ms. Burr handles all the female characters. The credits say they are the producers as well. Unfortunately they should stick to their day jobs, this is an engineering nightmare and almost impossible to enjoy. His voice is recorded sounding very dark and muffled, her voice is the opposite, louder, brighter and very sibilant. There is NO way one could ever imagine these two characters being in the same room together. It sounds as though they recorded each part separately in different states and edited them together afterwards. Totally awkward sounding. Please let a professional engineer record you next time. Not at all up to standard.

Pairing the psychic/medium world with murder makes for an unusual story. Does everyone have a double somewhere? Sheriff Dixon Noble discovers you can when someone reports seeing his missing and assumed dead wife.
Coulter's ability to have several sub-stories that she ultimately brings together under one umbrella at the finish is admirable. I thought it interesting how she helps us to explore the world of the psychic/medium through her character, Julie Ramson. A very powerful FBI thriller.

Catherine Coulter's FBI series has been a mystery/romance fan's read, but something is lacking in the later books of the series. They don't have the tightness, the spark, or the suspense of the earlier books.
Savich snd Sherlock step in for cameo appearances, then solve the mystery, but the villain is a forgone conclusion and the romance is stilted, too much change too fast.
The psychics add to the muddle, not clear the air. The most interesting of the group is more prop than character in the story -- a plot line left danging.
This one lay in the pile for some months, it didn't mellow with age.
Nash Black, author of TRAVELERS and SINS OF THE FATHERS.

So, this cop's wife disappears, but she's apparently sighted by one of the cop's friends. Of course the cop has to investigate, but wait, then there's the wife of the dead psychic, who is now being hunted by an assassin. A bunch of characters are introduced and they're all intertwined into this supposed FBI "thriller" that turns into a whole lot of nothing. The story never evolved into something worth reading or caring about. 2 stars.