I was disappointed in this book. Sure it was nice to hear about the characters that I have been following in all of Stephen's others books but all in all it was readers digest quality story.
Maybe it is good that Stephen is going to move into another direction because it feels like he has lost the momentum to write for his readers - or maybe he is bored with the characters. ( )

Alan Gregory has done many things he should not have. There were always consequences. All the chickens come home to roost in this, the next to last story for these characters. I was riveted from start to finish.

I have come to care about the characters in this series of books. Knowing there would be only one more book it was with a sense of dread that I started reading. I was kept guessing until the explosive ending which was nothing I expected.

This is the best in the series. A must read. ( )

I just finished reading this book after reading the entire series from the beginning. I really enjoyed all of the books in the series and like how some of the storylines carry through to later books, but you don't need to read each book in the series to enjoy them. This IMO was one of the best and I can't believe I now have to wait for the final book in the series to come out to get some closure on the characters. LOL Write fast Stephen White! ( )

I know I liked this series in the past, but this one leaves me bored. I want to read MORE. I need to quit reading books I don't find intriguing more often. Quite reading, FWIW, on page 243.

I may have liked this book better back when I read a series closer together in time. IOW, there are just too many references in this book that I can't recall whether or not are parts of earlier books or not. It was frustrating. ( )

Line of Fire was a HUGE disappointment, especially after The Siege, which was so awesome. I never understand why authors finish out a series by having established characters act like people you never met. The various plots were convoluted, the coincidences unbelievable, and Sam and Alan just behaved stupidly.

I mean really...Sam wanted to have a private conversation about a crime he committed 4 years previously. So he waited till he was in an ICU room with a supposedly comatose patient, waited for the nurse to leave her station, sent the officer guarding the door on a stupid errand and then covered the nurse's intercom on the bed with the patient's pillow and the wall intercom with a washcloth and started whispering. Really? Why not talk in the car? Why not in the parking lot? Why wait till you're in a place where you're worried that other people will hear you? Sam is smarter than that.

*******SPOILER ALERT*********
And poor Diane. I have no idea what Stephen White was thinking when he made her act so crazy. He definitely set it up so that a brain tumor can explain her odd behavior in the last book. She had every right to have a meltdown after being held hostage and possibly raped a few books earlier. She was definitely traumatized. However, she had always been such a solid therapist, so much more ethical than Alan. Even if her PTSD got worse, I can't see her trying to kill someone.

As much as Diane loved her husband Raul, she never got her full identity from him. So even though she would have been devastated that he cheated and got someone else pregnant, I can't see her as a whiny, needy, dissociative brat. And I had a hard time believing that Raul was the unfeeling philanderer White made him out to be. He and Diane always had a tight, loving relationship. I don't remember any hints that Raul lost their money and they were living beyond their means or that they had an "alternative" relationship.

Alan was an absolutely horrible friend to Diane. She was in the worst mental state that he had ever seen her in, and he just walked away and didn't even try to take care of her or check on her or anything. After years of having a practice together, working side by side, being friends outside of work, being friends with each others families, how could he just let her spiral out of control and not try to help? It would have been bad no matter what, but the fact that Alan and Diane are therapists made it that much worse to me.

I felt like White had Diane accidentally shoot Lauren to give Sam and Alan a way to not go to jail. If Lauren lived, as an Assistant District Attorney, she would have to turn them in. And I think she would have. With Lauren dead, Alan couldn't go to jail and leave his kids with no parents, so he chose to continue to cover up the murder Sam committed.
********END OF SPOILER***********

Although I generally like Dick Hill's narration, I did not like his portrayal of Sam Purdy.

I don't know what Stephen White has planned for the last book, but he needs to undo some of the damage he did with Line of Fire. Sam, Alan, Lauren, Diane and Raul deserve better. ( )