What do readers think of The Most Dangerous Thing by Laura Lippman? Write your own review.

This was my first Laura Lippman book and I was looking forward to expanding my reading horizons. I was disappointed. The plot was weak, the characters sad, and the pace was slow and the back and forth from past to present distracting. We never received enough information about the main character Go Go.

My pleasure in reading Laura Lippman's The Most Dangerous Thing grew as the layers of history and competing points of view built up. The story of how five childhood friends became a tightly knit unit that faced both adventures and a final disaster while exploring the woods near their homes is told from the varied perspectives of the young children, the parents of those children, and both groups thirty years later.

At times, the pace of the book is slow, but Lippman's ear for natural dialogue and her ability to choose the perfect descriptive detail made the leisurely pace enjoyable for me. Furthermore, there are interesting plot twists that emerge with each retelling of the story. When I read about the same events from the perspective of the adults, I found richness in already knowing what the children did and thought, but it is the world of the five young friends that is most alive and enticing.

I recommend this book, especially for a time when you can relax and savor its richness.

Laura Lippman has written a story that stays with you after reading, because it makes you think about your own life and the people you know or think you know. This book keeps you guessing about not only the children we meet as adults, but their parents as well. Nature vs nurture will always be debated, and Ms. Lippman makes us think about both. If you like her stand-alones, I'd Know You Anywhere, and What the Dead Know, this won't disappoint.

This was my first Laura Lippman novel, although her books have been on my "to read" list for some time. So I did not have any expectations when I began this book. I enjoyed the psychological mystery that basically disclosed the end at the beginning, but then unraveled for us how that came to be. The characters were very realistic and sad, all of them exhibiting some instance of keeping a secret or thought to themselves that over time effected their relationship to the other characters. The device of moving back and forth in time (present to past lives) was well done, although I did find the use of the first person plural in the telling of the story from children's perspective to be a little distracting.

I would recommend this to anyone. I enjoyed reading about how secrets kept, and lies told to oneself and others can affect the lives of all involved. I also found the various relationships between and within the families and the children most interesting.

Once again, Laura Lippman has written a wonderful character study. She really makes you think as you read about the five main characters and how an incident in their childhoods affects the rest of their lives and the lives of those around them. She has used an unusual technique here in that she has written the book in the first person plural. It took me awhile to get used to this as I started out wanting to know who the narrator was, but I quickly became acclimated as my attention was grabbed by wanting to know what happened next. This is a great read!

I love Laura Lippman, having discovered her a few years ago, and have since been working my way through her books. This one is very different, even from her other so-called stand-alones (the ones I've read have the same police officers, so there's some continuity). And while her series detective makes an appearance, it's definitely not a Tess book. I found the story well-written and compelling, but was confused in the 1st part by the authorial "we" - I found the device distancing. Lippman raises many ethical questions that really don't get resolved. But that would make it a really good book club pick - I can imagine great conversations about lies and responsibilities.

Beware... playhouses can stir up lots of trouble, especially if the playhouse is in the woods. I am a bit weary of this genre; that being adults looking back at wayward mistakes during their youth. This book has plenty of potential but for this reader it is disjointed, a tad melodramatic without reason and somewhat disappointing. I would like to read one of her other books, so all was not lost.