False Conception: A John Marshall Tanner Novel

by Stephen Greenleaf

Book Overview

When San Francisco detective John Marshall Tanner is hired to do a background check on a prospective surrogate mother, the job seems simple enough. There are only two stipulations - the surrogate must... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1883402875
• ISBN13: 9781883402877
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: O. Penzler Books
• Length: 273 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

An old-fashioned flavor despite a high-tech subject

Perhaps it's Greenleaf's style or his detective, Marsh Tanner, but if they made a movie of this book, I could see Humphrey Bogart playing Marsh Tanner. Marsh is an intriguing Character (he's a PI in a lengthy series by Greenleaf), who lives in San Francisco and seems to have trouble with commitments although he is quite likeable.The subject of this mystery is surrogate motherhood. A wealthy infertile couple, the Colberts, have (for an inexplicable reason) chosen someone known to the husband to be paid a very large sum to bear their child with an implanted embryo. Tanner has been hired to look into the background of this woman, Greta Hammond, as a precaution before implantation. He has an uneasy feeling about the whole business and an attraction to Greta. When Greta disappears two months later, he is asked to find her -- the couple fears she will either abort the child or refuse to surrender him (yes, they know it's a him) at birth. Tanner smells a rat and his investigation involves unearthing a lot of family secrets -- there are plenty of skeletons in the wealthy community that the Colberts come from. Some of the people are not very happy with Tanner's investigation.This is a particularly well-plotted book, although I was able to figure out some of the mystery but there was enough I couldn't figure out to keep me reading well into the night.This is my first book by Greenleaf and I liked it enough that I intend to read the whole series.

Keep Conceiving

I love Steven Greenleaf's writing. It harkens back and requires some attention; little nuances that keep me interested besides the plots, which are always good. He has what used to be called "a turn of phrase." I'm always finding some phrases I want to put down in my quote book, because he's expressed something so well. If you want a little more than your average mystery novel, you'll love Greenleaf's work. They'll full of delightful little surprises!

NO FALSE CONCEPTION WITH THIS BOOK

As a mystery author with my debut novel in its initial release, I enjoy Stephen Greenleaf's John Marshall Tanner mysteries. FALSE CONCEPTION is one of my favorites. In this book, Tanner finds himself entangled in a case involving surrogate parenthood. A wealthy couple, unable to have children in the traditional manner, decide to take the surrogate route. Their surrogate mother, who seemed to have checked out solidly in advance, disappears early in her pregnancy. Tanner finds himself searching for the missing woman and uncovering secrets about everyone involved in the situation. FALSE CONCEPTION is a well-plotted topical book with vividly drawn characters. I recommend it highly.

Exciting new find for me

Wow! What a great find for me! This book is exciting, fast-paced, and realistic with a P.I. I truly like. The writing is crisp....the plot believable... and the mystery unravels page by page. I would highly recommend this to all true mystery lovers.

Another gem by the best hardboiled private eye novelist yet!

Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and Ross Macdonald have not only found their peer in Stephen Greenleaf, they've found their superior. As an unabashed fan of Chandler's, I must concede, however reluctantly, that Greenleaf is not merely the successor to the hardboiled detective tradition established by Chandler and the others, but the finest practitioner the field has seen yet. The John Marshall Tanner mysteries are marked by the kind of crisp, literate, and often poetic prose usually associated with "mainstream" literary works; fully-fleshed characterizations; acute observations; topical issues; and complex, plausible plots. Another stellar entry in the series, FALSE CONCEPTION finds Tanner embroiled professionally and emotionally in the lives of a wealthy couple unable to have a child except through surrogacy. When the surrogate mother he's approved for his clients disappears, and he sets out to find her, he unearths some wrenching secrets about all of them--including himself. This is the kind of great read whose overtones will resonate within you long after you've finished it