2011
ISBN 9780007384501
Contains spoilers for Soul Murder, the first book in the series.
Showing posts with label thriller. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thriller. Show all posts
Saturday, December 28, 2013
City of Sins
2011
ISBN 9780007384501
Contains spoilers for Soul Murder, the first book in the series.
Soul Murder
2009
ISBN 9781439197486
Opening with a
stock-standard raid in a bad neighbourhood, this book holds nothing
back. Patrese and Beradino begin with a murder, an arrest, and a
shooting, but are quickly catapulted into a whole different league:
high profile men of the city are being burned alive.
With few clues and personal
issues clouding the way, this book starts relatively slowly but
quickly builds into a gripping, tension-filled ride of
double-guessing and double-dealings.
I was kept guessing until
the very end, and was taken by surprise, without feeling like I'd
missed something obvious. The hints were in place, but presented in
such a way that I don't know if anyone could have picked it.
Religion features heavily in
this story. The fundamentals of both Christianity and Islam are
explored more than I'd expected, and I found the casual way the Bible
was quoted and God was referenced became a little distracting.
Still, it was important to the story, and Patrese's reluctance to
engage religion in any form helped to counterbalance the fervour of
everyone else.
I really enjoyed this. Not
being the usual kind of book I read, I wasn't sure how I'd go with
it, but it was a refreshing change, and the heaviness of some of the
details weren't so strong as to put me off reading.
Date finished: 08/12/13
Rating: 4/5
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Reprisal
Peter Yeldham
1994
1-86412-020-7
Seven years after a near-perfect bank robbery in Sydney, the body of the only man caught turns up bobbing in Sydney Harbour. Detective Frank Borodin is put on the case by his boss McTaggart, who, although he has been obsessed with the case from the get-go, is a pain in the backside who is quickly relegated a fringe role. Borodin, his young partner and impossibly beautiful girlfriend throw themselves into the case, only to discover that it is not the main crime going on.
This was an entertaining read. Borodin is a fairly down-to-earth character, and was by far the most realistic - everyone else seemed exaggarated almost beyond a joke; Toby reminds me of an eager puppy, McTaggart is a bolshy political wannabe, while every man in the vicinity seems to fall in love with Joanna at first sight. Still, these are minor complaints, as each character is outshone by the storyline itself, which stayed interesting well after the showdown with the bad guy.
Date Finished: 23/06/08
Year Total: 24
1994
1-86412-020-7
Seven years after a near-perfect bank robbery in Sydney, the body of the only man caught turns up bobbing in Sydney Harbour. Detective Frank Borodin is put on the case by his boss McTaggart, who, although he has been obsessed with the case from the get-go, is a pain in the backside who is quickly relegated a fringe role. Borodin, his young partner and impossibly beautiful girlfriend throw themselves into the case, only to discover that it is not the main crime going on.
This was an entertaining read. Borodin is a fairly down-to-earth character, and was by far the most realistic - everyone else seemed exaggarated almost beyond a joke; Toby reminds me of an eager puppy, McTaggart is a bolshy political wannabe, while every man in the vicinity seems to fall in love with Joanna at first sight. Still, these are minor complaints, as each character is outshone by the storyline itself, which stayed interesting well after the showdown with the bad guy.
Date Finished: 23/06/08
Year Total: 24
Sunday, December 9, 2007
The Eight
Katherine Neville
1988
ISBN 0 552 15467 9
I first read this book in high school, and remembered that it totally blew me away, so I snapped it up when I saw it in a secondhand bookstore.
My memory was correct: this book is what the Da Vinci Code aspires to be. The vision and breadth is amazing, and this tale weaves everyone from Napolean to Wordsworth, Voltaire and Benedict Arnold, into an intriguing mystery.
Combining mysticism, mathematics, physics and chess, this is the story of a treasure hunt. The treasure is a near-mythical chess set, disassembled and scattered across Europe during the French Revolution. One of the nuns assigned to protect it, Mirielle, embarks on a journey to discover the secret of the chess service, her efforts mirrored over a century later by Cat and Lily.
This is an incredible book, and although parts of the chess explanations were over my head, the language is plain and easy to follow. Cat's both cynical and humourous, and Mirielle and strong and focused, and each woman has their own appeal. Their stories are combined into the kind of book you willingly lose sleep to get through.
Date Finished: 06/12/07
Year Total: 41
1988
ISBN 0 552 15467 9
I first read this book in high school, and remembered that it totally blew me away, so I snapped it up when I saw it in a secondhand bookstore.
My memory was correct: this book is what the Da Vinci Code aspires to be. The vision and breadth is amazing, and this tale weaves everyone from Napolean to Wordsworth, Voltaire and Benedict Arnold, into an intriguing mystery.
Combining mysticism, mathematics, physics and chess, this is the story of a treasure hunt. The treasure is a near-mythical chess set, disassembled and scattered across Europe during the French Revolution. One of the nuns assigned to protect it, Mirielle, embarks on a journey to discover the secret of the chess service, her efforts mirrored over a century later by Cat and Lily.
This is an incredible book, and although parts of the chess explanations were over my head, the language is plain and easy to follow. Cat's both cynical and humourous, and Mirielle and strong and focused, and each woman has their own appeal. Their stories are combined into the kind of book you willingly lose sleep to get through.
Date Finished: 06/12/07
Year Total: 41
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