Fan-flipin-tastic!
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It was a long wait for this book to come out after becoming a fan of Peter James and, more specifically, Roy Grace. Each book has it's own brilliant storyline which have all made me not want to put the book down and just read 'one more chapter'.
This latest book doesn't disappoint, and keeps the story of Roy Grace and his own life going on in the background. I'd recommend that you buy all 4 in the Roy Grace series, read them in order and prepare to be sucked in.
And what was the best bit of the entire book? It was the last word. One little word that made my mouth fall open and take a sharp intake of breath. It was a definite -O-H- -M-Y- -G-O-D- moment. What a cliffhanger!!
Roll on the next one!!
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Probably best one yet
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Very important, I think, to read the Roy Grace books in sequence. First one brilliant [especially first half {still haunts me.....}] then maybe slight lulls BUT hey, back to form big time! I enjoyed this one very much. Some crticisms maybe, but on the whole, superb! Short chapters are ideal for summer-time reading and there are some great last liners.
HOWEVER, seasoned reader as I am and [at times] far too cynical, the last line knocked me out. Can't remember a last line hitting me like that in a long long time. More than my life's worth to say, so enjoy the 400+ pages and prepare yourself.............
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Grace, but not as we know him
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I wanted to like this book, having enjoyed the previous investigations by Grace, but this is a weak addition to the series. Although the story is cleverly worked around the events of 9/11 the format of flitting from present to past in short chapters does not allow the reader to engage enough with any of the characters and generally fails to keep the pace moving, as would normally be expected from such punchy presentation. I think that the characters James has created and the world of policing in Brighton are evocatively described but this time 'Ronnie' is nothing more than a 'baddie with a brain' - not someone to get too worried about or in awe of when considering the criminals of current crime fiction.
The last line of the book seems lazy to me for a writer of James' quality but perhaps this is just a setup to be made more of in a later story.
Don't get me wrong, I will buy the next book in the series as soon as it is released but on this occasion I feel the author has missed the mark.
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Grace keeps me reading
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Enough has already been written about the plot. I just thought I'd say that I enjoyed this latest volume in the Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series but not quite as much as the previous book in the series, 'Not Dead Enough'. The 'criminal' characters didn't totally engage me and I found myself being frustrated at having to jump so frequently between different characters and short sections. To me, books aren't TV/movies and I wish the storyline would stay more focussed on individual characters, especially Roy Grace (this jumping from character to character seems to be a growing style with thriller writers). In fact it was only the sections with Roy Grace or the great characters in his investigative crime team that kept me reading (especially enjoyed the rivalry with Pewe and the few moments the story gave to Cleo). However, I'd definitely recommend this well-plotted, well-written, sharply characterised crime series and its accuracy with regards to police procedure in the UK is an added bonus. With any series you'll get more out of it if you begin with earlier volumes, but it's not essential.
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Not quite as good....
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I have loved Peter James' work for years, both his supernatural thrillers, and his more recent work, and while this book was excellent, i found myself a little disappointed, that it wasn't quite as good as the other Roy Grace novels! Having said that, will probably still be the book of the summer!
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