thosedarkpages's review
2.0
Skim read basically the entire thing. It wasn't awful; it just wasn't my sort of thing. Plus it was very early on in his writing career, so I'll cut him some slack. Obviously the Roy Grace series is an absolute winner and I can't wait to work my way through more. My advice: don't judge Peter James by this book.
ailsareads's review
1.0
Everyone in this book is a terrible person and they all deserved to be murdered (I can't remember who exactly actually got murdered but whatever). Apart from the women. Sorry - woman. Singular. Who serves no purpose other than to be a pretty plaything for one of the many terrible men.
athravan's review
4.0
Important Note: This book was published in 1983 and is a reprint.
A few years back I asked my local library if they could get this in for me as you'd think there would be some lying around. They looked it up and said no way - it was permanently out of print and they had no copies. To be honest I forgot about, despite being a big Peter James fan, there are more than enough books in the world for me to not want to pay hundreds of pounds for an out of print title from the 80s. When I saw this on the new releases list this week I was a little confused - and then delighted when I realized they had finally released a Kindle Edition, and reprinted the Paperback too. About time! But if you do see a hardcopy of the first edition in a second hand book shop any time, grab it, because it's worth a pretty penny these days.
This is a standalone thriller that features Alex Rocq, a fancy city stockbrocker who is tempted to take the easy route of big money through insider trading, and finds himself in serious trouble. He's offered a chance to get out of this money-pit in exchange for a favour and silence and gets dragged into some shady dealings and a bit of action. It has a fairly wide ranging cast and we see the story unfold from multiple points of view. I had some problems empathising with anyone to be honest, and it's hard to care about characters you don't like - so don't expect a new Roy Grace to fall in love with!
It's a fairly fast paced thriller, with an interesting background in finance. It does show that Peter James' writing has come a long way since the early 80s, and this book is a little rough around the edges and definitely not comparable to the Roy Grace series, but I still found it very enjoyable, and appreciated the foreword. I would definitely recommend it to any fans of Peter James and I'm really glad that it's back in print as I don't believe any book should be relegated to the graveyard.
A few years back I asked my local library if they could get this in for me as you'd think there would be some lying around. They looked it up and said no way - it was permanently out of print and they had no copies. To be honest I forgot about, despite being a big Peter James fan, there are more than enough books in the world for me to not want to pay hundreds of pounds for an out of print title from the 80s. When I saw this on the new releases list this week I was a little confused - and then delighted when I realized they had finally released a Kindle Edition, and reprinted the Paperback too. About time! But if you do see a hardcopy of the first edition in a second hand book shop any time, grab it, because it's worth a pretty penny these days.
This is a standalone thriller that features Alex Rocq, a fancy city stockbrocker who is tempted to take the easy route of big money through insider trading, and finds himself in serious trouble. He's offered a chance to get out of this money-pit in exchange for a favour and silence and gets dragged into some shady dealings and a bit of action. It has a fairly wide ranging cast and we see the story unfold from multiple points of view. I had some problems empathising with anyone to be honest, and it's hard to care about characters you don't like - so don't expect a new Roy Grace to fall in love with!
It's a fairly fast paced thriller, with an interesting background in finance. It does show that Peter James' writing has come a long way since the early 80s, and this book is a little rough around the edges and definitely not comparable to the Roy Grace series, but I still found it very enjoyable, and appreciated the foreword. I would definitely recommend it to any fans of Peter James and I'm really glad that it's back in print as I don't believe any book should be relegated to the graveyard.
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