Reviewed by Ian Lipke Reviews of David Baldacci’s novels are usually positive, almost exclusively American, and often focus on the story details that Baldacci produces in large numbers. Reviews that analyse the success or otherwise of this author’s books in terms of defined criteria are rare. When I reviewed One Minute to Midnight in November
Reviewed by Gerard Healy This thriller by Michael Ledwidge is a great holiday read, perhaps best done at the beach. It’s fast-paced, full of action and has the obligatory nasty baddies and a one-man-army hero to boot. Character development is not its forte, but most readers of this genre are probably not concerned about this.
Reviewed by Ian Lipke In 1941 the Allies are in a desperate situation. They require a new type of offensive weapon to level at their Nazi opponents. They need a way to demonstrate that Hitler was not the clean, fine character that his propaganda portrays. Posing as a wealthy industrialist, Tom Wilde enters Germany to
Reviewed by Ian Lipke So much like a re-make of Twelve Angry Men in literary form and so very, very different, Graham Moore’s thriller, with its devious, unexpected ending is likely to stand amongst the classics of suspenseful writing. Moore has published two other works, but neither of them has the impact that The Holdout
Reviewed by Rod McLary A father is stabbed to death in his bedroom by one of his two daughters – both of whom are in the house at the time, both have blood on them, both have their fingerprints on the weapon, and both call 9-1-1 and accuse the other of the crime. Who is
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve Another detective series has now spawned a third volume featuring the trials and triumphs of its hero, Cormac Reilly, a sergeant, now in his early forties working in Galway, Ireland. The reading public, especially female, seems to have an unflagging attraction for thrillers, mysteries and police procedurals. When they have an
Reviewed by Gerard Healy Peter May’s crime thriller kept me engaged to the final scene on the rugged Rock of Gibraltar. Most of the story is set, however, in nearby southern Spain where expat villain Jack Cleland is living under the radar. After a fatal shooting, he comes to the attention of the local police
Reviewed by Patricia Simms Reeve Reality, lacking glamour, is made stark with fine descriptions of heat, dust and struggling poverty. Wry humour softens the often-brutal honesty. Altogether this makes Bitter Wash Road an excellent example of Garry Disher’s writing. It was with alacrity that I began to read. Having recently read and enjoyed the ironically
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke For devotees of Fleur McDonald, the novel, Without a Doubt, may cause a slight confusion as the key character, detective Dave Burrows, has featured in many of her other books and in this one, things readers have previously learned about Dave, don’t seem to fit. The author explains this by clarifying
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve After so many years writing thrillers set in the Cold War era, in his 25th novel, Agent Running in the Field, the master has not lost his touch. From the beginning, this book is tense and gripping. His command of the language of spies, the protocols of MI6, is formidable and
Reviewed by Rod McLary The epigraph to this new book by JP Pomare is a quote from the infamous Anne Hamilton-Byrne: I love children. Hamilton-Byrne was the leader of the notorious cult called ‘The Family’ which existed in the 1970s and 1980s in Australia. She ‘acquired’ children whom she later adopted and to whom she