Review: Compelling
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 28, 2011
I know Oxford and was looking forward to reading this. I was not disappointed.Tommy West is not like you or me. He's better than us on so many levels - intelligence, deductive reasoning, erudition, taste and incredible physicality. He does have one characteristic that mitigates all those rather unbelievable talents and turns him from some sort of superhuman figure into someone we can sympathise with.Dan Holloway has created a memorable character in Tommy. Someone who fights his demons, who struggles to stay on the right side of sanity, who almost cracks under pressure. Tommy's inward battles run alongside murder, academic integrity - and the lack of it in some instances, and a complex plot which continues to surprise right to the end.Other reviewers have mentioned gut-wrenching descriptions in the story. I read those parts, too and they were extremely disturbing. I'm not sure the most depraved and grisly descriptions actually added anything to the story. I found them slightly out of kilter with the rest of the narrative and could have enjoyed the book just as well with something a little less disgusting.The extreme content in one part and far too many typos and mistakes stop this from being a five-star read for me.Even so, I'm looking forward to the sequels - and hope for a more comprehensively edited offering next time.Cheers!-LizLying in Wait