Review: An exciting thriller with a touch of mystery.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 24, 2013
This book is basically a thriller, with an element of mystery, the mystery being, who is doing what and why. It starts with the hero, Thomas Gunn, drowning. Apparently he has been knocked on the head and thrown off the boat after a passenger seemingly jumped off. After we get through this scene, the story lurches back to the beginning, we get to how he got to be on the boat, then follows a hectic sequence of events as just about everyone is after Thomas Gunn. Seemingly, he can trust just about nobody, and there is a huge conspiracy. The action sequences are spectacular and Clarke has a genuine flair for writing them. Also, once you get past the first 15% of the book, the plot is quite well constructed. If all you want is an action story that proceeds in a reasonably logical fashion, this is five star plus!There are negatives. I found the start confusing. The immersion chapter jumps around in time quite a bit. Clarke follows the "show, not tell" philosophy, in my opinion, to an extreme. The book is essentially a sequel to "The Orange Moon Affair", and once the first chapter is over, characters get introduced at a bewildering rate. The average read has not necessarily read the first book, and a few sentences telling who they are would not go astray, at least for me. There is still plenty of action in this part and that is well written. Another part that I felt was unnecessary was that Thomas finds a body that has been raped, then murdered. The LAPD arrive, arrest Thomas, and try to force a confession. This, to me is gratuitous. First, when Thomas asks for a lawyer, they had better behave or they will end up in the prisons where they have sent others. Secondly, if the woman has been raped, a simple DNA test will show that Thomas could not have done it. A final negative: it needs better editing. I am usually fairly tolerant of the odd grammatical and typo error; he who is without sin can cast the first stone! However, twice in the book, a small number of people, including Morgan, did something. Morgan died back in the beginning.  On the other hand, if you want to look at the mystery aspect, make sure you assimilate everything in the first chapter very well. There is a big clue that I suspect most will miss, and this book is littered with the necessary red herrings to put off amateur detectives.To summarize, Clarke has written an exciting book, it will hold your attention, and it is well worth the price. You most certainly will not be bored, unless you hate thrillers. Just a little more attention to some details, and it would have been excellent.