Friday, January 28, 2011

Two recently read thrillers

BLOOD COUNT                           
Robert Goddard 
Bantam Press - $39.99
Typical entertaining stuff from one of the UK's most popular thriller writers. This is his 23rd novel, all of them have been bestsellers so the punters are obviously happy with his style.
This one moves along at a fast clip as it moves around various European locations including London, The Hague, Milan, Belgrade, and also Buenos Aires. Successful London-based surgeon Edward Hammond performed a life-saving transplant operation on a Serbian gangster thirteen years ago and now he is paying for it..................
Good plane read,a little far-fetched for me, not especially memorable.

1222
Anne Holt
Corvus
Now this was a great read. A really skilful crime novel from a Norwegian writer I had not come across before. Yes the Scandinavian impact on the world of crime fiction continues.

1222  is a taut, brooding thriller written with a sharp eye for human nuance. The reluctant heroine is wheelchair bound, now retired, police officer Hanne Wilhelmsen.

Brilliantly atmospheric, the story is set in the Norwegian Alps, in the midst of the worst snowstorm Norway has ever seen. Forced to set up camp in a centuries-old hotel, the only one in the town their train derails in, the 269 passengers should be safe. However, the rumours surrounding a mysterious ‘extra carriage’ that was on the train fuels tensions within the group as it is revealed that the top floor of the hotel is locked down, with no word of why.

Caught as unwillingly as every other passenger in the increasingly severe storm, Hanne is drawn into the cover up of what can only be described as a highly suspicious death. As the body count climbs, the claustrophobia, suspicion and unease among the passengers grows, compounded by clashes of character and outright scaremongering, forcing Hanne to step back into a role she thought she was done with forever.
About the author. 
Anne Holt spent two years working for the Oslo Police Department before founding her own law firm and serving as Norway's Minister for Justice in 1996/97. Her first book was published in 1993.

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