| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Watch the author talk about this book in Windows Media
Player format:
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk
James Siegel has demonstrated in three finely honed thrillers prior to Deceit that he is one of the most adroit practitioners at work in the field today. Those books (all distinguished by their terse, one-word titles: Epitaph, Derailed and Detour) were a triumph of no-nonsense, ever-accelerating writing whose purpose was to transfix the reader -- a trick that Siegel pulls off once again with Deceit.
Tom Valle is a Californian journalist with a very unspectacular career, covering what appears to be an everyday car crash. Then strange facts present themselves to Valle -- including the fact that the autopsy indicates that the car crash victim has been castrated. And although the driving licence says otherwise, the corpse is that of a black man rather than a white. Valle sees this as a chance to re-energise his career, and uncover some nasty secrets. But he has made a rod for his own back by some ill-advised journalistic double-dealing in the past, such as some fictitious stories he has filed at a New York newspaper – and the chickens come home to roost.
As always with Siegel, the narrative here has such forward momentum that few readers will be able to resist consuming the book in just one or two sittings -- and the fashion in which the facts are paid out to the reader (via the beleaguered journalist hero) will ensure some missed bus or train stops. --Barry Forshaw --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
'What a neat, twisty well-written thriller! James Siegel has arrived in high style' JAMES PATTERSON 'Will keep readers hooked to the last page...high-quality entertainment' - NELSON DEMILLE *'Literally impossible to put down ... one of the best books I've read this year and I read it in December' - LEE CHILD 'With its clean prose, high-velocity plotting and sharply drawn characters, this novel is the bomb' - PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 'James Siegel has demonstrated in three finely honed thrillers prior to Deceit that he is one of the most adroit practitioners at work in the field today. Those books (all distinguished by their terse, one-word titles: Epitaph, Derailed and Detour) were a triumph of no-nonsense, ever-accelerating writing whose purpose was to transfix the reader -- a trick that Siegel pulls off once again with Deceit. Tom Valle is a Californian journalist with a very unspectacular career, covering what appears to be an everyday car crash. Then strange facts present themselves to Valle -- including the fact that the autopsy indicates that the car crash victim has been castrated. And although the driving licence says otherwise, the corpse is that of a black man rather than a white. Valle sees this as a chance to re-energise his career, and uncover some nasty secrets. But he has made a rod for his own back by some ill-advised journalistic double-dealing in the past, such as some fictitious stories he has filed at a New York newspaper - and the chickens come home to roost. As always with Siegel, the narrative here has such forward momentum that few readers will be able to resist consuming the book in just one or two sittings -- and the fashion in which the facts are paid out to the reader (via the beleaguered journalist hero) will ensure some missed bus or train stops.' - Barry Forshaw, AMAZON.CO.UK REVIEW 'Buy this book or else miss a treat' SUNDAY EXPRESS
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
When I first read Derailed I was thrilled. I read it in a day and then spent the nest few regaling all that would listen about this excellent thriller. Detour was similarly satisfying. Deceit is good but not quite as great as those two. There are no major problems with it and I'm sure that most will enjoy it; it's simply that the narrative style is quite abrasive with short sharp sentences. At the beginning the sentences and punctuation feel like two punch combos or a rat-a-tat sound, moving from issue to issue with rarely a cohesive strand. This of course is deliberate, it's re-enforces a central theme of the novel - can we trust the narrator, is his re-telling of the story reliable? But persevere. Once I settled into Deceit and gave myself over to it, the story rattled along and evolved into an excellent thriller; one that is quite unique.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book takes a while to get going but once it does it barely stops for breath. I couldn't put it down and the story is absolutely top notch. As good as Derailed and far more complex this will keep you guessing to the last few pages. Read the synopsis above - you will never guess how this story concludes. There are clues in there but ever so subtle. I found myself flicking back quite a few times to just check on certain things.
One downer - some of those flick backs took a while and were to do with trying to remember how the protagonist ended up doing what he was doing at the point I was currently at.
Hope this was helpful to you.
One downer - some of those flick backs took a while and were to do with trying to remember how the protagonist ended up doing what he was doing at the point I was currently at.
Hope this was helpful to you.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Let me start off by saying that Deceit holds your attention from beginning to end, and is a worthwhile read. That being said, Deceit is not as good as Detour and, in particular, Derailed. The strengh of Deceit is Siegel's writing style moreso than the plot itself. Siegel has developed a main character that despite his faults, is interesting and likable. The plot, which involves a disgraced journalist investigating an auto accident and ultimately leads to his unovering the scoop of a lifetime, is also interesting, albeit it a bit far-fetched. What keeps me from giving Deceit more than a 3 1/2 star rating is that while Siegel allows his protagonist to come up with the solution to the mystery, Siegel doesn't present clearly enough to the reader (or at least this reader) as to how the "hero" was able to uncover the specific facts behind the solution. While, as I said, Deceit is not Siegel's best book, it is enjoyable, and I am looking forward to his next book.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
For what it is, it's great
This is not high art. There are parts of the plot that are so screamingly obvious that you can't believe it. Read more
Published 6 months ago by thegoodbook
It didn't do it for me!
Sorry to be out of step but it didn't keep me awake at night waiting to see what happened.
Too much introspection, too many disconnected musings, too many... Read more
Too much introspection, too many disconnected musings, too many... Read more
Published on 16 Oct 2009 by J. Pilling
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
