Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
If you like crime, you'll love this!, 27 Aug 2008
This review is from: A Deeper Shade of Blue (Paperback)
After reading this book, i decided two things: that i was going to buy every other book that P.Johnston wrote, and that i was going to greece. i have done both.
Paul Johnston blends crime fiction into every day life whith such skill that you finally remember that the horrifc scenes that are featured in this book, actually really do happen in real life, despite many people delusions. i have heard some people say that crime writers that portray crime like paul johnston does in this book, have no idea what crime is trully like and that the whole book is very unconvincing. the truth is that its writers like these that have actually opened their eyes and are using their imagination far less that we think.
set on a beautiful imaginary island in greece, this book travels you to romantic sunny spots where life is ended in terrible ways, women are violated in the most unhumane way and greek history is blended into the story in such a way that you dont notice how interested you are in it till the the book ends. he describes his characters in such depth that you get to know them inside out without being bored by too many adjectives in a sentence, and his narative skills are so strong that just reading about a hot sweaty day makes you need to remove a layer of your clothing, which makes you think what happens when you get to the crime scenes...
an amzing book. a must read for both men and women, though not for the squemish. not a beach book but a page turner with room for plenty of sequels.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
1.0 out of 5 stars
Life Is Too Short To Waste Reading This Book!, 6 Feb 2012
I'm sorry, but this book really is appalling. The writing is tedious and uninspired, the plot contrived, and the characters completely unappealing.
One of the author's more annoying habits is his continued insistence on trying to incorporate as many Greek names and references into the book as he can manage - most of them to no good effect, unfortunately. This ranges from the endless added snippets about the minutiae of recent Greek political history and local politics, to the overuse of references to place names and their overdone, uninteresting descriptions. I dare say all these references may well be very accurate, but the trouble is - they just aren't very interesting. The great proliferation of characters, nearly all of whom are ascribed difficult (if authentic) Greek names, quickly becomes very hard work not only to decipher, but almost impossible to remember.
Consequently, this book is a chore, and not any sort of pleasure.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Poorly written good mystery, 23 Dec 2004
By Lisane - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: A Deeper Shade of Blue (Paperback)
A Deeper Shade of Blue is, as a mystery, fairly satisfying. Three-quarters of the way through the story, you still have no idea why the central event has taken place or who perpetrated it, but the search for answers continues to be interesting.
Alex Mavros, a Scots-Greek private investigator, has been hired by a Turkish-American to search for a missing person who was last seen on the Greek island of Trigono. There are suspects aplenty, both foreign and native, on the tourist island. Alex is an interesting character, and it would have been great to see what a better writer might have made of him.
This is a story that could have been riveting, were it not for the fact that the author is a mediocre writer at best. The only thing wrong with this book is the writing, which unfortunately is the medium through which the story is told. Three-quarters of the way through the book, I felt could no longer stand another stock phrase or cliched description. I really wanted to know why the missing person had been abducted, and who did it, but I couldn't take one more line of this man's writing. It's a mystery to me how he ever found a publisher, let alone a readership.
|
|
|