- Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
- Publisher: St Martins Press; Reprint edition (3 May 2010)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0312358482
- ISBN-13: 978-0312358488
- Product Dimensions: 17.8 x 10.1 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,320,383 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Even (David Trevellyan Thriller 1)
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Product Description
Review
`Even supplies plenty of punches especially when Trevellyan flexes his muscles.' --The Ticket (The Mirror)
Review
'Full of panache and brutal detail about killing, it sweeps you along at a breakneck pace.'
--This text refers to the
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Andrew Grant is the brother of the author Lee Child - responsible for the "Jack Reacher" series, and in this very enjoyable novel it is perhaps not surprising that he visits both similar subject matter and writes in a similar style.
His main character, ex-naval officer David Trevellyan, is thrown into a murky world of mercenaries, terrorism and murder and must fight to clear his name.
It's an exciting read and the book is thoughtfully plotted, containing twists and turns that I didn't see coming. Although books of this genre have a habit of requiring the intervention from time-to-time of an "unbelieveable" character to drive the narritive, nothing jarred with me. Perhaps the best thing I can say about it is that it made me keen to read the next story, assuming there is one.
His main character, ex-naval officer David Trevellyan, is thrown into a murky world of mercenaries, terrorism and murder and must fight to clear his name.
It's an exciting read and the book is thoughtfully plotted, containing twists and turns that I didn't see coming. Although books of this genre have a habit of requiring the intervention from time-to-time of an "unbelieveable" character to drive the narritive, nothing jarred with me. Perhaps the best thing I can say about it is that it made me keen to read the next story, assuming there is one.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
I adore the city of New York, and will read any piece of fiction set there. The city is almost alive, and I relish seeing its mute, brooding presence in thrillers. That's basically why I picked this book, as I am not a fan of modern thrillers. I appreciate the classics (Fleming, Deighton, Forsyth, even Clancy) and some modern junk that borders on sci-fi (Matthew Reilly ia a guilty pleasure, for example), but most modern thrillers are far too samey and fit one of three templates: the historical-conspiracy (Dan Brown et al, ad nauseum), the (yawn) police procedural, or the Bourne/24 wannabes.
This is a curious one, though. Andrew Grant is the brother of the famous thriller writer Lee Child - I've read a couple of his books, and they were good but I didn't feel I had to rush out and devour more. When I read the synopsis, I was expecting something similar to those, but with perhaps a dash of the Bournes about it. Nearly right. But instead of aping Bourne, it apes "24" instead - in both good and bad ways.
The writing is good - crisp dialogue, neat descriptions. Characterisation is a little lacking, though - I have no idea what David Trevelyan looks like - but then perhaps that's the point. The first-person perspective is interesting, and the clipped sentences give a real feel of David's structured and highly-trained life. The - relatively few - action scenes are kinetic and well-written, and the background research is obviously extensive.
The plot and the pacing of the novel are the problem areas. As the story unfolds, it really started to remind me of the way the TV show "24" is structured - the initial burst following one plot thread (the opening two or three chapters of the book are excellent, and a perfect example of have to pull a reader in), which seems to be wrapped up far too quickly. Another different plot then looms, totally unconnected to the first. At the end of the novel, though, it seems it was all connected after all - although I have to admit I was a little confused over the details (POSIBLE SPOILERS: Who is Lesley, and what exactly does her group exist for? She just seemed to be a sadistic villain for the sake of it. And I'm a little lost over the whole tramps/railroads/fake ID's/Iraq part of the plot). It reminded me of the last couple of (not as good) seasons of Jack Bauer's exploits, where the writers come up with a cracking eight-episode story but then realise that they have to pad it out to 24 episodes. It all gets stretched a little thin, with lots of coincidences and meetings and weak sub-plots. The end then feels rushed - the main villain's motivation is weak and sketchy, and David saves the day by...shooting a laptop. Followed by the coda, which brings back a forgotten and pointless character from earlier in the story (just like "24") and sets up the sequel.
That's not to say I didn't enjoy the book - it was fast-paced and entertaining, and it's good to have a Brit abroad as the hero - even if his background is pure Bond and he is as indestructible and infallible as...well, Bond I suppose! I will certainly pick up Andrew Grant's next book to see how he develops as a writer (this is his first novel). It's certainly better than the vast slew of post-Dan Brown conspiracy thrillers (and, actually, better than Dan Brown - heresy!).
This is a curious one, though. Andrew Grant is the brother of the famous thriller writer Lee Child - I've read a couple of his books, and they were good but I didn't feel I had to rush out and devour more. When I read the synopsis, I was expecting something similar to those, but with perhaps a dash of the Bournes about it. Nearly right. But instead of aping Bourne, it apes "24" instead - in both good and bad ways.
The writing is good - crisp dialogue, neat descriptions. Characterisation is a little lacking, though - I have no idea what David Trevelyan looks like - but then perhaps that's the point. The first-person perspective is interesting, and the clipped sentences give a real feel of David's structured and highly-trained life. The - relatively few - action scenes are kinetic and well-written, and the background research is obviously extensive.
The plot and the pacing of the novel are the problem areas. As the story unfolds, it really started to remind me of the way the TV show "24" is structured - the initial burst following one plot thread (the opening two or three chapters of the book are excellent, and a perfect example of have to pull a reader in), which seems to be wrapped up far too quickly. Another different plot then looms, totally unconnected to the first. At the end of the novel, though, it seems it was all connected after all - although I have to admit I was a little confused over the details (POSIBLE SPOILERS: Who is Lesley, and what exactly does her group exist for? She just seemed to be a sadistic villain for the sake of it. And I'm a little lost over the whole tramps/railroads/fake ID's/Iraq part of the plot). It reminded me of the last couple of (not as good) seasons of Jack Bauer's exploits, where the writers come up with a cracking eight-episode story but then realise that they have to pad it out to 24 episodes. It all gets stretched a little thin, with lots of coincidences and meetings and weak sub-plots. The end then feels rushed - the main villain's motivation is weak and sketchy, and David saves the day by...shooting a laptop. Followed by the coda, which brings back a forgotten and pointless character from earlier in the story (just like "24") and sets up the sequel.
That's not to say I didn't enjoy the book - it was fast-paced and entertaining, and it's good to have a Brit abroad as the hero - even if his background is pure Bond and he is as indestructible and infallible as...well, Bond I suppose! I will certainly pick up Andrew Grant's next book to see how he develops as a writer (this is his first novel). It's certainly better than the vast slew of post-Dan Brown conspiracy thrillers (and, actually, better than Dan Brown - heresy!).
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
There's no point in repeating what's all been said before. But this is a very tedious and boring read. Don't buy it on the strength of the writer being Lee Childs brother? It will not live up to your expectations.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Got bored with it.
I struggled on for about two thirds of the book then I just gave up. The plot is totally implausible with a super hero who can make no mistakes encumbered by incompetent FBI... Read more
Published 7 months ago by J. Pilling
Not a very good copy
I didn't know that Andrew Grant was Lee Child's brother - only found out just now because one customer mentioned it. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Bookworm
It's OK, but there are better books out there.
It starts off strong, but loses steam after a few chapters. Action sequences are fun, and the many mysteries kept me reading, but the characters aren't very well fleshed out and... Read more
Published 20 months ago by R. Griffith
Had promise but suffered from some major problems ...
This book had promise but suffered from some major problems. On the plus side it had good pace and good action. Also the main character was likeable. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Emanon
Disappointing
Interested by the title, cover and description on the back I gave this a go, but found it ultimately disappointing. Read more
Published 23 months ago by MarkW
Good, macho fun
Blokes will enjoy the vicarious thrills that this pacy thriller offers. We're thrown straight in to some tough-guy antics that any of the more familiar literary spies would... Read more
Published on 30 Mar 2010 by Russell Smith
Have you written a novel and is Lee Child your brother?
Andrew Grant, sibling to best selling author Lee Child ( real name Jim Grant) has crafted a solid, if somewhat ultimately unsatisfying thriller. Read more
Published on 25 Jan 2010 by Huggermugger
Decent debut, but ending lets it down
As a debut novel, this is a reasonable book. You find yourself quite quickly to be firmly on the protagonist's side. Read more
Published on 6 Jan 2010 by V. Warrington
I really enjoyed this - a great book for the Christmas break
This is another great thriller style book - one of many currently appearing in this genre - but with a twist of its own. It kept me engrossed for several hours as I read it. Read more
Published on 24 Nov 2009 by E. Heckingbottom
A good read.
Once I started reading this I could not put it down. It is a great fast paced book that kept me hooked from the beginning right to the end. Read more
Published on 18 Oct 2009 by Shaya
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