Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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13 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not up to the author's usual standard..., 2 Jul 2009
This is the 3rd novel by crime writer Mark Mills. It is set in Malta during the Second World War at the height of the German bombing campaign against the island. The main character, Max, is the Information Officer of the title. It comes to his attention that a British officer is murdering local women and he decides to investigate quietly, hoping to avoid any further souring of relations between the islanders and the British forces stationed on Malta.
I came to this book with high expectations being a huge fan of his previous works, especially the excellent Whaleboat House. However, I was left feeling that this novel lacked his usual precision with characters and events and the twists and turns of the plot were vague and often extremely unlikely. The atmosphere of an island under constant threat of attack was very well done and the main characters were likeable. But the ending was abrupt, unsatisfactory and left me feeling like a significant chunk of the book had been missed out.
Overall, I would say the book was an enjoyable, undemanding read but very clumsy - not something I would expect from this author and I would recommend reading his other 2 books instead. I will probably still look out for his next work but in spite of and not because of this book.
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7 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Wartime romance meets espionage thriller meets detective story, 3 Jun 2009
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
Malta, 1942. Max Chadwick is an information officer whose job is to keep up the morale of British troops and Maltese islanders under daily bombardment from the Luftwaffe. But when one of his friends reveals his suspicions that a serial killer is preying on Maltese barmaids, Max turns detective to try and prevent a scandal that would divide British forces and the local community.
Mark Mills has clearly done a lot of research into wartime life in Malta and the book is at its best when it evokes the effects of the war on the Maltese landscape and the people living on the island. This alone would have been sufficient material from which to craft an interesting and moving novel about a theatre of war that is not often written about. Instead, the book attempts to be all at once a wartime romance, an espionage thriller and a detective story about a serial killer. The combination of genres leads to a not entirely convincing plot.
At times the narrative structure is also a little confusing. In lengthy exchanges of dialogue, I often found myself losing track of who said what, and flashback passages examining the early life of the killer were occasionally not well signposted as distinct from the main narrative.
Despite my criticisms of the plot and structure, I did find this book a pageturner. The denouement was a bit disappointing, but I enjoyed getting there, and would suggest this as a good summer holiday read.
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9 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dramatic Denouement, 25 April 2009
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
The Amazon `Product Description' is adequate with what it states about the plot of `The Information Officer', but it does not do justice to the complexity and compelling nature of this latest fascinating book by Mark Mills. `The Information Officer' could be designated as a crime thriller, murder mystery, love story, historic novel or war epic - all appellations apply - and apart from the intriguing introduction and dramatic finale all scenarios covered take place in little over a week in Malta in 1942 at the height of Germany's attempt to conquer the island.
Mark Mills crafts his initial chapter with dialogue but without identifying the persons involved, and this cunning approach continues throughout the novel until its superbly constructed conclusion. In between these short first and last events that take place in London, Mills' effective technique is to recount the Malta proceedings in long multi-plot chapters, eloquently exploiting overlapping situations and interwoven relationships of the `information officer' and his associates. There is always something lurking below the surface, and readers need to beware as Mills swaps between incidents and people, including commentary on the unidentified villain, his actions and his objectives.
Twists and turns of the plot are intelligent and internally consistent, and made credible by the characters created by Mark Mills who captures exactly and unerringly the flavour of officers and other ranks, allies and enemies, occupiers and occupied etc. His characters have to deal with conflicting issues of love and evil, life and death, principle and pragmatism, truth and falsehood etc. In making them believable Mills alludes to their frustrations and the folly of war, and with great skill he uses the setting of his fictional chronicle to provide extensive information on the history and geography of Malta and the island's people. `The Information Officer' is a brilliant 5-star story with an arousing start, a compelling narrative, and a dramatic finish - yet it is much more - read it.
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