- Hardcover: 360 pages
- Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH); 1 edition (13 Nov 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0151012296
- ISBN-13: 978-0151012299
- Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 16.3 x 3.8 cm
Pictures - a novel
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Product Description
Review
Never less than fascinating… and always ringing true.' Publishers' Weekly
A vigorous, lively plot.' Kirkus Reviews --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
A vigorous, lively plot.' Kirkus Reviews --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
Review
'Never less than fascinating... and always ringing true.' Publishers' Weekly 'A vigorous, lively plot.' Kirkus Reviews
--This text refers to an alternate
Hardcover
edition.
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11 reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Not Daley At His Best
7 May 2008
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I've read and enjoyed most if not all of the authors novels. Typically he writes very realistically. This book was ,too over the top. The hero, former NYPD Captain Vincent Conte, had been on a fast track to move up in the department. Unfortunately, on the way, he discovered his wife was having an affair with a Deputy Chief. He confronted the Chief with his fists and was forced to resign. He then began working for a private investigation company. An assignment came up from a small duchy in the Alps near France, Monaco and Italy. Scandal and murders ensued involving The Duke,His Daughter,His son-law, a photographer, a model and a corrupt Italian detective. Conte ends up falling in love with the model. He goes past his assignment as he tries to come to the bottom of things. All in all, the plot is interesting and fast moving. My problems with this read are that I never particularly liked the character of the hero cop Conte. The plot lost reality as he operated in the tiny duchy as though he was back in NYC. Imagine this. He was trying to escape at the top of a mountain peak with snow, cold and wind. He was just wearing a business suit. He got caught in an avalanche. Naturally in this book he survived. I think the author is better at straight forward crime novels with a bit less romance.
Listless
2 Nov 2011
Format:Paperback
I can't recall what prompted me to buy Daley's "Pictures", but as a crime thriller it was strangely listless and I think the underlying reason was Daley's need to invent a European country and continually glance at it sideways as if to check it was still there.
It seemed that creative geographic energy stole from plotting and character development, because nothing quite rang true - most of the motivations were cartoonist at best, and not even stereotypical bad at worst.
In particular, Augustin II, a heavy weight protagonist and hereditary ruler of the invented Grand Duchy, seems contradictorily too simplistic and yet way smart to dominate events in the way that Daley manoeuvres.
But it is the world weary somewhat hero, Vince Conte who I found particularly annoying. Having side swiped his police career he's lost in the world until he spies the pretty damsel in distress. Not even the large dose of introspection and suspicion of his own behaviour - which I usually like in novels - covers up the cracks in Conte's overly cynical viewpoint.
So, not even a "by the numbers" book. Daley has written over two dozen novels, mostly fiction (and a handful with co-authors) so I'm thinking this dud is a one off. I'll probably read another of his books just to check, but that's only if it comes to me, after "Pictures" I am not going to actively search for it.
It seemed that creative geographic energy stole from plotting and character development, because nothing quite rang true - most of the motivations were cartoonist at best, and not even stereotypical bad at worst.
In particular, Augustin II, a heavy weight protagonist and hereditary ruler of the invented Grand Duchy, seems contradictorily too simplistic and yet way smart to dominate events in the way that Daley manoeuvres.
But it is the world weary somewhat hero, Vince Conte who I found particularly annoying. Having side swiped his police career he's lost in the world until he spies the pretty damsel in distress. Not even the large dose of introspection and suspicion of his own behaviour - which I usually like in novels - covers up the cracks in Conte's overly cynical viewpoint.
So, not even a "by the numbers" book. Daley has written over two dozen novels, mostly fiction (and a handful with co-authors) so I'm thinking this dud is a one off. I'll probably read another of his books just to check, but that's only if it comes to me, after "Pictures" I am not going to actively search for it.
Embarrassingly bad
5 Aug 2009
Format:Paperback
After spending 30 minutes erasing all the penciled corrections and question marks from my copy of Pictures, I decided that anyone who's considering buying this book deserves at least one warning.
Inane remarks, boring repetitions, unappealing characters, poor scenic descriptions, and annoying errors abound. (When I drove from Monte Carlo to the Italian border, I went east; my atlas agrees. In Pictures, the Riviera road from Monaco to Italy goes west. And that's only one example.) The "romance" is appalling. The dialog would be laughable if it weren't so irritating.
I got the impression that Daley himself was bored to tears with this story and only wanted to get it over with. His previous books must be much better, but Pictures doesn't inspire me to try them.
Inane remarks, boring repetitions, unappealing characters, poor scenic descriptions, and annoying errors abound. (When I drove from Monte Carlo to the Italian border, I went east; my atlas agrees. In Pictures, the Riviera road from Monaco to Italy goes west. And that's only one example.) The "romance" is appalling. The dialog would be laughable if it weren't so irritating.
I got the impression that Daley himself was bored to tears with this story and only wanted to get it over with. His previous books must be much better, but Pictures doesn't inspire me to try them.
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