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Amazon.co.uk Review
In a Croatian village near Vukovar, a body is unearthed in a field – that of an arms dealer. Nearly twenty years earlier, a betrayal had taken place, involving the dead man: the besieged villagers had been desperately waiting for an arms shipment that never arrived -- arms that would have given them a chance against the Serbs moving against them. But there was no delivery, and the village fell. The philosophy of the villagers is that revenge is a dish best served cold, and now knowing the identity of the person who betrayed them, they draw plans for payback. In England, arms dealer Harvey Gillott is about to be drawn into a dangerous situation – and he will find that the past has a very long reach.
This is the intriguing premise of The Dealer and the Dead, and it will prompt the customary noises of admiration for its author, Gerald Seymour. Enthusiasts often make extravagant claims for their favourite authors, but discerning thriller readers can safely say that the best practitioner currently working in the UK is the veteran Seymour. He is, quite simply, the most intelligent and accomplished in the current field, and even his misfires (of which there aren’t many) are more interesting than most of the competition. Here, we have a typically compromised Seymour anti-hero, a masterfully organised globe-spanning narrative and a mass of highly persuasive detail. When so many novelists are content with shop-worn plots, Seymour always manages to create fresh and original protagonists, and weaves for them situations that are unlike anything he (or his peers) has come up with before. The Dealer and the Dead is Seymour firing on all cylinders, and his rivals need, once again, to look to their laurels. --Barry Forshaw --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Review
Seymour [is] incapable of creating a two-dimensional character . . . The ending is brilliantly orchestrated. (The Times 20100808)
'Crisp, taut and contemporary, by a stylish writer.' (Rachel Redford, the Observer 20100808)
'Discerning thriller readers can safely say that the best practitioner currently working in the UK is the veteran Seymour. He is, quite simply, the most intelligent and accomplished in the current field . . . Here, we have a typically compromised Seymour anti-hero, a masterfully organised globe-spanning narrative and a mass of highly persuasive detail. The Dealer and the Dead is Seymour firing on all cylinders, and his rivals need, once again, to look to their laurels. (Barry Forshaw 20100824)
'With Seymour, not only do you get a cracking story deftly gold, but you also feel you are learning something.' (Birmingham Press 20100824)
'[Seymour's latest story] doesn't disappoint' (Oxford Mail 20100824)
'The final scenes are brilliantly orchestrated by Seymour, the sustained tension becoming almost unbearable . . . Without doubt, The Dealer and the Dead is one of the finest thrillers to be published so far this year.' (Yorkshire Evening Post 20100824)
'[Seymour's] meticulous research shines through in his latest thriller.' (Oxford Times )
'riveting stuff' (Manly Daily )
'In a day when shop-worn plots in the disguise of well-written books are doing the rounds, The Dealer and the Dead comes as a refreshing, breathtaking story that keeps you gripped right till the very end. (Indian Express )
The Dealer and the Dead displays his usual ability to concoct a tightly controlled plot that is cleverly engineered . . . steadily crafted into a compelling tale . . . Another first-class thriller from the always reliable Seymour. (Canberra Times )
'A tense thriller.' (Choice )
'In a class of his own' (The Times on THE WAITING TIME )
'A dense, intensely satisfying thriller from one of the modern masters of the craft, Seymour's latest novel will remind the world just how phenomenally accomplished a thriller writer he is.' (Daily Mail on THE COLLABORATOR )
'Crisp, taut and contemporary, by a stylish writer.' (Rachel Redford, the Observer 20100808)
'Discerning thriller readers can safely say that the best practitioner currently working in the UK is the veteran Seymour. He is, quite simply, the most intelligent and accomplished in the current field . . . Here, we have a typically compromised Seymour anti-hero, a masterfully organised globe-spanning narrative and a mass of highly persuasive detail. The Dealer and the Dead is Seymour firing on all cylinders, and his rivals need, once again, to look to their laurels. (Barry Forshaw 20100824)
'With Seymour, not only do you get a cracking story deftly gold, but you also feel you are learning something.' (Birmingham Press 20100824)
'[Seymour's latest story] doesn't disappoint' (Oxford Mail 20100824)
'The final scenes are brilliantly orchestrated by Seymour, the sustained tension becoming almost unbearable . . . Without doubt, The Dealer and the Dead is one of the finest thrillers to be published so far this year.' (Yorkshire Evening Post 20100824)
'[Seymour's] meticulous research shines through in his latest thriller.' (Oxford Times )
'riveting stuff' (Manly Daily )
'In a day when shop-worn plots in the disguise of well-written books are doing the rounds, The Dealer and the Dead comes as a refreshing, breathtaking story that keeps you gripped right till the very end. (Indian Express )
The Dealer and the Dead displays his usual ability to concoct a tightly controlled plot that is cleverly engineered . . . steadily crafted into a compelling tale . . . Another first-class thriller from the always reliable Seymour. (Canberra Times )
'A tense thriller.' (Choice )
'In a class of his own' (The Times on THE WAITING TIME )
'A dense, intensely satisfying thriller from one of the modern masters of the craft, Seymour's latest novel will remind the world just how phenomenally accomplished a thriller writer he is.' (Daily Mail on THE COLLABORATOR )
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
36 of 36 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Harvey Gillot - that's a name you're going to see mentioned more than a few times in The Dealer and The Dead. There are a number of strands that open up in the book following the aftermath of the war in a little village in Croatia and the work of investigators trying to uncover the crimes and atrocities committed there, but also ones that follow the activity of a UK police officer in Serious Crime Directorate, an investigator for Revenue and Customs, as well as the background of a contract killer, and the work of a peace campaigner. And then there's Harvey Gillot, an arms dealer, the figure whose name comes up in each segment and connects them all together.
The set-up is deftly handled if a little drawn-out. There are certainly quite a few threads to interweave, present day and historical, with quite a number of characters, and the author does well from keep them from getting too complicated, but it's at the cost of concision. It takes rather a long time to establish what is in reality a simple situation - a small village in Croatia has put out a contract on Harvey Gillot, an international arms dealer who let them down - no, make that betrayed them - eighteen years ago by failing to deliver an arms consignment that they had paid for and which they needed to defend their village.
Clearly, considering the nature of the characters and the subject matter, The Dealer and The Dead is not light reading. The opening in particular is dark and serious - almost too intense and bleak in its depiction of war crimes, grim discoveries of unmarked mass graves, the contemplation of suicide by survivors - and then there's the activity of a hit-man and an arms dealer who don't really have a lot of time for anything like a conscience. Even those on the side of law and order have their flaws and prejudices.
The pay-off for that much detail and the serious tone in which it is presented would need to be good, and fortunately, Gerald Seymour more than delivers. Again, there's no great complexity to what happens - the subsequent cat-and-mouse situation that develops between the hit-man and the target is also meticulously detailed and elaborated at length, but the devil - the moral and ethical questions that the subject raises - is in the detail and it adds tremendously to the building tension, the author in the process still keeping tabs on what is going on at the same time in the small village in Croatia, keeping in mind the rationale and the deep emotions that lie behind the planned hit.
With that established, the novel is indeed able to lighten up in the latter half with some splashes of dark humour that are well measured and sit well with the characterisation. I daresay the novel could have been tightened up with more rigorous editing to allow it to get to the point earlier - it doesn't really take off until a good 150 pages in - but the build-up proves to be essential to establishing a situation and a mood that would otherwise probably have been lost or been less effective, leading as it does towards a magnificent showdown finale.
The set-up is deftly handled if a little drawn-out. There are certainly quite a few threads to interweave, present day and historical, with quite a number of characters, and the author does well from keep them from getting too complicated, but it's at the cost of concision. It takes rather a long time to establish what is in reality a simple situation - a small village in Croatia has put out a contract on Harvey Gillot, an international arms dealer who let them down - no, make that betrayed them - eighteen years ago by failing to deliver an arms consignment that they had paid for and which they needed to defend their village.
Clearly, considering the nature of the characters and the subject matter, The Dealer and The Dead is not light reading. The opening in particular is dark and serious - almost too intense and bleak in its depiction of war crimes, grim discoveries of unmarked mass graves, the contemplation of suicide by survivors - and then there's the activity of a hit-man and an arms dealer who don't really have a lot of time for anything like a conscience. Even those on the side of law and order have their flaws and prejudices.
The pay-off for that much detail and the serious tone in which it is presented would need to be good, and fortunately, Gerald Seymour more than delivers. Again, there's no great complexity to what happens - the subsequent cat-and-mouse situation that develops between the hit-man and the target is also meticulously detailed and elaborated at length, but the devil - the moral and ethical questions that the subject raises - is in the detail and it adds tremendously to the building tension, the author in the process still keeping tabs on what is going on at the same time in the small village in Croatia, keeping in mind the rationale and the deep emotions that lie behind the planned hit.
With that established, the novel is indeed able to lighten up in the latter half with some splashes of dark humour that are well measured and sit well with the characterisation. I daresay the novel could have been tightened up with more rigorous editing to allow it to get to the point earlier - it doesn't really take off until a good 150 pages in - but the build-up proves to be essential to establishing a situation and a mood that would otherwise probably have been lost or been less effective, leading as it does towards a magnificent showdown finale.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This, the latest of Seymour's marvellous creations is a slight disappointment. I feel the Maestro is losing his steam. Meticulously researched as always, realistic characters, nevertheless the scenario lacks something - maybe because it stretches credulity - or maybe it is because I lack the knowledge to convince me that such an unlikely band would assemble as they did, in a ruined Balkan village.
Yet the lead-up to the final denouement, the scenes in England promised much...
This is probably the one Seymour book I would not read again and again. And I do hope he has another books in him.
Yet the lead-up to the final denouement, the scenes in England promised much...
This is probably the one Seymour book I would not read again and again. And I do hope he has another books in him.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Gerald Seymour has done it again. Is there another thriller writer that can produce a novel each year that is as consistently good as those written by this author?
His style never changes,a complex cast of well drawn characters that are only given dialogue when absolutely nescessary, a narrative that is rich and detailed,locations that are brought vividly to life and,as always with Seymour,the moral ambiguity of the characters' situation.
Harvey Gillott, arms trader, living a secluded life on the isle of Portland, Dorset, finds that a deal he welched on,to provide arms to a village defending a Serbian onslaught in 1991, catches up with him when his name is revealed after a long buried body is ploughed up on a field near the village.The village doesn't forgive and forget. A contract is placed on Gillott that leads to a London hitman being given the job of tracking and killing Gillott.
This is Seymour's 27th novel and there are one or two echoes of previous stories, notably 'The Heart of Danger' and 'A line in the Sand'.But this does not deflect from the originality of the story. What makes his books work so well is the detail he brings to the many complex situations his characters occupy.
Last year Seymour wrote a novel about the Cammora clans in Naples.Within a year, this 458 page book hits the shelves.
Seymour is the best in the business and has been for some time.
His style never changes,a complex cast of well drawn characters that are only given dialogue when absolutely nescessary, a narrative that is rich and detailed,locations that are brought vividly to life and,as always with Seymour,the moral ambiguity of the characters' situation.
Harvey Gillott, arms trader, living a secluded life on the isle of Portland, Dorset, finds that a deal he welched on,to provide arms to a village defending a Serbian onslaught in 1991, catches up with him when his name is revealed after a long buried body is ploughed up on a field near the village.The village doesn't forgive and forget. A contract is placed on Gillott that leads to a London hitman being given the job of tracking and killing Gillott.
This is Seymour's 27th novel and there are one or two echoes of previous stories, notably 'The Heart of Danger' and 'A line in the Sand'.But this does not deflect from the originality of the story. What makes his books work so well is the detail he brings to the many complex situations his characters occupy.
Last year Seymour wrote a novel about the Cammora clans in Naples.Within a year, this 458 page book hits the shelves.
Seymour is the best in the business and has been for some time.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Seymour - No more.
Very disappointed. Interesting but weak storyline with the poorest ending of a book ever. There was more padding than actual storyline. Read more
Published 6 days ago by FranDeMan
Good but not great.
I enjoyed this but it did not reallly grab me. I normally love Seymour but I found this hard going in places. Would still recommend but not a get right now.
Published 22 days ago by Mr. G. Harrison
Encouragement please...
I need some encouragement not to ditch this book...
I am really struggling through the early pages and am only plodding on bcause so many people have given it five stars! Read more
I am really struggling through the early pages and am only plodding on bcause so many people have given it five stars! Read more
Published 2 months ago by Mel Lacey
The Dealer and the Dead
Having only recently been introduced to Gerald Seymour, this particular novel became very boring with its backwards and forwards from the past to the present and at times one was... Read more
Published 6 months ago by G. F. Kershaw
Wonderful
This is Gerald Seymour at his best. It's hard to put it down. The characters spring to life and each page is turned in anticipation of what's to come next. Just superb
Published 8 months ago by Jimser10
2/3rds
Not bad, I'm a big fan of the Author and enjoyed the first 2/3rds of the book, but for some reason the lead up to the final showdown was a little laboured. Read more
Published 9 months ago by DJT
Tedious
I chose to listen to the audio version but the first five hours covered the same ground repeatedly and so I lost interest and gave up.
Published 9 months ago by Mike
a very wise author
Seymour's books always make you think. I read many books, and pass most of them on to family members, charity shops etc. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Aberter
Back to form
This is an excellent read and one of the best of his books.I have read just about all of Gerald Seymours' books and this right up there. Read more
Published 10 months ago by J. Forster
Loses its way towards the end
I am a big Gerald Seymour fan. If you are then here you'll recognise the usual plot template with the usual character types following the usual route: bringing the various moving... Read more
Published 10 months ago by JimmyBob
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