- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: Flame; New edition edition (6 Jan 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0340822007
- ISBN-13: 978-0340822005
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 3,911,939 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
'This novel of conspiracy and political intrigue creates a heady atmosphere reminiscent of Paul Auster...Smolen's spare style plays off nicely against the plot, and elaborate tapestry of twists and contradictions. Smolens (Cold) balances political commentary, excitement and heartbreak nicely, moving his career forward with sure-footed style.' -- Publishers Weekly 20020901 'A first rate political thriller' -- Boston Sunday Globe 20030130 Smolens's superior thriller is utterly absorbing -- The Times - The Invisible World 20030208 '"The Invisible World" enriches us, and subtly provokes us, while providing chills and thrills.' -- Boston Sunday Globe 20030130 'A perfecty-paced thriller that gently pulls you in.' -- Sunday Mirrior (on The Invisible World) 20021207 'A poignant and literate thriller' -- Guardian - on The Invisible World 20030126 'Achingly compelling' -- Booklist (on The Invisible World) 20021120 'Beautifully written and absorbing' -- Sunday Telegraph - Invisible World 20021210 'Smolens is excellent at physical detail, such as the crunch of the sand left in freshly cooked clams' -- Guardian - The Invisible World 20030126 "An enthralling cat and mouse adventure." -- FHM on Cold 20030126 'Smolens creates a marvellous atmosphere' -- Sunday Telegraph on Cold 20030126 'A mesmerising danse macabre' -- The Sunday Express on Cold 20030126 'COLD is a finely crafted, wild yarn set in the great north. John Smolens gives us a suspenseful tale in a style somewhere between Jack London and Raymond Chandler. A fine read' -- Jim Harrison, author of Legends of the Fall on Col 20030126 'A intriguing and exquisitely written conspiracy thriller' -- Irish Independent - Invisible World 20030214
Boston Sunday Globe
'A first rate political thriller'
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Hardcover
The blurb on the back of this book is very misleading. The Invisible World, it says, is where Sam glimpses his dead sister and recently deceased mother. This suggests a supernatural element, no? No. This is a political thriller; Sam is estranged from his father and has written a book about how he believes his father was actually the one who shot JFK. But the book is discredited. When Sam's mother dies, his father takes away her ashes, and Sam sets out to find his father, and the ashes.
It's a bit overlong, has some rather unnecessary love interest, and gets rather implausible, but for much of the time it keeps you reading. Had I known it was a bog-standard political thriller I wouldn't have bothered with it; once started, I stuck with it to its rather unlikely end. It passed the time while on holiday, but I wouldn't get too excited if you're after a supernatural - or even psychological - thriller.
It's a bit overlong, has some rather unnecessary love interest, and gets rather implausible, but for much of the time it keeps you reading. Had I known it was a bog-standard political thriller I wouldn't have bothered with it; once started, I stuck with it to its rather unlikely end. It passed the time while on holiday, but I wouldn't get too excited if you're after a supernatural - or even psychological - thriller.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4 reviews
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Review of Invisible World A Novel by John Smolens
3 May 2003
Format:Hardcover
Samuel Xavier Adams, the first-person narrator of The Invisible World, A Novel, by John Smolens, is convinced that his own father shot President Kennedy from the grassy knoll and writes a book with his conclusions, proving means, motive, and opportunity. A cover-up campaign raises doubts about his points, and his book soon is considered just another Kennedy assassination conspiracy theory. The novel opens years later with the death of Sam's mother. She is dying in the hospital; he is visiting with her, and she is lucid; he goes to the cafeteria; twenty minutes later he returns to find her slack-jawed stupefied, all memory and awareness wiped out; and she dies thus. Petra Mousakis, a reporter who has been having talks with Sam's mother because she believes Sam's conspiracy theory, says she saw a man enter his mother's hospital room and thinks it was his father. The novel tells the story of Sam's search for his father, to learn if and why he slipped a drug to his wife, Sam's mother, to wipe out her memory.
It's an enjoyable and fascinating read. Sam's colleague Petra is by turns colleague, lover, and soul mate, in a relationship with many twists and turns, and functions novelisticly as Sam's sounding board confidant. As regards his past years, so does his heroin addicted sister Abigail. In the hunt for his father, Sam encounters a sleazy politician, a Cuban freedom fighter turned drug dealer, and other characters with a stake in his quest. It's a dangerous quest, with murders, till at the climax father and son confront each other.
This novel will resonate with anyone who grew up without a father - whether he was not present because dead, because away, because of alcoholism, because of workaholism, or whatever. In Sam's case, his and Abigail's father was a government agent for an unnamed intelligence agency and was away from home for years at a time on secret assignments. Sam's resentment simmers under his need to find and confront his father.
This novel is also a paean to the city of Boston and nearby Salem and to sailing, with much loving detail about Boston / Salem landmarks and history and about sailing minutiae.
I was gripped by the plot, I cared about the characters, and I enjoyed the writing. So I highly recommend this novel.
[name]
A not-so-funny Adams Family - chilling and compelling stuff
9 Jan 2010
Format:Hardcover
I've been reading John Smolens books for several years now and haven't found a bad one yet. Whether his stories are set in northern Michigan (COLD and FIRE POINT) or Boston, his sense of place and setting is always dead-on, and makes you feel like you're right there. In THE INVISIBLE WORLD you get to know the seedy bars in Boston, as well as the upscale places, places like Sevens and the Cask'n'Flagon, which sits in the shadow of Fenway and the Green Monster. The seamier side of Boston is glimpsed too, as protagonist Sam Adams tries vainly, at various times, to rescue his sister Abigail from a life of drugs and prostitution. The Adams family ... Hey, I just realized that this so very dysfunctional family is "The Adams Family"! Did you do that on purpose, John? Wasn't it enought that our hero - or anti-hero - was named Samuel Adams (with nods to both the writer and the designer beer) and his near-invisible father with his shadowy ties to government and espionage since WWII is named John (well, "Jack") Adams? Then, there's the daughter, Abigail Adams. Couldn't an English major have fun with this book just analyzing the possible significance of the names chosen for this family and probably other characters too?
But I don't mean to make light of this book, or any of Smolens' books. BEcause make no mistake, this guy is a master at creating believable and very human characters, as well as at setting the scene and creating a very firm sense of place. His pacing is skillful and exact. He keeps you turning the pages, wondering what the hell is gonna happen next. In fact his books represent the very best of literary suspense/thriller/mystery genre. And the emphasis here is on "literary." His writing is on a par with, if not above, the work of great suspense writers like James Lee Burke, Lawrence Block or the late Tony Hillerman. And several cuts above the trash for the masses that John Grisham puts out (although I must confess that while I simply can't read Grisham, his books do make good films).
The story here, another twist on the JFK assassination theories, has obviously been painstakingly researched, and thus made chillingly believable. The skulduggery, political machinations, bloodshed and murder all seem equally and eminently real.
This guy's books are just plain good. They must be, because I don't generally read many mysteries or suspense-thrillers, but Smolens snags me every time. Someone needs to "wake the town and tell the people" about this writer. He deserves a much wider audience. Read John Smolens, please. You'll be glad you did. - Tim Bazzett, author of SOLDIER BOY: AT PLAY IN THE ASA
But I don't mean to make light of this book, or any of Smolens' books. BEcause make no mistake, this guy is a master at creating believable and very human characters, as well as at setting the scene and creating a very firm sense of place. His pacing is skillful and exact. He keeps you turning the pages, wondering what the hell is gonna happen next. In fact his books represent the very best of literary suspense/thriller/mystery genre. And the emphasis here is on "literary." His writing is on a par with, if not above, the work of great suspense writers like James Lee Burke, Lawrence Block or the late Tony Hillerman. And several cuts above the trash for the masses that John Grisham puts out (although I must confess that while I simply can't read Grisham, his books do make good films).
The story here, another twist on the JFK assassination theories, has obviously been painstakingly researched, and thus made chillingly believable. The skulduggery, political machinations, bloodshed and murder all seem equally and eminently real.
This guy's books are just plain good. They must be, because I don't generally read many mysteries or suspense-thrillers, but Smolens snags me every time. Someone needs to "wake the town and tell the people" about this writer. He deserves a much wider audience. Read John Smolens, please. You'll be glad you did. - Tim Bazzett, author of SOLDIER BOY: AT PLAY IN THE ASA
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
fast paced book, throughally entertaining
13 Jan 2003
Format:Hardcover
Sam Adams, a journalist, has never really known his father. He has figured out through the past that his father was a fervent believer in democracy and has been a employ for the CIA, mob, etc. working on jobs he believed the government required him to do. Being a patriotic servent his father's presence was never perminant in his home. Looking upon the events of the past he suspects that his father may have been the assasin of J.F.Kennedy. He publishes a book connecting his father to the event. As a result, many other try to find the truth behind Sam's theory, and are after Sam's father. As the result, the search of Sam's father heightens. When Sam's mother mysteriously passes away and Sam realizes that his father has done it to hush her, for she has been questioned by those in search of Sam's father. Sam is then determined to find his father. Smolens will guide you through a wide range of emotions rare to experience form a single novel.
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