Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very good, 27 Aug 2009
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
You can find your detective thriller setting all over the world these days - recently I have read thrillers set in Italy, Malta, Scotland, the USA (obviously), the Middle East, England and now Spain. From those books, often the setting is merely a device, an attempt to differentiate, but here Robert Wilson creates a vivid picture of Seville and Spain. I had missed out on the Falcon series, so it was a bit of a mixed blessing to read the last of the series first, if you see what I mean.
This is a terrific book, written well enough to satisfy those looking for literary merit, but with a visceral edge to the action that will keep you turning the page. For me a believable plot is paramount, and Wilson doesn't disappoint. If you want to know the premise of the story, you can read the Amazon "blurb" but suffice to say, there are plotlines involving Russian gansgsters, terrorists and corruption all running concurrently, all handled and drawn together superbly by the end.
The only problem for me was that I had missed out on the earlier books, as I feel that I missed some of the elements of characterisation as a result - that is not a fault of the book, however, more a personal thing. I can thoroughly recommend this to lovers of detective fiction, and I will certainly be seeking out the previous books in the series.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A thriller of real depth and style, 5 April 2009
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
First, I should say that this is a really top-class police thriller. Robert Wilson is in the first rank of proper writers, who happen to write in that genre.
Secondly, I have read the other three Javier Falcon novels as they were released, and would think that any reader would get far more enjoyment from this, the final novel, if they have a full knowledge of its predecessors.
The plot is very complex, but such is the clarity of Wilson's thinking and prose, you never feel lost or confused. The conclusion of the various threads of plot is perhaps a little too neat, and the attempt to increase the pace with ever more terse writing is obvious.
The fact that you know that this is the last in the series of Falcon novels, leads to a certain inevitability in the finale, but, as usual, the characterisation is good, the feel of Seville and Andalucia is skillfully conveyed, and the excitement builds relentlessly.
Major issues of government corruption, the fallout from the collapse of the Soviet Union, and Islamic terrorism are dealt with in a bleak statement of what is probably reality. Wilson's view of the 21st century is not a happy one.
Falcon would, of course, never be allowed to be so personally involved, or to have so much freedom to act recklessly, but that is a convention of the genre.
A great read with very serious undertones.
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18 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The final book in the quartet - at last!, 29 Mar 2009
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
Fans of Robert Wilson's Javier Falcon series have been waiting for this book for ages - the book that brings the series together, and they will not be disappointed! However, for those who have not read any other books in the series, this may appear a little disjointed and hard to follow.
Set approximately 3 months after the previous book in the series, this one begins with a car crash outside Seville, and it soon becomes evident that there are connections with the Russian Mafia - and with the ongoing cases relating to the Seville bombing and Javier's ex-wife's murder, all of which occured in the previous book.
Complications increase when his Moroccan friend arrives in Madrid -wanting to see him urgently - and grow further with the abduction of a child.
The culmination is exciting and explosive - everything that lovers of the series would want.
For those new to Robert Wilson's work - and particularly to the Javier Falcon quartet, I recommend that you begin with Blind Man of Seville, which will introduce you to the key characters and so to the series!
Enjoy - a series well worth reading!
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