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Sight Unseen
 
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Sight Unseen (Hardcover)

by Robert Goddard (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 369 pages
  • Publisher: Bantam Press; First Edition, 1st Printing edition (2 May 2005)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 059305363X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0593053638
  • Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 16.2 x 3.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 369,032 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #35 in  Books > Crime, Thrillers & Mystery > Authors, A-Z > G > Goddard, Robert

Product Description

Review
" Compelling... . Satisfying, intelligent." -- "Publishers Weekly"

Product Description
One summer's day in 1981 a two-year-old girl, Tamsin Hall, was abducted during a picnic at the famous prehistoric site of Avebury in Wiltshire. Her seven-year-old sister Miranda was knocked down and killed by the abductor's van. The girls were in the care of their nanny, Sally Wilkinson. One of the witnesses to this tragic event was David Umber, a Ph.D student who was waiting at the village pub to keep an appointment with a man called Griffith who claimed he could help Umber with his researches into the letters of 'Junius', the pseudonymous eighteenth century polemicist who was his Ph.D subject. But Griffin failed to show up, and Umber never heard from him again. Tamsin Hall was never seen again either. The Hall family fell apart under the strain. Sally Wilkinson wound up living with Umber, whom she had met at the inquiry. But she never recovered from the incident, suffered increasingly from depression, and eventually committed suicide. In the spring of 2004 retired Chief Inspector George Sharp receives a letter signed 'Junius' reproaching him for botching the 1981 investigation. Sharp confronts Umber, whose explanation for being at the scene of the tragedy has always seemed dubious. Obliged to accept Umber's denial of authorship of the letter, he nonetheless forces him to join in a search for the real culprit - and hence the long concealed truth about what happened 23 years previously. It is a quest that both will later regret having embarked upon. Too late they come to understand that some mysteries are better left unsolved.

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Customer Reviews

21 Reviews
5 star:
 (11)
4 star:
 (6)
3 star:
 (3)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (21 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable read, 22 May 2005
By Jan Erik Frantsvåg "janeriks" (Tromsø, Norway) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Sight Unseen (Paperback)
Some 20 years after he witnessed the abduction of a child, David Umber is drawn into re-investigating the abduction and the killing it resulted in by a retired police detective, George Sharp who was one of the original investigators. George has never been quite happy with the official conclusions.

As David and George strive to make sense of the few facts they have, it dawns on them that not everyone is happy with their re-opening of the case. Whether this is due to the pains of re-opening healed and healing wounds, or has more sinister backgrounds, is not clear to us until the very end.

The story twists and turns, and leaves us continuously ponder the major question: Why was the child abducted? Cleverly, he hides this from our view until the last few pages.

Robert Goddard is a rather new acquaintance for me, but has a long career as a writer behind him. This new book is well written with believable characters and a story that makes sense - eventually. It is obviously the product of a seasoned author. I enjoyed it very much, and will recommend it. The mystery makes it a typical crime, but it is more thriller-like than the classical English crime novel. A typical page-turner, which was difficult to lay down.

Enjoy the read!

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Powerful, pacy but occasionally preposterous, 2 Feb 2006
By D J Bennett (Hong Kong) - See all my reviews
I was switched on to Goddard after a chance recommendation from a fellow crime aficionado queuing in a Sutton Coldfield bookstore and I haven't been disappointed. Since then, I've read "Closed Circle", "Set in Stone" and "Play to the End" which remains my favourite. Having visited Avebury this summer, I couldn't resist his latest offering and, as with all the other titles I've read thus far, "Sight Unseen" made for riveting reading. With his deft observations, Goddard always manages to place you squarely in the locations he writes about - a talent which sets him apart from other writers - and the plot twists come thick and fast which impels you to read just one more chapter than you meant to before bedtime. However, sometimes Goddard's historical knowledge gets the better of the narrative giving rise to occasionally unconvincing or overblown sequences. Certain exchanges between David Umber, Claire and Alice made me laugh out loud because they were so overly earnest and melodramatic and I sometimes wondered whether the Junius connection, while fascinating, actually lent anything to the story or whether it was just an excuse for Goddard to flex his history-fed muscles. Also, read too many of Goddard's novels and you'll find the same stock characters cropping up to the extent that they could be interchangeable. Dexter, Rendell and P.D.James are, in my view, better writers in this regard. The mounting pressure on David Umber was particularly well drawn even if one's credulity was stretched a little at the main protagonist's every step being second-guessed. Still, there is never a dull moment with Goddard and I look forward to the day he gives my own locale the Goddard treatment!
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A superb and highly intelligent read., 22 Aug 2005
Mr Goddard has once again written a completely captivating book, the style of which I have never yet found from any other author. His way with words and sentences create maximum atmosphere, while holding the readers total attention. I literally could not put this book down, and was devastated when I had come to the end! I am waiting impatiently for his next book - and the next, and the next!! This man is highly intelligent, researches without fault, and is one of todays greatest writers.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Yet!
I must have read about 7 Goddards and this is my favourite so far. I was enjoying it so much that although I was longing to get to the end to find out what happened I kept... Read more
Published 17 days ago by Natasha Catmur

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb thriller and very accurate
I used to live in Marlborough and I know the surrounding areas very well. I also know Jersey, and I guess that this made reading Sight Unseen even more exciting, but it's a great... Read more
Published 5 months ago by J. H. Aslett

4.0 out of 5 stars A real page turner
I really enjoyed this book, it was very hard to put down and didn't take long to read. I think his use of very short passages helps, you just read another bit, then think you'll... Read more
Published 12 months ago by crime reader

4.0 out of 5 stars Another great story from this author
This is the second book I have read from this Author - the first been "Past Caring - which was brilliant, this book was almost as good. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Newengland

4.0 out of 5 stars Loved it!
I think the Junius part of the story was unnessesary but as it was the first mystery book that I have ever read, I didn't mind too much. Read more
Published 21 months ago by S. M. Bourne

5.0 out of 5 stars Absorbing from start to finish
I read this after my dad recommended it to me and without question from the start it was brilliant.

Initially after read the back of the book i didnt believe it would... Read more
Published on 18 Oct 2006 by Mr. Robert J. Murcott

3.0 out of 5 stars august 2006 bookgroup read
First novel i have read of Robert Goodard.

Enjoyed the read but i think the book could have been written without the history of Junius. Read more
Published on 31 Aug 2006 by Mary Mary

4.0 out of 5 stars Well thought out and well written
This is the first Goddard novel I've read and I was really impressed. It kept my interest from front to back and managed to have a satisfying and plausible finish that tied... Read more
Published on 21 Aug 2006 by Mr. S. Crook

4.0 out of 5 stars Sight Unseen
“Sight Unseen” is perfect Robert Goddard fodder and any fans of his books will no doubt lap this novel up in a couple of sittings. Read more
Published on 6 Mar 2006 by Rich Milligan

5.0 out of 5 stars Perhaps his best
This may very well be the best Robert Goddars novel to date and I think I`ve read them all.
Goddard is one of the the best suspense novelist and together with De Mille one of... Read more
Published on 24 Dec 2005 by Jorge A. Ferreira Pinto

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