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Betrayal in Naples
 
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Betrayal in Naples (Paperback)

by Neil Griffiths (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Viking (1 April 2004)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0670914606
  • ISBN-13: 978-0670914609
  • Product Dimensions: 21.2 x 13.4 x 2.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 591,174 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

Neil Griffiths' first novel, Betrayal in Naples has the unsettling disjointed feel of the fever that hits Jim as he arrives in Naples for a weekend break--he is out of his normal place and nothing feels quite real. What follows is a sequence of accidents so arbitrary that they feel like fate.

A taxi driver delivers him to a pensione from which, when his fever breaks, he wanders into the street and meets the lost love of his life. Louisa turns out to be married to a judge who is trying a Camorra family; Jim wanders into his court and meets Giovanna, an unhappy daughter of criminals dissatisfied with her career prospects. Then again, everything that happens to Jim happens because of who he is--a burned-out romantic over-burdened with the desire to help people, to make a difference--and because of where he is--a city old in crime and cynicism and jealousy.

Griffiths writes powerfully about the fact that everything has consequences--his Naples is a mental territory as much as a set of streets, dazzling sunlight and ferociously hot pizza. He also writes well about character--the doomed Jim is a fascinating flawed hero whom we come to know well as his clock ticks down. --Roz Kaveney

The Spectator

'Sharply written, finely paced. A gripping, visceral and pandemonious novel.' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews

12 Reviews
5 star:
 (9)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:
 (2)
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Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best thrillers I have ever read, 9 Mar 2005
By A Customer
This review is from: Betrayal in Naples (Paperback)
This book is simply superb. Interestingly enough, I bought it along with the much-hyped 'Rule of Four' and I was surprised to find that this was the far superior read. It is a literary thriller, beautifully written, in a simple, elegant, thoughtful prose style, and simply impossible to put down. I missed meals and sleep as I turned the pages, desperate to know what happens next. There are all the ingredients of a good thriller here - charismatic characters, a sense of paranoia, a beautiful heroine (and some stunningly erotic sex scenes), a rising climax, but this is also a fine literary achievement and certainly deserves to win a few prizes. I cannot wait to buy Griffiths next novel. Everyone should buy this book.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars holiday reading with a difference, 7 May 2004
By A Customer
I bought this book as my Easter holiday reading - but I've already read it. It's a psychological thriller which is particularly appropriate to that feeling of disconnection you can get on a trip abroad.

The great thing about this novel is that despite the increasingly complex circles of danger and intrigue into which the protagonist is pitched by a chance meeting in Naples, we never lose sight of that ordinary sense of disorientation in a different country and culture.

On another level it's a love story, an erotic drama where the sex drives rather than embellishes the tension of the plot. On another level still, it is a novel of Naples, in which the city itself is the elusive protagonist, one moment sun-drenched seducer, the next shadowy assassin.

A trip abroad can spell release - from restrictions, from consequences. A couple of bad choices, though, and you could be the one in trouble - buying this novel on the other hand would be a good choice.

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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars excellent pace but a little self-indulgent, 10 Aug 2004
By A Customer
I live in Naples and have done so for nigh three years. As someone familiar with life here - it is a constant adrenaline rush and can be very threatening - I immediately recognised the darkness with which this charismatic city and its people is portrayed. This is (for the most part)authentic and well done. However, the central character Jim I found utterly unsympathetic - what an eedgit. His arrogance was matched at times by the author's self-indulgence, when tackling the inner workings of his tortured mind. Excuse me - but would a psychologist really be so daft and naive and unaware of the convuluted way that people's minds work? This aside, "complimenti" to the author: it is a well-written, well-paced first novel. Just one other thing: kidnap in Naples is not something that goes on...Mexico City, yes. Sardinia, yes. But Naples. no. PS love the cover.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply FANTASTIC!!!
This book has surpassed all the boundaries. It is incredibly easy to read as well as the story seems realistic throughtout. Read more
Published 6 months ago by M. NICOLAOU

1.0 out of 5 stars I felt betrayed by its predicability!
I came across the authors second novel 'Saving Caravaggio' a couple of months back and found the book an exciting and entertaining read. I could hardly put it down! Read more
Published 20 months ago by Stephen Waters

5.0 out of 5 stars fantastic - a real suprise
Beautiful written, complex characters, interlaced storylines - you can't ask for more. The title and cover don't necessarily promise what is on offer here. Read more
Published on 13 Jan 2006 by Lucas Bookbinder

3.0 out of 5 stars Nice writing, irritating characters
Very nicely written with some gorgeous turns of phrase, and an authentically dark and menacing feel to the city, spoilt only by the stoopid central character, Jim, who is taken in... Read more
Published on 7 Jan 2006

5.0 out of 5 stars Everyone gets betrayed
Wiuthout giving the plot away, the title is very precisely chosen: everyone gets betrayed in this excellent thriller -- except the reader. Read more
Published on 18 July 2004 by Barton Keyes

5.0 out of 5 stars a great novel about a great city
I thought this was great. I went to Naples last year and apart from travel guides and historical books there's not much set there, at least not in present times. Read more
Published on 9 May 2004 by Daniel Wright

5.0 out of 5 stars A thrilling story brilliantly told
This is a wonderful surprise of a book. It reads like a Graham Greene novel. It has strong characters, a plot that pulls the reader along with a real emotional tug. Read more
Published on 1 May 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars I thought this was great...
I went to Naples last year and apart from travel guides and historical books there's not much set there, at least not in present times. Read more
Published on 27 April 2004 by Daniel Wright

5.0 out of 5 stars holiday reading with a difference
I bought this book as holiday reading - and found it seeping into my psyche almost as much as my surroundings. Read more
Published on 27 April 2004

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