TJB

Absorbing, 11 Jan 2013

I've never played mah jong before but decided to give this a try, its a very fun and absorbing game that anyone who enjoys board games and puzzles will really enjoy. Take care not to get addicted!

Annoying and yet readable, 12 Feb 2012

Peter James obviously has a talent for writing page turners, and this is certainly one. There were things about it that annoyed me: the Americanisms (what English person describes people as "young punks" for example? - and do we have "twinkie bars" here?); the contrived plot; the rushed ending; the shallow characterisations; the use of a medium as a Deus Ex Machina to work things out at the end..what about a bit of good old fashioned detective work? One gets the impression that Peter James has tried to create the Inspector Morse of Sussex, but he hasn't quite managed it..there's just enough here to make me want to read the next one though.

Disappointing - in fact, I hated it, 12 Feb 2012

Having read the book probably thirty times, and watched the Alec Guinness TV version probably as many, it was probably going to be hard for me to like this version, altered almost beyond recognition from the original story, and to be honest, altered to such a degree that it has become disjointed and ceases to make sense. Some features of the plot have obviously been changed in order to condense the story, but other changes seem entirely pointless. Peter Guillam the womaniser becomes Peter Guillam the homosexual. Why? And why did he have to ditch his boyfriend? It made no sense. And the climax, with that music, was farcical.

It gets two stars - one because Gary Oldman did his… Read more