Luke Montgomery
Auteur van A Deceit to Die For
Werken van Luke Montgomery
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- Korte biografie
- Raised on the ancient hunting grounds of the Mescalero Apaches, Luke Montgomery cut his teeth on tales of Geronimo’s exploits, supped with Viking heroes in Valhalla and embarked on exhilarating voyages with Odysseus. Somewhere along the way, he grew older, but he didn't grow up. After obtaining his MA in Linguistics, he set a course for adventure in Europe and the Middle East, where he lived for over a decade combing Hittite, Phrygian, Lycian, Greek and Roman ruins on the shores of the Mediterranean and Aegean. An inquisitive anthropologist and history buff, Mr. Montgomery immersed himself in the local culture, mastering both the language and customs of the people. He has sipped tea with the sons of Ottoman sultans, explored the Taurus Mountains with Turcoman tribes, listened to haunting Kurdish folk songs and watched the sun rise in Aman with the Arabic call to prayer floating over the desert sand. When he is not consulting private and public institutions with interests and operations in the Middle East, he tends grapes, raises Longhorn cattle and researches political developments. As an expert on Islam, he spends much of his time researching and writing about religious politics. Some of the people and works that have shaped his worldview are Emily Dickinson, Rudyard Kipling, Atlas Shrugged, C.S. Lewis, Anton Chekhov, Omar Khayyam, LOTR, the Torah, O. Henry, The Ballad of the White Horse, Bruce Cockburn, George Orwell, Yaşar Kemal, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Vince Flynn, Yeshua...
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A Deceit to Die For door Luke Montgomery
Right off the front pages of the news. Takes place in Turkey. Brilliant young writer.
Deze bespreking was geschreven voorLibraryThing lid Weggevers.
Got this book through LTMG. Though dubious, this book ended up being a quick read for me. I enjoyed the story and after a slow start it moved quickly after. I liked most of the characters and found a few scenes quite gripping. There is a lot of religious and political bloviating but it was obviously well researched. Though I am no ivy league graduate, I found it hard to believe real people actually speak the way some of these characters do in their discussions.
While I enjoyed the story and the occasional action scenes, I felt the book could have benefited from some closer editing. Perhaps this is why it is no longer published at its original Smashwords site.… (meer)
While I enjoyed the story and the occasional action scenes, I felt the book could have benefited from some closer editing. Perhaps this is why it is no longer published at its original Smashwords site.… (meer)
Deze bespreking was geschreven voorLibraryThing lid Weggevers.
I received this book for free to review and I have mixed feelings about it.
It could have been a gripping intellectual thriller but unfortunately there weren't enough thrills and the reader was rather bludgeoned with the basic facts of the `intellectual' and spiritual elements, making them more difficult to understand than they actualyl are.
The author clearly has a thorough interest and knowledge of Byzantine and religious history and the intricacies of the political and religious intrigue was truly inspired - the research that went into this really paid off- but there were too many other strands running alongside the main plot that just didn't interweave well enough to make a whole - a tedious love affair, family dysfunctions , human trafficking, a trip back in time in the Prologue and abrupt switches to the perspective of peripheral characters served to make the novel feel disjointed and detracted from the tensions of the main plot.
Most enjoyable were the parts where there was some action taking place; the book-swap in the library had me on the edge of my seat as did the scene where Gilbert has to remove a tracking devise from his son's arm whilst risking imminent discovery but unfortunately the action is limited to a few tense moments and over far too quickly.
I also relished the descriptions of the old manuscripts and the research process but again there was not much of this. Most of the book consists of the main characters sitting around a table Googling and taking it in turns to explain how their various findings fit together as well as making long speeches about religion. This is a shame because the writer is best when describing the architecture and sights of the cities his protagonists visit; Vienna and Istanbul come alive.
The characters were not particularly likeable; they seemed to act like automatons with the women in particular being weakly drawn and conversations being stilted and functional. All of the Christians were `good' whilst fundamental Muslims were `bad' and mostly concerned with political agendas rather than actually having a true faith. I realise that acts of terrorism can hardly be considered good but I was disappointed that we did not meet anyone who expressed the dichotomy of being a `good' person who was willing to commit murder (or suicide) for their faith. The only motivation seemed to be that they were nasty people. There were only 2 sympathetic Muslims in the whole book which I find a little strange for an author who obviously well understands the tensions between the ideologies of East and West.
Some of the sentences just did not make sense `Her face screwed up funny for a second' and `The missile had been struck the burning boat' are two that obviously jumped out but the poor editing made the meaning convoluted at times. Reading this review back I wonder if I have been a little harsh, the premise was ambitious and well thought out. There is no comparison with Dan Brown, although I have seen several people make one. THIS novel was well researched, historically accurate and has clear connection with the issues portrayed.… (meer)
It could have been a gripping intellectual thriller but unfortunately there weren't enough thrills and the reader was rather bludgeoned with the basic facts of the `intellectual' and spiritual elements, making them more difficult to understand than they actualyl are.
The author clearly has a thorough interest and knowledge of Byzantine and religious history and the intricacies of the political and religious intrigue was truly inspired - the research that went into this really paid off- but there were too many other strands running alongside the main plot that just didn't interweave well enough to make a whole - a tedious love affair, family dysfunctions , human trafficking, a trip back in time in the Prologue and abrupt switches to the perspective of peripheral characters served to make the novel feel disjointed and detracted from the tensions of the main plot.
Most enjoyable were the parts where there was some action taking place; the book-swap in the library had me on the edge of my seat as did the scene where Gilbert has to remove a tracking devise from his son's arm whilst risking imminent discovery but unfortunately the action is limited to a few tense moments and over far too quickly.
I also relished the descriptions of the old manuscripts and the research process but again there was not much of this. Most of the book consists of the main characters sitting around a table Googling and taking it in turns to explain how their various findings fit together as well as making long speeches about religion. This is a shame because the writer is best when describing the architecture and sights of the cities his protagonists visit; Vienna and Istanbul come alive.
The characters were not particularly likeable; they seemed to act like automatons with the women in particular being weakly drawn and conversations being stilted and functional. All of the Christians were `good' whilst fundamental Muslims were `bad' and mostly concerned with political agendas rather than actually having a true faith. I realise that acts of terrorism can hardly be considered good but I was disappointed that we did not meet anyone who expressed the dichotomy of being a `good' person who was willing to commit murder (or suicide) for their faith. The only motivation seemed to be that they were nasty people. There were only 2 sympathetic Muslims in the whole book which I find a little strange for an author who obviously well understands the tensions between the ideologies of East and West.
Some of the sentences just did not make sense `Her face screwed up funny for a second' and `The missile had been struck the burning boat' are two that obviously jumped out but the poor editing made the meaning convoluted at times. Reading this review back I wonder if I have been a little harsh, the premise was ambitious and well thought out. There is no comparison with Dan Brown, although I have seen several people make one. THIS novel was well researched, historically accurate and has clear connection with the issues portrayed.… (meer)
Deze bespreking was geschreven voorLibraryThing lid Weggevers.
When I initially started this book I didn't think I would like it. It was difficult to understand what was going on at first, but once I got into the book it was very hard to put down. It has lots of detail, and the author obviously did his research well. Islam, political intrigue and history all play fascinating parts in one family's race to save a wife and children. It is a fast paced book after the first few chapters, and I highly recommend it!
Statistieken
- Werken
- 1
- Leden
- 41
- Populariteit
- #363,652
- Waardering
- 4.0
- Besprekingen
- 4
- ISBNs
- 2
