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Bezig met laden... Dead Man Walkingdoor Simon R. Green
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Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek. I enjoyed this book very much. The story was very smart with just enough twists and turns to keep your attention. The addition of the trusty sidekick was a nice touch. The pacing of the book is good without going to fast or too slow at some parts. I look forward to the next book. I read this book through NetGalley. I thank them and the publisher for this book. #NetGalley I'd read and enjoyed Ishmael Jones book five, Into the Thinnest of Air, so I thought I'd check out the earlier books. When I got home, I realized that Dead Man Walking was book two. I read it anyway. That I didn't enjoy it quite as much as book five is mostly because the killer was neon sign overhead or placard around the neck obvious. Ishmael Jones displays not a trace of false modesty in his introduction before we get to chapter one. (Personally, I can think of greater secrets...) This field agent from the ultra-secret The Organization meets his new go-between, called only 'The Colonel' (his predecessor was murdered). The Colonel wastes no time in letting Ishmael and the readers know that he is a haughty, first-class jerk. Ishmael's new assignment involves a rogue field agent who wants to come home and claims he has some really good information to offer. Ishmael and his love, the very enjoyable Penny Belcourt, go to remote Ringstone Lodge (...'about as far north as you can go before you bang your head on Hadrian's Wall'), where Frank Parker is being held. The lodge belongs to the Ministry of Defense, but is on loan to The Organization. Only two members of its usual staff remain: Head of Security Donald MacKay, a former Regimental Sergeant Major (equivalent to a U.S. Army Command Sergeant Major), and young Philip Martin, the technical surveillance wizard. The other four persons present are all from The Organization: security guards Alan Baxter and Karl Redd, and the interrogators, Doctors Alice Hayley and Robert Doyle. Baxter seems to go out of his way to be disagreeable to Ishmael. So does Dr. Haley, the only person of color in our limited cast. (She's an in-charge black woman -- will she suffer the usual fate of black characters in horror movies?) Ringside Lodge looks as if it should be haunted. There's even the grave of a woman hanged as a witch in its little cemetery. Unusual sounds have been heard both before and after Frank Parker's arrival. Penny is hoping for ghosts. Ishmael firmly disbelieves in spooks. There's a murder, of course -- a locked room mystery. Ishmael knows that he and Penny couldn't have committed it, but they have six suspects who suspect them. The body disappears. Ishmael and Penny hear the mysterious sounds they were told about. Has the Ringstone Witch come back from the grave? Jones' Belcourt Manor case in book one, the Dark Side of the Road, didn't have the best outcome. As Ishmael did then, he warns everyone not to split up. Penny points out her parents would still be alive if they'd taken Ishmael's advice. Remember when Fred used to say, Let's split up, gang, in 'Scooby-Doo'? The survivors seem to be channeling their inner Fred instead of listening to our hero. It doesn't help that the computer surveillance equipment is apparently not as reliable as it should be. Can Ishmael and Penny catch the killer before they're once again the only two left standing? Notes: Chapter 1: a. Ishmael meets the new Colonel. b. We learn about Frank Parker. c. Penny Belcourt is described. Mentions: Oxford Street, London; and the 'Time Warp' [song and dance from 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' film], Chapter 2: a. We learn where Ringstone Lodge is located. b. Ishmael mentions a case where he had to escape while wearing next to nothing. c. Ishmael explains his attitude toward clever spy devices. (He also makes a joke based on the name of one of the Bond women.) d. Ringstone Halt train station is described. e. Donald MacKay is described. He gives a run-down of the situation and current personnel. f. The lodge is named for an ancient standing circle of stones on Ringside Knoll. g. The gates and then the lodge are described. h. Ishmael mentions a recurring nightmare of his. i. The Ringstone Witch's headstone reminds me of 'God Grante That She Lye Still,' the title of an old 'Boris Karloff's Thriller' 1961 episode adapted from the story by Cynthia Asquith. (I definitely recommend reading that story. It's available at Tales if Mystery blogspot.com) j. We're introduced to the others. k. Ishmael interviews Parker. l. Two of the past two Colonels were Oliver Cranleigh and James Belcourt. Mentions: King's Cross Station, 'The Big Issue' newspaper, James Bond, 'Fortean Times', the Spanish Inquisition, the Medusa, orcs, and trolls Chapter 3: a. Dr. Haley mentions three cases that Ishmael has heard about, the titles of which make Penny suspect they were made up. b. The possibility of a haunting is discussed. c. The security centre's [British for 'center's] location is given and it is described. A conversation between Baxter and Redd is overheard. Ditto the doctors and there conversation with Parker. d. Martin shows Ishmael and Penny some of his spooky footage. e. Baxter makes the mistake of stabbing his finger at Ishmael. f. Penny tells Ishmael something about the security men that he hadn't noticed. g. Something spooky happens. Mentions: 'Country Life' magazine and Doctor Freud. Chapter 4: a. Ishmael dreams about what happened to him in 1963. b. It was the great Chinese Daoist/Taoist philosopher Zhuang Zhou (also called Zhuangzi, old Romanization Chuang-Tze), who had the butterfly dream. c. The murder is discovered. d. The lodge is on full lockdown, which is described. e. Ishmael and Penny are reminded of the Belcourt Manor massacre. f. Redd is a vegetarian, as MacKay remembers. g. Penny ends an argument among Baxter, Redd, and Ishmael. Chapter 5: a. We find out why Baxter is so nasty to Ishmael. b. Redd finds out that Penny learned some interesting things at St. Theresa's School for Exemplary Youngsters. c. Ishmael comes up with a good save when Dr. Doyle asks him why he looks so young. d. Spooky things are happening. e. Another body is discovered. Mention: Agatha Christie TV adaptations. Chapter 6: a. Martin wants MacKay to get the guns from the locked armoury. MacKay and Ishmael don't think that's a good idea. b. Ishmael explains how witnessing the Belcourt Manor massacre has changed Penny. c. The survivors have a discussion in the lounge. d. Ishmael figures out the nature of Martin and MacKay's relation ship. e. Penny used to work in publishing. f. Penny notices something about the lounge's bay window. g. There's an official family history of Ringstone Lodge in the library. h. Penny learns the name of the Ringstone Lodge witch from the book. The reported ghostly phenomena is also in it. Mentions: flying monkeys, Dickens, Trollope, Dick Francis Chapter 7: a. More murders have been done since chapter 6. b. Two attempts to stop Ishmael don't go the way those survivors planned. c. We find out if Belcourt Manor had any sliding panels or secret passageways. d. Ishmael has figured something out. Mentions: the three bears (but not Goldilocks) and Henry VIII Chapter 8: The killer says something that's mistaken. Epilogue: Ishmael glimpses something in the cemetery. This short novel is good for in-jokes. The opening line of the prologue comes from Moby-Dick. The opening line of the first chapter has a sly reference to a 1963 John Le Carré novel, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. There are fun descriptions. I particularly liked the one for Ringstone Halt station. On the other hand, thanks to the title of chapter 5, I heard Olive Oyl singing from the 1935 Popeye cartoon, 'Beware of Barnacle Bill', in my head. I didn't need that. (Go ahead and look up the cartoon. Misery is supposed to love company.) Again, aside from the killer being much too obvious, this is a fun little mystery. I particularly like Penny and her interactions with Ishmael. I recommend it to mystery lovers. When I read the fifth book, I was reminded of William Hope Hodgson's Carnacki the Ghost-Finder. Some of Carnacki's cases involved genuine hauntings, some had been faked, and some were mostly fake with a touch of the supernatural. This novel definitely falls into one of those categories. Frank Parker has been a rogue agent for the Organization for many years. Now he is back, and wants to tell his secrets about deception in the Organization. The Organization has called in Ishmael Jones, one of their top agents, to interview Parker. The Organization sends Ishmael to Ringstone Lodge, where Parker waits, being secured by hired guards and other members of the Organization. Ishmael has one meeting with Parker, and then all hell breaks loose. Parker is murdered, but the cameras didn't capture the murder. Then Parker's body goes missing, and again, the cameras weren't recording. As other strange events occur, everyone at Ringstone Lodge becomes a suspect, and no one can escape notice. This book was not bad, but it reminded me why I don't read straight mysteries very often: there are a few people locked away together, something bad happens, everyone is a suspect, and the person who seems way too obvious to be the culprit really is the culprit. I just don't enjoy reading that type of books, so one in a long while is enough for me. I prefer the more suspense/psychological thriller books, which this was not. As I said, not bad, just not my favorite genre. geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
Onderdeel van de reeks(en)Ishmael Jones (2)
"Call me Ishmael. Ishmael Jones. I am the man in the shadows, that even the shadows are afraid of. The secret agent whose life is the greatest secret of all. And some of the cases I work are trickier than others." A rogue agent has come in from the cold and wants to spill his secrets. The Organisation wants Ishmael to find out if Frank Parker is who he says he is, what he really knows, and why he has emerged from the shadows after all this time. Ishmael heads to Ringstone Lodge in Yorkshire where Parker is being held to find that an atmosphere of fear and suspicion prevails. As he and his fellow residents are menaced by a series of alarming and inexplicable incidents, Ishmael sets out to prove that it's human trickery rather than any supernatural being behind the seemingly ghostly goings-on. But matters take an unexpected turn when one of their number is brutally murdered, and once again Ishmael must turn detective in order to entrap a twisted killer before they strike again. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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Google Books — Bezig met laden... GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)823.92Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Modern Period 2000-LC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde:
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So, what makes this book so wonderful? First, the characters. Ishmael and Penny, I instantly liked them, they were just so adorable. I was curious about Ishmael, especially since he only has been human since the 1963s? That was very odd, and I hoped that it would be addressed in the book. And, around 50% into the story, it was revealed what was so special about Ishmael and I, to be honest, did not see that coming, but I loved it. Such a very special twist (made me want to read the first book even more).
Secondly, the story was captivating and fascinating and I could hardly put the book down. I love old "haunted" houses, and to have a couple of people on lockdown while someone is killing them off was great "fun". The only drawback was that it was pretty easy to figure out the "killer" was. And, my first thought was to just give the book 4.5 stars because I found the end "twist" not that surprising, but I've been looking forward all day at work writing this review because I liked the book so damn much, so 5-stars it is!
Dead Man Walking is a very, very good book; atmospheric, funny, intense and a bit gory! Just the way I like it when it comes to books.
I want to thank Severn House for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review. ( )