Cornwell Genius, 03 Oct 2008
Cornwell at his very, very best.
If you enjoyed the Harlequin series featuring Thomas of Hookton then you will love this.
I read it within two days of receiving it and am gutted that it wasn't much longer even though it fully satisfied me as a true historical read.
Cornwell is the master of this style of writing. I really enjoy Conn Iggulden and Valerio Massimo Manfredi but Cornwell is the master.
My only wish is that Ridley Scott would take a story of Cornwell's like this one or the Harlequin series and make it into as visual a treat as the novels are writtenAzincourt.
More power to your quill Mr. Cornwell and long may your stories keep us as enthralled as this.

Cornwell Genius, 03 Oct 2008
Cornwell at his very, very best.
If you enjoyed the Harlequin series featuring Thomas of Hookton then you will love this.
I read it within two days of receiving it and am gutted that it wasn't much longer even though it fully satisfied me as a true historical read.
Cornwell is the master of this style of writing. I really enjoy Conn Iggulden and Valerio Massimo Manfredi but Cornwell is the master.
My only wish is that Ridley Scott would take a story of Cornwell's like this one or the Harlequin series and make it into as visual a treat as the novels are writtenAzincourt.
More power to your quill Mr. Cornwell and long may your stories keep us as enthralled as this.

Going way off the boil., 04 Oct 2008
From the crass character set-up over lunch at the Ivy to the very unsatisfactory ending with a confusing subplot, this book did not hold my attention at all. Is it really from the author of 'Devices and Desires' and 'Original Sin'? Can this be the work of the author of 'The Lighthouse?' It reads like a (bad) parody of Agatha Christie. A great disappointment.

P.D. James - The Private Patient, 23 Sep 2008
I received proofs of the this, the new P.D. James, and the new Barbara Vine The Birthday Present, within days of one another, and decided it would be fun to read the two new novels by the two leading females of the British crime genre back-to-back, and seeing which I preferred. The answer, I'm afraid, is that I preferred neither. Both are disappointing efforts in their own way: the writing of both is exceptional, but both fall down at the hurdle of being a satisfying crime novel. As for the Vine, the only thing shocking about the new novel from a writer normally relied on for her shocks, is that there are none! And as for this P.D. James, she can normally be relied upon to provide a satisfying and surprising solution to her richly detailed mysteries, but here she just doesn't bother. She takes the obvious, what she's rather been suggesting all along (which, of course, one suspects cannot possibly be the real solution: she surely has a lovely trick up her sleeve for us), and runs with it.

That is the largest problem with The Private Patient. There are others. A good example is the almost messianic way she treats Dalgliesh (especially in reference to one silly weepy scene with subordinate Miskin), which is completely ridiculous almost from the start. Her characters just do not come across as real people when she starts giving them such devotions. I am always prepared to suspend a little belief with James (whose plummy characters have always come from the 60's unless they are lower on the class ladder, in which case they are generally hard-working, sloppy-talking stalwarts), but things here get a little silly: the characters talk with an eloquence not even found in some Booker novels, and their speech exhibits a clarity of thought that real human beings just do not spontaneously have, in my experience. Another criticism, which stems from the same root as the previous problem, is her silly political asides. A recent interview in some British newspaper revealed James to have some rather... disappointing, beliefs, and she takes the time to air them here occasionally, in brief splutters of wrinkly condescension. It's not exactly a massive problem, but it's just not necessary, adds nothing to the story, and just kept jerking me out of the story. Which, in all other respects, was absolutely, completely engaging and embroiling. The only other disappointing aspect was the fact that Rhoda Gradwyn seemed such an intensely interesting character, but I didn't really felt like we got under her skin at all, which was a shame. She remained a little too much of an enigma, when she was clearly the most interesting character in the book (I remember a similar problem cropping up in The Lighthouse, in fact.)

It says something that even though there were (and are) things about James' writing that I find intensely annoying, I loved the experience of reading The Private Patient. And the reason is that James' writing is simply superb. Intense detail illuminates rather than bores, and helps make the novels setting a constantly atmospheric one. The richness of the whole thing is something I was delighted to immerse myself in every time I picked the book up again. She (like Rendell as Vine) writes like no other crime writer, takes a sumptuous care over the business like no peer of hers seems to do. Everything is detailed, everything is fully realised. She constructs the starting points for her plots with a kind of love: the confluence of events, the things which bring these eclectic people to this isolated setting, this macrocosm of a locked-room mystery, be it set in a lighthouse, private clinic, nursing college or religious retreat. Her build-ups are always fascinating, how she brings everything together, sets up the suspects, motives, relationships, histories. In fact, they're almost my favourite part of the P.D. James experience!

So, my disappointments aside, I mostly enjoyed the experience, and so probably will all James fans. The solution is a damp affair, but the rest is not. It's a good James novel, just not a great one. Which is a much better state of affairs than none at all.


Not a detective story, 19 Sep 2008
Rather than follow the long-honored tradition in detective novels of providing a tight conclusion which explains all the mysteries, this book explicitly tells the reader "there was an arrogance in wanting always to know the truth". Most appalling. I will not read another P.D. James.

An Unusually Upbeat Ending, 19 Sep 2008
This latest Adam Dalgliesh mystery is up to P.D. James' usual standard. Once again there is a world filled with unhappy people from dysfunctional families. But some of those involved do live lives less bleak than often portrayed in her books, and the ending (more of an epilogue, placed half a year after the events in the rest of the book) is actually filled with a whole series of relatively happy couples.

The first murder victim is a freelance investigative journalist, and what bothers me a little is the depiction of her profession. First of all, I don't know if there are that many investigative reporters working freelance. But more important is the image of investigative journalism. To me this conjures up memories of Watergate, and hardworking reporters exposing polluting companies, corrupt politicians, and similar scandals. To the people in this book, in the world that P.D. James portrays, investigative journalists dig up dirt on little people, ruining their lives, just so they can earn a lot of money.

When you watch British mystery shows, the journalists are usually a flock of nuisances, irritating everyone else as they get in the way and ask less than helpful questions. So in this P.D. James seems to be faithful to a British media tradition. But I don't think it reflects the real world at all.

Other than that minor niggle, this is a very good read.

Too many political rants, too little detection, 18 Sep 2008
At the grand age of 88, 46 years after her debut with 'Cover Her Face', it seems P D James has written her last mystery featuring Adam Dalgliesh. 'The Private Patient', the 14th novel in the series, is heavy with a sense of finality from the outset. The Special Investigation Squad is about to be disbanded, Inspector Kate Miskin is awaiting promotion and Dalgliesh himself, preparing to marry his fiancee Emma, is considering retirement. Without giving anything away, the epilogue settles all the regular characters' fates in such a conclusive way, it strongly suggests the author has no intention of revisiting them. I shall certainly be sorry to see the series end, but on the evidence of this book I think the time is probably right.

'The Private Patient' has much to enjoy and admire in it. P D James arguably writes the best prose in the crime genre; here, as usual, the writing is intelligent, evocative, sometimes even beautiful. She is also exceptionally good at describing locations and capturing their atmospheres - the lonely manor house which is the focus of this investigation and the nearby circle of prehistoric stones complete with a grisly supernatural legend are especially memorable. She also hasn't lost her ability to unnerve the reader; the first murder in this book, with the howling wind outside and the murderer dressed in a surgical gown and mask, certainly raised the hairs on the back of my neck (and brought to mind a similarly sinister scene in the old British thriller 'Green For Danger').

Unfortunately, in other ways the book is not up to the author's usual standard. The mystery itself and its eventual solution are unsatisfactory and never quite convincing. There's a fair amount of repetition too, particularly when it comes to the private lives of the secondary characters, with some paragraphs about Kate and DS Benton-Smith lifted almost verbatim from James's previous novel 'The Lighthouse'. Most puzzling of all, there's a subplot introduced towards the end of the book about Emma's friends Clara and Annie which is totally unnecessary and as a result rather distasteful. It serves no purpose whatsoever, other than to bring the pace of the plot to a grinding halt for a few pages. It's almost as if this was intended to be part of the story but then James lost interest. It's both surprising and disappointing coming from an author whose plots are usually so meticulously planned and executed.

Another problem for me, which has been getting steadily worse over the last few Dalgliesh novels, is James's insistence on shoehorning her political views into the narrative. I fully accept that I could be accused of bias because I happen to disagree strongly with her on just about every subject, but it's definitely more than that. Many other crime writers do it, I know, and that's absolutely fine, as long as it's kept within the context of the story. What annoys me about the way it's done here is the crassness and clumsiness with which these views are dropped into the book. Characters suddenly break into an unnatural flood of right-wing rhetoric without any warning and with no obvious connection to events around them; if you must put Tory propaganda in your novel, at least do it with a little subtlety. And I really have to complain about the ignorance of some of the views expressed; I can only imagine P D James does her research browsing through past Daily Mail editorials. One particular comment, stating that 90% of comprehensive school pupils speak no English, is so breathtakingly stupid that I almost threw the book away in disgust. I fear Baroness James has been spending too much time hobnobbing with her fellow Tory peers; like them, she clearly has no idea what is going on in the world outside her own smug, narrow upper-middle-class bubble.

Don't get me wrong, there is still enjoyment to be had from this book, but it is undoubtedly a long way from her best work. If this really is the final Dalgliesh novel, it's a great pity the series couldn't have ended on a higher note.

One can only hope that the phenomenal success of his co-authored The Dangerous Book for Boys does not take attention away from the prodigious storytelling skills of Conn Iggulden. As Bones of the Hills forcefully reminds us, Iggulden is the real deal when it comes to historical fiction on the grandest scale. And here, all of his characteristic skills are well to the fore.

A boy was abandoned in the wilderness by his tribe -- but he did not die. As those Iggulden admirers who have read Wolf of the Plains and Lords of the Bow will know, this luckless boy has grown into one of the most feared and powerful figures in history, Genghis Khan. He has persuaded the tribes that had been tearing each other to pieces to ignore their differences and unite under his leadership to battle their oldest enemies. Under his ruthless (and ferociously inspired) leadership, a mighty nation has been forged. But this is only the beginning of his struggles: Khan sends out emissaries, but they are tortured and killed. He attempts to open trade routes; his efforts are met with violent rebuff. Soon, the Mongolian army is stretched to the furthest corners of Khan's realm, and destruction looms.

This is epic storytelling on a nigh-operatic scale. Iggulden has long been the master of the broad brush stroke and conjures up the ancient world with great panache. Of course, the success of a book such as Bones of the Hills depends on the vivid characterisation of its larger-than-life central character, and of the many novels which have attempted to capture Genghis Khan, none have mastered the task as successfully as Conn Iggulden.
--Barry Forshaw

Cornwell Genius, 03 Oct 2008
Cornwell at his very, very best.
If you enjoyed the Harlequin series featuring Thomas of Hookton then you will love this.
I read it within two days of receiving it and am gutted that it wasn't much longer even though it fully satisfied me as a true historical read.
Cornwell is the master of this style of writing. I really enjoy Conn Iggulden and Valerio Massimo Manfredi but Cornwell is the master.
My only wish is that Ridley Scott would take a story of Cornwell's like this one or the Harlequin series and make it into as visual a treat as the novels are writtenAzincourt.
More power to your quill Mr. Cornwell and long may your stories keep us as enthralled as this.

Going way off the boil., 04 Oct 2008
From the crass character set-up over lunch at the Ivy to the very unsatisfactory ending with a confusing subplot, this book did not hold my attention at all. Is it really from the author of 'Devices and Desires' and 'Original Sin'? Can this be the work of the author of 'The Lighthouse?' It reads like a (bad) parody of Agatha Christie. A great disappointment.

P.D. James - The Private Patient, 23 Sep 2008
I received proofs of the this, the new P.D. James, and the new Barbara Vine The Birthday Present, within days of one another, and decided it would be fun to read the two new novels by the two leading females of the British crime genre back-to-back, and seeing which I preferred. The answer, I'm afraid, is that I preferred neither. Both are disappointing efforts in their own way: the writing of both is exceptional, but both fall down at the hurdle of being a satisfying crime novel. As for the Vine, the only thing shocking about the new novel from a writer normally relied on for her shocks, is that there are none! And as for this P.D. James, she can normally be relied upon to provide a satisfying and surprising solution to her richly detailed mysteries, but here she just doesn't bother. She takes the obvious, what she's rather been suggesting all along (which, of course, one suspects cannot possibly be the real solution: she surely has a lovely trick up her sleeve for us), and runs with it.

That is the largest problem with The Private Patient. There are others. A good example is the almost messianic way she treats Dalgliesh (especially in reference to one silly weepy scene with subordinate Miskin), which is completely ridiculous almost from the start. Her characters just do not come across as real people when she starts giving them such devotions. I am always prepared to suspend a little belief with James (whose plummy characters have always come from the 60's unless they are lower on the class ladder, in which case they are generally hard-working, sloppy-talking stalwarts), but things here get a little silly: the characters talk with an eloquence not even found in some Booker novels, and their speech exhibits a clarity of thought that real human beings just do not spontaneously have, in my experience. Another criticism, which stems from the same root as the previous problem, is her silly political asides. A recent interview in some British newspaper revealed James to have some rather... disappointing, beliefs, and she takes the time to air them here occasionally, in brief splutters of wrinkly condescension. It's not exactly a massive problem, but it's just not necessary, adds nothing to the story, and just kept jerking me out of the story. Which, in all other respects, was absolutely, completely engaging and embroiling. The only other disappointing aspect was the fact that Rhoda Gradwyn seemed such an intensely interesting character, but I didn't really felt like we got under her skin at all, which was a shame. She remained a little too much of an enigma, when she was clearly the most interesting character in the book (I remember a similar problem cropping up in The Lighthouse, in fact.)

It says something that even though there were (and are) things about James' writing that I find intensely annoying, I loved the experience of reading The Private Patient. And the reason is that James' writing is simply superb. Intense detail illuminates rather than bores, and helps make the novels setting a constantly atmospheric one. The richness of the whole thing is something I was delighted to immerse myself in every time I picked the book up again. She (like Rendell as Vine) writes like no other crime writer, takes a sumptuous care over the business like no peer of hers seems to do. Everything is detailed, everything is fully realised. She constructs the starting points for her plots with a kind of love: the confluence of events, the things which bring these eclectic people to this isolated setting, this macrocosm of a locked-room mystery, be it set in a lighthouse, private clinic, nursing college or religious retreat. Her build-ups are always fascinating, how she brings everything together, sets up the suspects, motives, relationships, histories. In fact, they're almost my favourite part of the P.D. James experience!

So, my disappointments aside, I mostly enjoyed the experience, and so probably will all James fans. The solution is a damp affair, but the rest is not. It's a good James novel, just not a great one. Which is a much better state of affairs than none at all.


Not a detective story, 19 Sep 2008
Rather than follow the long-honored tradition in detective novels of providing a tight conclusion which explains all the mysteries, this book explicitly tells the reader "there was an arrogance in wanting always to know the truth". Most appalling. I will not read another P.D. James.

An Unusually Upbeat Ending, 19 Sep 2008
This latest Adam Dalgliesh mystery is up to P.D. James' usual standard. Once again there is a world filled with unhappy people from dysfunctional families. But some of those involved do live lives less bleak than often portrayed in her books, and the ending (more of an epilogue, placed half a year after the events in the rest of the book) is actually filled with a whole series of relatively happy couples.

The first murder victim is a freelance investigative journalist, and what bothers me a little is the depiction of her profession. First of all, I don't know if there are that many investigative reporters working freelance. But more important is the image of investigative journalism. To me this conjures up memories of Watergate, and hardworking reporters exposing polluting companies, corrupt politicians, and similar scandals. To the people in this book, in the world that P.D. James portrays, investigative journalists dig up dirt on little people, ruining their lives, just so they can earn a lot of money.

When you watch British mystery shows, the journalists are usually a flock of nuisances, irritating everyone else as they get in the way and ask less than helpful questions. So in this P.D. James seems to be faithful to a British media tradition. But I don't think it reflects the real world at all.

Other than that minor niggle, this is a very good read.

Too many political rants, too little detection, 18 Sep 2008
At the grand age of 88, 46 years after her debut with 'Cover Her Face', it seems P D James has written her last mystery featuring Adam Dalgliesh. 'The Private Patient', the 14th novel in the series, is heavy with a sense of finality from the outset. The Special Investigation Squad is about to be disbanded, Inspector Kate Miskin is awaiting promotion and Dalgliesh himself, preparing to marry his fiancee Emma, is considering retirement. Without giving anything away, the epilogue settles all the regular characters' fates in such a conclusive way, it strongly suggests the author has no intention of revisiting them. I shall certainly be sorry to see the series end, but on the evidence of this book I think the time is probably right.

'The Private Patient' has much to enjoy and admire in it. P D James arguably writes the best prose in the crime genre; here, as usual, the writing is intelligent, evocative, sometimes even beautiful. She is also exceptionally good at describing locations and capturing their atmospheres - the lonely manor house which is the focus of this investigation and the nearby circle of prehistoric stones complete with a grisly supernatural legend are especially memorable. She also hasn't lost her ability to unnerve the reader; the first murder in this book, with the howling wind outside and the murderer dressed in a surgical gown and mask, certainly raised the hairs on the back of my neck (and brought to mind a similarly sinister scene in the old British thriller 'Green For Danger').

Unfortunately, in other ways the book is not up to the author's usual standard. The mystery itself and its eventual solution are unsatisfactory and never quite convincing. There's a fair amount of repetition too, particularly when it comes to the private lives of the secondary characters, with some paragraphs about Kate and DS Benton-Smith lifted almost verbatim from James's previous novel 'The Lighthouse'. Most puzzling of all, there's a subplot introduced towards the end of the book about Emma's friends Clara and Annie which is totally unnecessary and as a result rather distasteful. It serves no purpose whatsoever, other than to bring the pace of the plot to a grinding halt for a few pages. It's almost as if this was intended to be part of the story but then James lost interest. It's both surprising and disappointing coming from an author whose plots are usually so meticulously planned and executed.

Another problem for me, which has been getting steadily worse over the last few Dalgliesh novels, is James's insistence on shoehorning her political views into the narrative. I fully accept that I could be accused of bias because I happen to disagree strongly with her on just about every subject, but it's definitely more than that. Many other crime writers do it, I know, and that's absolutely fine, as long as it's kept within the context of the story. What annoys me about the way it's done here is the crassness and clumsiness with which these views are dropped into the book. Characters suddenly break into an unnatural flood of right-wing rhetoric without any warning and with no obvious connection to events around them; if you must put Tory propaganda in your novel, at least do it with a little subtlety. And I really have to complain about the ignorance of some of the views expressed; I can only imagine P D James does her research browsing through past Daily Mail editorials. One particular comment, stating that 90% of comprehensive school pupils speak no English, is so breathtakingly stupid that I almost threw the book away in disgust. I fear Baroness James has been spending too much time hobnobbing with her fellow Tory peers; like them, she clearly has no idea what is going on in the world outside her own smug, narrow upper-middle-class bubble.

Don't get me wrong, there is still enjoyment to be had from this book, but it is undoubtedly a long way from her best work. If this really is the final Dalgliesh novel, it's a great pity the series couldn't have ended on a higher note.

Excellent!!!!!!!, 29 Sep 2008
Not much I can add. Yes, it's the best of the three, which is praise indeed. This guy can write! My only worry, as voiced elsewhere, is that he can keep it up when he moves to a new theme. He certainly has in these two series. I noticed with some surprise that this one came out roughly 9 months after the previous one. I do hope he isn't being pressurised by publishers. He's currently way above the fading Cornwell and I hope he stays at the top of his game for a long time. Highly recommended.

Conn Iggulden - Bones of the Hills. , 26 Sep 2008
Without doubt the best book in the series of three. The Great Kahn finally showing signs of weakness and the effects of age precipitated by years of warfare. Internecine fighting and even a wayward son all make for rip-roaring yarn that I found impossible to put down. Sadly the series is over, what has Conn Iggulden got in store next for us next? How any further historical fiction series can surpass this is quite impossible to foresee. Could I suggest a history of the Dark Age Welsh Princes? Now that would be a story of treachery and sibling rivalry to match that of any dynastic history.

The Best Yet..., 11 Sep 2008
What can I say, the best book of the series. All three books are superb but this is the icing on the cake. Like the last review I believe the risk he took writing about Khan after the equally superb Emperor series was a true testament to Conn's writing ablaties. It's not easy getting people to read about someone not very known compared to cesar but he did it and produced some of the finest books in the Conqueror series and with Bones of the Hills he draws you in futher to this fasanating man. Buy the other two and enjoy the read. I did.

The Best Yet..., 10 Sep 2008
This has been nothing but a massive achievement for Conn Iggulden. To follow up on Emperor with Genghis Khan was a massive risk as the story doesn't have the same level of interest we associate with Caesar and Rome, but it has paid off spectacularly.
The story began with the Wolfs of the Plains and how a young Genghis managed to comeback from being rejected by his tribe to uniting them all under the same banner. The second book continued with Genghis's first main campaigns in which the Mongol tribes came against armies much larger and more advanced from their own and of course the epic Badger Pass.
One of my main worries about this book was that the sheer scale of the Lords of the Bow could not be surpassed, but in a way this book managed to equal or at least better it. Instead of constant victories we have something more. The story between Genghis and his sons is excellent and we also get encounter some resistance from the Muslim prince who sees it as his destiny to defeat Genghis in the name of Islam.

Like all his previous books once you pick them up, they're impossible to put down. Another epic.


The Epics Continue, 10 Sep 2008
Like most others who read Iggulden's works, I have read both Emperor also. At first I couldn't see Genghis Khan being as easy to adapt to as the legendary figure of Julius, but Conn Iggulden simply proved most of us wrong.

Iggulden has the skill to make a flowing piece of historical fiction which brings to life personalities of epic figures in history whom we all wish we could understand on a more human-level. This book continues explaining how Genghis turns from boy to a ruthless and legendary figure and that development carries the book series from strength to strength.

One note I feel is work mention is that as with the Emperor series we start to see a slight detachment from what Genghis is feeling inside, and his emotion seems to become detached and what he feels seems to be explained more by his generals than Iggulden's direct explanation of his thinking. I suppose this makes sense considering it creates a more substantial aura of the Khan, changing into a figure beyond belief. I personally found it worked, but missed the opportunity to be told his direct feelings unlike his childhood in the earlier books.

All in all it is a brilliant piece of writing, and no one can bring historical figures like this to life like this author. Enjoy the read!

Cornwell Genius, 03 Oct 2008
Cornwell at his very, very best.
If you enjoyed the Harlequin series featuring Thomas of Hookton then you will love this.
I read it within two days of receiving it and am gutted that it wasn't much longer even though it fully satisfied me as a true historical read.
Cornwell is the master of this style of writing. I really enjoy Conn Iggulden and Valerio Massimo Manfredi but Cornwell is the master.
My only wish is that Ridley Scott would take a story of Cornwell's like this one or the Harlequin series and make it into as visual a treat as the novels are writtenAzincourt.
More power to your quill Mr. Cornwell and long may your stories keep us as enthralled as this.

Going way off the boil., 04 Oct 2008
From the crass character set-up over lunch at the Ivy to the very unsatisfactory ending with a confusing subplot, this book did not hold my attention at all. Is it really from the author of 'Devices and Desires' and 'Original Sin'? Can this be the work of the author of 'The Lighthouse?' It reads like a (bad) parody of Agatha Christie. A great disappointment.

P.D. James - The Private Patient, 23 Sep 2008
I received proofs of the this, the new P.D. James, and the new Barbara Vine The Birthday Present, within days of one another, and decided it would be fun to read the two new novels by the two leading females of the British crime genre back-to-back, and seeing which I preferred. The answer, I'm afraid, is that I preferred neither. Both are disappointing efforts in their own way: the writing of both is exceptional, but both fall down at the hurdle of being a satisfying crime novel. As for the Vine, the only thing shocking about the new novel from a writer normally relied on for her shocks, is that there are none! And as for this P.D. James, she can normally be relied upon to provide a satisfying and surprising solution to her richly detailed mysteries, but here she just doesn't bother. She takes the obvious, what she's rather been suggesting all along (which, of course, one suspects cannot possibly be the real solution: she surely has a lovely trick up her sleeve for us), and runs with it.

That is the largest problem with The Private Patient. There are others. A good example is the almost messianic way she treats Dalgliesh (especially in reference to one silly weepy scene with subordinate Miskin), which is completely ridiculous almost from the start. Her characters just do not come across as real people when she starts giving them such devotions. I am always prepared to suspend a little belief with James (whose plummy characters have always come from the 60's unless they are lower on the class ladder, in which case they are generally hard-working, sloppy-talking stalwarts), but things here get a little silly: the characters talk with an eloquence not even found in some Booker novels, and their speech exhibits a clarity of thought that real human beings just do not spontaneously have, in my experience. Another criticism, which stems from the same root as the previous problem, is her silly political asides. A recent interview in some British newspaper revealed James to have some rather... disappointing, beliefs, and she takes the time to air them here occasionally, in brief splutters of wrinkly condescension. It's not exactly a massive problem, but it's just not necessary, adds nothing to the story, and just kept jerking me out of the story. Which, in all other respects, was absolutely, completely engaging and embroiling. The only other disappointing aspect was the fact that Rhoda Gradwyn seemed such an intensely interesting character, but I didn't really felt like we got under her skin at all, which was a shame. She remained a little too much of an enigma, when she was clearly the most interesting character in the book (I remember a similar problem cropping up in The Lighthouse, in fact.)

It says something that even though there were (and are) things about James' writing that I find intensely annoying, I loved the experience of reading The Private Patient. And the reason is that James' writing is simply superb. Intense detail illuminates rather than bores, and helps make the novels setting a constantly atmospheric one. The richness of the whole thing is something I was delighted to immerse myself in every time I picked the book up again. She (like Rendell as Vine) writes like no other crime writer, takes a sumptuous care over the business like no peer of hers seems to do. Everything is detailed, everything is fully realised. She constructs the starting points for her plots with a kind of love: the confluence of events, the things which bring these eclectic people to this isolated setting, this macrocosm of a locked-room mystery, be it set in a lighthouse, private clinic, nursing college or religious retreat. Her build-ups are always fascinating, how she brings everything together, sets up the suspects, motives, relationships, histories. In fact, they're almost my favourite part of the P.D. James experience!

So, my disappointments aside, I mostly enjoyed the experience, and so probably will all James fans. The solution is a damp affair, but the rest is not. It's a good James novel, just not a great one. Which is a much better state of affairs than none at all.


Not a detective story, 19 Sep 2008
Rather than follow the long-honored tradition in detective novels of providing a tight conclusion which explains all the mysteries, this book explicitly tells the reader "there was an arrogance in wanting always to know the truth". Most appalling. I will not read another P.D. James.

An Unusually Upbeat Ending, 19 Sep 2008
This latest Adam Dalgliesh mystery is up to P.D. James' usual standard. Once again there is a world filled with unhappy people from dysfunctional families. But some of those involved do live lives less bleak than often portrayed in her books, and the ending (more of an epilogue, placed half a year after the events in the rest of the book) is actually filled with a whole series of relatively happy couples.

The first murder victim is a freelance investigative journalist, and what bothers me a little is the depiction of her profession. First of all, I don't know if there are that many investigative reporters working freelance. But more important is the image of investigative journalism. To me this conjures up memories of Watergate, and hardworking reporters exposing polluting companies, corrupt politicians, and similar scandals. To the people in this book, in the world that P.D. James portrays, investigative journalists dig up dirt on little people, ruining their lives, just so they can earn a lot of money.

When you watch British mystery shows, the journalists are usually a flock of nuisances, irritating everyone else as they get in the way and ask less than helpful questions. So in this P.D. James seems to be faithful to a British media tradition. But I don't think it reflects the real world at all.

Other than that minor niggle, this is a very good read.

Too many political rants, too little detection, 18 Sep 2008
At the grand age of 88, 46 years after her debut with 'Cover Her Face', it seems P D James has written her last mystery featuring Adam Dalgliesh. 'The Private Patient', the 14th novel in the series, is heavy with a sense of finality from the outset. The Special Investigation Squad is about to be disbanded, Inspector Kate Miskin is awaiting promotion and Dalgliesh himself, preparing to marry his fiancee Emma, is considering retirement. Without giving anything away, the epilogue settles all the regular characters' fates in such a conclusive way, it strongly suggests the author has no intention of revisiting them. I shall certainly be sorry to see the series end, but on the evidence of this book I think the time is probably right.

'The Private Patient' has much to enjoy and admire in it. P D James arguably writes the best prose in the crime genre; here, as usual, the writing is intelligent, evocative, sometimes even beautiful. She is also exceptionally good at describing locations and capturing their atmospheres - the lonely manor house which is the focus of this investigation and the nearby circle of prehistoric stones complete with a grisly supernatural legend are especially memorable. She also hasn't lost her ability to unnerve the reader; the first murder in this book, with the howling wind outside and the murderer dressed in a surgical gown and mask, certainly raised the hairs on the back of my neck (and brought to mind a similarly sinister scene in the old British thriller 'Green For Danger').

Unfortunately, in other ways the book is not up to the author's usual standard. The mystery itself and its eventual solution are unsatisfactory and never quite convincing. There's a fair amount of repetition too, particularly when it comes to the private lives of the secondary characters, with some paragraphs about Kate and DS Benton-Smith lifted almost verbatim from James's previous novel 'The Lighthouse'. Most puzzling of all, there's a subplot introduced towards the end of the book about Emma's friends Clara and Annie which is totally unnecessary and as a result rather distasteful. It serves no purpose whatsoever, other than to bring the pace of the plot to a grinding halt for a few pages. It's almost as if this was intended to be part of the story but then James lost interest. It's both surprising and disappointing coming from an author whose plots are usually so meticulously planned and executed.

Another problem for me, which has been getting steadily worse over the last few Dalgliesh novels, is James's insistence on shoehorning her political views into the narrative. I fully accept that I could be accused of bias because I happen to disagree strongly with her on just about every subject, but it's definitely more than that. Many other crime writers do it, I know, and that's absolutely fine, as long as it's kept within the context of the story. What annoys me about the way it's done here is the crassness and clumsiness with which these views are dropped into the book. Characters suddenly break into an unnatural flood of right-wing rhetoric without any warning and with no obvious connection to events around them; if you must put Tory propaganda in your novel, at least do it with a little subtlety. And I really have to complain about the ignorance of some of the views expressed; I can only imagine P D James does her research browsing through past Daily Mail editorials. One particular comment, stating that 90% of comprehensive school pupils speak no English, is so breathtakingly stupid that I almost threw the book away in disgust. I fear Baroness James has been spending too much time hobnobbing with her fellow Tory peers; like them, she clearly has no idea what is going on in the world outside her own smug, narrow upper-middle-class bubble.

Don't get me wrong, there is still enjoyment to be had from this book, but it is undoubtedly a long way from her best work. If this really is the final Dalgliesh novel, it's a great pity the series couldn't have ended on a higher note.

Excellent!!!!!!!, 29 Sep 2008
Not much I can add. Yes, it's the best of the three, which is praise indeed. This guy can write! My only worry, as voiced elsewhere, is that he can keep it up when he moves to a new theme. He certainly has in these two series. I noticed with some surprise that this one came out roughly 9 months after the previous one. I do hope he isn't being pressurised by publishers. He's currently way above the fading Cornwell and I hope he stays at the top of his game for a long time. Highly recommended.

Conn Iggulden - Bones of the Hills. , 26 Sep 2008
Without doubt the best book in the series of three. The Great Kahn finally showing signs of weakness and the effects of age precipitated by years of warfare. Internecine fighting and even a wayward son all make for rip-roaring yarn that I found impossible to put down. Sadly the series is over, what has Conn Iggulden got in store next for us next? How any further historical fiction series can surpass this is quite impossible to foresee. Could I suggest a history of the Dark Age Welsh Princes? Now that would be a story of treachery and sibling rivalry to match that of any dynastic history.

The Best Yet..., 11 Sep 2008
What can I say, the best book of the series. All three books are superb but this is the icing on the cake. Like the last review I believe the risk he took writing about Khan after the equally superb Emperor series was a true testament to Conn's writing ablaties. It's not easy getting people to read about someone not very known compared to cesar but he did it and produced some of the finest books in the Conqueror series and with Bones of the Hills he draws you in futher to this fasanating man. Buy the other two and enjoy the read. I did.

The Best Yet..., 10 Sep 2008
This has been nothing but a massive achievement for Conn Iggulden. To follow up on Emperor with Genghis Khan was a massive risk as the story doesn't have the same level of interest we associate with Caesar and Rome, but it has paid off spectacularly.
The story began with the Wolfs of the Plains and how a young Genghis managed to comeback from being rejected by his tribe to uniting them all under the same banner. The second book continued with Genghis's first main campaigns in which the Mongol tribes came against armies much larger and more advanced from their own and of course the epic Badger Pass.
One of my main worries about this book was that the sheer scale of the Lords of the Bow could not be surpassed, but in a way this book managed to equal or at least better it. Instead of constant victories we have something more. The story between Genghis and his sons is excellent and we also get encounter some resistance from the Muslim prince who sees it as his destiny to defeat Genghis in the name of Islam.

Like all his previous books once you pick them up, they're impossible to put down. Another epic.


The Epics Continue, 10 Sep 2008
Like most others who read Iggulden's works, I have read both Emperor also. At first I couldn't see Genghis Khan being as easy to adapt to as the legendary figure of Julius, but Conn Iggulden simply proved most of us wrong.

Iggulden has the skill to make a flowing piece of historical fiction which brings to life personalities of epic figures in history whom we all wish we could understand on a more human-level. This book continues explaining how Genghis turns from boy to a ruthless and legendary figure and that development carries the book series from strength to strength.

One note I feel is work mention is that as with the Emperor series we start to see a slight detachment from what Genghis is feeling inside, and his emotion seems to become detached and what he feels seems to be explained more by his generals than Iggulden's direct explanation of his thinking. I suppose this makes sense considering it creates a more substantial aura of the Khan, changing into a figure beyond belief. I personally found it worked, but missed the opportunity to be told his direct feelings unlike his childhood in the earlier books.

All in all it is a brilliant piece of writing, and no one can bring historical figures like this to life like this author. Enjoy the read!

paradigm shift!!, 07 Oct 2008
This is an absolutely excellent book that causes the reader to question a lot of what we have believed to be true about God and His love. It answered so many questions for me and gave me permission to believe what God had already been saying but I was struggling to come to terms with. This is obviously an inspired book and I suppose you will love it or hate it. Hardly will anyone stay on the fence. It brings to light so many religious ideas that have settled into the christian faith, ideas that were not placed there by God I would venture to say. They are mostly people trying to fit God into a comfortable box and He is God and He is Truth not our ideas. Truth is a person and sooo much bigger than any one of us can be. Come to this with an open mind and really take the time to question why the story may seem difficult for you before coming to any conclusions.

It is a great book!!!!!

Very disappointed, 30 Sep 2008
Decided read the Shack after all the hype and have to say I just cannot believe quite how gullible people are, particularly in the US - as one reviewer said, this really does show the gulf between the US and Europe. This is a NOVEL, nothing more, and actually quite a condescending one - complete rubbish which I found ridiculous and laughable...

THE SHACK, 29 Sep 2008
I love this book. It made me cry it made me laugh and it made me take sharp intakes of breath. It is about a mans encounter with God when something devastating happens in his life. It is about mans relation ship with God and it will make you think outside the box. It banishes all stereo typical images of what we think God may be like. It is a beautiful story of love and relationship its about how bad things happen and how we deal with them and how God wants to be part of the process. Read this book you won't regret it

Inspiring, 28 Sep 2008
As a soul searching agnostic trying to figure out "what's it all about?" I found this book insightful, enlightning and inspiring. It has really made me think about faith and God. Maybe I have shut myself off and need to listen more, to tune in to the cosmos, to God. I loved the imagery used and would definately recommend this book.

Makes you think, 26 Sep 2008
I enjoyed reading this book. I found it challenged some of my ideas and concepts regarding God and church.
As with all Christian literature it should be measured against what the bible actually says and not taken at face value.
This is Mr Youngs way of explaining the trinity and actually I found much of it helpful and thought provoking especially the chapter in the cave.
One of the ideas I especially like is that we should have expectancy in relationships rather than expectations.
Worth while reading.

Cornwell Genius, 03 Oct 2008
Cornwell at his very, very best.
If you enjoyed the Harlequin series featuring Thomas of Hookton then you will love this.
I read it within two days of receiving it and am gutted that it wasn't much longer even though it fully satisfied me as a true historical read.
Cornwell is the master of this style of writing. I really enjoy Conn Iggulden and Valerio Massimo Manfredi but Cornwell is the master.
My only wish is that Ridley Scott would take a story of Cornwell's like this one or the Harlequin series and make it into as visual a treat as the novels are writtenAzincourt.
More power to your quill Mr. Cornwell and long may your stories keep us as enthralled as this.

Going way off the boil., 04 Oct 2008
From the crass character set-up over lunch at the Ivy to the very unsatisfactory ending with a confusing subplot, this book did not hold my attention at all. Is it really from the author of 'Devices and Desires' and 'Original Sin'? Can this be the work of the author of 'The Lighthouse?' It reads like a (bad) parody of Agatha Christie. A great disappointment.

P.D. James - The Private Patient, 23 Sep 2008
I received proofs of the this, the new P.D. James, and the new Barbara Vine The Birthday Present, within days of one another, and decided it would be fun to read the two new novels by the two leading females of the British crime genre back-to-back, and seeing which I preferred. The answer, I'm afraid, is that I preferred neither. Both are disappointing efforts in their own way: the writing of both is exceptional, but both fall down at the hurdle of being a satisfying crime novel. As for the Vine, the only thing shocking about the new novel from a writer normally relied on for her shocks, is that there are none! And as for this P.D. James, she can normally be relied upon to provide a satisfying and surprising solution to her richly detailed mysteries, but here she just doesn't bother. She takes the obvious, what she's rather been suggesting all along (which, of course, one suspects cannot possibly be the real solution: she surely has a lovely trick up her sleeve for us), and runs with it.

That is the largest problem with The Private Patient. There are others. A good example is the almost messianic way she treats Dalgliesh (especially in reference to one silly weepy scene with subordinate Miskin), which is completely ridiculous almost from the start. Her characters just do not come across as real people when she starts giving them such devotions. I am always prepared to suspend a little belief with James (whose plummy characters have always come from the 60's unless they are lower on the class ladder, in which case they are generally hard-working, sloppy-talking stalwarts), but things here get a little silly: the characters talk with an eloquence not even found in some Booker novels, and their speech exhibits a clarity of thought that real human beings just do not spontaneously have, in my experience. Another criticism, which stems from the same root as the previous problem, is her silly political asides. A recent interview in some British newspaper revealed James to have some rather... disappointing, beliefs, and she takes the time to air them here occasionally, in brief splutters of wrinkly condescension. It's not exactly a massive problem, but it's just not necessary, adds nothing to the story, and just kept jerking me out of the story. Which, in all other respects, was absolutely, completely engaging and embroiling. The only other disappointing aspect was the fact that Rhoda Gradwyn seemed such an intensely interesting character, but I didn't really felt like we got under her skin at all, which was a shame. She remained a little too much of an enigma, when she was clearly the most interesting character in the book (I remember a similar problem cropping up in The Lighthouse, in fact.)

It says something that even though there were (and are) things about James' writing that I find intensely annoying, I loved the experience of reading The Private Patient. And the reason is that James' writing is simply superb. Intense detail illuminates rather than bores, and helps make the novels setting a constantly atmospheric one. The richness of the whole thing is something I was delighted to immerse myself in every time I picked the book up again. She (like Rendell as Vine) writes like no other crime writer, takes a sumptuous care over the business like no peer of hers seems to do. Everything is detailed, everything is fully realised. She constructs the starting points for her plots with a kind of love: the confluence of events, the things which bring these eclectic people to this isolated setting, this macrocosm of a locked-room mystery, be it set in a lighthouse, private clinic, nursing college or religious retreat. Her build-ups are always fascinating, how she brings everything together, sets up the suspects, motives, relationships, histories. In fact, they're almost my favourite part of the P.D. James experience!

So, my disappointments aside, I mostly enjoyed the experience, and so probably will all James fans. The solution is a damp affair, but the rest is not. It's a good James novel, just not a great one. Which is a much better state of affairs than none at all.


Not a detective story, 19 Sep 2008
Rather than follow the long-honored tradition in detective novels of providing a tight conclusion which explains all the mysteries, this book explicitly tells the reader "there was an arrogance in wanting always to know the truth". Most appalling. I will not read another P.D. James.

An Unusually Upbeat Ending, 19 Sep 2008
This latest Adam Dalgliesh mystery is up to P.D. James' usual standard. Once again there is a world filled with unhappy people from dysfunctional families. But some of those involved do live lives less bleak than often portrayed in her books, and the ending (more of an epilogue, placed half a year after the events in the rest of the book) is actually filled with a whole series of relatively happy couples.

The first murder victim is a freelance investigative journalist, and what bothers me a little is the depiction of her profession. First of all, I don't know if there are that many investigative reporters working freelance. But more important is the image of investigative journalism. To me this conjures up memories of Watergate, and hardworking reporters exposing polluting companies, corrupt politicians, and similar scandals. To the people in this book, in the world that P.D. James portrays, investigative journalists dig up dirt on little people, ruining their lives, just so they can earn a lot of money.

When you watch British mystery shows, the journalists are usually a flock of nuisances, irritating everyone else as they get in the way and ask less than helpful questions. So in this P.D. James seems to be faithful to a British media tradition. But I don't think it reflects the real world at all.

Other than that minor niggle, this is a very good read.

Too many political rants, too little detection, 18 Sep 2008
At the grand age of 88, 46 years after her debut with 'Cover Her Face', it seems P D James has written her last mystery featuring Adam Dalgliesh. 'The Private Patient', the 14th novel in the series, is heavy with a sense of finality from the outset. The Special Investigation Squad is about to be disbanded, Inspector Kate Miskin is awaiting promotion and Dalgliesh himself, preparing to marry his fiancee Emma, is considering retirement. Without giving anything away, the epilogue settles all the regular characters' fates in such a conclusive way, it strongly suggests the author has no intention of revisiting them. I shall certainly be sorry to see the series end, but on the evidence of this book I think the time is probably right.

'The Private Patient' has much to enjoy and admire in it. P D James arguably writes the best prose in the crime genre; here, as usual, the writing is intelligent, evocative, sometimes even beautiful. She is also exceptionally good at describing locations and capturing their atmospheres - the lonely manor house which is the focus of this investigation and the nearby circle of prehistoric stones complete with a grisly supernatural legend are especially memorable. She also hasn't lost her ability to unnerve the reader; the first murder in this book, with the howling wind outside and the murderer dressed in a surgical gown and mask, certainly raised the hairs on the back of my neck (and brought to mind a similarly sinister scene in the old British thriller 'Green For Danger').

Unfortunately, in other ways the book is not up to the author's usual standard. The mystery itself and its eventual solution are unsatisfactory and never quite convincing. There's a fair amount of repetition too, particularly when it comes to the private lives of the secondary characters, with some paragraphs about Kate and DS Benton-Smith lifted almost verbatim from James's previous novel 'The Lighthouse'. Most puzzling of all, there's a subplot introduced towards the end of the book about Emma's friends Clara and Annie which is totally unnecessary and as a result rather distasteful. It serves no purpose whatsoever, other than to bring the pace of the plot to a grinding halt for a few pages. It's almost as if this was intended to be part of the story but then James lost interest. It's both surprising and disappointing coming from an author whose plots are usually so meticulously planned and executed.

Another problem for me, which has been getting steadily worse over the last few Dalgliesh novels, is James's insistence on shoehorning her political views into the narrative. I fully accept that I could be accused of bias because I happen to disagree strongly with her on just about every subject, but it's definitely more than that. Many other crime writers do it, I know, and that's absolutely fine, as long as it's kept within the context of the story. What annoys me about the way it's done here is the crassness and clumsiness with which these views are dropped into the book. Characters suddenly break into an unnatural flood of right-wing rhetoric without any warning and with no obvious connection to events around them; if you must put Tory propaganda in your novel, at least do it with a little subtlety. And I really have to complain about the ignorance of some of the views expressed; I can only imagine P D James does her research browsing through past Daily Mail editorials. One particular comment, stating that 90% of comprehensive school pupils speak no English, is so breathtakingly stupid that I almost threw the book away in disgust. I fear Baroness James has been spending too much time hobnobbing with her fellow Tory peers; like them, she clearly has no idea what is going on in the world outside her own smug, narrow upper-middle-class bubble.

Don't get me wrong, there is still enjoyment to be had from this book, but it is undoubtedly a long way from her best work. If this really is the final Dalgliesh novel, it's a great pity the series couldn't have ended on a higher note.

Excellent!!!!!!!, 29 Sep 2008
Not much I can add. Yes, it's the best of the three, which is praise indeed. This guy can write! My only worry, as voiced elsewhere, is that he can keep it up when he moves to a new theme. He certainly has in these two series. I noticed with some surprise that this one came out roughly 9 months after the previous one. I do hope he isn't being pressurised by publishers. He's currently way above the fading Cornwell and I hope he stays at the top of his game for a long time. Highly recommended.

Conn Iggulden - Bones of the Hills. , 26 Sep 2008
Without doubt the best book in the series of three. The Great Kahn finally showing signs of weakness and the effects of age precipitated by years of warfare. Internecine fighting and even a wayward son all make for rip-roaring yarn that I found impossible to put down. Sadly the series is over, what has Conn Iggulden got in store next for us next? How any further historical fiction series can surpass this is quite impossible to foresee. Could I suggest a history of the Dark Age Welsh Princes? Now that would be a story of treachery and sibling rivalry to match that of any dynastic history.

The Best Yet..., 11 Sep 2008
What can I say, the best book of the series. All three books are superb but this is the icing on the cake. Like the last review I believe the risk he took writing about Khan after the equally superb Emperor series was a true testament to Conn's writing ablaties. It's not easy getting people to read about someone not very known compared to cesar but he did it and produced some of the finest books in the Conqueror series and with Bones of the Hills he draws you in futher to this fasanating man. Buy the other two and enjoy the read. I did.

The Best Yet..., 10 Sep 2008
This has been nothing but a massive achievement for Conn Iggulden. To follow up on Emperor with Genghis Khan was a massive risk as the story doesn't have the same level of interest we associate with Caesar and Rome, but it has paid off spectacularly.
The story began with the Wolfs of the Plains and how a young Genghis managed to comeback from being rejected by his tribe to uniting them all under the same banner. The second book continued with Genghis's first main campaigns in which the Mongol tribes came against armies much larger and more advanced from their own and of course the epic Badger Pass.
One of my main worries about this book was that the sheer scale of the Lords of the Bow could not be surpassed, but in a way this book managed to equal or at least better it. Instead of constant victories we have something more. The story between Genghis and his sons is excellent and we also get encounter some resistance from the Muslim prince who sees it as his destiny to defeat Genghis in the name of Islam.

Like all his previous books once you pick them up, they're impossible to put down. Another epic.


The Epics Continue, 10 Sep 2008
Like most others who read Iggulden's works, I have read both Emperor also. At first I couldn't see Genghis Khan being as easy to adapt to as the legendary figure of Julius, but Conn Iggulden simply proved most of us wrong.

Iggulden has the skill to make a flowing piece of historical fiction which brings to life personalities of epic figures in history whom we all wish we could understand on a more human-level. This book continues explaining how Genghis turns from boy to a ruthless and legendary figure and that development carries the book series from strength to strength.

One note I feel is work mention is that as with the Emperor series we start to see a slight detachment from what Genghis is feeling inside, and his emotion seems to become detached and what he feels seems to be explained more by his generals than Iggulden's direct explanation of his thinking. I suppose this makes sense considering it creates a more substantial aura of the Khan, changing into a figure beyond belief. I personally found it worked, but missed the opportunity to be told his direct feelings unlike his childhood in the earlier books.

All in all it is a brilliant piece of writing, and no one can bring historical figures like this to life like this author. Enjoy the read!

paradigm shift!!, 07 Oct 2008
This is an absolutely excellent book that causes the reader to question a lot of what we have believed to be true about God and His love. It answered so many questions for me and gave me permission to believe what God had already been saying but I was struggling to come to terms with. This is obviously an inspired book and I suppose you will love it or hate it. Hardly will anyone stay on the fence. It brings to light so many religious ideas that have settled into the christian faith, ideas that were not placed there by God I would venture to say. They are mostly people trying to fit God into a comfortable box and He is God and He is Truth not our ideas. Truth is a person and sooo much bigger than any one of us can be. Come to this with an open mind and really take the time to question why the story may seem difficult for you before coming to any conclusions.

It is a great book!!!!!

Very disappointed, 30 Sep 2008
Decided read the Shack after all the hype and have to say I just cannot believe quite how gullible people are, particularly in the US - as one reviewer said, this really does show the gulf between the US and Europe. This is a NOVEL, nothing more, and actually quite a condescending one - complete rubbish which I found ridiculous and laughable...

THE SHACK, 29 Sep 2008
I love this book. It made me cry it made me laugh and it made me take sharp intakes of breath. It is about a mans encounter with God when something devastating happens in his life. It is about mans relation ship with God and it will make you think outside the box. It banishes all stereo typical images of what we think God may be like. It is a beautiful story of love and relationship its about how bad things happen and how we deal with them and how God wants to be part of the process. Read this book you won't regret it

Inspiring, 28 Sep 2008
As a soul searching agnostic trying to figure out "what's it all about?" I found this book insightful, enlightning and inspiring. It has really made me think about faith and God. Maybe I have shut myself off and need to listen more, to tune in to the cosmos, to God. I loved the imagery used and would definately recommend this book.

Makes you think, 26 Sep 2008
I enjoyed reading this book. I found it challenged some of my ideas and concepts regarding God and church.
As with all Christian literature it should be measured against what the bible actually says and not taken at face value.
This is Mr Youngs way of explaining the trinity and actually I found much of it helpful and thought provoking especially the chapter in the cave.
One of the ideas I especially like is that we should have expectancy in relationships rather than expectations.
Worth while reading.

During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." , 06 Oct 2008
George Orwell.

With the possible exception of one young German lawyer there are no revolutionary acts in John Le Carre's "A Most Wanted Man". Rather, we have high-level functionaries from German, British, and US intelligence agencies for whom deceit is the norm and truth plays, at best, a secondary role in acting in what is or may be in each country's national interest. In tone and substance this is not much different from Le Carre's Cold War fiction. The trick is to see whether the same cynical realism plays as well in today's `war on terror'. Le Carre's transition from the Cold War to the brave new world post-9/11 is excellent. The result is a book that is dark, cynical, and almost as rewarding as the best of Le Carre's earlier fiction.

The most wanted man in question is Issa. Issa is the product of the rape of a Chechnyan woman by a Red Army Colonel stationed in Chechnya. Raised by his father in Russia, Issa flees to the west after his father dies. Issa finds his way to Hamburg and despite his famished look it appears that Issa has connection to money and influence. He is also, apparently, a Muslim and because of his Chechnyan heritage he is identified by Russian intelligence agencies as a suspected terrorist. German, US, and British intelligence agencies based in Hamburg quickly identify him as a person of interest. The other main protagonists are Annabel Richter and Tommy Brue. Richter is a newly qualified attorney who has foregone work in private practice to work for a German civil rights organization created to assist immigrants and refugees in normalizing their status in Germany. Brue is a private banker whose bank is the depository of the significant funds Issa may lay claim to.

Le Carre does a wonderful job portraying Issa, Richter, and Brue. Issa is a total cipher. He has a naïve innocence about him (think of Chance from Jerzy Kosinki's Being There) that takes the reader in one direction in assessing his motives and the real reason for his presence in Germany. Yet there are enough anomalies and discrepancies in his story and in his remarks to Richter and Brue that make you go, "hold on a moment, there's more here than meets the eye." Richter is something of a naif, her idealism tends to obscure her ability to cast a truly critical eye over the gaps in Issa's story.

Tennyson once wrote:

"That a lie which is half a truth is ever the blackest of lies;
That a lie which is all a lie may be met and fought with outright;
But a lie which is part a truth is a harder matter to fight."

Le Carre writes with exquisite precision and insight about a world in which truth is not a matter worth fighting for. Highly recommended. L. Fleisig


Great thriller, 01 Oct 2008
I've never read a book by John le Carre before, but this is the best
thriller I've read for as long as I can remember. I was hooked from the first page. What's more, it's an intelligent book that looks at the War on Terror from a fresh perspective. The main character is Issa, a young Russian who becomes a pawn in everyone else's
game. He is a fasinating character, and his friendship with
Annabel, a lawyer, made the book come alive for me. I would
definitely recommend this book and I'll now have to go back and read
more of le Carre's books.


The Master turns his attention to the War on Terror, 01 Oct 2008
Despite the fact that he made his reputation writing about the duels between NATO intelligence agencies and their Soviet counterparts, no-one could accuse John Le Carré of failing to adapt to the end of the Cold War: with books like The Constant Gardener, Single & Single and The Mission Song (Bookgeeks review), he has explored international money laundering, the Russian mafia, corrupt pharmaceutical research in Africa and foreign involvement in the interminable civil wars of the Congo. Now, with A Most Wanted Man, we have his first true post-9/11 novel, an examination of the differing responses of Western intelligence agencies to the threats posted by Islamist terrorism.

The setting is Hamburg, present day. The lives of a Turkish family, Melik and his mother Leyla, are interrupted by the arrival of Issa, a scrawny refugee, on the run from the Swedish authorities and bearing the scars of torture from incarceration in a Turkish prison. Issa claims to be a devout Muslim, fleeing from the fighting in Chechnya, but parts of his story don't stack up: he doesn't speak the Chechynyan language, and aspects of his religious practice are distinctly awry. Troubled by the presence of this mysterious waif, Melik and Leyla contact asylum specialists Sanctuary North, and get Issa a lawyer to try and regularise his immigration status. Issa explains to his lawyer, Annabel Richter, that he carries in a pouch round his neck the means to access a bank account at the private bank of Brue Freres plc, which will enable him to pursue his dream of studying to be a doctor. Thus we meet Tommy Brue, last of his line, a banker to the wealthy and powerful, saddled with his father's legacy in more ways than one.

Brue's private bank is the holder of a special type of account: the Lipizzaner, so called because like the famous horses, the money starts out black and turns white with age. These accounts were instituted by his father, Edward Amadeus Brue, as a means for corrupt Soviet officials to move money out from behind the Iron Curtain during the collapse of Communism and launder it, and Brue's not particularly fond of their existence - so it's with mixed feelings that he greets the news that a claimant to the last account in existence has turned up. Perhaps given the state of his marriage, he's fascinated by the upright, proper Annabel Richter, and agrees to meet with Issa to establish his credentials as the claimant to a fabulously large sum of money.

Of course, the German intelligence services have been watching the comings and goings around Issa with a great deal of interest - they don't know what to make of him, and consider him likely to a Jihadi. When Issa is drawn to the attention of Gunther Bachmann, an experienced field operative and agent runner, he perceives the beginning of an opportunity to do something that Western spooks have conspicuously failed to achieve: recruit and run an agent or agents inside the Islamist terror networks that represented a substantial threat worldwide. Bachmann steers approval of his plan through the factionalised German secret intelligence apparatus, and soon Annabel Richter is presented with the stark reality that she has no choice but to co-operate with them in using Issa to reach the target of the operation, a Muslim cleric believed to be involved in funding terror through charities. Meanwhile, Tommy Brue has been visited by British intelligence, and he too is co-opted. From this point forwards, Issa, Annabel and Tommy are unwitting and unwilling participants in the machinations of the German, British and American intelligence agencies.

Le Carré imbues his characters with plenty of depth, and the unspoken love triangle that is forming between the three central characters lends added poignancy to the events that follow; for despite the apparent success of the climactic operation, the Americans intervene in a style that is more Jack Bauer than George Smiley, undermining the assurances given to the parties involved. It's not difficult to read this book as a parable for how the intelligence community, through a comprehensive failure of empathy, an unwilligness or inability to run agent networks, and a heavyhanded if nor downright inhuman approach to information gathering, has proved itself unworthy to meet the threat posed by Islamic terrorism. But that doesn't change the fact that it's also an affecting and wonderfully crafted story about human relationships under strained circumstances. It's proof, though none should be needed, that John Le Carré has transcended the confines of the spy thriller to become one of our best, and most successful, novelists.

O Brave New World, 01 Oct 2008
O Brave New World to have such writers as John Le Carre in it. This tragedy of our troubled times hits home with painful precision.Terror, rendition,guilt v innocence and moral shades are explored in this mezmerising novel. Le Carre has always prowled his constituency with menacing ease - this book could hardly be more relevant or pertinent. His intelligence shines through every line and we are left at the literally "bitter end" with the comfort that we have been in the company of a wise and grown up author not afraid to question and challenge.
A masterly performance from this trenchant chronicler of our age.....
Unhesitatingly recommended.....


Highly contrived plotline and prose., 30 Sep 2008
Highly contrived plotline and prose ,and at times downright unreadable due to heavy emphasis on style over substance.

Cornwell Genius, 03 Oct 2008
Cornwell at his very, very best.
If you enjoyed the Harlequin series featuring Thomas of Hookton then you will love this.
I read it within two days of receiving it and am gutted that it wasn't much longer even though it fully satisfied me as a true historical read.
Cornwell is the master of this style of writing. I really enjoy Conn Iggulden and Valerio Massimo Manfredi but Cornwell is the master.
My only wish is that Ridley Scott would take a story of Cornwell's like this one or the Harlequin series and make it into as visual a treat as the novels are writtenAzincourt.
More power to your quill Mr. Cornwell and long may your stories keep us as enthralled as this.

Going way off the boil., 04 Oct 2008
From the crass character set-up over lunch at the Ivy to the very unsatisfactory ending with a confusing subplot, this book did not hold my attention at all. Is it really from the author of 'Devices and Desires' and 'Original Sin'? Can this be the work of the author of 'The Lighthouse?' It reads like a (bad) parody of Agatha Christie. A great disappointment.

P.D. James - The Private Patient, 23 Sep 2008
I received proofs of the this, the new P.D. James, and the new Barbara Vine The Birthday Present, within days of one another, and decided it would be fun to read the two new novels by the two leading females of the British crime genre back-to-back, and seeing which I preferred. The answer, I'm afraid, is that I preferred neither. Both are disappointing efforts in their own way: the writing of both is exceptional, but both fall down at the hurdle of being a satisfying crime novel. As for the Vine, the only thing shocking about the new novel from a writer normally relied on for her shocks, is that there are none! And as for this P.D. James, she can normally be relied upon to provide a satisfying and surprising solution to her richly detailed mysteries, but here she just doesn't bother. She takes the obvious, what she's rather been suggesting all along (which, of course, one suspects cannot possibly be the real solution: she surely has a lovely trick up her sleeve for us), and runs with it.

That is the largest problem with The Private Patient. There are others. A good example is the almost messianic way she treats Dalgliesh (especially in reference to one silly weepy scene with subordinate Miskin), which is completely ridiculous almost from the start. Her characters just do not come across as real people when she starts giving them such devotions. I am always prepared to suspend a little belief with James (whose plummy characters have always come from the 60's unless they are lower on the class ladder, in which case they are generally hard-working, sloppy-talking stalwarts), but things here get a little silly: the characters talk with an eloquence not even found in some Booker novels, and their speech exhibits a clarity of thought that real human beings just do not spontaneously have, in my experience. Another criticism, which stems from the same root as the previous problem, is her silly political asides. A recent interview in some British newspaper revealed James to have some rather... disappointing, beliefs, and she takes the time to air them here occasionally, in brief splutters of wrinkly condescension. It's not exactly a massive problem, but it's just not necessary, adds nothing to the story, and just kept jerking me out of the story. Which, in all other respects, was absolutely, completely engaging and embroiling. The only other disappointing aspect was the fact that Rhoda Gradwyn seemed such an intensely interesting character, but I didn't really felt like we got under her skin at all, which was a shame. She remained a little too much of an enigma, when she was clearly the most interesting character in the book (I remember a similar problem cropping up in The Lighthouse, in fact.)

It says something that even though there were (and are) things about James' writing that I find intensely annoying, I loved the experience of reading The Private Patient. And the reason is that James' writing is simply superb. Intense detail illuminates rather than bores, and helps make the novels setting a constantly atmospheric one. The richness of the whole thing is something I was delighted to immerse myself in every time I picked the book up again. She (like Rendell as Vine) writes like no other crime writer, takes a sumptuous care over the business like no peer of hers seems to do. Everything is detailed, everything is fully realised. She constructs the starting points for her plots with a kind of love: the confluence of events, the things which bring these eclectic people to this isolated setting, this macrocosm of a locked-room mystery, be it set in a lighthouse, private clinic, nursing college or religious retreat. Her build-ups are always fascinating, how she brings everything together, sets up the suspects, motives, relationships, histories. In fact, they're almost my favourite part of the P.D. James experience!

So, my disappointments aside, I mostly enjoyed the experience, and so probably will all James fans. The solution is a damp affair, but the rest is not. It's a good James novel, just not a great one. Which is a much better state of affairs than none at all.


Not a detective story, 19 Sep 2008
Rather than follow the long-honored tradition in detective novels of providing a tight conclusion which explains all the mysteries, this book explicitly tells the reader "there was an arrogance in wanting always to know the truth". Most appalling. I will not read another P.D. James.

An Unusually Upbeat Ending, 19 Sep 2008
This latest Adam Dalgliesh mystery is up to P.D. James' usual standard. Once again there is a world filled with unhappy people from dysfunctional families. But some of those involved do live lives less bleak than often portrayed in her books, and the ending (more of an epilogue, placed half a year after the events in the rest of the book) is actually filled with a whole series of relatively happy couples.

The first murder victim is a freelance investigative journalist, and what bothers me a little is the depiction of her profession. First of all, I don't know if there are that many investigative reporters working freelance. But more important is the image of investigative journalism. To me this conjures up memories of Watergate, and hardworking reporters exposing polluting companies, corrupt politicians, and similar scandals. To the people in this book, in the world that P.D. James portrays, investigative journalists dig up dirt on little people, ruining their lives, just so they can earn a lot of money.

When you watch British mystery shows, the journalists are usually a flock of nuisances, irritating everyone else as they get in the way and ask less than helpful questions. So in this P.D. James seems to be faithful to a British media tradition. But I don't think it reflects the real world at all.

Other than that minor niggle, this is a very good read.

Too many political rants, too little detection, 18 Sep 2008
At the grand age of 88, 46 years after her debut with 'Cover Her Face', it seems P D James has written her last mystery featuring Adam Dalgliesh. 'The Private Patient', the 14th novel in the series, is heavy with a sense of finality from the outset. The Special Investigation Squad is about to be disbanded, Inspector Kate Miskin is awaiting promotion and Dalgliesh himself, preparing to marry his fiancee Emma, is considering retirement. Without giving anything away, the epilogue settles all the regular characters' fates in such a conclusive way, it strongly suggests the author has no intention of revisiting them. I shall certainly be sorry to see the series end, but on the evidence of this book I think the time is probably right.

'The Private Patient' has much to enjoy and admire in it. P D James arguably writes the best prose in the crime genre; here, as usual, the writing is intelligent, evocative, sometimes even beautiful. She is also exceptionally good at describing locations and capturing their atmospheres - the lonely manor house which is the focus of this investigation and the nearby circle of prehistoric stones complete with a grisly supernatural legend are especially memorable. She also hasn't lost her ability to unnerve the reader; the first murder in this book, with the howling wind outside and the murderer dressed in a surgical gown and mask, certainly raised the hairs on the back of my neck (and brought to mind a similarly sinister scene in the old British thriller 'Green For Danger').

Unfortunately, in other ways the book is not up to the author's usual standard. The mystery itself and its eventual solution are unsatisfactory and never quite convincing. There's a fair amount of repetition too, particularly when it comes to the private lives of the secondary characters, with some paragraphs about Kate and DS Benton-Smith lifted almost verbatim from James's previous novel 'The Lighthouse'. Most puzzling of all, there's a subplot introduced towards the end of the book about Emma's friends Clara and Annie which is totally unnecessary and as a result rather distasteful. It serves no purpose whatsoever, other than to bring the pace of the plot to a grinding halt for a few pages. It's almost as if this was intended to be part of the story but then James lost interest. It's both surprising and disappointing coming from an author whose plots are usually so meticulously planned and executed.

Another problem for me, which has been getting steadily worse over the last few Dalgliesh novels, is James's insistence on shoehorning her political views into the narrative. I fully accept that I could be accused of bias because I happen to disagree strongly with her on just about every subject, but it's definitely more than that. Many other crime writers do it, I know, and that's absolutely fine, as long as it's kept within the context of the story. What annoys me about the way it's done here is the crassness and clumsiness with which these views are dropped into the book. Characters suddenly break into an unnatural flood of right-wing rhetoric without any warning and with no obvious connection to events around them; if you must put Tory propaganda in your novel, at least do it with a little subtlety. And I really have to complain about the ignorance of some of the views expressed; I can only imagine P D James does her research browsing through past Daily Mail editorials. One particular comment, stating that 90% of comprehensive school pupils speak no English, is so breathtakingly stupid that I almost threw the book away in disgust. I fear Baroness James has been spending too much time hobnobbing with her fellow Tory peers; like them, she clearly has no idea what is going on in the world outside her own smug, narrow upper-middle-class bubble.

Don't get me wrong, there is still enjoyment to be had from this book, but it is undoubtedly a long way from her best work. If this really is the final Dalgliesh novel, it's a great pity the series couldn't have ended on a higher note.

Excellent!!!!!!!, 29 Sep 2008
Not much I can add. Yes, it's the best of the three, which is praise indeed. This guy can write! My only worry, as voiced elsewhere, is that he can keep it up when he moves to a new theme. He certainly has in these two series. I noticed with some surprise that this one came out roughly 9 months after the previous one. I do hope he isn't being pressurised by publishers. He's currently way above the fading Cornwell and I hope he stays at the top of his game for a long time. Highly recommended.

Conn Iggulden - Bones of the Hills. , 26 Sep 2008
Without doubt the best book in the series of three. The Great Kahn finally showing signs of weakness and the effects of age precipitated by years of warfare. Internecine fighting and even a wayward son all make for rip-roaring yarn that I found impossible to put down. Sadly the series is over, what has Conn Iggulden got in store next for us next? How any further historical fiction series can surpass this is quite impossible to foresee. Could I suggest a history of the Dark Age Welsh Princes? Now that would be a story of treachery and sibling rivalry to match that of any dynastic history.

The Best Yet..., 11 Sep 2008
What can I say, the best book of the series. All three books are superb but this is the icing on the cake. Like the last review I believe the risk he took writing about Khan after the equally superb Emperor series was a true testament to Conn's writing ablaties. It's not easy getting people to read about someone not very known compared to cesar but he did it and produced some of the finest books in the Conqueror series and with Bones of the Hills he draws you in futher to this fasanating man. Buy the other two and enjoy the read. I did.

The Best Yet..., 10 Sep 2008
This has been nothing but a massive achievement for Conn Iggulden. To follow up on Emperor with Genghis Khan was a massive risk as the story doesn't have the same level of interest we associate with Caesar and Rome, but it has paid off spectacularly.
The story began with the Wolfs of the Plains and how a young Genghis managed to comeback from being rejected by his tribe to uniting them all under the same banner. The second book continued with Genghis's first main campaigns in which the Mongol tribes came against armies much larger and more advanced from their own and of course the epic Badger Pass.
One of my main worries about this book was that the sheer scale of the Lords of the Bow could not be surpassed, but in a way this book managed to equal or at least better it. Instead of constant victories we have something more. The story between Genghis and his sons is excellent and we also get encounter some resistance from the Muslim prince who sees it as his destiny to defeat Genghis in the name of Islam.

Like all his previous books once you pick them up, they're impossible to put down. Another epic.


The Epics Continue, 10 Sep 2008
Like most others who read Iggulden's works, I have read both Emperor also. At first I couldn't see Genghis Khan being as easy to adapt to as the legendary figure of Julius, but Conn Iggulden simply proved most of us wrong.

Iggulden has the skill to make a flowing piece of historical fiction which brings to life personalities of epic figures in history whom we all wish we could understand on a more human-level. This book continues explaining how Genghis turns from boy to a ruthless and legendary figure and that development carries the book series from strength to strength.

One note I feel is work mention is that as with the Emperor series we start to see a slight detachment from what Genghis is feeling inside, and his emotion seems to become detached and what he feels seems to be explained more by his generals than Iggulden's direct explanation of his thinking. I suppose this makes sense considering it creates a more substantial aura of the Khan, changing into a figure beyond belief. I personally found it worked, but missed the opportunity to be told his direct feelings unlike his childhood in the earlier books.

All in all it is a brilliant piece of writing, and no one can bring historical figures like this to life like this author. Enjoy the read!

paradigm shift!!, 07 Oct 2008
This is an absolutely excellent book that causes the reader to question a lot of what we have believed to be true about God and His love. It answered so many questions for me and gave me permission to believe what God had already been saying but I was struggling to come to terms with. This is obviously an inspired book and I suppose you will love it or hate it. Hardly will anyone stay on the fence. It brings to light so many religious ideas that have settled into the christian faith, ideas that were not placed there by God I would venture to say. They are mostly people trying to fit God into a comfortable box and He is God and He is Truth not our ideas. Truth is a person and sooo much bigger than any one of us can be. Come to this with an open mind and really take the time to question why the story may seem difficult for you before coming to any conclusions.

It is a great book!!!!!

Very disappointed, 30 Sep 2008
Decided read the Shack after all the hype and have to say I just cannot believe quite how gullible people are, particularly in the US - as one reviewer said, this really does show the gulf between the US and Europe. This is a NOVEL, nothing more, and actually quite a condescending one - complete rubbish which I found ridiculous and laughable...

THE SHACK, 29 Sep 2008
I love this book. It made me cry it made me laugh and it made me take sharp intakes of breath. It is about a mans encounter with God when something devastating happens in his life. It is about mans relation ship with God and it will make you think outside the box. It banishes all stereo typical images of what we think God may be like. It is a beautiful story of love and relationship its about how bad things happen and how we deal with them and how God wants to be part of the process. Read this book you won't regret it

Inspiring, 28 Sep 2008
As a soul searching agnostic trying to figure out "what's it all about?" I found this book insightful, enlightning and inspiring. It has really made me think about faith and God. Maybe I have shut myself off and need to listen more, to tune in to the cosmos, to God. I loved the imagery used and would definately recommend this book.

Makes you think, 26 Sep 2008
I enjoyed reading this book. I found it challenged some of my ideas and concepts regarding God and church.
As with all Christian literature it should be measured against what the bible actually says and not taken at face value.
This is Mr Youngs way of explaining the trinity and actually I found much of it helpful and thought provoking especially the chapter in the cave.
One of the ideas I especially like is that we should have expectancy in relationships rather than expectations.
Worth while reading.

During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." , 06 Oct 2008
George Orwell.

With the possible exception of one young German lawyer there are no revolutionary acts in John Le Carre's "A Most Wanted Man". Rather, we have high-level functionaries from German, British, and US intelligence agencies for whom deceit is the norm and truth plays, at best, a secondary role in acting in what is or may be in each country's national interest. In tone and substance this is not much different from Le Carre's Cold War fiction. The trick is to see whether the same cynical realism plays as well in today's `war on terror'. Le Carre's transition from the Cold War to the brave new world post-9/11 is excellent. The result is a book that is dark, cynical, and almost as rewarding as the best of Le Carre's earlier fiction.

The most wanted man in question is Issa. Issa is the product of the rape of a Chechnyan woman by a Red Army Colonel stationed in Chechnya. Raised by his father in Russia, Issa flees to the west after his father dies. Issa finds his way to Hamburg and despite his famished look it appears that Issa has connection to money and influence. He is also, apparently, a Muslim and because of his Chechnyan heritage he is identified by Russian intelligence agencies as a suspected terrorist. German, US, and British intelligence agencies based in Hamburg quickly identify him as a person of interest. The other main protagonists are Annabel Richter and Tommy Brue. Richter is a newly qualified attorney who has foregone work in private practice to work for a German civil rights organization created to assist immigrants and refugees in normalizing their status in Germany. Brue is a private banker whose bank is the depository of the significant funds Issa may lay claim to.

Le Carre does a wonderful job portraying Issa, Richter, and Brue. Issa is a total cipher. He has a naïve innocence about him (think of Chance from Jerzy Kosinki's Being There) that takes the reader in one direction in assessing his motives and the real reason for his presence in Germany. Yet there are enough anomalies and discrepancies in his story and in his remarks to Richter and Brue that make you go, "hold on a moment, there's more here than meets the eye." Richter is something of a naif, her idealism tends to obscure her ability to cast a truly critical eye over the gaps in Issa's story.

Tennyson once wrote:

"That a lie which is half a truth is ever the blackest of lies;
That a lie which is all a lie may be met and fought with outright;
But a lie which is part a truth is a harder matter to fight."

Le Carre writes with exquisite precision and insight about a world in which truth is not a matter worth fighting for. Highly recommended. L. Fleisig


Great thriller, 01 Oct 2008
I've never read a book by John le Carre before, but this is the best
thriller I've read for as long as I can remember. I was hooked from the first page. What's more, it's an intelligent book that looks at the War on Terror from a fresh perspective. The main character is Issa, a young Russian who becomes a pawn in everyone else's
game. He is a fasinating character, and his friendship with
Annabel, a lawyer, made the book come alive for me. I would
definitely recommend this book and I'll now have to go back and read
more of le Carre's books.


The Master turns his attention to the War on Terror, 01 Oct 2008
Despite the fact that he made his reputation writing about the duels between NATO intelligence agencies and their Soviet counterparts, no-one could accuse John Le Carré of failing to adapt to the end of the Cold War: with books like The Constant Gardener, Single & Single and The Mission Song (Bookgeeks review), he has explored international money laundering, the Russian mafia, corrupt pharmaceutical research in Africa and foreign involvement in the interminable civil wars of the Congo. Now, with A Most Wanted Man, we have his first true post-9/11 novel, an examination of the differing responses of Western intelligence agencies to the threats posted by Islamist terrorism.

The setting is Hamburg, present day. The lives of a Turkish family, Melik and his mother Leyla, are interrupted by the arrival of Issa, a scrawny refugee, on the run from the Swedish authorities and bearing the scars of torture from incarceration in a Turkish prison. Issa claims to be a devout Muslim, fleeing from the fighting in Chechnya, but parts of his story don't stack up: he doesn't speak the Chechynyan language, and aspects of his religious practice are distinctly awry. Troubled by the presence of this mysterious waif, Melik and Leyla contact asylum specialists Sanctuary North, and get Issa a lawyer to try and regularise his immigration status. Issa explains to his lawyer, Annabel Richter, that he carries in a pouch round his neck the means to access a bank account at the private bank of Brue Freres plc, which will enable him to pursue his dream of studying to be a doctor. Thus we meet Tommy Brue, last of his line, a banker to the wealthy and powerful, saddled with his father's legacy in more ways than one.

Brue's private bank is the holder of a special type of account: the Lipizzaner, so called because like the famous horses, the money starts out black and turns white with age. These accounts were instituted by his father, Edward Amadeus Brue, as a means for corrupt Soviet officials to move money out from behind the Iron Curtain during the collapse of Communism and launder it, and Brue's not particularly fond of their existence - so it's with mixed feelings that he greets the news that a claimant to the last account in existence has turned up. Perhaps given the state of his marriage, he's fascinated by the upright, proper Annabel Richter, and agrees to meet with Issa to establish his credentials as the claimant to a fabulously large sum of money.

Of course, the German intelligence services have been watching the comings and goings around Issa with a great deal of interest - they don't know what to make of him, and consider him like