Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Dead Aim by Thomas Perry ISBN: 1400060036 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 17 December, 2002 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.8
Rating: 3
Summary: Exciting but illogical page-turner.
Comment: Thomas Perry's "Dead Aim" is the suspenseful but ultimately far-fetched story of Robert Mallon. Mallon retired at thirty-eight with a hefty bank account, an ex-wife and a great deal of time on his hands. He lives a low-key life among the affluent residents of Santa Barbara, California. Now, at forty-eight, his life has settled into a predictable rhythm.
This rhythm is disrupted when, one day, Mallon pulls a suicidal young woman out of the ocean. The woman refuses to tell Mallon her name, and not long afterwards, she disappears without a trace. Mallon has the time and money to find out the identity of this woman and he decides to hire a former colleague, Lydia Marks, to help him with his investigation. Too late, Mallon discovers that he has placed himself and Marks in grave danger by meddling in this unknown woman's affairs.
Perry's fast-paced narrative and crisp dialogue make "Dead Aim" an exciting and suspenseful thriller. Unfortunately, the truth behind the strange events that Mallon uncovers is absurd. There is one particular coincidence that will make you groan. What a shame. Perry is an extremely talented writer and Mallon is one of those good-hearted and straightforward characters whom you can't help but like. The action sequences are nicely done, but Mallon's ability to take on his enemies make him seem more like James Bond than a retired construction worker. "Dead Aim" is an enjoyable escapist novel of suspense, but you will need to suspend your disbelief over and over again as you read it.
Rating: 4
Summary: Intriguing
Comment: In his recent books, Thomas Perry has extrapolated on the human potential for both good and bad. In Dead Aim he offers the possibility of providing wealthy, jaded people with the opportunity to kill people. It's an intriguing concept in that very few of us haven't at some point or another declared--out of upset or anger--that we'd like to kill so and so.
Perry's central figures are always thoughtfully constructed and believable. Robert Mallon, hero of Dead Aim, is a decent, good-hearted man pushed by the suicide of a young woman he's rescued from a first suicide attempt to try to comprehend why she was so determined to take her life. Anyone who has known a suicide wonders about the reasons. It's an act so shocking and so counter to the majority whose optimism (no matter how minimal) and whose life-curiosity keeps us ticking along day after day that it's difficult to grasp the concept of an interior darkness so deep that no light can illuminate it.
So Mallon sets out to find answers and becomes a target for the wealthy killing machines who've been trained at The Safe-Force School of Self-Defense. And he manages repeatedly to survive the attempts on his life.
Where the book falters is in the final confrontation(s)--Mallon single-handedly taking on half a dozen highly trained assassins. Without sufficient background information to substantiate it, he morphs from mild-mannered, decent fellow into someone so skilled at and knowledgable of armed combat that he emerges Rambo-like as the victor. It's an ending that is, on the one hand, very satisfying: the good guy wins, the bad guys lose. On the other hand, it's a little hard to buy.
That said, this is--as always--another enjoyable effort. Reading a Perry book is never a waste of time. Any writer who can make you think is a good writer. And if you can remember anything about the book half an hour later, then the author is better than good. Always intelligent, Perry's writing is lean and well-constructed. The idea of a high-priced killing academy is not inconceivable. And despite a slightly abrupt ending, Dead Aim is well worth reading.
Rating: 4
Summary: Perry makes a horrifying premise believable...
Comment: Thomas Perry is, by far, one of the most original storytellers I have read. This is the author who brought to life such characters as The Butcher's Boy, Jane Whitefield, Chinese Gordon and Dr. Henry Metzger and I believe there are more to come. Perry does not disappoint with the steadfast Robert Mallon, from his latest, Dead Aim. Perry is not only gifted and talented, he has an uncanny sense of timing ---he understands when his characters are in danger of becoming stale, cardboard imitation of what they once were. So what does he do? He creates anew, and we are captivated and enthralled once more.
In his new novel Perry has taken a horrifying evil premise and makes it believable.... once the action starts, the reader is swept away, all the way to the last page.
This story begins with Robert Mallon, a wealthy retired landowner, saving a young woman from attempting suicide. He takes her to his home, where upon she runs away while he is out picking up dinner. Days later he reads in the paper of her suicide and he goes down to the police station to file a report. He soon becomes obsessed and must find out why, after he thought he had saved her, given her a new beginning and perhaps a new beginning with him (or for him a new beginning with her) she would kill herself. Either way he blames himself, feeling he did not say the right words or do the rights things or she wouldn't have followed through with her suicide. Mallon hires a private detective. One he knows but has not seen in 10 years. His attorney also makes an appearance when the police start to question him and his motives. It takes Perry awhile to lay the groundwork for the action but once it starts, Mallon takes on an evil that Perry brings to life in only the way he does.
Whether you are a long time Perry collector or just someone who enjoys a great read, Dead Aim is for you. After all, this is Thomas Perry we are talking about!
 |
Title: Chasing the Dime by Michael Connelly ISBN: 0316153915 Publisher: Little Brown & Company Pub. Date: 15 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
 |
Title: Lost Light by Michael Connelly ISBN: 0316154601 Publisher: Little Brown & Company Pub. Date: 01 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
 |
Title: The Last Detective by Robert Crais ISBN: 0385504268 Publisher: Doubleday Pub. Date: 18 February, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
 |
Title: Persuader: A Jack Reacher Novel by Lee Child ISBN: 0385336667 Publisher: Delacorte Press Pub. Date: 13 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
 |
Title: Shutter Island : A Novel by Dennis Lehane ISBN: 0688163173 Publisher: William Morrow Pub. Date: 15 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
