The Straw Men

Rating:
Summary: Michael Marshall = The Best Thing Going in Current Thrillers
Review: THE STRAW MEN plays out like a dream-team collaboration by Stephen King (who hailed the book a masterpiece), Dean Koontz, Thomas Harris, and Michael Slade. Deliriously paranoid, lightning paced, crammed with surprise and invention, action and terror, humor and heartbreak, this is the kind of book that lesser writers will envy and everyone else will just admire to no end. And the happiest part? The formidable Mr. Marshall is clearly here to stay, as evidenced by the recent release of a sequel to this book, entitled THE UPRIGHT MAN. Discover this guy as soon as you can - once everybody is reading him and hit movies are being made from these books, it's sure gonna be fun to be able to say "Oh, yeah, I've been reading him from the beginning!"

Rating:
Summary: Quite Good
Review: This is a thriller that will repay handsomely if read. The basis for the story has enough truth to it to merit a suspension of disbelief. There are an ample supply of red herrings to distract the reader, each of which is plausible. The pacing is a little choppy and the dual points of view (first person and third person omniscient) do not blend as well as they ought.

On the other hand, the bad guys are very, very bad and the good guys are believable, and largely sympathetic.

Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest thrillers of all time, incredible.
Review: this is one of the few, if only the one, book i'm going to review, I don't wan't to give away to much of the plot, but to say this will be a overlooked sleeper hit, is an understatement, this has become my favorite novel, and it's the only one i've considered reading again, the same week, it's so deep, it'll grip you so hard, it'll get inside you, freeze you, chill you to the very bone, it's incredible, I can't speak enough of this, basically it's about humanity, genes, doublecross, the cia, the fbi, child abductions, serial killers, it's incredible, eat your heart out silence of the lambs, you don't exist anymore. buy this. you can't go wrong, they seem to be out of it, buy it anywhere you have to, just READ IT. for "The Truth"

~ Michael Cellio

Rating:
Summary: Twists and Turns
Review: This is the type of book you will find yourself getting off the phone or turning off the TV for. You will even find yourself trying to sneek a page or two at work.

You have no idea where the plot is going, whats going to happen next, or when this collection of pulp fiction style of stories are going to come together. That is why this is a must read. Please, read it now!

Rating:
Summary: An instant masterpiece of modern suspense
Review: Three horrific events separated by time and distance are united by a hidden, cunning conspiracy that threatens the foundation of civilization.

I happened across THE STRAW MEN totally by accident. I was checking out a hotel sundries shop one rainy Sunday morning in New Orleans and saw the book on one of those wire, wall-mounted paperback racks popular in hospital gift shops and airports. Two things attracted me to it: the name of the author, "Michael Marshall," was the name of a kid I went to grade school with; and the two word cover blurb by Stephen King: "A Masterpiece." I picked the bad boy up; the story looked intriguing, and I scraped some bills together and bought it. It was the best several bucks I've spent in quite a while.

The Michael Marshall who wrote THE STRAW MEN is not the kid I went to school with. This Michael Marshall is from Great Britain, and his name is actually Michael Marshall Smith. He's published three books, I believe, under the latter name, works of speculative fiction that I'm going to get into as soon as I finish keyboarding here. Why he has been abbreviated to Michael Marshall is a question I can't answer; it's confusing, apparently, even to his publisher, which on the back of THE STRAW MEN, describes this book as his debut novel.

Regardless, this guy is incredible. Let me put it this way: I was firmly convinced before I was a third of the way through the book that Michael Marshall was one of those Richard Bachman identities that Stephen King comes up with. Or, even more improbably, that THE STRAW MEN was some collaboration between King and Dean Koontz. Marshall writes as if he is possessed with the strengths of both writers and bereft of their occasional weaknesses. But he apparently is his own, real person. Why angels are not calling his name right now, I don't know, and why THE STRAW MEN went straight to paperback, as opposed to getting a huge hardcover release first, is a question I can't answer. This novel, however, is incredible.

Marshall starts things off by recounting three separate, seemingly unconnected events. The first is an occurrence at a fast food restaurant; the second is the abduction of a teenaged girl named Sarah Becker from a Santa Monica mall; and the third is the death of a husband and wife in an automobile accident. Their son, Ward Hopkins, finds a note in his father's handwriting stuffed into a chair, reading "Ward, we're not dead." Hopkins, a ne'er do well who has been at loose ends for most of his life, haltingly begins an investigation and in the process begins to connect the random dots of the three events, revealing a horrific plot that stretches across the country and fifty years into the past, involving his parents and ultimately himself. At the same time, an FBI agent and John Zandt, a retired and grief-stricken Los Angeles police detective, investigate the Becker abduction, an incident which is tied to three prior abductions --- one of which involves Zandt's own daughter.

As Zandt races against time to rescue Becker, his path becomes intertwined with Hopkins as they race toward a tumultuous, apocalyptic conclusion. Marshall keeps the suspense level ratcheted to atmospheric levels practically from the first page, so that the reader turning the page while actually fearing what will come next. Marshall is a master of the unpredictable; nothing is as it seems, and no event can be anticipated, from the first page to the last.

With THE STRAW MEN, Marshall demonstrates that the Next Big Thing is already here. If you wish you had held on to that first edition of CARRIE, here's your second chance. This guy is a marvel. Highest possible recommendation.

Rating:
Summary: The Straw Men
Review: Very simply, this novel gives the appearance of being something above the dog-eared crowd, but slowly it reveals itself to be made up of scenes that one can encounter in these sorts of books time and time again.

Underpinning everything is a great idea to try and run with: think Organized Serial-Crime. That's all I really want to say about the premise, as I will do the book a courtesy and assume pending readers want to discover for themselves that the book gets less clever, mysterious and surprising the farther it whisks along. Various seemingly random abductions, murders, mass slaughters, supposedly accidental car crashes, and sinister websites, occuring throughout the USA and beyond, are just waiting to be linked by anyone who can spot the connections. Enter our scattered heroes--John Zandt, former cop who lost his daughter to the infamous "Delivery Boy" serial killer; Zandt's former lover, Agent Nina, who comes back into his shattered life to tell Zandt that the Delivery Boy is back, under a new name; Walt Hopkins, average guy, who finds a video-tape deliberately left by his deceased father, that reveals his parents were not what he thought, and may have consorted with a sinister organization of shadowy "Straw Men" (plus, there's the note left for Walt, from Dad, that says his parents are not dead--a note Walt finds not too long after attending his mother's and father's funeral).

This sounds riveting, and admittedly, just a whiff of truly creepy mystery is palpable throughout half the book...the first half. In particular, the onslaught of dirty secrets Ward Hopkins can't help but uncover--peeling away onionskin-layers of illusion that cause grief and pain beyond tears, and turn his memories upside-down--make him and his horrible situation compelling. There are also the brief scenes involving the Beckers, who cling to hope though their daughter is likely in the hands of a calculating serial predator; they do no know what is happening to their daughter Sarah, but the reader learns of her plight, when the scene periodically shifts to her and her captor.

Even more intrigued by all this? Well, as indicated, the further the book progresses the more familiar become the trappings, as the air of creepiness is slowly sabotaged. The same old confrontations, gunplay, heroes getting tough and abandoning the rules, frantic deadlines as Sarah's time is running out, and a fairly typical, explosive ending. I also don't feel the author shows a heightened talent for really ratcheting up the suspense and paranoia; scenes that might normlly get my blood curdling just seem to roll on by, at times. Similar scenes in Larsgaard's terrific novel, The Heir Hunter--I'm talking about scenes where the bad guys hiding in the background start trashing the heroes' lives as a prelude to ending their lives--don't have the bite, here in The Straw Men. The tension should have been higher at all times, not just when Ward Hopkins gets another jolt, as yet more of his alleged past is torn away.

So, what can I say? Michael Marshall lets too many literary weeds choke what could have flowered from a healthy premise. It's as if the book skirts around the edges of a cool concept, staying too vague or too distanced from the evil it could explore if it had a notion, and then, once most of the secrets are out and the book starts to rely on tired, familiar scenes, it's too late.

Not bad, for scattered thrills, but not a topnotch thriller, by any means. If you do read it, sit back afterwards and try and come up with anything that was really groundbreaking. I think you'll come up short.

Rating:
Summary: superb crime thriller
Review: Ward Hopkins returns home to Dyserburg, Montana only to step into what seems like an episode of the Twilight Zone when he finds a book taped to the underside of a recliner. Contained inside the book is a note that states his parents aren't dead. Tearing the house apart, he stumbles upon a video showing his parents and two twins, one who they leave behind in a crowded area. Unable to believe his parents are capable of such an act, he along with his CIA friend Bobby discovers that there is no record of Ward's birth.

While Bobby and Ward seek the truth, a teenage girl is kidnapped in Santa Monica with the FBI believing they are once again dealing with the Upright Man serial killer. Former cop John Zandt and his friend FBI agent Nina look to find Sarah before she is killed like the three others before her. John and Nina cross paths with Bobby and Ward. They begin working together making the necessary connections to find the Upright Man and his supporters the Straw Men.

Eerie, gothic like suspense that has more realistic twists and turns than the world's most serpentine roller-coaster, THE STRAW MEN never slows the ride until even Yogi would agree it's over. From the very beginning readers connect with a befuddled Ward at a very fundamental level. Fans root for him and his cohorts to succeed in their interconnected missions that seem so hopeless. Michael Marshall's debut novel is a very special reading experience for crime thriller fans.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Amazing book
Review: Well crafted and written with a sense of style and humor. If the narrative throws you you might be better off sticking to books that requires the assistance of crayolas. I am looking forward to more from this author.

Rating:
Summary: A well-stuffed volume...
Review: Whilst King continues his genteel slide into overwriting (Someone should be brave enough edit his books, for goodness sakes: If only Insomnia had lived up its title) and Koontz grows ever more smug, we genre-lovers need another generation of thriller writers who are both good plotters and inspired wordsmiths. And in Michael Marshall, whoever he is, we might, just might, have found one.
Firstly, he is fresh and funny about little everyday things, like a good stand-up comedian. Art from classical naked-lady statues to Duchamp's urinal to some indi movies, is all about making you look at familiar things twice, and he succeeds in that.
Secondly, he is an ambitious and surprising plotter, not above melodrama admittedly, not entirely plausable in this book when you allow the heat to cool, but well ahead of the wannabe pack. You went along for the ride, and, unlike after so many books and films, did not feel cheated at the end.
Publishers, like Hollywood film-makers, love franchises, so maybe there are another two books out there to wrap up the dangly bits of the plot. If so, and if MM half-succeeds in this daunting task (stamina, MM, stamina!) , this is an author, one of very few, that I would buy in hardback. And given the price of hardbacks, even on Amazon, I cannot give higher praise than that.

Rating:
Summary: Hooked on Page Six...
Review: with the following line:

" In a room full of victims, murderers look like gods."

In need of some judicious editing, nevertheless this is a disturbing piece of work. Some conventional twists are thrown in, most work and some are done like never before. A good one.
Action on par with the best.