Rating: 
Summary: Wow, what a novel.
Review: Action packed from the first chapter. No slow buildup. Couldn't put it down until I was finished. If this is his first book, I can't imagine where he will go from here. This is a MUST READ.
Rating:
Summary: Wow, what a novel.
Review: Action packed from the first chapter. No slow buildup. Couldn't put it down until I was finished. If this is his first book, I can't imagine where he will go from here. This is a MUST READ.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent first book.
Review: Doug is a wonderful, naive-but-not, protagonist. It may not be the strongest mystery written, but there is fabulous sense of place, great characters, dialogue that had me laughing at times, and an ending that made me anxious for Doug's next adventure and Beniot's next book.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent first book.
Review: Doug is a wonderful, naive-but-not, protagonist. It may not be the strongest mystery written, but there is fabulous sense of place, great characters, dialogue that had me laughing at times, and an ending that made me anxious for Doug's next adventure and Beniot's next book.
Rating:
Summary: Bond for Beginners
Review: If ever than was an anti-James Bond, it's Doug Pearce. He's just lost his job at the Pottsville, Pennsylvania brewery, he's spending his days watching TV and hanging out at the mall, and the one goal he's achieved since graduating from high school has been that he's now a bum. So when he receives an intriguing letter from a woman in Canada offering to give him information about his uncle - a man mentioned in Doug's family only as an example of how not to be - Doug has all the time and interest to see her. What he learns is that his Uncle Russell not only was murdered but possibly was a jewel thief as well. Edna Bowers then makes him an offer he can't refuse; she'll pay for him to travel to Casablanca and around the world to discover who killed Russell and maybe find the jewel as well.Once in Casablanca Doug finds himself living out the life of his dreams. Aided by a beautiful woman who may be a liar (Doug's willing to overlook this), he's thrown in jail for transporting drugs, attacked by muggers, and one of his sources gets murdered. Doug may not be particularly intelligent, skillful, or experienced, but he's having more adventure than he ever had in Pottsville. Doug also realizes that he's caring less about finding out who killed his uncle than he is in having the time of his life. This is a wonderful twist on the spy/caper novel, with the hero not really knowing what he's doing but willing to try anything. Doug is an extremely original and down-to-earth character whose fighting skill comes from weekends spent drinking and fighting and who's quite aware that he's in over his head. The plot moves quickly through Morocco, Egypt, and Singapore, and ultimately Doug proves himself to be much sharper than anyone, including himself, originally believes. Benoit has created a vastly entertaining novel full of wry humor, wit, and action.
Rating:
Summary: Bond for Beginners
Review: If ever than was an anti-James Bond, it's Doug Pearce. He's just lost his job at the Pottsville, Pennsylvania brewery, he's spending his days watching TV and hanging out at the mall, and the one goal he's achieved since graduating from high school has been that he's now a bum. So when he receives an intriguing letter from a woman in Canada offering to give him information about his uncle - a man mentioned in Doug's family only as an example of how not to be - Doug has all the time and interest to see her. What he learns is that his Uncle Russell not only was murdered but possibly was a jewel thief as well. Edna Bowers then makes him an offer he can't refuse; she'll pay for him to travel to Casablanca and around the world to discover who killed Russell and maybe find the jewel as well. Once in Casablanca Doug finds himself living out the life of his dreams. Aided by a beautiful woman who may be a liar (Doug's willing to overlook this), he's thrown in jail for transporting drugs, attacked by muggers, and one of his sources gets murdered. Doug may not be particularly intelligent, skillful, or experienced, but he's having more adventure than he ever had in Pottsville. Doug also realizes that he's caring less about finding out who killed his uncle than he is in having the time of his life. This is a wonderful twist on the spy/caper novel, with the hero not really knowing what he's doing but willing to try anything. Doug is an extremely original and down-to-earth character whose fighting skill comes from weekends spent drinking and fighting and who's quite aware that he's in over his head. The plot moves quickly through Morocco, Egypt, and Singapore, and ultimately Doug proves himself to be much sharper than anyone, including himself, originally believes. Benoit has created a vastly entertaining novel full of wry humor, wit, and action.
Rating:
Summary: Wafty crank of a read
Review: Really enjoyed reading through this book with its quirky stops in locations such as Bahrain and Singapore places that I am familar with. Benoit catches the atmosphere there perfectly and we hope to see a sequel with more references to the rugby players Doug enjoys a beer or two with. Highly enjoyable caper.
Rating:
Summary: Unique, engaging mystery
Review: RELATIVE DANGER is about a blue collar shmoe from hickville, USA who, upon being fired from his job, gets to jet around the world, all expenses paid, to multiple exotic locales in an attempt to trace the steps of his rapscallion, diamond-thieving uncle who was murdered, lo these 50 years ago, and to discover the identity of his killer. In the course of his travels he meets beautiful women, gets thrown in jail, has late night, escape-by-the-skin-of-his-teeth adventures, and makes discoveries both concrete and metaphysical. That Benoit is able to make such a hokey premise unique and compelling speaks to his considerable talent. That he does so with a combination of vivid characterization, laugh-out-loud-as-I'm-reading-in-the-middle-of-the-night humor, and surprising and satisfyingly profound moments of meaningful discovery for the protagonist, should establish it as fact and make him a writer whose work (and I sure hope he publishes more great work soon) will become well known. RELATIVE DANGER initially caught my attention when I read its glowing review in Booklist magazine. I picked up the novel at the library and upon finishing it hopped right onto Amazon to order my own copy. I want to have it available in my personal library so I can press it onto captive house guests and other reading acquaintances and so it's at my fingertips for those times when I need the inspiration to give my own writing a boost. This novel deserves a wide audience and readers who enjoy excellent and witty mysteries and solid, skillful writing in general deserve to discover it.
Rating:
Summary: Terrific book!
Review: The story starts in Singapore in 1948, but most of the action takes place in present day locales. Douglas Pearce is a Pottsville, Pennsylvania, native who loses his job at the local brewery just in time to embark on an Indiana Jones-like adventure, in search of the killer of his Uncle Russell, the black sheep of the Pearce family, who was murdered in 1948 Singapore.
He finds himself confounded in Casablanca, confined in Cairo, bogged down in Bahrain, and celebrated in Singapore. Benoit had me hooked from page one, and kept me riveted all the way through.
I picked this one up because I had recenty been to Singapore, and thought it might be interesting to read about the city in a novel. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing! Benoit has Singapore down pat. His descriptions made me want to visit the other places Doug visited, as well.
My husband loved this book, too. We both laughed out loud at some passages, and the solution to the mystery wasn't obvious until very close to the end. I'm looking forward to Mr. Benoit's next book!
Rating:
Summary: Great Adventure - Interesting Characters - Lots of Fun
Review: This has got to be the best adventure book I have ever read and I have read thousands.The characters are real,the discriptions actually make you live for a moment in exotic places like Sinapore and Casablanca.The hero is one of us.An unemployed brewery worker from Pottsville, Pennsylvania.The writers sense of humor is down to earth and wonderful.His women are believable
as are all the characters in this book.You'll want to hop on a plane and go spend time with them all but the only way to meet them is to read this great book.The writer doesn't slow down at the end like so many do.As if they have already lost interest themselves. Instead he give us a great surprising ending that you will love.
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