<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Read the review
Review: I loved this book! Great story, great characters, and
the pacing of it just never lets up. Furthermore
it avoids the nauseating politically correct propaganda
junk that mars so many mysteries and action stories
in today's world; ones where women perform feats
of daring physical, psychological, and intellectual stunts
(while the men waffle around like flawed, clueless bozos)
that in real life just don't happen. If you want deep characterizations and
all
that, go back and reread Shakespeare. This book
plays out almost like a very satisfying, high quality movie.
I'd definitely be willing to seek out and read other works by this author in
the
future. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Its all about art - surrounded by connivers and thieves...
Review: I'm proud of Jack Oxby, introduced in The Davinci Deception. Meet him in The Cezanne Chase and the Final Faberge. I promise he gets into devlish situations and will keep you engaged and provoked. Perhaps smiling, too.
Rating: 
Summary: Passes the time, but it's not Ian Pears
Review: This book has silly mistakes of reference, stodgy exposition about the art that reads like it was intended for a textbook, and a pretty predictable plot. It's a police procedural (not a mystery) and the procedure is generally ok, but none of the characters is well developed. It's passingly interesting for an airplane, but not much more. Try Instance of the Finger Post instead.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent mystery set in the art world
Review: This is the second Thomas Swan novel taking place in the art world. A set of theives set up a complex deception involving Leonardo Da Vinci, as the title implies. Jack Oxby is not very prominent in this book, but other characters move the book along. The chapters are short, which keeps you moving. I found it difficult to put down. I disagree with the review here stating that character developement is weak; I have a feel for each one of them. Surprises abound and it is a good view into the art world; as someone who works in it, it is not nearly as idealized as the museums would make you think! Good job Mr. Swan...please send us more!
Rating:
Summary: Exciting art crime with great destinations and characters.
Review: This is Thomas Swan's inaugural art crime and introduces Jack Oxby from Scotland Yard's Art & Antiques Squad. It is, as was Swan's The Cezanne Chase, a Book of the Month Club Featured Selection. Fran Wood wrote in The Newark Star Ledger, "While Swan provides rather more detail on DaVinci and the mateiral used by the Renaissance artists than most mystery fans will care to wade through, there is plenty of action, and Swan masterfully pulls together the various threads of the adventure in a breakneck climax." Its a great read and highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent mystery set in the art world
Review: While the plot is interesting, the writing is weak and the character development limited. The author tries to keep us entertained by moving the characters from New York to London to Lake Como, but the interesting travels don't replace good character development. A fun read...that's about it.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining but lacking any real character development.
Review: While the plot is interesting, the writing is weak and the character development limited. The author tries to keep us entertained by moving the characters from New York to London to Lake Como, but the interesting travels don't replace good character development. A fun read...that's about it.
Rating: 
Summary: Airport reading at best
Review: Wow, this book is dreadful. The prose is painfully bad, the dialogue is excruciating, the characterization falls flat, and the plot loses any tenuous claim to credibility unless the reader is willing to assume that each character is stupider than the last.Occasionally such a book can be rescued by an interesting detective. Alas, I have no idea whether this is one of them; because although this book is billed as an Inspector Jack Oxby novel, when I finally gave up reading on page 300 of a 378-page book, Inspector Oxby had made one brief appearance and garnered two passing references. I assume he actually does take part in the plot at some point, but I can't vouch for it. The cover blurb says "Fans of Ian Pears' art mysteries will enjoy the lavish detail." Fans of Ian Pears would do well to reread Ian Pears and stay well away from this charmless hash.
<< 1 >>
|
