The Eighth Day

Rating:
Summary: Not the best
Review: I will admit that John Case's books are a bit of a guilty pleasure. While I'm sure even the author(s) wouldn't argue them as life-altering literature, they are fairly well written and original novels within a genre (thrillers) that by and large seems to have run out of steam. That being said, I can only hope that pressing bills and/or a pressing publication deadline was the cause for the massively bad "Eighth Day". While I could wax on about this or that particular problem, the overall fault in this book is what can only be termed a terribly weak premise and a plot that just fails to engage on every level. Plot points make no sense, the writing is stilted and formulaic and so on. Do yourself a favour...if you want a good little "escapist" read by John Case pick up "Genesis Code" or "The First Horseman". Otherwise if you persist with the "Eighth Day", don't say say you weren't warned when, barely managing to digest the horribly cheesy ending, you wonder how to get your money back.

Rating:
Summary: The Eighth Day Is A Five Star Read
Review: The husband and wife team who write under the pseudonym of John Case have another winner in The Eighth Day. Danny Cray, an aspiring sculptor and part time investigator for Fellner Associates, an international investigative firm, is invited to a private meeting by Jude Belzer, an attorney for Zerevan Zebek an Italian "businessman." At the meeting Danny is advised that Belzer would like to retain him for "a little damage control."
Belzer advises that his client is a target of a campaign to destroy his reputation and offers to hire Danny to look into the people who are doing it and find out who is behind them. He will have an open budget and be paid $100 an hour (which is $75 an hour more than he gets from Fellner)and is given an advance retainer of $5000 against his time and expenses. Danny cannot say no, although he asks himself a question at the end of the meeting which he should have answered and saved himself a lot of toil and trouble. He notes that Belzer is traveling with three body guards and as he leaves the meeting he asks himself, "What kind of lawyer has bodyguards?"

Danny starts his investigation and strikes some early paydirt which Belzer approves of and which leads him to ask him to go to Rome to follow up on information he has dug up. More money is forthcoming and off Danny goes on a trip to Hell as things turn very dangerous and very ugly for Danny and all whom he encounters in his travels.

Telling more would only spoil the read and this is one read that does not want to be spoiled. Enjoy!