Download Assassin Of Shadows Composed By Lawrence Goldstone Shown In Hardcover
primary lesson I have learned here is that I will probably not read another book by Mr, Goldstone.
The book here is a "reimagining" of the events surrounding the assassination of President William McKinley, McKinley was shot inby Leon Czolgosz pronounced "chalgosh" an Anarchist,
In the book the assassination is pictured as the result of a convoluted conspiracy, This sounded like an interesting story, and I suppose could have been, Instead we get a long somewhat wandering story that touches on the personal life of our protagonist and his sidekick, The loss, lovelives and so on while not my cup of tea could possibly draw in some other readers, I suspect however that these readers also may find the book a bit slow and "noncommittal", It often doesn't seem to know exactly what type of story it is some stumbles back and forth trying to find itself,
However the part that pushes the book over the line fromtois for me "that is for me" the ending,
Of course I can't go into that in the open as it is a major spoiler so, . . spoiler upcoming. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW HOW THE BOOK ENDS DO NOT READ THE SPOILER!
Again, bottom line didn't care for it, got rid of the book, don't plan to read any more from the author, American bookbuying habits being what they are, the single most complimentary thing I can say about ASSASSIN OF SHADOWS is that it reads like a Jack Reacher book.
It is a minor scandal that the American public, as spendthrifty as they are in every other area of commerce, is so miserly in terms of buying books, but there we have it.
As a people, we purchase books from authors we like and ignore most of the rest, But occasionally we will take a flyer on books that are similar to those we've liked, and many an author has, in their deepest reservoirs of their desiccated black hearts, aspired to be the next Clancy, the next Grisham, the next Ludlum.
I do not honestly think that Lawrence Goldstone whose nonfiction I have read and enjoyed is specifically trying to be the next Lee Child not that it would be such a terrible thing if he were.
The resemblance between Jack Reacher and Goldstones Walter George is only skindeep anyway, George is an imposing, hardbitten Army veteran like Reacher, but he has a respectable job, a place to live and a partner, Hes almost immediately given a job worthy of someone of Reachers talents: investigating the murder of President William McKinley,
The McKinley assassination is one of those nuggets of history that has fallen out of the popular imagination, Compared to Booth or Oswald or even Guiteau, the name Leon Czolgosz is scarcely remembered, The assumption made at the time and in this novel is that Czolgosz was a patsy, a dupe of some larger organization of anarchists, It is Georges job to run down this lead together with a Presidential directive not to pin the blame on the anarchists without evidence,
What Goldstone does most effectively in ASSASSIN OF SHADOWS is to put his hero in constant conflict with everyone around him, George is brave, determined and formidable, and surrounded by people who, for various reasons, dont want him to do his job, But he keeps on, relentlessly, until he finds the thread of the conspiracy, This should sound familiar to any Reacher fan, and Goldstone blends the period details with the procedural format very effectively, There is a lot of train travel in this book, as George goes back and forth from Chicago to Buffalo to Cleveland, following up on leads,
The other main source of conflict for George is his partner, Harry Swayne, who exists primarily to needle him, The relationship between them is skewed a bit by two salient facts: Swayne was Georges superior in the Army where they fought the Sioux in the Dakotas, and he is trying to get George to marry his sister.
So theres an odd brotherinlaw dynamic between the two that is more than a little annoying, Goldstone solves this by periodically dropping Swayne out of the story,
The joke in the book, which may or may not be a joke, is that Swayne spends the time when George leaves him behind in the local whorehouse.
Swaynes presence solves a problem in the Reacher books, which are all either firstperson narrations which is fine or thirdperson limited, which doesnt work so well for Reacher because hes so quiet.
You have to put Reacher constantly around other people so he can move the story forward, Swayne is there to talk to George and help out with the fighting when hes not needed, he drops out of the story very efficiently,
But George is always there, doggedly pushing the case forward, running down clues, and acting honorably once they lead him down a very dark path.
ASSASSIN OF SHADOWS is a close periodpiece cousin to the Reacher series, but it finds its own way and reaches its own conclusions while exploring a dark and almost forgotten chapter in American history.
ed by Curtis Edmonds The premise of ASSASSIN OF SHADOWS is quite intriguing and will certainly catch the attention of history buffs and suspense/thriller fans alike.
President William McKinley has just been shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz, Secret Service agent Walter George is sent to investigate and discovers rather than being an open and shut case, Czolgosz might have acted on behalf of powerful individuals who want the President dead for their own reasons.
From the description I was expecting something a bit more literary, but it was very similar to the accessible writing styles of James Patterson, Harlan Coben, and David Baldacci.
There was very minimal character development throughout, I think the romantic subplot was meant to give Walter some much needed depth, but the progression of their relationship felt inauthentic and never came together for me it would have been better to leave it out entirely.
The dialogue felt too modern for the turn of theth century at times, which was jarring and pulled me out of the story, While the novel is more actiondriven, most of it fell flat for me, There was very little in the way of suspense or excitement, I had a hard time investing in the story from the very beginning and continually had to force myself to keep reading and finish it, Even the twist ending didn't shock me very much, In all, I was disappointed because I had expected to like this one quite a bit,
I received an advanced copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review, American bookbuying habits being what they are, the single most complimentary thing I can say about ASSASSIN OF SHADOWS is that it reads like a Jack Reacher book.
It is a minor scandal that the American public, as spendthrifty as they are in every other area of commerce, is so miserly in terms of buying books, but there we have it.
As a people, we purchase books from authors we like and ignore most of the rest, But occasionally we will take a flyer on books that are similar to those we've liked, and many an author has, in their deepest reservoirs of their desiccated black hearts, aspired to be the next Clancy, the next Grisham, the next Ludlum.
I do not honestly think that Lawrence Goldstone whose nonfiction I have read and enjoyed is specifically trying to be the next Lee Child not that it would be such a terrible thing if he were.
Read the rest at: sitelink bookreporter. com/reviews/assassinofshadows My interest was peaked from reading the first words in Chapter One, and I quote, “A muffled click from outside the front door.
Metallic. Four heads swiveled. ” It was an excellent start to an interesting book, The wordplay was very well done, but unfortunately, it seemed to run out towards the middle of the book, After that it was just normal writing,
The book kicks off on Friday, September,and we meet the agents Walter George and Harry Swayne, President McKinley has been shot and both George and Swayne need to get to Buffalo as they will be heading the investigation,
As the investigation progressed George and Swayne were conflicted in who they could trust, Who were the good guys and who were the bad guys Did Czolgosz act
on his own or was it his band of fellow anarchists that put him up to this
The book has a comfortable pace to it which made for easy reading.
If you are looking for a light thriller, this book is for you,
I received an advance review copy for free from BookSirens, and I am leaving this review voluntarily, Just afterp. m. on September,, twentyeight year old anarchist Leon Czolgosz pumped two shots into the chest and abdomen of President William McKinley, Czolgosz had been on a receiving line waiting to shake the presidents hand, his revolver concealed in an oversized bandage covering his right hand and wrist, McKinley had two Secret Service agents by his side, but neither made a move to stop the assailant, After he was apprehended, Czolgosz said simply, “I done my duty, ”
Both law enforcement and the press insisted that Czolgosz was merely the tip of a vast and murderous conspiracy, likely instigated by the “high priestess of anarchy,” Emma Goldman.
To untangle its threads and bring the remaining conspirators to justice, the presidents most senior advisors choose two other Secret Service agents, Walter George and Harry Swayne.
What they uncover will not only absolve the anarchists, but also expose a plot that will threaten the foundations of American democracy, and likely cost them their lives.
As in his other brilliant novels combining history and fiction, Lawrence Goldstone creates a remarkable and chilling tableau, filled with suspense and unexpected turns of fate, detailing events that actually might have happened.
As Publishers Weekly observed in its starred review of the “exceptional thriller,” Deadly Cure, “Goldstone again blends fact and fiction seamlessly, ” The assassination of William McKinley is at the heart of a novel that begins faster than it finishes, Disclaimer: I was given an advanced readers copy of this novel, In no way does this influence my views or opinions of this novel,
Although this book took me quite a while to get into, it was a very pleasant read! There was just enough humour and intrigue to keep things moving along while little hints of things were happening here and there.
My biggest reason for not scoring this higher was the attention to details there were times I would have preferred more details and subtle hints of things happening, instead of finding out about something two chapters later.
I also wasn't huge on the romantic story line in it, it didn't add anything for me and could honestly have been done away with, although it does lead to decent character development.
Overall, it was a good read, .