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Loading... The Bookman's Promise (2004)by John Dunning
The Bookman’s Promise is the 3rd in John Dunning’s Cliff Janeway series. With the windfall cash Cliff has from the Grayson business (see The Bookman’s Wake), he decides to spend some serious money on a single book. He becomes interested in the work of renowned 19th century British explorer, Sir Richard Burton, and manages to spend $30,000 on a signed copy of Pilgrimage. Soon, he is contacted by Josephine Gallant, granddaughter of that book’s former owner, and Cliff finds himself making her a promise on her deathbed. Murder, violence and arson follow. Cliff hooks up with a young lawyer and a librarian in an endeavour to track down some unique books, a search that takes them to Baltimore, Charleston and Charlotte. Once again, Dunning gives us a great plot with a few interesting twists, characters that have the ability to surprise the reader and, of course, tidbits on rare books and the antics of unscrupulous book dealers. As well as this, he touches on hypnotism, biographers and bibliographers, and he gives the reader quite a dose of the Civil War. I look forward to the next in the series, The Sign of the Book. (  ) CloggieDownunder | Mar 16, 2012 |  I enjoy this series immensely. Dunning is certainly at his best in terms of plotting, and telling engaging tales that center in some way on books. He is less successful in his depiction of the relationships of his main characters, especially bookman Janeway's romantic interactions, which tend to read as canned and tinny. Significant research goes into each tale, and it shows. (  ) dono421846 | Sep 23, 2011 | I am glad I read [b:The Sign of the Book: A Cliff Janeway "Bookman" Novel|445574|The Sign of the Book A Cliff Janeway "Bookman" Novel (Cliff Janeway Novels)|John Dunning|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174846779s/445574.jpg|1821768] before I read this. I just coudn;t find teh interest or energy for the historial lecture in the middle and skimmed that entire section. I certainly like Cliff better when he has Erin to spark aaginst though again he was likeable here - just the story dragged. (  ) shelleyraec | May 9, 2011 | Cliff is back, but this novel has a more cynical edge - maybe because he is looking back from the viewpoint of a man who has been betrayed. Another thing unique to this third book in the series is that it contains a story-within-a-story. Used to good effect, the story gives the reader a sense of the joy of book collecting - the magic of the backstory, the thrill of the mystery. And then there is the on-going question: will Janeway get the girl? (  ) tjsjohanna | Apr 7, 2011 | Book seller and former cop Cliff Janeway meets an old woman whose family had a almost priceless collection of books. Unfortunately the books were sold by her father when the old woman was a child. In her late years, she wants to find out what has happened to the books and wanted to bring them back together and asks Janeway the bookseller to find them. Following the murder of a friend Janeway is committed to finding answers to the question of the fate of the books. He travels through the dark reaches of rare and old book sellers stores and collections, meet old friends and acquaintances and becomes involved in a story of betrayal friendship and promises. I really like the Dunning books and am looking forward to reading another. ( ) WeeziesBooks | Mar 22, 2011 |
 After an eight-year hiatus, author and antiques book collector John Dunning has returned Cliff Janeway --- the tough guy, Denver ex-cop turned bookstore owner and hero of two prior novels, BOOKED TO DIE and THE BOOKMAN'S WAKE --- to his fans. Janeway is plunged into a new mystery when Josephine Gallant, a frail and dying old woman, is brought to his shop. She had heard Janeway on a radio interview about a rare first edition he had acquired by 19th century explorer Richard Francis Burton. She contends that the book is rightfully hers and was part of a vast collection of her grandfather's. The collection mysteriously disappeared shortly after her grandfather's death, and she has always suspected that a crooked Baltimore bookstore dealer was responsible. None of the books had surfaced in almost 80 years, but she is certain Janeway's new acquisition was part of that collection.
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