Stephen Leather

The first page was really intriguing and locked me into the character of Jack Nightingale, a police negotiator turned private detective. He is a troubled man, troubled by what he has seen through the course of his job though nowadays he earns his living from following unfaithful spouses. ‘Nightfall’ by Stephen Leather is the first of the Jack Nightingale series, described as a ‘supernatural thriller’.
This is a different kind of detective story, which begins when Jack is told he has show more inherited a mansion from a man who claimed to be Jack’s natural father. That’s not all, his ‘father’ leaves a warning: at Jack’s birth his soul was sold to the devil and a devil will come to claim it on his thirty-third birthday. That’s only three weeks away. So Jack is in a race against time to find out the truth. Was he really adopted? Who is Ainsley Gosling? What is going on? Is he suffering from stress? Hearing things? Imagining things? Is he going to lose his soul? Or is it one big con? When people around him start to die, Jack begins to lose his sense of perspective. ‘You are going to hell, Jack Nightingale’ are the last words he heard at the end of his career as a police negotiator but now he hears those words again, said to him by strangers.
A page-turning thriller with a fresh angle on the crime novel. Not what I was expecting at all, if I’d been offered the chance to read a ‘supernatural thriller’ I would have said ‘no thanks’. But I enjoyed this. Why? Stephen Leather knows how to keep the story moving, he really works the trick of finishing a chapter in a way which makes you read the next even though it is midnight. And I like the main character, Jack Nightingale. For once he is not a tortured depressed detective with relationship issues, and that made this book a refreshing read. The supernatural detective thing is very different, the most similar crime book I’ve read is ‘The Silent Twin’ by Caroline Mitchell where the detective is sensitive to the spiritual vibes of recent murder victims.
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This was probably one of the largest books I read in what must be couple of hours (although spread over several days, for this I can only blame my everyday chores). Story was so fast-paced it kept me glued to the end (or inevitable sleep :)). Story of a man who tries to live his life but finds himself brought back to the underworld, betrayed and left to fight for himself under circumstances he had no power over.

Author manages to paint a vivid picture of Thailand, busy Bangkok, overcrowded show more prisons and wilderness of the so called Golden Triangle, area that drug-lords and war-lords keep under their thumb. When chain of events triggers a revenge campaign aiming to kill off the most powerful of drug-lords our hero's mission goes from high-level-of-failure to almost suicidal.

What I liked is the rather realistic approach to criminal underworld - anyone snooping around pretty soon gets offed and it does not matter if they are locals or foreigners. People die after betrayals or in ambushes - it is not guaranteed who will manage to survive. I was kept on my toes urging the characters to be smarter and avoid stupid mistakes and make it to the last pages of the novel (and unfortunately some did not). This is dog-eat-dog world and one can only hope to bring more firepower against the enemy if one wants to survive. In this way book reminds of [a:Tom Clancy|3892|Tom Clancy|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png]'s "[b:Clear and Present Danger|32669|Clear and Present Danger (Jack Ryan, #5; Jack Ryan Universe, #6)|Tom Clancy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1291440438l/32669._SY75_.jpg|5054704]" (another great book on anti-drug operations, highly recommended if you have not read it). Characters are well portrayed. Main hero Chris Hutchison is interesting guy. Unwillingly brought into the world of crime he manages to escape from the long term jail sentence but he is forced to start new life on the other end of Earth. After he gets pushed back into criminal world through blackmail we can see that he is more than capable to take care of himself - he manages to manipulate and fight off the criminals and make allies in what must be one of the worst prisons in the world. Author also emphasizes the crucial role friends play in everyone's lives. And lets be honest Chris would not survive single day without friends.

Book ends on a positive note and I was pleasantly surprised by it. I think that lately happy endings are becoming somewhat extinct - it is always some gloom ending or capital loss. So when things end up on a positive note I find it truly refreshing.

Great action, great characters. Highly recommended to all fans of thrillers and action. show less

A charming little novel that has a mystery but no murder, no horror, lots of suspicion and possible conspiracies and lots of local color.

Bob Turtledove is a former New Orleans cop now married to a beautiful Thai woman (and she’s much smarter than he and very well connected.) He runs an antique store but over the years he has helped numerous people with their business dealings in Thailand. Mr. and Mrs. Clare of Salt Lake City want him to find their perfect (saving himself for his wife) son show more with whom they have lost contact. Bob is the antithesis of the macho cop and his investigation reveals much of how business is done in Thailand. Patience is rewarded; a sense of humor, essential.

Stephen Leather must have a lot of knowledge of Thailand (he lives there part of the year) as the story reeks of authenticity. One might even say that Bangkok is the major character of the novel. It also reveals some of the cultural conflicts and mistaken seductions of those who visit the country. I hope Leather brings Bob back in several reincarnations.

Jai yen (Cool heart, don’t worry, be happy) show less

Pleasing little locked-room (plane) mystery. How could the man by the window have been shot during the flight in front of all the witnesses when he was alive when the flight left?

...once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.” Sergeant Lee frowned. “But how does that help us if everything is impossible?” “No, Sergeant. Everything cannot be impossible, because we have a victim and we have a crime scene and we also have a murderer show more that we have yet to identify. What we have to do is to eliminate the impossible, and that we have done. We know that he was killed on the plane. That is certain because he was alive for most of the flight. So it was impossible for him to have been killed before boarding. But we are equally certain that it was impossible for him to have been shot...

A good introduction to the longer novels. Fun and cheap for the Kindle. show less