HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

Loading...

Deep Shelter

by Oliver Harris

Series: Nick Belsey (2)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
735362,520 (3.84)7
"Detective Nick Belsey, a shrewd, street-smart cynic and dedicated drunk who is also one of London's sharpest and most unprincipled investigators, was introduced in 2012's The Hollow Man; now he's back in another gritty, white-knuckle thriller--and he's in trouble"--
None
Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 7 mentions

Showing 5 of 5
"Here was that law of nature that gathers up the indiscretions you've left behind and strews them in front of you."

This is the second in the Nick Belsen detective series. I read the first Hollow Man a few years ago, and really liked it. This one, not so much.

Nick Belsen is an amoral, extremely unprincipled, even corrupt London detective. He seems to get away with a lot, although he also always seems on the verge of getting caught, and is definitely on the edge financially.

In this entry, Nick discovers a series of what appear to be bomb shelters or government facilities in underground London, left over after WW II and apparently abandoned. He finds certain goods in some of them, and begins to surmise they may be in use for some sort of criminal enterprise. He decides to bring a date, a woman he barely knows, down to one of the shelters for some champagne and who knows what else. They've barely begun to sip their champagne when Nick turns around, and when he turns back his date has disappeared. Frantically searching the tunnels he's unable to find her. He's afraid to report her as missing because if something has happened to her, he fears being blamed.

I think there's a good story here, but it became more and more convoluted as more and more tunnels, facilities and locations were discovered. I had a hard time keeping track geographically of where we were in London and how things connected. The criminal enterprise(s) didn't always make sense to me either. A person more familiar with the underground facilities described (at least some of them are real), might enjoy this more than I did.

2 stars ( )
  arubabookwoman | Sep 15, 2023 |
If you like your stories to go at a fast pace, this is the book for you. D.C. Nick Belsey based in Hampstead is the good cop/bad cop rolled into one and with a chequered past. He is drawn into an intriguing investigation which he discovers has its roots in an incident over 30 years in the past, involving the disused underground railway tunnels, bomb shelters and command centres beneath the London streets. This early part of the book is really gripping, harking back to the Cold War era and fears for survival. One review that I read compared it to John le Carre, but I felt that the final revelations fell away somewhat, being closer to a cinematic action-packed James Bond rather than the meticulous planning and calm of George Smiley.
  camharlow2 | Dec 14, 2020 |
4.5 out of 5 - more TK. ( )
  drewsof | Sep 30, 2015 |
4.5 out of 5 - more TK. ( )
  drewsof | Sep 30, 2015 |
Inspector Nick Belsey chases a man who "disappears" after being trapped in a London cul-de-sac. He soon discovers a underground system of shelters built in WWII. With him is his girlfriend. She goes missing in the darkness. Thence ensues a rather long complicated tale involving a WWII secret government agency, a shrink, his patient, Nick's former girlfriend who turns up as his new boss. I thought it was a little over long but well plotted and written, with a few too many rabbit out of hat twists for my taste. ( )
  mckall08 | Feb 6, 2015 |
Showing 5 of 5
no reviews | add a review

Belongs to Series

You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Epigraph
Dedication
First words
He was trying to get a moment's peace when the car appeared.
Quotations
Last words
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

None

"Detective Nick Belsey, a shrewd, street-smart cynic and dedicated drunk who is also one of London's sharpest and most unprincipled investigators, was introduced in 2012's The Hollow Man; now he's back in another gritty, white-knuckle thriller--and he's in trouble"--

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Haiku summary

Current Discussions

None

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (3.84)
0.5
1
1.5
2 1
2.5
3 2
3.5 4
4 9
4.5
5 3

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 203,517,861 books! | Top bar: Always visible