The Righteous Men

I got this through Bookmooch after reading and enjoying The Final Reckoning a couple of years ago.

Here we have a cracking thriller where Anglo-American journalist, Will stumbles across a big story, the magnitude of it confirmed by the kidnapping of his wife, Beth. Will faces a race against time, he must find out how two very different murders are connected and why his own wife has been taken into “protective custody”, not realising they are all part of a global conspiracy. His search leads him into Crown Heights, Brooklyn, into the heart of the Hassidic Jewish community, an unlikely place to find a kidnapper. Will enlists the help of his friends Tom, a computer geek, and TC, his Jewish ex-girlfriend, as well as the cryptic text show more messages from an unknown source.

Bourne, like his main character Will, is a journalist, which lends an air of authenticity to the role not always found in books of this genre. The author has obviously done a lot of research, both on the technical and religious / historical side, but what I appreciated most was that the information was clearly given, giving depth to the story, driving the narrative on without seeming too contrived.

As the book deals with a religious prophecy, it is unsurprising that comparisons are made between it and The Da Vinci Code (such as the blurb on the book itself). While I believe a Da Vinci Code fan would enjoy this book, there are major differences. Will, unlike Landon, may be the sleuth, but he is not expert, this means we learn new information as he does, and making him much more likeable. As a journalist, Bourne has a good style, with few unnecessary passages. I recommend this for anyone looking for a well-written thriller. show less

The back cover of this book contains a review extract from Esquire claiming that The Righteous Men is even more readable than Dan Brown. This is not exactly the highest of hurdles and, even though Bourne -- in reality UK columnist Jonathan Freedland -- manages to clear it, his trailing foot sets the crossbar aquiver.

Newbie New York Times journo Will Monroe seeks to impress his bosses, and does so as he unearths the stories behind two seemingly unrelated murders on opposite sides of the country, discovering that both victims, one a pimp and the other a redneck survivalist, had secretly perpetrated acts of extraordinary kindness: they were "righteous men". Promptly Will's wife Beth is abducted. With the help of an old hacker friend and show more Beth's predecessor, the sexy TC, Will discovers Beth's been taken by a Brooklyn cult of Ultraorthodox Jews. But are they the bad guys? Or are they trying to save the world? -- because there's a tradition that at any one time there are 36 righteous men in the world, and if someone should knock 'em all off it'll be The End. And someone is indeed doing the requisite knocking off . . .

There's lots of Kabbalistic thrashing around, successions of pointlessly puerile riddles in the Dan Brown vein for Will and TC to solve, plenty of items for Thog's Masterclass, wooden characterization, dire visualization (how do you tell, at a distance and in dim street lighting, that someone has blue eyes?) and much more. In a couple of instances there are silly little continuity errors, as if the printed text was assembled from several different drafts and no one troubled to check the joins. Every now and then there's a nice touch, as when Will, despite his anxiety over Beth, has guilty little flashbacks to some of the things he and TC used to get up to, back in the day; but most of this is pretty drab. show less

First Sam Bourne book I have read, though I have read his non fiction political books.

The plot concerns a new reporter to the New York Times, he gets a break on a story and from that point his life unravels. His wife is kidnapped, and he is drawn into a plot that is a blend of Jewish mysticism and fundamental religious beliefs. A number of people around the world have been eliminated and he is desperately.turing to get his wife back and stay one step ahead of those tracking him.

He has been compared to Dan Brown, but this is not totally fair, as it is a lot better written. I thought that the plot was ok, nut slightly unbelievable at the end. I just found that the dialogue was a little wooden between the characters.

Good page turner. Ideal show more for a holiday read. show less

Will Monroe has an American Father and English mother. He grew up in England and now is working as a junior journalist in the New York Times. When he is assigned a murder there are questions about the reasoning. When he finds that another murder is somewhat linked, and his wife goes missing, kidnapped, he has a reason to investigate the murders. When he does he finds that the purpose is obscure and the motives of everyone around him has to be suspected.

Starts with somewhat of a bang, then starts to lag and then picks up again. Interesting uses of Jewish legend and tradition. It kept me guessing and the twist at the end took me by surprise.

So I've finally finished my Sam Bourne binge-read. For the finale, I read his first book last, following reading "The Last Testament" and "The Final Reckoning". Like his other novels, this tale draws heavily on historic and religious references. It features an amazing immersion into the world of the Hasidic Jews in New York. It's probably the strongest of his books, despite being the first.

The general story - a newspaper reporter uncovers a series of seemingly unrelated murders. His wife is kidnapped and he is receiving cryptic text messages from an unknown individual. The journalist has unwittingly become the central character in an apocalyptic scenario of amazing scale and imagination.

The Righteous Men is an entertaining and show more interesting read. show less

this was kind of an old testament based "the davinci code" but better written. it's a fun and fast read. a murder mystery with a lot of twists and turns. i really enjoyed it. granted, it's not going to win a pullitzer or something crazy like that, but it's an enjoyable book.

At first Will just thinks he's lucked out in finding a good news story to chase. Two murders on opposite sides of the country, intriguing because both involve men who are remembered for unexpectedly making a sacrifice that can only be explained as "righteous". Will doesn't immediately make the connection, but when he is sent a message that his wife has been kidnapped he desperately starts to follow the kidnappers trail. Which leads him to a religious sect, an ancient legend, and more murders. Will he be able to solve the mystery of the "righteous men" in time?