Sight Unseen

On a beautiful July afternoon in 1981 David Umber witnesses the kidnapping of a young girl. At the same time the child's sister is struck and killed by the kidnapper's van. In the ensuing confusion the kidnappers escape and are never heard from again. No ransom demand is ever presented for the child and she (or her body) is never located. Several years later a convicted sex offender confesses to the crime and is jailed, but there is some doubt that he was the kidnapper.

The events of that July day profoundly affect David's life, his promising academic career is cut short. He marries the kidnapped child's nanny and they drift around Europe for several years before separating. Suffering depression, she commits suicide. Several years later show more when he is working in Prague in a dead-end job as a guide for British package tours, he is approached by a retired British policeman who wants to re-open the investigation into the kidnapping and David's wife's suicide. David reluctantly agrees, and for the next 400+ pages of the book he chases clues, is chased, beaten up and threatened with death. As he says at page 409:

"It was too good to be true. It was too alluring to be anything but a trap. And maybe it was a trap deadlier than any of those he had so far blundered into. But he had agreed to go. And he would. He could not ignore the summons. He could not resist the bait. He could not avoid the trap."

The surprise ending is saved for the very end of the book. It's a long slog to finish the book, but well worth the effort. There's an interesting parallel story about the "Junius Letters" that plays in the background. Some readers may feel that it's a meaningless distraction, but I found it interesting.

All said, this is an action-filled suspense story, with a satisfying conclusion.

Recommended. show less

I am not certain as to how this book came into my collection: I think that I may have picked it up at a second hand bookshop because I mistook the author for someone else! Whatever the truth may be, I am delighted that this book fell into my hands and, the next Robert Goddard book that I read will be purchased with my full cognisance as to who the author is.

This is one of those works that are difficult to put down: every few pages something is happening, or just about to happen. The story is based around a real political intrigue from the 1850's and the effects of a fictional history student who was studying them. I. personally love a novel that informs as it entertains and I was gripped from page one.

This is one of those books where show more characters are sketched rather than finely drawn and plot can appear a little weak, if studied too carefully, but if taken at the gallop, becomes a cracking good read.

Thoroughly recommended. show less

Witness to a child's kidnapping doesn't know what he saw. Classic Goddard "hero" -- wandering around getting kicked and hardly knowing what's going on -- I love him!

Not a bad Goddard, but it never really rises above being par-for-the-course. He's got a good game, but if you've read a few of these before, you've essentially read everything here before. Middle of the pack of the half-dozen of his I've read (so he is good enough that I keep coming back for more, eventually).

It was the first of Robert Goddard for me and I definitely became a fan. Such an intriguing story.

I was sceptical at first, being used to a fair amount of action but it didn't take long for Goddard to grab me and lead me through the suspense right to the end.

Eén keer gelezen, maar dat is te lang geleden voor een goede recensie. Dus, eerst nog een keer lezen, dan horen jullie wat ik ervan vind.

Intend to release this one at the meeting on Terschelling, so will read this in the course of next week.

After a considerable time I re-read this book. This time, liked it a lot better than the first, when I compared it too much with [b:Verboden te lezen|10879478|Verboden te lezen |Robert Goddard|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1301195308s/10879478.jpg|1845145], a book by the same author. Now that I did not read them one after the other, I am able to talk about this book.

There's a lot going on in this book. Occasionally I had trouble following the leaps of thought of certain characters, how he/she show more came to the conclusion .... I'm not saying that everything should always be written in great detail, but because there were some unexplained things, the story lines came together very late. As a reader I'd have preferred to know some reasons / causes earlier on in the story. Most likely I would have appreciated the book more.

It is certainly not a bad book, but I have read more exciting / better books. The only scene that really stood out for me was the one near the end of the book, at the tain station. That was very well done. I won't say anything more.... ;-) show less

This is only the third novel by Robert Goddard that I've read - the first was a great read, the second I didn't manage to finish. Sight Unseen is a well written tidy thriller, set in Britain (the main locations are Oxfordshire and Jersey).
You find yourself caring about what happens to the main characters, and interested in what happens next. The book combines a modern day thriller, with a historical mystery story. Overall a good read.