A book which takes an unexpected turn early on, this book’s best feature for me was its unpredictability. No hint is given on the cover as to the subject matter, and as the story progresses it is never clear how ‘safe’ it will turn out to be (though the style tended to suggest a ‘lite’ version of a contemporary issue was being presented).

It was a straightforward and quick read – I got through it in a day – and it kept me guessing to the end. I would perhaps have liked to get to know the protagonist Richard a bit better: despite this being a first-person narrative, he never came across as a three dimensional character, more as a guy being buffeted about by events. On the other hand, the story features a character called Eck. Nobody expresses any surprise at this. Are there really people out there called Eck? Top marks for inventiveness either way. ( )

Meh. That was my first reaction when I finished the book.
Since I have been out of reading for so long, and my main bulk of reading is not done in the department of this particular genre, I cannot say whether my 'gulping' of the book, i.e. reading it cover to cover fairly quickly, is due to the writer's abilities of pulling a reader in or my need to know the end (and no, I cannot jump to the end and just be done with it, I have the compelling urge to travel the literary road completely, start to finish). So the first, and one of the only, point for this book is the way it dragged me in and made it hard for me to put down. As a result, I finished reading it at 3 in the morning.

It is an easy read, fairly straight forward (in general), and moves along quite quickly. You don't tread in place for very long, or at all. However, it does leave some scenes wanting, though it is not plagued with the had-an-idea-so-I-ran-with-it-but-forgot-to-go-back-and-add-details feeling.

I do not expect every adventure/mystery novel to be a completely surprising. They rarely are anymore, the basic twists and turns are pretty much expected. However, too blatant foreshadowing ruins even the most trivial story lines. First Person Narration is mostly hurt (if not mostly plagued) by it, because once a character hints at a possibility and then ignores it, big, red, neon signs are lit up "danger, danger". When it is repeated, it also makes the character seem, well, to put it bluntly, dumb. Add to that a character whose mantra is "don't think", and you, as a reader, get the feeling that someone offended your intelligence.

Also, I know that most books have an agenda, a point, other than the plot, that they want to get across. Well, not books, but their writers. I'm aware that the matter of subtlety in this matter has been lost, or, rather, the ability to pass said point elegantly. While some books shove it down your throat, others, as this book, manage to make it quite delicate. Problem was, that while delicate, a) it could be seen a mile away (though I've already mentioned the subtlety issue); and b) it was not compelling.
I did not read the opening notes (I never do before I read the book, a clean start), so I did not know what he was aiming at, but it was pretty clear almost for the start. To make it clear, he's trying to make a point about PTSD and the society's handling of army veterans in general. While it was obvious he aimed at these issues, I felt he missed them. I felt the main character was messed-up before he joined the army (with the very little information we have on how he was before), and afterwards he just seemed psychotic regardless of his service. I think bringing this very important issue on the table requires a different genre altogether, or a longer and more psychological book, one that isn't focused on the action, but rather the REaction.
Despite the good intentions and the characterization of a man incapable of real emotional connection who's trying not to think, it didn't come off as a PTSD, but rather as an obnoxious and unrelatable character. It (the book, the story, the character) needs more depth, more poking fingers into the unpleasant places. More rawness, jabbing a hot poker into the wound. It's a bit too willy-nilly on this important issue.

I have trouble with books where I find the main character unpleasing. It is a serious problem when the terms I'd use to describe a character are: Stupid, emotionally numb, and psychotic. Of course, when we're talking about a character who is supposed to evoke empathy, it is even worse.

At the end, despite all that happened and could happen, two things occurred that annoyed me:
1. A forced happy ending - I am quite allergic to those, especially in non-romance literature (not that the forced happy endings in romance don't give me the hives, it's just they are more genre acceptable). While I guess some would argue it is not necessarily a happy ending (it is quite an open one), I still feel it is, especially because it feels forced. It doesn't feel natural, just sort of a filler to tie a loose end and to give hope to our beloved hero. I would see it end in a completely different way.
Mind you, I am talking strictly about the last chapter, an afterward of sorts, and not the resolution of the mystery plot. It (i.e. mystery plot) was resolved, if not to my satisfaction, to an expected and presumable outcome (if you accept the premises in the plot up until then, that is).
2. Despite all that has gone through, despite all the realizations and enlightenment our hero had gone through, he has not evolved or grown one single centimeter. He stayed the same, but, mainly because of point 1, it doesn't seem like a human being that got stuck in place, rather like a book character that has not evolved. And in such a story, with such revelations, progress must be made.

To sum it up: I didn't like the main character, the moral seemed forced, and the ending fake. However, it is written in an engaging way, and the action plot is quite an interesting one (though not entirely innovative). I probably will not read this book again, but I cannot say that I would stay away from other books by the same writer. ( )

This is a very entertaining story about an ex-soldier suffering from PTSD and making bad choices in his life. It's a fast read, touching lightly on issues such as the treatment of soldiers and the war on terror. ( )

This was an intriguing story, written with Torday's customary verve. The main protagonist is Richard Gaunt, a disillusined and vaguely dysfuntional ex-soldier who had left the Army after a tour in Baghdad. As the book progresses it emerges that while in Iraq he had been involved with unsavoury and inappropriate operations run in conjuction with the SAS, American special Forces and some sinister civilian organisations. His return to civilian life had not been easy, and as the story opens we learn that he had broiken his engagement with Emma, a lovely girl with whom he had had a long relationship, and with whom he had also been in business.
The book starts with Gaunt deciding to vist his Mayfair gambling club, worrying whwether he will be accepted there agin in view of his extensive debts to various other members. However, for once he has a very successful evening and ends up with a pocketful of cash and other debts owed. One of his debtors is lord hartlepool who offers a quirky "double or quits" wager that gaunt can walk from the clkub to oxford in time for lunch at the Randolph Hotel at 1.00 p.m. the next day. Gaunt, still heady from the evenng's drink and his unaccustomed winnings, accepts the bet and duly sets off.
All goes well until the midway through the following morning when he encounters a black Range Rover, and everthing seems to fall apart.
Torday has a great knack of making even the most outlandish characters seem realistic. As usual, we also meet various characters who have appeared in his other books, often merely peripherally. For instance, hector Chetwynde-Talbot and Nick Davies, both of whome featured in "The Hopeless life of Charlie Summers" reappear here.
Overall, not a huge amount of substance but a healthy dose of style. ( )

I think this one is the best out of Paul's work.

It is about Richard Gaunt, an ex-Army Londoner who due to misadventures at a gambling club in London is kidnapped walking to Oxford and taken to a house and (almost forced) to marry a women he never met for money.

Things are not what they appear, and who is this mystery woman? Is she from Afghanstan? Is she a terrorist? What is going on? ( )