ghostchaser reviewed Capital punishment by Robert Wilson (Charles Boxer -- 01.)
Review of 'Capital punishment' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
fresh and different
407 pages
English language
Published Jan. 13, 2013
5 stars
(2 reviews)
Charles Boxer, ex-army, ex-police, has found his niche in private security. His speciality: high-stakes kidnap resolution. But it's a rootless life that doesn't impress his teenage daughter, Amy, or her mother, Detective Sergeant Mercy Danqah. Alyshia D'Cruz, daughter of Indian tycoon Francisco 'Frank' D'Cruz, has grown up in London and Mumbai wanting for nothing. But one night, after a boozy evening out, she gets in the wrong cab home ... When D'Cruz hires Boxer to find Alyshia, Boxer knows Frank's colourful business career has made him plenty of enemies along the way. Despite the vast D'Cruz fortune, the kidnappers don't want cash - instead favouring a cruel and lethal game. But the UK government don't want their big new investor to lose his daughter in the heart of the capital. MI6 officers in India follow Boxer's leads and soon it seems more lives than Alyshia's are at stake, as the …
Charles Boxer, ex-army, ex-police, has found his niche in private security. His speciality: high-stakes kidnap resolution. But it's a rootless life that doesn't impress his teenage daughter, Amy, or her mother, Detective Sergeant Mercy Danqah. Alyshia D'Cruz, daughter of Indian tycoon Francisco 'Frank' D'Cruz, has grown up in London and Mumbai wanting for nothing. But one night, after a boozy evening out, she gets in the wrong cab home ... When D'Cruz hires Boxer to find Alyshia, Boxer knows Frank's colourful business career has made him plenty of enemies along the way. Despite the vast D'Cruz fortune, the kidnappers don't want cash - instead favouring a cruel and lethal game. But the UK government don't want their big new investor to lose his daughter in the heart of the capital. MI6 officers in India follow Boxer's leads and soon it seems more lives than Alyshia's are at stake, as the trail crosses paths with a terrorist plot on British soil. To save Alyshia, Boxer must dodge religious fanatics, Indian mobsters and London's homegrown crimelords.
SBWright reviewed Capital punishment by Robert Wilson (Charles Boxer -- 01.)
Review of 'Capital punishment' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Capital Punishment is the latest from Gold Dagger Award winner Robert Wilson. An author with a raft of books that I have yet to discover and a couple of television miniseries based on his works.
Now when it comes to crime fiction and espionage I am a fan of gritty realism, well researched and constructed secondary worlds, and good pacing that never lets you relax for too long.
Some may think it’s easier to write a work that’s set in a world only slightly removed from our own – no races or continents to construct. I’d argue that it what it might save in terms of the building of a realistic secondary world is paid out in attention to detail, detail that can at the press of a key, be double checked by your readers.
How does Capital Punishment hold up? Pretty good. Not enough perhaps to knock the earlier …
Capital Punishment is the latest from Gold Dagger Award winner Robert Wilson. An author with a raft of books that I have yet to discover and a couple of television miniseries based on his works.
Now when it comes to crime fiction and espionage I am a fan of gritty realism, well researched and constructed secondary worlds, and good pacing that never lets you relax for too long.
Some may think it’s easier to write a work that’s set in a world only slightly removed from our own – no races or continents to construct. I’d argue that it what it might save in terms of the building of a realistic secondary world is paid out in attention to detail, detail that can at the press of a key, be double checked by your readers.
How does Capital Punishment hold up? Pretty good. Not enough perhaps to knock the earlier works of Barry Eisler off my favourite crime/espionage/thriller list but the attention to detail is there and most importantly the pacing. As long a you don’t write a clanger of an error, good pacing, I think can cover a few sins.
Capital Punishment is a gritty blend of espionage, terrorism and old fashioned crime. Charles Boxer is a kidnap recovery specialist, ex-army, now working in the private sector. He’s hired by Indian billionaire Frank D’Cruz to help recover his daughter from the hands of a professional kidnap team. It’s set primarily in London, with some scenes in India for flavour and has that understated English feel to the narrative – gritty environments, hardened professionals, no-nonsense criminals.
The pacing was excellent, and I finished the book within a couple of sittings. The only let down for me was the ending, which seemed a little anti-climactic to me. I felt as though Wilson hadn’t made me worry enough about the characters or the situation. What was high stakes seemed to pan out okay in the end and I kept waiting for a twist that didn’t come.
That being said I’d gladly read Wilson again, the journey was enjoyable even if the ending was a little underwhelming.
This book was provided to me by the publisher at no cost.
Subjects
- Fiction
Places
- England
- London
- London (England)