Helpful Score: 2
The Alan Banks books by Peter Robinson are a treat. Very well written and well plotted. This one is about DI Banks brother who calls him for help and turns out to be in serious trouble.
#15 DCI Alan Banks police procedural set in Yorkshire, UK. Banks, still recovering from the devastating fire at his cottage that almost cost him his life, is on holiday and wondering what to do with his time when he receives a couple of cryptic voicemails from his brother Roy, a wheeling-and-dealing financier in London. Alan and his younger brother are not close and never have been, and they rarely speak on the phone unless there's a problem, so the message--which sounds almost desperate though gives no details--intrigues him. When he tries to reach Roy in response, he's nowhere to be found, so Alan is off to London, where he discovers that Roy has all but disappeared. Knowing that his brother sometimes skated close to the edge of the law in his dealings, Banks decides to try to locate him first through "unofficial" channels lest he get little brother in trouble with the law by opening a missing persons case.
Meanwhile, back in Eastvale, DI Annie Cabbot is dealing with a murder--a young woman shot execution style in the head, left in her car in a ditch along a deserted roadway--and surprise of surprises, she has Alan Banks' name and address scribbled on a piece of paper in her back jeans pocket--but even more intriguingly, it's the address to his burned-out cottage where he hasn't lived for several months. As Annie and Supt. Gristhorpe try to track Banks down (he's left his mobile on the kitchen table at his temporary apartment) and find the connection, Banks investigates Roy's life and begins to finally get to know his little brother.
Robinson's series seems to just get better and better with each entry! I thoroughly enjoyed this one, found it hard to put down with a twisty plot (and even some surprises!), great characters and just the right balance between visceral and cerebral moments. Can't wait to read the next one!
Meanwhile, back in Eastvale, DI Annie Cabbot is dealing with a murder--a young woman shot execution style in the head, left in her car in a ditch along a deserted roadway--and surprise of surprises, she has Alan Banks' name and address scribbled on a piece of paper in her back jeans pocket--but even more intriguingly, it's the address to his burned-out cottage where he hasn't lived for several months. As Annie and Supt. Gristhorpe try to track Banks down (he's left his mobile on the kitchen table at his temporary apartment) and find the connection, Banks investigates Roy's life and begins to finally get to know his little brother.
Robinson's series seems to just get better and better with each entry! I thoroughly enjoyed this one, found it hard to put down with a twisty plot (and even some surprises!), great characters and just the right balance between visceral and cerebral moments. Can't wait to read the next one!
One of my favorite series, but I just couldn't get interested in this book. A couple of things I don't like: Banks is depressed, and I don't care for DI Annie Cabot who is distracting to the overall plot. Not Robinson's usual tight suspenseful tale.
One of Robinson's best!
Very interesting and refreshingly not formulaic. I really was in the dark and enjoyed not knowing where this is going next. Definately recomend this.
Barbara S. (barbsis) -
This is the first title I've listened to by Peter Robinson. I really liked Banks and Cabot. Alan Banks's estranged brother Roy called and left a desperate life and death message on Alan's machine. After having no luck reaching Roy by telephone, Alan traveled to London to investigate his brothers disappearance.
Annie Cabot, on the other hand, was working a supposedly unrelated death by gunshot. She also traveled to London to investigate. The two cases converge and interesting things develop. A really good mystery with some very surprising twists and turns. I will definitely be reading this author again
Annie Cabot, on the other hand, was working a supposedly unrelated death by gunshot. She also traveled to London to investigate. The two cases converge and interesting things develop. A really good mystery with some very surprising twists and turns. I will definitely be reading this author again
Eadie B. (eadieburke) -
Book Description
On a warm summer night, an attractive woman hurtles north in a blue Peugeot with a hastily scrawled address in her pocket, while, back in London, a desperate man leaves an urgent late-night phone message on his brother's answering machine. By sunrise the next morning, the woman is found inside her car along an otherwise peaceful country lane, shot, execution-style, through the head.
Welcome to the idyllic Yorkshire Dales, where Detective Inspector Annie Cabbot arrives on the scene and discovers, to her surprise, a slip of paper in the dead woman's pocket that bears the name of her colleague and erstwhile lover, Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks. Banks, meanwhile -- already haunted and withdrawn after nearly dying in the fire that destroyed his home -- has gone missing just when he's needed most, and has left plenty of questions behind.
As Annie struggles to determine whether or not Banks is safe -- and what role he may have played in the woman's murder -- Banks himself investigates the mysterious disappearance of his estranged brother, Roy, whose late-night call for help brings Banks back to London. Working from Roy's swank apartment, Banks makes the rounds to Roy's old haunts and slowly inhabits the life of his younger brother -- the black sheep of the family, who always seemed to sail a little too close to the wind. As the trail of clues about Roy's life and associations draws Banks into a dark circle of conspiracy and corruption, mobsters and murder, Banks suddenly realizes he's running out of time to save Roy, and by digging too deep, he may be exposing himself and his family to the same -- possibly deadly -- danger.
My Review
This is a very interesting novel which shows us more about the relationship of Alan Banks and his brother Roy. I feel that this book really excels in all areas such as; character development, plot, suspense, dialogue, and atmosphere. The story was well-paced and keeps you reading until the very end. The relationship of Annie Cabot and Banks continues to evolve also. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes police procedurals but I suggest starting at the beginning of the series.
On a warm summer night, an attractive woman hurtles north in a blue Peugeot with a hastily scrawled address in her pocket, while, back in London, a desperate man leaves an urgent late-night phone message on his brother's answering machine. By sunrise the next morning, the woman is found inside her car along an otherwise peaceful country lane, shot, execution-style, through the head.
Welcome to the idyllic Yorkshire Dales, where Detective Inspector Annie Cabbot arrives on the scene and discovers, to her surprise, a slip of paper in the dead woman's pocket that bears the name of her colleague and erstwhile lover, Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks. Banks, meanwhile -- already haunted and withdrawn after nearly dying in the fire that destroyed his home -- has gone missing just when he's needed most, and has left plenty of questions behind.
As Annie struggles to determine whether or not Banks is safe -- and what role he may have played in the woman's murder -- Banks himself investigates the mysterious disappearance of his estranged brother, Roy, whose late-night call for help brings Banks back to London. Working from Roy's swank apartment, Banks makes the rounds to Roy's old haunts and slowly inhabits the life of his younger brother -- the black sheep of the family, who always seemed to sail a little too close to the wind. As the trail of clues about Roy's life and associations draws Banks into a dark circle of conspiracy and corruption, mobsters and murder, Banks suddenly realizes he's running out of time to save Roy, and by digging too deep, he may be exposing himself and his family to the same -- possibly deadly -- danger.
My Review
This is a very interesting novel which shows us more about the relationship of Alan Banks and his brother Roy. I feel that this book really excels in all areas such as; character development, plot, suspense, dialogue, and atmosphere. The story was well-paced and keeps you reading until the very end. The relationship of Annie Cabot and Banks continues to evolve also. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes police procedurals but I suggest starting at the beginning of the series.
