Customer Reviews

All the Dead Were Strangers (Conrad Voort)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Ethan Black returns with a great novel that's even better than `Irresistible'. A timely thriller that holds nothing back

When Conrad Voort meets up with an old best friend named Meechum Keefe at a tavern in Greenwich Village, he finds that his friend is scared and paranoid. Meechum gives Voort a list of five names and addresses and asks him to find something that ties these names together. The next day Voort finds Meechum is missing, and with the only clue he has to go on, he starts investigating the list. Voort soon finds out that there is very little to tie the people on the list together. The first three on the list seem to have died in separate accidents. The last two are still alive, for now. When Voort tries to locate the last two people, he realizes there lives are in danger. When he locates number four, a beautiful doctor, he falls in love. He soon makes a connection. It seems that terrorism might tie all these people together.

Terrorists and secret organizations all play a crucial role in this well crafted and very well written thriller. From the descriptive narrative to the tight dialogue, this story puts you in the center. Very entertaining and very involving. I very much look forward to Ethan Black's future novels.

Highly recommended.

Inside the covers:
A scorpion wants to cross a river, but he can't swim, so he asks a frog to carry him across. The frog says "are you crazy? If I put you on my back, you'll sting me and I'll die." The scorpion says, "That's stupid. If I do that we both die." So the frog says yes. And when they're in the middle of the river, the scorpion stings him. They're going under. The scorpion says, "I can't help it. It's my nature."

New York detective Conrad Voort has not seen his friend Meechum since they were children, so it comes as a welcome surprise when he gets a phone call from his old buddy inviting him for drinks. As Voort meets his friend in a Manhattan bar, he notices his friend is acting strange…a little nervous, a little scared, and a lot paranoid. As Voort probes his friend with questions, Meechum skirts around giving any answers, only telling his friend he has made a list of names and he would like Voort to investigate the names on the list. Puzzled, but willing to do his friend the favor, Voort agrees. Twenty-four hours later, Meechum is missing! As Voort begins looking into the list of names he is shocked to find that all of the people, except for two, have died in so called "accidents". Determined to get in touch with the two survivors, he comes in contact with Dr. Jill Towne, the fourth name on the list. Dr. Towne is, at first, not very cooperative, but after a visit from other men claiming to be FBI, and an almost "accident" against her, she opens up to Voort and wants his help. While Voort continues his quest for answers, the men behind the diabolical plan discover Voort’s intentions, and must put a stop it, no matter the cost…even murder. Forced to make a terrible choice, Voort must go head-to-head with two very dangerous men, face some shocking truths about the friend he thought he knew, and deal with his feelings for Dr. Towne, a woman who may be a key player in a massive conspiracy that will lead to a brutal act of mass murder. ‘All The Dead Were Strangers’ is a very exciting thriller. Most of the plot remains a secret, and it needs to, for Ethan Black exposes just enough information to jolt the reader and keep them turning the pages. The gritty streets of Manhattan come alive with lies, deceit, conspiracy, and murder in a mystery that proves Ethan Black is one of our finest new thriller writers. After two previous novels, Mr. Black earns his place alongside best-selling authors Michael Connolly, and John Sandford as he continues with his stunning Conrad Voort series. Fans of fast-paced, original detective thrillers should treat themselves and read ‘All The Dead Were Strangers’, and then go back and read the two previous novels in the series ‘The Broken Hearts Club’, and ‘Irresistible’. A MUST read! ...

. It has been a decade since NYPD detective Conrad Voort and Meechum Keefe seen each other. The old childhood friends share drinks in the historic White Horse Tavern in the Village, but instead of a nostalgic camaraderie, Meechum acts apprehensive and on edge. The next day, Conrad learns that Meechum has vanished leaving behind a list of five names on a napkin he wrote on in the bar.

Conrad quickly realizes that the common thread of the list from Meechum Keefe is that each person has been involved directly or indirectly with violence. Several died allegedly from accidents, but Conrad wonders if murder occurred. As he makes further inquiries into the remaining survivors, Conrad finds himself attracted to one of them, Dr. Jill Towne currently treating a terrorist. He soon finds preliminary evidence that a top secret government agency hires killers to eliminate threats to security (that is to that agency) including nosy detectives getting to close to the truth.

With THE BROKEN HEARTS CLUB, IRRESISTIBLE, and now ALL THE DEAD WERE STRANGERS, Conrad Voort proves he is a great lead character in a continuing police procedural series. The current plot raises questions on terrorism and antiterrorism, but the clever Ethan Black never allows his political-social thesis interfere to even slightly slow down his thriller. By enhancing the plot with issues involving the means justifying the ends, Mr. Black will catapult readers into seeking the previous two Voort books and his other tales as the audience will conclude that ALL THE DEAD WERE STRANGERS is a great novel.

Harriet Klausner

The opening of this book is so confusing that I had to keep flipping back, trying to figure out who the two people were. Once past the first few pages, until halfway through the book, there is good, strong plotting that moves along at a nice pace. As well, in backflash, there's a fine depiction of the childhood friendship of the two men that allows the reader to be saddened by the death of Meechum Keefe. Then, too soon, the "protagonist" is introduced. And while Szeska is, initially, a very interesting character, he gradually becomes a caricature of himself. The ensuing cat and mouse game has moments of interest, but what the author structured at the outset gets watered down (literally) in a damp conclusion that's not particularly suspenseful or satisfying. The one female character, again, starts out interesting: feisty and combative, but winds up as little more than a sexual vehicle; an annoying female who won't listen to what she's told, who shows up where she's not wanted and puts herself in danger. As if. Given her intelligence at the outset, it's close to impossible to accept the moves she makes. In other words, more than once the author moves people out of character.

There's w-a-y too much about Conrad Voort's genitaliaÑas if its state is indicative of the hero's emotional stateÑleading the reader to believe that Conrad doesn't know the difference between sexual attraction and caring. So when the romance part of the plot doesn't work out, it's not in the least surprising because, all along, it's been about Conrad's state of arousal or non-arousal. The story line would have been better served if the author had focused on the hero's emotions, rather than his body parts. Certainly, Black gets points for dealing with the issue of terrorism and about how vulnerable everyone and everything is. Given that the release of this book predates 9/11, it has a certain prophetic aspect that makes the subject matter particularly interesting.

A fascinating and unusual plot; never read anything like it before. Asked by a friend to investigate a list of names, the hero/detective of this novel finds that the people listed are dying - apparently by accident. None of the people are connected to one another. The man who gave the hero the list also dies in an "accident." You'll never predict the ending of this one. Novelist Ethan Black has a first rate imagination and writes very very well. The personal details of the detective's life are every bit as fascinating as the professional side. One helluva good read!!

As a mystery writer with my debut novel in its initial release, I love a solid thriller. ALL THE DEAD WERE STRANGERS is a solid thriller. Ethan Black's third novel (following THE BROKEN HEARTS CLUB and IRRESISTIBLE)deals with terrorism, the government's attempts to battle it, and a top-notch mystery story. Black's Conrad Voort, an NYPD detective, is passed a list of people around the country with connections to terrorism. Some are dead, perhaps murdered. Others include Dr. Jill Towne, with whom Voort becomes taken, and Frank Greene, who is hoping to blow up a nice chunk of New York City. A shadowy Saudi businessman/terrorist, Abu Bin Hussein, also plays a part in this story, as do numerous government operatives. Black has a well-plotted--topical and timely--story. His characters are well-drawn, and his writing is excellent. ALL THE DEAD WERE STRANGERS is an excellent suspense novel.

I liked the idea behind All the Dead Were Strangers. A cop gets a list of names from a long vanished friend and is asked to investigate them. It turns out that everyone on the list has died in accidents or is missing. Soon the friend is found dead in an accident as well. Its up to the cop to find out what happened with little evidence, just a list of names to go on.

What brought this book down in my opinion were several factors. First of all, the writing is by no means great. It is not even on par with Grisham. The prose is jangly and corrupt. Ethan Black retreads ideas over and over again. As other reviewers have said, the sexual aspects are hard to swallow and the relationship that builds is without spark.

Secondly, the story looses any hold on reality early on. I wont give away the plot, but it gets pretty silly by the time the doctor comes around to her senses.

Thirdly, and perhaps most grating to myself personally, I just had a hard time reading about two cops who have it made, that are encouraged to play by their own rules by their superior, and are smarter than Sherlock Holmes. They really suffer nothing here. Their is no human inner drama unfolding on these pages other than the silly sexual aspect.

I would skip this book if I were you.

From the start there are plenty of signs that the painful nonsense is ahead: we have a young extremely good looking multi-millionaire cop surrounded by strikingly beautiful women, old buddy suddenly materialized from nowhere, sinister government plot etc.

However, it proved to be a semi-decent mystery with semi-decent characters and even some food for thought.

In the third entry in the Conrad Voort Detective series the pseudonomous Ethan Black has evolved as an author similiarly to the evolution of his detective hero. In this novel Conrad Voort last seen in The Broken Hearts Club and Irresistable, meets his childhood friend in a bar and recieves a list of names on a napkin. Bang like a shot the plot takes off with the speed of an assasin's bullet. Voort soon discover's that four of six names on the mysterious list have passed away in accident's, and after meeting a fifth name Dr. Jill Towne, he vows she won't be amongst the victims.
The author's writing has evolved (I repeat)as he more fully flushes out his protaganist's character. Voort breaks up with one love interest in previous novels over the issue of abortion. Cynic's will say the pairing of Jill and Conrad was predictable and Camilla was discarded conviently to make room for his character's new female interest. However, I debate that his struggles with relationships (without giving away whole story there is side issues with Jill too.) is what makes his hero so identifiable and human to the reader. Particularly in this novel his villians are never merely evil two dimensional bad guys, rather again vividly drawn character, all too human and real.
Ethan Black has also expanded the scope of his plotting in this recent entry, he imagines new challenges and cases for Voort to work on that takes him outside of standard Sex Crimes modus Operanti. This isn't thickest book on the market, yet the buyer definitely gets their money worth as each page is densely packed with characterization, plot and sub-plot. HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

This is the best one yet in the Ethan Black detective series. I read it in one sitting start to finish. Ethan Black is by far one of the best writers of our time. He draws you in and never lets you go. I can't wait for the next offering by this very talented writer.