Customer Reviews

Dying to Tell

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Perhaps not in the class of Goddard's "Past Caring" or "In Pale Battalions" but still an enjoyable read. Anything that this author writes is worth reading!

I have been reading Robert Goddards books for years and eagerly await his next book out, I savour all his books and find he is a master story teller. He always has a very normal person as his key character. His latest book 'dying to tell' has not let me down and I congratulate him again for a great read..please continue writing Robert.

This is the story of Lance Bradley, a young British man who is asked to look for Rupe, his childhood friend, who has gone missing for about three months. Lance, a bit of a wastrel with little or no direction in his life, undertakes this search which takes him to three continents in the course of a couple of weeks. There doesn't seem to be any reason why Rupe would just disappear although Goddard introduces a number of possibilities.

I have long been a great fan of Robert Goddard but this book just didn't do it for me. By the end, I didn't care what had happened to Rupe or even why he was nowhere to be found. I somehow got the impression that Goddard felt the same way.

There are hordes of good guys, villians and those who fall somewhere in the middle. The descriptions of all the cities Lance visits during his whirlwind two-week round the world trip was rather interesting though.

What was lacking from this book was what I always refer to as the "whiplash" effect that I have come to expect from a Goddard book. Just when you are complacent and think you have all the players analyzed, he throws you a curveball. Alas, mighty Goddard struck out.

Without doubt, Dying to Tell has to be one the finest thrillers I've had the pleasure of reading. I truly devoured this book, its numerous plot twists keeping me guessing from page to page. As the action swings from sedate, rural Glastonbury to Berlin, Tokyo and San Francisco, we are taken on a roller coaster ride of thrills in the company of one of the unlikeliest of heroes, Lance Bradley, as his search for a friend leads him into dangers and long buried secrets at every turn. The twist in the tale at the end of the book was truly breathtaking, and superbly written. A gem of a novel!

Brian L Porter
Author, A Study in Red - The Secret Journal of Jack the Ripper

There is a large class of thriller-mystery-action authors who simply churn out mediocre and indistinguishable works. Developing a credible plot takes effort, and presenting realistic action can require special training or actual experience. These authors can't meet either requirement. Their stories are riddled with plotholes, inconsistencies, unexplained appearances, and coincidence - with the endings being particularly awful. The "action" is a regurgitation of what they've read in similar books e.g. "there was a shot and John fell dead".

To cover the lack of content they rely on quirky lead characters in identity crises, amorous involvements, and self-concious repartee. Readers, evidently, are to be satisfied with variations on these latter elements.

On the evidence of "Dying to Tell", Goddard is just another of these hack writers. I gave up partway through, sorry for the time I had yet again wasted. I hope this warning spares you the same loss. Try Lionel Davidson or Gerald Seymour instead - they work hard and write thrillers you'll remember.