The Eyewitness [Paperback]

Stephen Leather (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2003

Jack Solomon is a messenger of death. His task is to identify the victims of ethnic cleansing, then tell families their loved ones are never coming home. Years of working in the shattered remains of Yugoslavia have desensitized Solomon to the horrors of war, but when a truck containing 26 bodies is pulled from a lake, he’s unable to walk away. Solomon’s hunt for the last witness will lead him from the brothels of Sarajevo to London’s high-stakes world of organized crime and internet prostitution. There, he will discover that the killers are closer to home than he ever imagined.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Stephen Leather's novel manages to put a contemporary spin on a timeless tale of revenge and retribution... Leather's experience as a journalist brings a sturdy, gritty element to a tale of horror ... which makes THE EYEWITNESS a compelling read' -- Evening Herald, Dublin 'Atmospheric suspense' -- Daily Mirror 'Raw and uncompromising, this is a compelling and disturbing thriller that will make you think' -- Sunday Mercury, Birmingham 'A first rate thriller' -- Huddersfield Daily Examiner 'As tough as British thrillers get ... gripping' - Irish Independent on HARD LANDING -- Irish Independent on HARD LANDING 'Reading Stephen Leather at leisure is always a pleasure. The pacing of SOFT TARGET is superb ...' **** -- Ireland on Sunday 'A riveting read' -- Sunday Life, Belfast on SOFT TARGET 'Exciting stuff with plenty of heart-palpitating action gingered up by mystery and intrigue ... Leather is an intelligent thriller writer' -- Daily Mail on THE TUNNEL RATS 'As high-tech and as world-class as the thriller genre gets' -- Express on Sunday on THE BOMBMAKER

About the Author

Stephen Leather was a journalist for more than ten years on newspapers such as The Times, the Daily Mail and the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. His bestsellers have been translated into more than ten languages. He has also written for television shows such as London's Burning, The Knock and the BBC's Murder in Mind series.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 406 pages
• Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton (July 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0340734094
• ISBN-13: 978-0340734094
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #443,463 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Stephen Leather was a journalist for more than ten years on newspapers such as The Times, the Daily Mail and the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. Before that, he was employed as a biochemist for ICI, shovelled limestone in a quarry, worked as a baker, a petrol pump attendant, a barman, and worked for the Inland Revenue. He began writing full time in 1992. His bestsellers have been translated into more than ten languages. He has also written for television shows such as London's Burning, The Knock and the BBC's Murder in Mind series. You can find out more from his website, www.stephenleather.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Escape into the oldest profession, April 6, 2005

By 

Joseph Haschka (Glendale, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: Eyewitness (Hardcover)

"... (Solomon) reckoned that sitting in a car with an Albanian pimp, his bodyguard and two heavily armed Croatian thugs on he way to a shoot-out in a Bosnian brothel would make anyone nervous."

Such is the approaching moment of truth for Jack Solomon, an investigator employed with the International War-dead Commission in the Balkans. Jack's job is to coordinate the identification by DNA of the bodies of civilians killed in the ethnic cleansing atrocities in Kosovo and Bosnia, and then notify surviving family members. Jack's latest case involves twenty-six Bosnian Muslims - men, women and children from the same extended family - found locked in the back of a refrigerator truck at the bottom of a lake. Death had been by suffocation some three years previous. But the chill of the lake had preserved the bodies perfectly, and Solomon takes the presence among the dead of an eighteen-month old girl, still clutching her teddy bear, hard. Further investigation indicates that one member of the clan survived, sixteen-year old Nicoletta. Jack's self-imposed mission is to track her down so she can testify before the War Crimes Tribunal. But the girl has run, apparently disappearing into the dark world of indentured prostitution. After Jack runs afoul of one of the region's most vicious and powerful criminal bosses, his boss sends him back to the safety of London, where, as chance would have it, Nicoletta is now an escort agency hooker.

THE EYEWITNESS is a fascinating look at the callous, and sometimes appallingly vicious, business of international trafficking in prostitutes. Author Stephen Leather's description of the London sex-for-money scene, from the girls working out of the traditional Soho walk-ups to the burgeoning Web-based outcall/incall enterprises, is comprehensive. Research in depth, I'd say.

While Solomon is undeniably the Good Guy in this thriller, and there are also Bad Guys depraved enough to make your skin crawl, perhaps some of the most interesting characters are those falling somewhere in between in the most unexpected ways. Indeed, there's a plot twist at the end that was completely unexpected.

In the Acknowledgements, Leather thanks working girls "Angela, Francesca, Jessica, Kim and Sophie" for their insights into the flesh trade. Perhaps it's from them that one of the author's characters, Inga, leaves us the message:

"I chose this life. I wasn't forced into it ... We do what we must to survive ... and we make the best of it." I think that those words could come from any of us, especially from myself as I drive into the 9 to 5 that I sometimes abhor.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Leather Tingles, September 30, 2006

By 

Peter Mackay "surgeonsmate" (Campbell, ACT Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Eyewitness (Paperback)

Stephen leather is one of those authors where I read one book and I immediately beginning tracking down all others by the same author. I've read about a dozen of Stephen Leather's books now, and I've got a couple more ready to go.

I'm lucky. He hasn't written a dud yet so I know I've got some good reading ahead of me.

His books are all reasonably similar. Crime, undercover work, elite force veterans, prisons, drug or weapons trading, exotic locations. You can be reasonably sure that three or four of these themes will pop up in one of his novels, along with a good, tension-filled, twisty plot, full of the sort of details that you and I aren't likely to encounter in our daily rounds.

The Eyewitness doesn't disappoint. One of his best yarns, I thought. You've got to like the protagonist, a man with a mission, a man with a desire for justice, a man with a heart.

He stands out in a world where very few share his views.

The plot involves a search for the sole eyewitness to a horrific crime of mass murder, and the search takes him from the Balkans to London and back again. He doesn't give up, despite awesome obstacles and threats to life and limb, sometimes realised. Along the way we learn more about the seedy side of sex trafficking than we really want to.

Five stars for this book. A book I loved, rather than just liked.

Now excuse me, I've got a date with another Stephen leather thriller!

5.0 out of 5 stars Stephen Leather Hits the target again., August 8, 2011

By 

Jean Brandt (Christchurch, South Island, NZ) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Eyewitness (Paperback)

If you want good reliable yarns then Mr leather is the man. he keeps the momentum right to the end.