Five-Ring Circus: Suspense Down Under [Hardcover]

Jon Cleary (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 17, 1999

It's a special occassion Down Under ( the notoriously frugal Inspector Malone is taking his family to dinner at one of Sydney's finest Chinese restuarants. But their gala turns grisly when a masked assassin enters and guns down three men at a nearby table.

The ante goes up when Scobie discovers that one victim was an investor in Olympic Tower, a multimillion-dollar luxury project in down-town Sydney, intended as posh housing for the VIPs during the 2000 Olympic Games. With construction stalled by union strife and an economic slump, the Olympic Tower is still an empty shell ( or is it a deadly shell game?

Scobie must solve a scam that could sour the city's image. It seems everyone is involved ( from former Chinese government bigwigs to a city councilman on the take; from humble Chinese students with seven figure bank accounts to the mysterious Madame Tzu, a dragon lady if there ever was one.

As Scobie and his family are drawn into the circle of danger, he finds himself in an arena where sportsmanship is the last thing on anybody's mind.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jon Cleary is the author of more than forty books; Endpeace is his thirteenth Scobie Malone mystery. Several of his novels have been adapted for the movies, including The Sundowners and High Road to China. Jon Cleary lives with his wife in Sydney, Australia.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1st U. S. ed edition (February 17, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688164684
• ISBN-13: 978-0688164683
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,885,793 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great suspense OZ style..., June 18, 2000

By 

Michael J Harrington (Phoenix, Arizona USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Five-Ring Circus: Suspense Down Under (Hardcover)

My wife and I are huge Jon Cleary fans - we discovered him when we lived in Australia from 1990-97, and have ALL of the 'Scobie Malone' books in our collection. This is one of the best Cleary has done - the action is swift, the plot thickens with each page and a satisfying ending ensues.

This is great book to gather some insight into the Australian way of life - their attitudes, surrounds and politics. It is also just a 'great read' (as they say in Oz), and timely with the upcoming Olympics - check out Dilemma too - it's great! Scobie is a very real, likable character that you will become attached to.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars murder, mystery and mayhem, March 29, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Five-Ring Circus: Suspense Down Under (Hardcover)

This is another top class mystery by Jon Cleary. Inspector Scobie Malone is back and facing one of his toughest cases yet - and must deal with the potential danger this causes to his family. This book is excellent, and keeps the pace and plot twists the whole way through. The ending is impossible to guess, but is plausable, and ties up all the loose ends. Inspector Scobie Malone is an excellent character - he has fallabilities and could be just like any police person that you know. He solves his cases with legwork, teamwork with his fellow detectives and piecing the puzzle together, not with excessive violence or by implausible events. Even if you have never read a Jon Cleary or Scobie Malone book before, read this one - you'll soon be hooked.