Martyr's Creek [Paperback]

David Chacko (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2007

When your worst enemy makes you the executor of his estate, you don't expect an easy time. What James Pandolph discovers in settling Tom Powys' considerable estate is nothing compared to what is required settling the passions of his life. This includes neo-conservative politics at the highest level and the bodies that have fallen at every step along the way.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

David Chacko's thirteenth novel, Martyr's Creek, proves that numbers mean little in the life of a writer. After setting his last four novels in foreign countries with well realized backdrops, Chacko returns home with a sharp eye, sorting through American loves and conflicts (politics) with as deft a hand as anyone has shown in some time.

From the Author

I lived in New England most of my life, mostly in Connecticut and Rhode Island, which is mostly where this new novel takes place. I've rarely written about the area, or the state of mind it sometimes breeds, in fiction or otherwise. That may be odd, but it seems to me now that I was saving all those locations that were salted away in my mind.

Let's say I was putting them aside until I found the right story--the one where history could explain how some people got to be the way they are. And Martyr's Creek does that. The first time you trip over the syncopated sounds of a ghost in an old New England house is the day you date the rest of your life from. The first time you deed control of your life to others is the day when you know that all you have left is the love and the pain. They--and we know who they are--will have all the power.

You'll get more than a glimpse of those levels in Martyr's Creek. New England changes, but always in the same way. I like to think that every book I've written is different than the last--or all the ones that went before it--in the same changing way.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 316 pages
• Publisher: Foremost Press (March 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0978970438
• ISBN-13: 978-0978970437
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,313,082 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Chacko has written nineteen novels. Many are in the espionage and mystery genres with occasional outbreaks into common sense. He can usually be found in Istanbul or New York. The consistent factor here is that both places have good food, beautiful women, and memorable views of the sea.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars PSYCOPATHIC POLITICS, April 11, 2007

By 

Dudley Lamar (NYC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Martyr's Creek (Paperback)

If you've ever suspected that the current state of American politics is a conspiracy, you'll love MARTYR'S CREEK. Something is rotten in the state of union, and it all begins with money and the way it corrupts. The neo-conservative movement, that group of brilliant and destructive academics and bureaucrats, is represented here in the figure of Tom Powys. He has died and named to administer his estate James Pandolph, who was once his best friend and is now his sworn enemy. Why would any man do something as perverse as that? You'll have to read the books to find out. It's hard to believe it's part of Powys' character in the beginning, but hard to forget by the end of the book. It's also enough to say that the reasons for the perversity and the novel's fantastic currents make sense once the story is told to the last page. And told very well. Chacko is as good a writer as there is in this country.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Splendid prose on a timeless subject, April 24, 2011

By 

Dick Stanley (Austin, TX, United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Martyr's Creek (Paperback)

I can't imagine anyone not appreciating Chacko's splendid prose. It is never trite or boring and if it requires a second read it's only to savor the choice of words, the similes that are never cliches, and the ideas.

If this otherwise timeless story has a problem, it's only that it was written when Iraq was a quagmire and Panda expected it to stay that way. Afghanistan, of course, still is. The political corruption he manipulates to satisfy the terms of Powys' will has always been with us and remains today despite the change of parties and presidents since publication day.

It's refreshing to read a tale that does not rely on an overuse of the F-word, graphic violence or tastelessly specific sex scenes to attract and hold the interest. It even has a happy ending. (And the ebook price is right.)

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed, November 13, 2007

By 

Evening Reader (Eugene, OR) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Martyr's Creek (Paperback)

Based on reviews, I expected a thrilling, thought-provoking book. No such luck. I'm an avid and pretty forgiving reader, but was very disappointed to find the book very poorly written and edited. It was confusing, with convoluted sentences, a myriad of vague and unrelated plot lines, lousy sex scenes, etc. I had to force myself to finish it. I did get a laugh when a woman in the book was described as having covered herself in a "swatch" of material (must've meant a swath?). Pretty skimpy outfit!