Customer Reviews

The Night Ferry

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The narrative voice of Alisha Barba, Olympic-class runner and collector of elephants, is original, both in tone and content. I know virtually nothing about Sikh culture, so I can't judge accuracy, but Ali's casual monologue on the life and loves of a "Sikh girl" is very engaging. Her sentences are choppy and terse, as though she speaks while on one of her runs. At first it's hard to follow a line of thought, but the reader quickly gets used to it.

Robotham stays consistent to DC Barba's voice as the story develops. Big picture, well things occasionally do seem random, jagged, lacking smooth transitions. But life is like that, isn't it? Stuff keeps happening. The events arise logically from the immediate action, even if Alisha's actions are often ill-considered and unwise. She's a bit preachy, but that fits in with her character, and at least she's funny about it.

The supporting characters - boyfriend, old boss, Dutch policeman, father of dead best friend, deaf girl, bad boys and evil men - are vivid and individual, each with ticks that allow us to remember them sans a ton of narrative each time they pop up. We come to care about these people, even the bad ones. Robotham has my favorite formula: vivid settings, new stuff to learn, and engaging characters, all in a plot that rarely drags.

Unlike many thriller writers, Robotham isn't afraid of women. Both Ali and Samira are strong and brave and accomplished, but neither topples into that favorite mold of thriller-mills, the multi-tasking, ultra-hot Super-Chick, the action-Barbie who is merely the flip-side of vacuous. These women make mistakes, misunderstand circumstances, misread people. And yet they are still strong enough to rise above their own errors and carry the action with them.

I'm going to go back to read the author's earlier books, even though Alisha isn't a main character. I just hope that we see more of Ms Barba in the future.

The Night Ferry is Australian author Michael Robotham's third thriller. The first two titles are Suspect and Lost.

Alisha Barba is a Sikh and a London police detective. She's recovering from a serious back injury (occurred in Lost) that has sidelined her for almost a year, nearly preventing her from returning to work. When she finally is able to report for duty, she learns she's going to be `tucked' away in a nothing job-and she's not willing to do that.

Alisha receives a cryptic note from her estranged childhood best friend, Cate, imploring her to meet her at the women's high school reunion. Wanting to put right their relationship, Alisha goes to the reunion. The women have little chance to talk before a speeding car darts out of nowhere and runs down Cate and her husband. Before a very pregnant Cate dies, she manages to whisper to Alisha that someone is trying to take her baby and she begs her old friend to stop them.

Motivated by Cate's death request and a startling revelation about Cate's pregnancy, Alisha, with the help of retired Inspector Vincent Ruiz, follow the clues about Cate's baby to Amsterdam. They find human embryos, forced prostitution, human trafficking, and dangerous people who will stop at nothing to accomplish their evil goals.

Robotham's thriller is chilling. It's fast paced, the plot sizzles and the characters are well-drawn. You love the good guys and root for them and you despise the bad guys and hope they go down hard. The Night Ferry forces the reader to take a long, hard look at the evil that walks among us-and it allows us to hope for better. He gives us two strong and determined people in Alisha and Vincent-two people that represent a willingness to fight for what is right. But it is the depths of depravity that Robotham presents that will haunt you for a long, long time because we know that the situation he presents occurs. And that makes us all less human.

Armchair Interviews says: A must read. And pick up Suspect and Lost for a triple good read.

Editors always say that they want a book that transcends genre. Here is exhibit A. The book is even more successful than its predecessor, Lost, and that is saying a great deal. The characters are both interesting and absorbing, the themes both contemporary and eternal, the plot stunning in its twists, turns and inevitabilities. Its effects accumulate gradually until the book's final third--which reaches a pile-driving crescendo of suspense, tragic realism, and satisfying resolution, all punctuated with very-carefully measured ladles of exquisite, appropriate violence.

I would say that the book is a perfect model for the aspiring crime novelist--tried and true but refreshingly new, faithful to genre in every way, but stretching it at every point, and demonstrating the transcendent powers of the form in the hands of a skilled practitioner. The only problem with using it as a model is that it is so intimidating in its reach, its knowledge, and in its ultimate success.

By every measure, Robotham is one of the most important new voices in crime fiction. Don't miss him.

Detective Alisha Barba is trying to get her life back on track after almost being crippled by a murder suspect. She receives a desperate plea from an old school friend, Cate, who is eight months pregnant and in trouble. On the night they arrange to meet, Cate is run down by a car and Alisha discovers the first in a series of haunting and tragic deceptions.

Determined to uncover the truth, Alisha undertakes a dangerous journey that will take her from London to Amsterdam and involves a violent underworld of sex trafficking, people smuggling, slavery and exploitation.

A highly recommended thriller. I am looking forward to Mr Robotham's next novel ('Shatter') which is due in May 2008.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

First Sentence: It was Graham Greene who said a story has no beginning or end.

DS Alisha Barba is going to her school reunion to see her former best friend Cate Beaumount, from whom she has been estranged for eight years. Cate appears to be eight months pregnant but when a car runs her down, Ali finds Cate is wearing padding to appear pregnant yet tells Ali that someone is trying to take her baby away. Among Cate's possessions, Ali finds a sonogram of twins. In trying to find out what is going on, Ali is plunged into a world of prostitution, human-smuggling, and forced pregnancies.

There are so many layers to this book. Ali is a woman police officer dealing with all the prejudices that women face working in a testosterone environment. Ali is a Sikh so she has that prejudice to deal with, as well as a very traditional mother always trying to arrange a marriage for her. Robotham has done a masterful job of creating this character and giving her a voice. She has a past, a sense of humor and a drive to uncover the truth and find justice that make her a strong, interesting and, occasionally, a reckless character. There were times I wanted to yell at her for being stupid and was amazed at her ability to take a severe beating and keep going. It is a painful book to read, at times. We may complain about immigration problems in our country--we have nothing about which to complain--and the issue of orphaned children and the treatment of women in other parts of the world is something about which most of us are exceedingly naïve. However, those elements never overwhelmed the story. The suspense grew as the story progressed and I found myself staying up way to late because I wasn't going to bed without finishing it. I haven't read Robotham's previous books but I'm sure going to look for them as well as new books up and coming.

fast pace, complex/original plot, rich characters and a lean writing style. This is quite a feat. All the other reviewers have it right and can provide you with more details

Michael Robotham's Night Ferry starts out with an interesting main heroine, Ali Barba. I don't know anything about the Sikh people so I anticipated learning about their culture in a modern setting of London. Barba's external demure was contrasted nicely with her internal dialogue that made for some humorous situations. Unfortunately that is where this book ended. The author tries to shock value to make up for the lack of character development.

Barba's pregnant best friend, Cate, draws her into the plot with a cryptic message that someone is trying to steal her baby. It turns that Cate was lying to Barba, her husband and everyone. Cate is killed by a cab. Now Barba is on the case because of the murder and her effort to atone for sleeping with friend's father. Perhaps this is the only moral high point of this book. After that this book is just a picture of the cesspool of humanity which eventually slides down the toilet into the seamier side of Amsterdam.

Barba lies to other policemen, tries to work a deal with a possible murderer, manipulates her boyfriend, breaks into houses, and denigrates Cate`s family. She then goes to a family Sikh dinner where she attacks her Sikh heritage and makes her family seem stupid. She even happens to meet Cate's fertility doctor at her family's dinner. How believable is that! Now this quiet Sikh women flies off to Amsterdam to follow up on people who are selling babies, buying and selling immigrants, and impregnating teenage girls. There is a few gratuitous murders thrown in for good measure. Then we are treated to an endless description of Amsterdam's red light district and human suffering.

I ended up routing that the (heroine?) would get mugged while performing her incredibly intelligent? piece of detecting by putting up flyers all over the red light district. The main character has no morality and seems to learn nothing during the book. I admit I couldn't read anymore past the Amsterdam scene because I was just so disgusted. I won't even return this book to my used book store because I can't be mean enough to someone I don't know to let them read this piece of literary trash.

Two returning characters are featured in Robotham's latest thriller, Sikh homicide detective Alisha Barba and Detective Inspector Vincent Ruiz. Out of commission since a serious back injury from her last case with Ruiz and many operations later, Barba is drawn into the pursuit of an ingenious and brutal criminal enterprise brought to the surface when Ali's high school friend requests her help. Although they have been estranged for years, Cate plans to meet Ali at their high school reunion. Unfortunately, the very pregnant Cate has little time to explain her dilemma before she and her husband are hit by an oncoming taxi outside the reunion venue. Left to ponder Cate's desperate last words- "they want to take my baby"- Barba is compelled to uncover the cause of Cate's urgency.

Seeking the advice of the now-retired DI Ruiz, Ali and her former boss begin a multi-layered investigation that spans London and Amsterdam, with ties to Afghanistan, the indifferent exploitation of innocents and a massive conspiracy. Peopled with the simply corrupt to the casually violent, Barba and Ruiz come in contact with the helpless victims caught in a monstrous scheme to defraud, abuse and profit from the hardship of the helpless. Following Cate's paper trail, Ali and Ruiz travel to Amsterdam, led finally to a crowded tenement and two helpless women. Given her last experience with violent criminals, Barba is no stranger to the expedience of brutality, her ruined back a constant reminder; but the Netherlands presents a new set of horrors, a group of sociopaths intent on bringing their evil plot to fruition, profit the great motivator.

Exploring Ali and Cate's broken friendship, Ali's flirtation with an unsuitable man and the evolving relationship between Barba and Ruiz, Robotham tackles his subject with confidence and compassion in a stunning depiction of how the world works for the predators and their prey. Confronting the lost years of a friendship gone wrong and her fear of commitment, Barba is the vehicle for a powerful message, the brutality that routinely visits the disenfranchised: "In Afghanistan we sleep with the thorns and not the flowers." Falling into the horrors bred of greed and exploitation, Ali and the DI are assaulted, beaten and bloody, but refuse to forego their commitment to Cate's legacy, regardless of personal consequences. With a shocking plot and finely nuanced prose, Ruiz remains Barba's rock, Alisha proving herself a valuable asset, a fearless detective and a loyal friend. Luan Gaines/2007.

Another good book from Robotham. I admit that I missed Joe in this one but it was still a good read. This was about trafficking people, medical rape, prostitution and so on... but the main story was about a young orphan forced into a surrogacy but when the biological parents are murdered it turns into a race to save the young girl and her pregnancy. I will definitely recommend.

Ali is one year on from breakng her back. She is still on leave when an old friend contacts her for help as someone is threatening her family. The friend is killed in front of her and she discovers that Cate was only pretending to be pregnant. Ali searches for the baby Cate was having by surrogacy and the story follows. Ali is also deciding where her relationship with her boyfriend Dave can go. A nicely paced thriller, maybe a bit far fetched but then so are the best thrillers. I enjoyed this and would recommend it.