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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Strange Search, July 29, 2009
This review is from: Risk: A Novel (Paperback)
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In Risk, Colin Harrison tells the story of George Young, an insurance company attorney who normally investigates insurance claims for possible fraud. George is asked by the widow of the firms founder to investigate her son's death and determine what was on his mind during the final hours before his death.
Risk is a narrative about a guy who acts out of duty, rather than self interest, and gets into situations that are very dangerous. Where does duty become foolishness? George's main problem is how to get out of challenging predicaments while still doing his duty.
Risk is a very different novel in today's publishing world. It is a detective story without a crime. Risk is an action, suspense novel without shootings, explosions, nudity or passionate sex scenes. Instead of analyzing the causes of the victim's death, Risk inquires into the behavior of the deceased, hoping to learn about his thoughts and feelings immediately before his death. The details discovered during the investigative journey are fascinating to this reader.
The narration in Risk is meticulous and vivid. The characters are mostly cosmetic, except for the main character, George Young. George tells the story and invites us into his thoughts. As George narrates the action he discusses his emotions, shares his reluctance, fears, and doubts.
George is an unusual detective. He talks to his wife about his struggles at work and the problems he has with his investigation. He even listens to her suggestions. George's actions teach us that patience and persistence can lead to a solution, and that solving a problem may uncover facts not anticipated.
In Risk, the story demonstrates that things are seldom what them seem, and that if we are not careful and discreet, our good intentions may lead us into devilish predicaments. I recommend this novel, it is a fun read.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good Elements, August 20, 2009
This review is from: Risk: A Novel (Paperback)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
This book has some really good elements. George is a likable guy and a good narrator, sketching in the details of his contented middle-aged life. He and his wife are still happily married, getting used to having their daughter grown-up and away at college. George continues to work at the insurance company where he's been for decades, as a fraud investigator. Life is uneventful.
When the elderly widow of George's long-time boss and mentor asks him for a favor, George doesn't feel like he can refuse. So he starts an investigation into the death of the woman's son. It was clearly an accident, caught on a security camera, but the woman wishes to know what was on his mind in the time before he died. Her mission to George is to figure out her son's final thoughts.
Reading the mind of a dead man proves to be a difficult task, one which takes George all over the city and throws him into conversations with a private investigator, a friendly bartender, a bribeable landlord, and a foreign hand model.
The investigation turns dangerous, and George must rely on his quick thinking to protect himself and his family. And before the air clears, he uncovers surprising information of his own.
I liked much of this story; it was tightly woven together with enough detail to keep me from feeling shocked or cheated at the end. However, it seemed there were two separate climaxes to the story--the resolution of George's danger and the self-discovery he underwent. It felt to me like this story should have chosen to be one or the other; it needed to dedicate itself to either being a man's journey of self-discovery or being a detective story. Or perhaps the two could have been better intertwined. Having two very different pivotal points toward the end of the book diluted some of the suspense that either one of these climaxes, when standing alone, would have had.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
'Guy Noir', October 19, 2009
This review is from: Risk: A Novel (Paperback)
Colin Harrison for my money is one helluva' writer. And, money is the root of all evil and this novel indulges in money- who has it, how they got it and how it flows. This 200 page book was one of the better reads. It is a mystery wound around an every day man trying to be a decent man. As the New York Times says, "This is one of those novels that outdoes Garrison Keillor's 'Guy Noir'."
George Young, a simple name for a man all of us would like to know. He is a lawyer in a firm that practices insurance law. He has lived an exemplary life in NYC- worked hard as a young student, got decent grades at a private school, was a good son to his parents, mom and step-dad, went to law school and now has a successful job in his firm. It has afforded him the nice apartment on the West Side, a wife who is smarter than he is, works hard and loves him, and a daughter who went to the best schools.
And, here is his, involved in one hell of a mess. The wife of the founding father of the law firm, Wilson Corbett, has called him to her home. She wants a favor, she needs someone to investigate the reason for her son, Roger Corbett's death. The death was an accident, that she is sure of. But, before Roger was killed in the accident, he spent four hours in a bar. What was he doing there, she wants to know. George is indebted to Wilson Corbett, he gave him his this wonderful opportunity at the firm. So, he takes on this job, much to his wife's chagrin. And, he steps into the mess I have talked about. He meets the ex-girlfriend, a Czech hand model, the ex-wife, several unsavory people associated with Roger only by '6 degrees of separation', and several old friends of Wilson Corbett. This, George Young, is an intelligent detective and has street smarts. He is able to uncover that which he might wish he had left undone. On the way to this discovery, he raises questions about himself and what he is all about. Sounds like an interesting read, does it not?
This novel brings us to many places in NYC, to the Old Print Shop on Lexington, the American Legion fields near J.F.K., an Elizabeth Street bar, the diamond district and the apartments of the rich and the not so well off. It brings us questions we might ask ourselves, and we find some answers we might not have known. It is an extraordinary simple novel that opens our world and our minds. It is a Risk we might not have taken if not for Colin Harrison.
Highly Recommended. prisrob 10-19-09
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