Customer Reviews

Stonekiller

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

 

 

I chanced upon this title while browsing through Amazon.com. The premise sounded interesting, so I thought I'd take a chance. This book is marvelous! The author takes you through all sorts of nooks and crannies until you are shocked at the end by the actual stonekiller. The setting (Vichy France during WWII) and the interplay between the two detectives (one French, one German) adds spice to a fine storyline. I have to disagree with the reviewer who complained about too many merde's and Gott in Himmel's. They do not get in the way of the story at all. The author realistically portrays Vichy France and the interplay between the French police and the Gestapo and SS. You are quickly drawn in and you will breathlessly follow St. Cyr and Kohler all the way through to the exciting climax. If you are looking for something a bit off beat, but yet thrilling and exciting, pick this one up.

I have read 6 books from this series and each one can stand alone and each one describes the environment to the point that you feel you are there. However, these are not the easiest books to read. Janes feels little need to identify who is speaking on every line. He also injects a character's thoughts in with the dialogue. This takes some getting used to as Character A may say something without being identified, followed by B thinking something (unidentified), then maybe B says something, A says something, then A thinks something and after awhile you find yourself starting over trying to figure exactly who said what. I don't say this to dissuade anyone (with reading 6 of these I obviously think these books are worth it) but you should be warned that these might not be your taste.

J. Robert Janes is a very underappreciated author. As you read his novels, you come to appreciate the character development, and above all, the accurate depiction of time and place. Very well worth reading.

Historically based mystery novels are very popular. Most of them are plot retreads in fancy dress with relatively little appreciation for the historical background. This book and series of books is an exception. This is a well written book set in Occupied France during WWII. The attention to period detail is very good and I believe that Janes has done a good job of conveying the atmosphere of this period. In other respects, this is a solid book, a good combination of police procedural and hard boiled American style detective novel. Janes does, however, have a taste for excessively elaborate plots. In addition, his leading characters are perhaps a bit too good guyish to be solidly creditable. A bit of moral ambiguity would more realistic.

I liked the whole set up for the story--the detectives are relatively engaging and at least one of the characters had my sympathy from the start. But I found the writing awkward at times, and I found myself going back over sentences in search of pronoun references when I would rather have read on to find out if the protagonist got off the roof alive. The sections on cave-paintings (why I got the book in the first place) were disappointing.

The premise of this book sounded so wonderful that I immediately snapped it up. However, Janes's writing talents--in plot, character, dialogue and sheer command of language--are sadly lacking. The French surete repeats "merde" at least 100 times thru the book, with the Gestapo agent keeping up with dozens of "Gott im Himmel." Amazingly enough, the sheer repetition of these two exclamations drag down the entire book, defusing all suspense and any plot build-up. As one with an avid interest in prehistory, I found the insipid descriptions of cave paintings, as well as their use thereof in the plot, dampening and dispiriting. The characters of St-Cyr and Kohler (the two main characters of the book) are ill-drawn and flat; the author of the book seems to rely primarily upon the sheer interest of the premise to make his mystery at all interesting.

Having an interest in mystery novels set in Nazi Germany and Nazi-occupied countries (i.e. Pavel Kohout's THE WIDOW KILLER, or Philip Kerr's BERLIN NOIR) I looked forward to reading some of J. Robert Janes works. After several attempts to read more than a few pages of STONEKILLER each evening, I gave up and started skipping pages hoping the story would take on some zest. The author was determined to murder his own plot by continually revisiting the crime scenario and making lame attempts to draw every character under suspicion. Finally, I was interested only in finishing the book to get it over with, I skipped to the end and read the last 5 pages. I should not have bothered. I so am annoyed at having wasted my time on this book, I want to e-mail the author and ask him for a refund.