Customer Reviews

Switch

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

 

 

Reason for Reading: The summary of this debut book by a resident Canadian had me very interested.

All I can start out with is a big WOW! This is not quite my usual fare of thriller which usually consists of the serial killer variety so I was not prepared for the intense serial-ness of this book. What an incredible story that in truth could happen to anyone. As the book first started off, I was reminded of a popular Hitchcock devise of the innocent man finding himself caught up in the middle of evil doings. These are innocent men, simple men, regular Joe's who have been brought into the spider's lair to play his nasty game. He kidnaps their families and then the men must do exactly as he says, being given missions of increasing moral complexity, or else he will kill the family.

As we enter the book, one man is at the end of his mission and believes that his wife and daughter have been murdered. At the same time another man has been brought into the game with the kidnapping, given the rules and his first mission. Eventually the two men meet and figure out a connection between themselves, thus trying to find a connection between them and the dead or injured, so they can figure out who hates them so much to be doing this, when they have never done anything illegal in their lives before.

This book starts off running and does not stop until the end. The chapters are quite short making this a very easy book to just keep going 'one more chapter' until the wee hours of the night. The fast pace means a lot of action, while this usually means character development suffers, in this case it doesn't. McKenzie has his story revolving around a tight set of events and characters and the backstory up to that point flesh out the characters for us as do the conversations the men have and the moral choices they make as they fulfill their often deadly assignments.

The narrative is for the most part in the present with the two men but ever so occasionally we are briefly taken to the kidnap victims' points of view to understand the terror they are going through and the utmost futility that they may be saved. Then again on even fewer occasions we are shown the evil mastermind's point of view, hear his rantings, and know he is very clever, though he remains a mystery.

An amazingly intense read. Very scary, even though these characters do have a connection with each other, it is not a sinister one and the reader could visualize that some psycho could pick any group of people, possibly including themself, to play his sick and deadly game. This is one that hits home, uncomfortably close. How far would you go to save your family's lives?

Read this one!

This is a very fast paced, constant action novel that with short James Patterson like chapters lets you do the just one more chapter before I put it down thing, and before you know it you've finished the book. Fans of Harlan Coben or Linwood Barclay style plots will enjoy this book although by jumping straight into the action we never really get to know the two main average guys (especially with Zack, we slightly do with Sam) or put ourselves in those shoes for the imagine if this was me, what would I do scenario like those two authors brilliantly pull off. But we have to remember this is Grant McKenzie's first novel, those guys have been writing for decades.

McKenzie also writes in an a lot of the time hide the identity of the character for a while in a scene style by describing them from another characters point of view or simply saying the woman. This is obviously to create a bit of mystery such as who is this woman, who is the attacker but if you're paying attention you'll work out who it obviously is or more importantly is not so you know whose left by process of elimination which sort of makes writing this way unnecessary and misses out on the reader really experiencing what's happening from that character's point of view to its full extent.

Set in Portland Oregon, basic plot of Switch is two nice middle aged guys, Sam and Zack, one a successful surgeon, one who never achieved his dreams of being an actor, both find their families have been killed. However both are shocked to receive a call from a caller telling them, they're still alive, for now! They must perform a number of evil tasks for the caller, and in the time they are not doing these tasks come up with 1 million dollars, if they do all this the caller will return the family members. If they refuse, a task, fail or tell the police their loved ones will be killed. Why is this happening to them, is it personal? They must figure it out as it's pretty obvious the caller doesn't have any intention of returning the family members alive.

It's a great story and very enjoyable read, I'll definitely check out his next book No Cry for Help.

I don't know why most of the reviewers on here have trashed 'Switch' as I really enjoyed it. This was a fast-paced and action-packed book from start to finish. The plot was well-constructed with plenty of action that was both absorbing and entertaining and I was particularly impressed by the clever use of two entwined plots. This book was so engaging that I stayed up until 3am to finish it! I've read many novels of the crime/thriller genre and I believe this author has nailed it first time. Grab yourself a copy of 'Switch'. You WON'T be disappointed.

I was able to pick up a paperback copy while traveling and needed something for the plane. This was the perfect read. Strong characters suddenly put into a difficult situation like a Lee Child novel; Short, crisp chapters like James Patterson; plenty of action and a great ending. It's definitely one of those books that's hard to put down because the author keeps you engaged in the story and the lives of the characters from the first page. I kept thinking I'd read just one more chapter before setting it aside to do something else on the plane, and I ended up finishing the book. I just couldn't put it down. It's a great debut and I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

I read this book when it came out in the UK and I loved it. I feel compelled to write this because of the reveiwer who got turned off by the violence in the book - fair enough, but there are plenty of authors out there who write like this, and if this isn't your type of book then avoid it in the first place. It's pretty clear from the description that this isn't a happy-go-lucky alls-well-that-ends-well type of book!

Personally, I can't wait for the next book and hope the negative - and downright horrible - comments here don't put other people off.

Sometimes I can spend a stupid amount of time browsing through books on Amazon and I am always on the lookout for new authors with good write ups. This is how I came across Grant McKenzie as I noticed his debut novel had pretty good write ups.

I had zero expectations, as normal with new authors and was pleased that as I started reading it was very easy to get into the story. As the synopsis explains and the story starts out, ordinary guy Sam White leaves his job early one morning and arrives home to find his house burnt to the ground. He then receives a call from a man claiming his family are safe and will be returned to Sam if he complies with the killer.

Due to the story itself it certainly doesn't take long to get into the story as there is quite a lot of action in the first few chapters. I liked the style of writing by Grant McKenzie as he seems to follow the same route as authors such as Simon Kernick which are sometimes short snappy chapters. Although that may be true, there was a certain element missing which made me feel there was something lacking. I just couldn't quite put my finger on what.

The story itself had all the right ingredients and the writing was good, but for some reason I just didn't like the characters all that much. The further I got into the story, the more I felt like I had `read this type of thing before'. Admittedly I do read a lot of books but this storyline just had too much of a familiar ring to it.

Don't get me wrong, I certainly enjoyed the book, but it didn't leave a lasting enough impression on me to really stand out from the crowd. On reflection, I think this time around maybe I relied too heavily on other readers opinions and maybe I just didn't feel as strongly as others did. I certainly wouldn't be put off reading another McKenzie novel and I am hoping that maybe with a more original storyline I will like his next book more, but for some reason this one just didn't grab me all that much.

Overall certainly not a bad book, just one that didn't have that certain something!

Failed actor and full-time security guard, Sam White, is coasting through life, trying to provide for his family, when a phone call changes everything. His wife and daughter have been kidnapped and will be returned only if Sam does what the caller asks, and what he asks is criminal, to say the least. Sam is unaware that the same thing has happened to a doctor named Zack Parker until Parker approaches him with his own disturbing story. They decide to figure out who's dismantling their lives before it's too late to save their families.

Switch is a fast-paced thriller about loss of control, failed dreams, and how far someone will cross legal and moral lines for loved ones. It's a scary premise that I wasn't sure I wanted to read at first, but the short chapters and incredible tension kept me turning pages, and the twists and turns were good. The bad guy's motive wasn't particularly original, but the ethical dilemmas White and Parker faced were riveting.

All thrillers follow the same line: In the begining an horrible event occurs; then the hero of the story make a wrong decision; the effect of this decision is, that the hero have to solve the incident on his own; no help from the police or other authorities; the police is a nonrelevant part of the story; in the end the police legitimates the brutality of the hero.

And this line made a lot of thrillers absorbing, a joy to read etc. "Switch" - undoubtedly - is one of those thrillers. For a summary of the story you should read the product description above.

"Only 3 stars?", could anybody ask. Yes! The protagonist made to much wrong decisions in the begining of the story. And that's the first fault Grant McKenzie made. He gave his hero to much possibilities for those decisions. After the second or third decision you'll ask yourself, why Sam White (the protagonist) don't turn on his heel and walks direct to the FBI. One incorrect decision you will forgive... but two or three...?

Then the story becomes a very good reading: unexpected twists and turns. Only slowly you will understand the connection between the persons in this book. They were all highschool-buddies and are connected with an event on the prom.

Then Grant McKenzie ends with a big bang: unnecessary violence. One of the bad guys - who changes sides - was killed. Cold blooded.

The curious beginning and the violent end let you alone with an ambivalent feeling about this book. Undoubtedly Grant McKenzie could write thrillers. This is a thriller with a fast pace. Grant McKenzie give you some hours of good reading. But I could not forgive him this violent ending. So 3 stars - not very good but also not bad - is the right decision. I would read it again... except of the begining and the end.

I struggled through about half the book before thinking "why go on reading this horrible crap?" Then I skipped to the end and read about 20 or so pages at the end and it was the same twisted sick stuff.
Think about it! If you were watching this as a movie and someone punched a little girl in the face and threw her against a rock wall, would you like that? GROSS! I don't know how anyone can read torture stuff like this and it just goes on and on, ridiculously over the top violence. Nasty!
I have never throw a book in the garbage before ever but I just had to with this one.

What a ridiculous book. I bought it because of the blurbs from Ken Bruen and Lee Child and am inclined to say these two authors know Grant McKenzie or were blackmailed by him.
The dialogue is unbelievable and so are the situations. We see two men who have been brought together by tragedy in a car together and both of their families are kidnapped or dead and one character looks at the other and " for a moment he could picture the friendship they might have had: laughter and backyard barbeques..." This is unbelievable for even the most simple-minded reader.
There is another part where a man finds out his old high school buddy has been murdered and his response is " I always meant to call him and get together for a beer."
Disregard the blurbs and heed this review....this book is not worthy of high praise from these authors. Don't spend the money on this book, it is a disappointment.