Customer Reviews

The Vanished Hands

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The greatest thrillers and mysteries are compelling novels that have a mystery at their core. And so it is with Robert Wilson's The Vanished Hands, a beautifully crafted work that, while it stands independently, builds upon Wilson's prior work, The Blind Man of Seville. Wilson's work is just a gem for the genre; it has solid writing, believable characters, and a difficult, but ultimately believable plot. It is a sophisticated and interesting thriller.

When a wealthy businessman and his wife are found dead in their home in a upscale neighborhood of Seville, Wilson's hero, Inspector Javier Falcon, is at first called upon to determine whether their deaths are a murder/suicide or a double murder. But as the investigation commences, bodies keep piling up: a famous, but washed-up actor takes his own life; a Russian prostitute disappears after a brief interrogation by the police and then turns up murdered, a high-ranking police official commits suicide. Falcon believes all these deaths are linked, and are not accidental, but he can't quite connect the dots.

There's a reason why, of course, which is that the plot is intricate and sometimes difficult to follow. But that's one of the reasons why I like Wilson's works; like the real world, they aren't always tidy and linear. And the complexity of the plot and action shouldn't deter readers; Wilson's stop-and-go quality heightens the tension and the reader's interest. If cops could just connect the dots in a simple straight line, there'd be less unsolved crime, and these kinds of novels would be infinitely less satisfying.

Wilson's strength in drawing characters is another reason to admire his work and read his books. Like many heroes of thrillers, Inspector Falcon has a painful past, and in The Vanished Hands Falcon continues his personal quest of moving on from his troubled relationship with his ex-wife, who is now dating, and soon to marry, one of his superiors. As he moves through his investigation, Falcon is constantly assessing that relationship, whose failure is constantly on display to him, given the small town nature of the police department and Seville. Falcon's candid admissions of his past failures with women and his tentativeness in reaching out for a new chance at love give real depth to his character. Even the minor characters are well-drawn: Maddy Krugman, the voluptuous ex-pat American who may not be candid about her past, and Juez Calderon, Falcon's superior and the fiancé of his ex-wife. For readers who have read other Wilson works, Falcon is an interesting extension on Bruce Medway, the hero of Wilson's novels set in Africa, who also has difficulties with women. But the maturing Wilson is now able to write greater depth into Falcon than Medway ever exhibited.

Wilson's writing is also a pleasure; he has a true gift for physical description. By way of illustration, the action in The Vanished Hands takes place in Seville in the summer, when the weather is beastly hot, and Wilson never lets you forget how the physical surroundings affect the characters and their behavior. Wilson's description of heat shimmering from roadways, and the stifled air of spaces devoid of air conditioning is brilliant.

Finally, Wilson does not shy away from interesting ideas: along the way, the characters in The Vanished Hands confront and consider the lasting emotional harms of pedophilia, the nature of parent-child relationships, the pervasive and apparently ineradicable influence of the Russian mafia in 21st century Europe, and America's unwillingness to come clean about its role in Chile in the 1970s. Most novels, let alone most thrillers, don't cover such wide ground. Yet, one of the satisfying things about The Vanished Hands is that these topics don't feel forced into the novel; they are natural outgrowths of the story line.

In Robert Wilson's new book, "The Vanished Hands," Inspector Jefe Javier Falcon, the chief of the Seville homicide squad in Spain, has a particularly nasty case to investigate. A wealthy businessman, Rafael Vega, and his wife, Lucia, are found dead in their luxurious home. At first glance, it looks like a straightforward case of murder/suicide, but Falcon has his doubts.

Rafael Vega worked in construction and he had ties to the Russian mafia. He was suffering from anxiety and panic attacks, and his wife was an emotional wreck. The couple's marriage had been deeply troubled for a long time. Could Vega have killed his wife and then himself? As Falcon's inquiries continue, he learns that Rafael Vega was hiding many ugly secrets that could have ultimately led to his death.

Robert Wilson's textured writing makes "The Vanished Hands" an intriguing and tense psychological thriller. Wilson effectively explores the weaknesses and vulnerabilities that cause people to act in self-destructive ways, harming not only themselves but also those closest to them. This book has an aura of melancholy, since it deals with such weighty themes as child abuse, political torture, and infidelity.

Wilson has a deft way with characterization, and this book has quite a cast. Javier Falcon is a man of tremendous integrity, who is willing to lay his career on the line to see that justice is done. His ex-wife, Ines, is engaged to Juez Esteban Calderon, a duty judge who is also a known womanizer. Falcon's therapist, Alice Aguado, helps to keep Falcon on an even emotional keel and she also assists Javier with other cases that he is pursuing. One of Rafael Vega's neighbors, Consuelo Jimenez, is a well-to-do and beautiful widow to whom Javier is attracted, but he has always been unlucky in love. Finally, Marty and Maddy Krugman are an odd couple who may know more than they are telling about the deaths of Rafael and Lucia Vega. Marty is almost two decades older than his voluptuous wife, who reflexively comes on to almost every man she meets.

"The Vanished Hands" is about coping with psychological pain and trying to find contentment in a flawed world. It has a layered and complex plot, engrossing characters, and profound insights into the workings of the human mind. Wilson is an author who is comfortable with ambiguity, and, unlike lesser writers, he offers no easy answers or pat solutions to all of life's problems.

I read the review by publishers weekly. Whilst i agreee that it helps to have read the previous Wilson book, the plot is NOT too complex. Rather this book is a sophisticated and engaging read, not a Richard North Patterson novel written for USA Today reading simpletons.
Wilson is a great writer who happens to write mystery novels. Yes, the beginning of his newest book is a tad slow, but it is worth the wait. The twists in the story are compelling and the nature of the crimes truly troubling. Readers of this book will not be disappointed.

Inspector Jefe Javier Falcon of the Seville Homicide Squad is back in another tautly paced and intricate mystery, "The Vanished Hands." Compelling and haunting, this second installment in the Inspector Jefe Falcon series proved to be an absorbing and riveting read, and one that lingered in the mind long after I had finished the book.

In an exclusive suburban neigbourhood, Inspector Jefe Falcon is called in to investigate what looks like a murder-suicide of rich businessman Rafael Vega and his neurotic wife, Lucia. It all looks very cut and dried: Vega suffocated his wife while she was sleeping and then consumed a litre of drain cleaner, thus killing himself. Vega even leaves a cryptic suicide note, all pointing to the fact that he was a very disturbed and depressed man. But something about the scene disturbs the investigating officer, Falcon. For instance, why would a man obsessed with security to the extent that he had a state of the art system, leave the front door merely closed instead of locked up? Reluctant to make any snap jugements, Falcon and his team begins an investigation into Vega's past and business affairs, as well as that of his neigbours. What they discover is a man with a fake past, few friends and echoes of a previous case involving a pedophile ring. But this time, Falcon who has almost recovered from the traumas he faced in the previous case ("The Blind Man of Seville") is determined to get the result he so earnestly desires...

While I'd categorise "The Vanished Hands" as a must read, I have to admit that having a good memory of what happened in "The Blind Man of Seville" or else being able to intuitively grasp what happened in the previous book from what is revealed in this book, is quite essential. That one critisim apart, this was a really excellent read. With good pacing and splendidly intricate plot, plus a chief inspector that is intelligent, engaging and completely likable, "The Vanished Hands" was an easy book to loose oneself in; each revelation added to the suspense and complexity of the mystery at hand. So that all in all, I'd classify this as a read not to be missed, and a series to keep an eye out for!

Wilson is a master of convoluted suspense, where each detail is critical and nothing is as it appears. Falcon drops into the lives of residents of Santa Clara after a questionable murder/suicide and quietly begins his investigation. The main characters are deeply flawed, but living in great comfort, the past only a heartbeat away. In a mix of murder, wealth and sex, this plot takes mystery to another level, rife with ambiguous clues and the potential for more violence. Once Falcon resolves one crime, there is another to complicate the landscape of clues.

Writing with the characteristic skill of The Blind Man of Seville, Javier Falcon returns to his investigative métier after a difficult case that has left him with considerable psychological damage. A thorough investigator, an honest man with an incisive mind, this is a man who refuses to accept the obvious. Experience has taught Falcon about the subtleties of human nature, the public vs. the private face of humanity.

In the exclusive suburb in Seville, Santa Clara, Rafael Vega is found sprawled facedown, dead, as is his wife, upstairs in her bedroom. Is this a murder/suicide or something more ominous? In the rarified atmosphere of this rich development, most neighbors are isolated in their luxurious, air-conditioned homes, while outside the intense heat presses like a vice upon the city. One of these neighbors is Consuela Jiminez, an attractive woman from Javier's previous case; the Inspector is not unappreciative of the lady's charms, in spite of the tragic circumstances of her widowhood.

Choreographing each detail, Wilson manipulates a complicated plot, drawing on a variety of individuals, from an actor to a photographer/voyeur/seductress to the CIA and the Russian mob. When more "apparent suicides" occur, Falcon strips away layer after layer, revealing a potential for scandal and depravity that may lead to important persons, those who prefer to remain out of the public eye.

Expect to be transfixed by the elegant storytelling, lush detail, sensuous women, rough-hewn men and an abundance of lies. Falcon has returned with a vengeance, a little more tattered psychologically, but ever the intrepid detective, consumed by curiosity, unruffled by reality and with an astute eye for the untoward event. It is Falcon's capacity for compassion that makes him a beloved figure in a world often gone mad with its own compulsions. Luan Gaines/2005.

It's a wonderful book - I won't write a review, I just want to point out that I think it was released previously (in Britain?) under the title "The Silent and the Damned". I know two people who tell me they bought this book thinking how very prolific Mr. Wilson has been lately, only to discover they'd already read it. But Wilson is terrific and I love the way his hero Falcon manages to be emotionally layered and macho at the same time. It works as a police procedural too, but a remarkably complex and satisfying one. I'd give it five stars except I loved his earlier, "A Small Death in Lisbon" even more.

I picked up "The Vanished Hands" because I had loved "The Company of Strangers" and "A Small Death in Lisbon." At first I didn't enjoy "The Vanished Hands" as much. I hadn't read "The Blind Man of Seville" and I found the references to it distracting. Also, I prefer historical settings for thrillers and this one is set in July 2002. I couldn't even get much of a feel for Seville. Of course, the barrio where the book is set is described as more like California than Spain, so maybe that was the problem. However, I soon found myself unable to put the book down. Javier Falcon is fascinating, flawed and following his intuition about coincidences and contradictions -- correctly, as it turn out.

Other reviewers commented on Wilson's character development and I agree that is one of his strengths. The murder victim Rafael Vega is dead when the book opens but he becomes one of the most intriguing characters in the book. Falcon's therapist is a blind woman. I loved how she held his wrist during their sessions so she could feel his pulse. But the most riveting character is Falcon himself. He's so thoughtful and subtle. I plan to go back and read "The Blind Man of Seville," even though I pretty much know what happens from having read "The Vanished Hands." I want to know more about Falcon. "A Small Death in Lisbon" is still my favorite, but "The Vanished Hands" is an excellent book.

This is my first book by Wilson and I am very impressed. He is one of those few thriller writers who relies on good old fashioned WRITING. No cheap tricks, no serendipitous coincidences, no whiz-bang save-the-world with only seconds to go. No, Robert Wilson takes his time, develops his characters, unravels his complicated plot, leavens each page with great wordsmithing and, in so doing, presents the reader with a treasure. This book, however, is not perfect. There are so many characters that he thoughtfully provides a cast of characters at the end of the book. And the pacing of the novel bogs down right at the outset, but like a big train engine, the novel rolls down the tracks, gaining momentum that, by the end of the book, seems unstoppable. I liked this book because it was a good read and it didn't insult my intelligence.

After having been very disappointed with Robert Wilson's "A Small Death in Lisbon," I really enjoyed reading "The Vanished Hands." It is a psychological murder mystery, set in a sizzling hot Summer in Seville, Spain. The book is well written, with intriguing, mostly believable characters. Once you get into it, it is hard to put down. I highly recommend it.

The four Javier Falcon novels by Robert Wilson really elevate the police procedural genre to a whole new level. TVH is the second in the series, and it follows The Blind Man of Seville. TBMOS has been criticized for having an erratic and overly complicated plot by some reviewers.

Once having completed the 4 volume series, I concluded that everything he did in the first book was necessary to support the whole tale he was going to tell across the 4 books.

TVH stands out from the first book in that the plot moves more quickly, and the character development seems a bit better drawn out. Characters we have met before become much richer in biographical detail, and characters we meet for the first time seem a bit more finely drawn than in TBMOS.

Most importantly, TVH brings in the major forces driving the plots of the last 3 books, namely the Russian Mafia and the struggle with radical Islamic terrorists. The foundations set in TVH enable the last 2 novels to be about as good as anything one can read in this genre.

That's not to say readers won't enjoy TVH. It's a fine standalone book as well. Wilson has a deft hand with portraying both Seville and its citizens. The city is virtually a character in its own right and I felt that I could have navigated Seville for the first time with nothing else but one of Wilson's books.

Readers familiar with Wilson will know to pay attention to his book titles and TVH is no exception. By end of TVH, the hidden meaning is very clear. I'll say nothing else, as I don't leave spoilers in my reviews.

Once you've completed the Falcon quartet, I recommend highly his book A Small Death in Lisbon. It is a fine, fine book as well.