Die Twice: Two Crime Novels in One the Business of Dying and the Murder Exchange [Paperback]

This book includes the first two novels by Simon Kernick and if these are any indication of his talent, readers will find him to be a writer to be mentioned in the same group of outstanding British/Scottish/Irish writers including Peter Robinson, Ruth Rendell, Ian Rankin, P.D. James and Ken Bruen. This is gritty, noirish crime fiction at its best. Good and bad coppers, interesting villians and great atnetion to police proecedural details with slam bang prose make Kernick an interesting read. The two novels have some characters that overlap (and some of which appear in his later novels), which adds interest and continuity to the stories. These stories are impossible to put down reading and will make you anxious to find his other novels. A real star is born here, folks. Read these stories and you will be equally impressed.

I recently picked up a copy of Simon Kernick's current UK Bestseller TARGET. The thriller was fast paced, and kept you reading, always wanting to find out what happened next. What intriqued me most about TARGET, was that Kernick did something that few authors ever do in this type of book. I wont spoil the surprise, but it really threw me for a loop.

As always, whenever I find an author that is new to me, I seek out their other books. While Kernick is in short supply here in the US, the omnibus of THE BUSINESS OF DYING and THE MURDER EXCHANGE was available here on Amazon. And the price is attractive too. In THE BUSINESS OF DYING, Kernick once again tosses you for a loop, but this time it comes right at the beginning. And as in the case of TARGET, it keeps you reading till the last page. I loved THE MURDER EXCHANGE, as Kernick goes back and forth in the chapters, as 2 main characters tell their story. The novel opens up with a bang, and then proceeds to lay out how the characters got that point.

As with all Kernick novels, not all the good guys are good, and not all the bad guys are bad. If you are a fan of Lee Child, as I am, I highly recommend this omnibus. And keep your eye out for RELENTLESS, and the aforementioned TARGET.

Die Twice is the republication of great but not yet known by the masses author Simon Kernick's first two novels. The two stories in Die Twice are pretty similar in style but Kernick is one of those rare authors who can write in completely different styles and still maintain a high quality. Whether you are after a Harlan Coben style novel (try Relentless), David Morrell character style novel (try Severed), through the eyes of a policeman solving a crime type novel (try Deadline). In fact if you like the through the eyes of Gallan segments of the second story in Die Twice - The Murder Exchange then you're in for a real treat with Deadline.

So the two stories in this one are The Business of Dying and the Murder Exchange. If you can get those two novels as individual books cheaper than this I'd do so. All Die Twice has in addition is a very short foreword by Lee Child which was obviously not originally written for Die Twice anyway as he goes on about how its great to see minority races as major characters which is never mentioned or implemented in either of the stories within. So unless you're a huge Lee Child fan the two page forward really isn't worth anything extra.

Kernick's debut novel The Business of Dying is through the eyes of Detective Sergeant Dennis Milne, someone who long ago lost his faith that police following the rules made a huge difference. Sure he's put many through traditional police methods behind bars but the justice system has also seen a lot walk free due to technicalities or tainted evidence. Therefore he has no problem delivering his own justice while making a bit of money on the side by being paid to be an assassin. He only kills those who deserve it, at least he did until he found out his latest triple hit happened to be two customs agents and an accountant. Complicating matter is a witness which makes his associates on the hit man side of things a bit jittery. He knows his name is most likely going to be on a list if he doesn't get on top of this and figure out what, exactly is going on. However he's still got his day to day detective job and with that the homicide case of a likely teenage prostitute.

Business of dying is a very fast paced novel, terrifically written, especially when you remember this was his debut novel.

The second novel within is The Murder Exchange. It's not quite up to the standard of his first novel or his later work mainly due to the fact that one of the two main character, Detective Gallan, is a bit boring personality wise. The Murder Exchange is written as two parallel storylines which cross at different times in the story. One is Detective Gallan who is investigating a homicide when he sees the bullet ridden vehicle being driven by the other main character ex army now security provider max Iversson. Iversson is a much more likeable and interesting character. His tale begins with providing security for a bar owner who says he's being forced to sell and needs some muscle with him to ensure he actually gets given the money. Unfortunately everything goes wrong and having been seen by Gallen before hiding his vehicle he's now on the most wanted list. Iversson doesn't like being set up either so he's also out for vengeance before going overseas until things die down.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 3 reviews  4.7 out of 5 stars