- Hardcover: 1 pages
- Publisher: Pegasus Books (May 27 2008)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1933648007
- ISBN-13: 978-1933648002
- Product Dimensions: 20.3 x 14.7 x 3.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 567 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,765,039 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. An enterprising new publishing house launches its list with British author Waite's sixth crime novel (his first to be published in the U.S.), a beautifully written and constructed thriller that courageously avoids using sentimentality to balance despair. When journalist Joe Donovan's six-year-old son disappears in a crowded department store, his marriage falls apart, he loses his high-profile newspaper job, and he retreats to rural Northumberland. Two years later, the top editor of Donovan's former newspaper (a touchingly believable woman) and a shrewd lawyer somewhat short on scruples seek Donovan's aid in discovering why an ace reporter has vanished. The pair promise in return to help Donovan in his obsessive search for his lost son. Raw violence explodes on almost every page (the titular mercy seat is an especially vicious instrument of torture), and there are some artfully awful villains. But what readers are likely to take away from this potent first of a new series is the resilient power of Donovan's feelings, especially for the female editor and a lost street boy named Jamal. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
This sprawling British crime story is one of those in which readers get a glimpse of the MacGuffin right away and then have to wait a couple hundred pages before learning anything significant about it. And even then, several small contrivances keep delaying the big revelation. So the characters must be quite compelling to sustain interest in following the murky plot to clarity. Waites delivers just enough of them here--an ex-journalist obsessively searching for his long-missing son, a savvy rent boy who steals the wrong disc player, and a pair of scruffy hipster private eyes trying to save their struggling agency--to keep the pages turning. And although it would benefit from the judicious pruning of several subplots and a lighter touch in the moralizing department, the story offers its satisfactions as well. These include cinematic action set pieces and a welcome sequence in which a gay man rescues a young hustler from peril and makes the point, all too frequently overlooked in crime fiction, that child molesters are as unwelcome in the gay community as they are everywhere else. Frank Sennett
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3.6 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Almost, Not Quite, Top Drawer Brit Thriller Noir!, Jun 9 2006
By S. Henkels - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Mercy Seat (Hardcover)
As a non-stop hard hitting, realistic, and action packed thriller set in present day England, this is probably hard to beat. A really burnt out, even suicidal, ex-newsman becomes involved with about every crooked low life type that one may imagine, from bad cops to child molesters, and sadistic killers. Great descriptions of England's seamy urban side, and a really motley assortment of personages, mostly bad, make this a solid US debut! Thankfully, most of the gruesomeness and perversions are not described in detail, another feather in the cap of the author. Only four stars because, some of the characters and situations become almost cartoon-like, and an editor could have cut down on some repetitive phrases like "He Smiled", which are way over-done.
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very Compelling Start, May 21 2006
By A Discerning Reader - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Mercy Seat (Hardcover)
Martyn Waites' The Mercy Seat is a thrillingly ugly portrayal of a big city's underbelly--full of crime, abandoned children, thugs, lawyers, etc. A 14-year-old rent boy steals a mini-disc player; and when he listens to the mini-disc that happened to be inside the player, he realizes he's stumbled onto something very important. Some people are dying over the contents of this disc, and some good guys are trying to figure out the who, what, and why of the crimes described on the disc.Yes, some of the characters are a bit formulaic. Yes, there's a lot of sick violence. But it really lends verisimilitude to the bleak landscape Waites want us to believe is real. I was convinced!
The story is a little too long; but the author has put enough thought into the subplots and supporting characters so that they do not sink the story. They may weigh it down a bit, but you won't be sorry you picked up this scary and sometimes horrifying thriller. I will definitely read any other of Martyn Waites' novels I can get my hands on.
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Newcastle ain't that Bad, Feb 17 2006
By KEN SCOTT author "Scotty" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Mercy Seat (Hardcover)
This was my first book by Martyn Waites. It's part of the popular Joe Donavan series and the book starts by coaxing Joe out of retirement. From the first few pages the book picks you up, throws you into the seat, and tells you to stay there. The book takes you on an intercity rollercoaster journey between Newcastle (incidently my home town)and London and introduces characters so believable that I'm convinced I've met a few of them. The story is first class and keeps you hanging on until you find out what happened to our hero's kidnapped son. (No I'm not gonna spoil it for you.)But hey, Martyn! Newcastle aint that bad!
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