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urlphantomhive's review against another edition
3.0
Deadly Intent was a book that had been lurking on my shelves for the past 6 years. I bought it during a time I was reading a lot of police procedurals and I had heard the name of Lynda La Plante often so I wanted to give it a try.
It comes in over 600 pages and makes you wonder. Does a police procedural need to be thing long? The answer is probably no. I felt it could have been shortened with at least a hundred pages without losing any of the information in it.
This is the fourth book in the series, but the first one I read. Therefore I was not as connected with the characters as could have been. There was quite some tension, with the main character Anna making some stupid decisions.
As a crime novel, it was fine, but not the kind of special I had hoped for. (This is also much less my genre now than it was back when I bought it, which my account for some of it).
Find this and other reviews on my blog https://www.urlphantomhive.com
It comes in over 600 pages and makes you wonder. Does a police procedural need to be thing long? The answer is probably no. I felt it could have been shortened with at least a hundred pages without losing any of the information in it.
This is the fourth book in the series, but the first one I read. Therefore I was not as connected with the characters as could have been. There was quite some tension, with the main character Anna making some stupid decisions.
As a crime novel, it was fine, but not the kind of special I had hoped for. (This is also much less my genre now than it was back when I bought it, which my account for some of it).
Find this and other reviews on my blog https://www.urlphantomhive.com
natazzz's review against another edition
3.0
Could've been at least 200 pages shorter, without losing much of the plot. Ok crime novel, nothing more, nothing less.
fat_girl_fiction's review against another edition
3.0
At the beginning of Lynda La Plante's Deadly Intent this book was a four. As the case continued, it stuck to a four, but by the end I was so fed up with the case and frustrated with the characters that I went down a star.
The case starts with ex-policeman Frank Brandon being shot in a squat. The whole case spirals, with several dead bodies, all linked in some way to Alexander Fitzpatrick a drug baron who disappeared over ten years ago.
Alongside the complicated case, is DI Travis' personal relationships which seem to get more ridiculous by the second. But more about that later.
The actual case is good, exciting, lots of evidence and strings that all seem to knit nicely together as the book steams along. I'll admit, this book certainly has the 'pull', as one chapter ends you just want to start another. I read most of this book when I was travelling and it was a welcome friend on the long train journeys.
The book gets three stars for the case and La Plante's writing, which is quite tense in places. I can't really put my finger on it, but there is something that keeps you reading.
What really fell down for me was DI Travis, all the characters really. I found Anna whiny, she complained about everything, even when it was well deserved. She made bad choices and had no appreciation for her colleagues. To be honest, apart from Gordon, I felt no affection towards any of the characters. This was my first Lynda La Plante novel, so I didn't know anything about Travis' relationship with Langton, but when we meet him, I can't see the attraction. He's an arse to her. Her relationship with Pete, the Lab Tech is just as bad. He introduces her to drugs and despite asking him to stop taking drugs, he still does and she doesn't show any reaction to this.
The last quarter of the book is mainly interviews, and by this point I was ready to give up. The last chapter really got my goat. As their search for Alexander Fitzpatrick is drawing to a close, she makes a decision. Personally I think she made the right decision, although her bosses do not. After getting told off, and possibly demoted by Langton she goes home and manages to talk herself into believing she'd made the right one. Despite her telling off and everything else, she risks it all and agrees to go on a date with someone who was at one point a suspect in the case! And at that point I was considering going down to two stars!
Anyway, after my long rant, it's up to you. I personally am in no hurry to read another Lynda La Plante, especially an Anna Travis novel, but if you like your lead a fluffy female officer with a string of bad relationships, then pick this book up.
The case starts with ex-policeman Frank Brandon being shot in a squat. The whole case spirals, with several dead bodies, all linked in some way to Alexander Fitzpatrick a drug baron who disappeared over ten years ago.
Alongside the complicated case, is DI Travis' personal relationships which seem to get more ridiculous by the second. But more about that later.
The actual case is good, exciting, lots of evidence and strings that all seem to knit nicely together as the book steams along. I'll admit, this book certainly has the 'pull', as one chapter ends you just want to start another. I read most of this book when I was travelling and it was a welcome friend on the long train journeys.
The book gets three stars for the case and La Plante's writing, which is quite tense in places. I can't really put my finger on it, but there is something that keeps you reading.
What really fell down for me was DI Travis, all the characters really. I found Anna whiny, she complained about everything, even when it was well deserved. She made bad choices and had no appreciation for her colleagues. To be honest, apart from Gordon, I felt no affection towards any of the characters. This was my first Lynda La Plante novel, so I didn't know anything about Travis' relationship with Langton, but when we meet him, I can't see the attraction. He's an arse to her. Her relationship with Pete, the Lab Tech is just as bad. He introduces her to drugs and despite asking him to stop taking drugs, he still does and she doesn't show any reaction to this.
The last quarter of the book is mainly interviews, and by this point I was ready to give up. The last chapter really got my goat. As their search for Alexander Fitzpatrick is drawing to a close, she makes a decision. Personally I think she made the right decision, although her bosses do not. After getting told off, and possibly demoted by Langton she goes home and manages to talk herself into believing she'd made the right one. Despite her telling off and everything else, she risks it all and agrees to go on a date with someone who was at one point a suspect in the case! And at that point I was considering going down to two stars!
Anyway, after my long rant, it's up to you. I personally am in no hurry to read another Lynda La Plante, especially an Anna Travis novel, but if you like your lead a fluffy female officer with a string of bad relationships, then pick this book up.
jcbmathcat's review against another edition
4.0
This is the fourth book in the Anna Travis series. Anna now has experience in the field as a member of various iterations of Murder Squads and has learned much from her former lover/boss, James Langton.
We are privy to the identity, of sorts, of the villain within the first few pages, but the police don't have the information that we, the readers, have. I thought this was an interesting way to start the ball rolling. I also thought it was interesting that the drug involved in this case is a drug I first learned about through my veterinarian. I wonder if it has become a problem drug on the streets, as was indicated in this book.
I do find myself becoming impatient with her, as she continually ignores warnings from Langton and other "higher ups" to work as part of the team and not go off on her own to follow leads. Some of her transgressions definitely qualify as grounds to demote her, yet she still manages to work her way out of trouble. She did insinuate to Langton that she had something on him (from the previous book) and this angered him. Anna seems a bit too egotistical and cocky in this book.
Some reviewers complain that the story drags. I feel that it's probably more accurate than a lot of what we see on television. Lab tests, DNA tests, and other forensic work take time, often weeks, before results are obtained. A lot of detective work is a type of drudgery, and I think La Plante does a great job of developing her stories so that readers understand this.
I also liked the fact that this story didn't have a particularly happy ending. Life is like that, and I think La Plante does a good job in keeping her stories real.
I have two more books to go and then hope we have access to the current (seventh) one in the series.
I also hope Anna matures some before she really finds herself in a corner.
We are privy to the identity, of sorts, of the villain within the first few pages, but the police don't have the information that we, the readers, have. I thought this was an interesting way to start the ball rolling. I also thought it was interesting that the drug involved in this case is a drug I first learned about through my veterinarian. I wonder if it has become a problem drug on the streets, as was indicated in this book.
I do find myself becoming impatient with her, as she continually ignores warnings from Langton and other "higher ups" to work as part of the team and not go off on her own to follow leads. Some of her transgressions definitely qualify as grounds to demote her, yet she still manages to work her way out of trouble. She did insinuate to Langton that she had something on him (from the previous book) and this angered him. Anna seems a bit too egotistical and cocky in this book.
Some reviewers complain that the story drags. I feel that it's probably more accurate than a lot of what we see on television. Lab tests, DNA tests, and other forensic work take time, often weeks, before results are obtained. A lot of detective work is a type of drudgery, and I think La Plante does a great job of developing her stories so that readers understand this.
I also liked the fact that this story didn't have a particularly happy ending. Life is like that, and I think La Plante does a good job in keeping her stories real.
I have two more books to go and then hope we have access to the current (seventh) one in the series.
I also hope Anna matures some before she really finds herself in a corner.
samstillreading's review against another edition
3.0
I've just finished reading this and I'm still not certain who is innocent, who's guilty and who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Like the other DI Travis novels I've read (you can read them as stand alone or together), there's a high body count, a lot of red herrings and a lot of police involved. Which adds up to a lot of names to remember in this novel- and very few are recurring characters. The author is fantastic at describing the action, but not that good at describing characters. For example, we know Pete likes a joint and drives a nice car, but very little about his looks and life beyond the lab.
Anna Travis does her usual thing in this novel, going off on dangerous tangents alone. Yes, yes, we know she will get into trouble, jeopardise the investigation etc etc, but it all turns out okay in the end, doesn't it?
Well, Deadly Intent is a little different to the rest. But you can bet that the author is already typing away at a new adventure.
I enjoyed this fast paced crime thriller, but even though I read it over a week, I found it difficult to remember the characters (something which I don't usually have a problem with). Another minor point- the pages have HUGE margins (at least 2cm), which means the book looks thicker than it need be.
Fentanyl is commonly written with a capital letter, which irritates me, because it's not necessary (drug name, not brand name). You would think an editor could realise that. And we hear the same few facts about it over and over and over again. Please, someone do some research! Read a BNF or Martindale!
Like the other DI Travis novels I've read (you can read them as stand alone or together), there's a high body count, a lot of red herrings and a lot of police involved. Which adds up to a lot of names to remember in this novel- and very few are recurring characters. The author is fantastic at describing the action, but not that good at describing characters. For example, we know Pete likes a joint and drives a nice car, but very little about his looks and life beyond the lab.
Anna Travis does her usual thing in this novel, going off on dangerous tangents alone. Yes, yes, we know she will get into trouble, jeopardise the investigation etc etc, but it all turns out okay in the end, doesn't it?
Well, Deadly Intent is a little different to the rest. But you can bet that the author is already typing away at a new adventure.
I enjoyed this fast paced crime thriller, but even though I read it over a week, I found it difficult to remember the characters (something which I don't usually have a problem with). Another minor point- the pages have HUGE margins (at least 2cm), which means the book looks thicker than it need be.
Fentanyl is commonly written with a capital letter, which irritates me, because it's not necessary (drug name, not brand name). You would think an editor could realise that. And we hear the same few facts about it over and over and over again. Please, someone do some research! Read a BNF or Martindale!
scotchneat's review
2.0
Anna Travis isn't the usual detective protagonist - she's got some baggage.
A bit mystery comes up, and when she's not being indignant about someone blocking her from being a maverick, she has to work with her ex-lover to figure it out.
She doesn't have the best taste in men.
The mystery itself was okay, but it wasn't a page-turner.
A bit mystery comes up, and when she's not being indignant about someone blocking her from being a maverick, she has to work with her ex-lover to figure it out.
She doesn't have the best taste in men.
The mystery itself was okay, but it wasn't a page-turner.
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