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catiandrah's review against another edition
3.0
This book may have been better than a three star, but the narrator of the audiobook was ATROCIOUS. I'll read the next one rather than listen to it, to try and get a better idea of the actual story and writing.
cmbohn's review against another edition
2.0
The police procedural is a name for a type of mystery which is pretty much like the name implies - it centers around a group of police officers and one or more crimes they are trying to solve. Generally there's one central case and a few others minor ones. Depending on the writer, there's also some stuff about the officers, about their home lives, their relationships, their backgrounds. It's like Law & Order or NCIS.
Normally I like police procedurals. I've read a lot of them, set throughout the 20th century up until modern ones. My favorite authors tend to be out of print, but there are some writers who are still producing first class books.
This one was not one of them.
Normally I like police procedurals. I've read a lot of them, set throughout the 20th century up until modern ones. My favorite authors tend to be out of print, but there are some writers who are still producing first class books.
This one was not one of them.
eleellis's review against another edition
4.0
The Dragon Man by Garry Disher is the first novel in the Australian Inspector Hal Challis series and it is a good one.
The Dragon Man is a pure, dogged police procedural of the pursuit of a serial killer. Typically, I shy away from serial killer novels due to too many writers' reliance upon the mythical, brilliant and diabolical killer that is vastly overused in crime novels. Disher's The Dragon Man is not like that and to this reader, that is one thing that makes his writing so enjoyable.
Let me be upfront - this opening novel by Disher is as good as any Harry Bosch novel by Michael Connelly and maybe even more so.
Disher not only introduces us to Hal Challis but in the opening novel throws a number of new characters at the reader that may take some dancing to keep them straight, and these characters are as layered as the main character.
Challis is tasked with investigating a string of abductions and murders of young women along a local highway. At the same time, multiple other crimes are also being pursued with investigators not knowing if they are related or not.
The storylines are then portrayed in a way that provides a logical conclusion to the plots in the novel by characters that actually investigate.
The Dragon Man is highly recommended to those that enjoy police procedurals, with excellent character development.
The Dragon Man is a pure, dogged police procedural of the pursuit of a serial killer. Typically, I shy away from serial killer novels due to too many writers' reliance upon the mythical, brilliant and diabolical killer that is vastly overused in crime novels. Disher's The Dragon Man is not like that and to this reader, that is one thing that makes his writing so enjoyable.
Let me be upfront - this opening novel by Disher is as good as any Harry Bosch novel by Michael Connelly and maybe even more so.
Disher not only introduces us to Hal Challis but in the opening novel throws a number of new characters at the reader that may take some dancing to keep them straight, and these characters are as layered as the main character.
Challis is tasked with investigating a string of abductions and murders of young women along a local highway. At the same time, multiple other crimes are also being pursued with investigators not knowing if they are related or not.
The storylines are then portrayed in a way that provides a logical conclusion to the plots in the novel by characters that actually investigate.
The Dragon Man is highly recommended to those that enjoy police procedurals, with excellent character development.
sceadugenga's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book and will be continuing the series. With writers like Disher and Candice Fox Aussie crime fiction is in good hands.
bmichie31's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
angrygreycatreads's review against another edition
4.0
The Dragon Man, this is the first in a series featuring DI Hal Challis. He works murders and is assigned in the Peninsula region outside Melbourne. Young women have begun disappearing and DI Challis is thinking that there is a serial killer and rapist at work. He is relatively new to the area and to the team and must bring them together to solve this case before more young women go missing. At the same time the station is dealing with random acts of arson, somewhat organized burglaries and a team of con artists targeting the elderly, so there is a lot going on and some of it may be connected.
The sense of place is really well developed. The reader is definitely immersed in the heat, the isolation, the sense of menace and dread of a women on her own on the side of the road, and the almost closed in feel of living in a small community. It really works well in this book, especially for someone like myself, who is not familiar with the area at all. The serial killer story arc is wrapped up a little too quickly for my taste, there is no delving into his motivations or background they simply catch him through a connection to another crime. The other story arcs work well. The character of DI Hal Challis is intriguing with an ex-wife in an institution for the criminally insane and a new relationship just starting out. In this book, it seemed to me he shared top billing with Sergeant Ellen Destry, her story arc seemed just as important as his for much of the book.
Overall, a good solid police procedural and I would read another in the series.
The sense of place is really well developed. The reader is definitely immersed in the heat, the isolation, the sense of menace and dread of a women on her own on the side of the road, and the almost closed in feel of living in a small community. It really works well in this book, especially for someone like myself, who is not familiar with the area at all. The serial killer story arc is wrapped up a little too quickly for my taste, there is no delving into his motivations or background they simply catch him through a connection to another crime. The other story arcs work well. The character of DI Hal Challis is intriguing with an ex-wife in an institution for the criminally insane and a new relationship just starting out. In this book, it seemed to me he shared top billing with Sergeant Ellen Destry, her story arc seemed just as important as his for much of the book.
Overall, a good solid police procedural and I would read another in the series.
tien's review against another edition
2.0
Unfortunately, I picked up who the bad guy is fairly early on... I loved the setting etc but found this novel too predictable.
mw2k's review against another edition
4.0
This is the third Hal Challis book I've read and yes, I know I should have tried to read them in order, but I don't think my local library has all of them.
Anyhow, re: this book's merits. It's as good as the rest of them, and Disher sets up his cast of characters well. It's one thing I admire greatly about this guy's writing - there's the overwhelming sense that all of what's depicted could be real, as if he were describing events, rather than creating them. He does it very, very well. The underlying plot doesn't survive such close scrutiny though, and it is a little on the routine side.
Still, we have another winner here. Needless to say, I'm going to hunt down his other Challis books.
Anyhow, re: this book's merits. It's as good as the rest of them, and Disher sets up his cast of characters well. It's one thing I admire greatly about this guy's writing - there's the overwhelming sense that all of what's depicted could be real, as if he were describing events, rather than creating them. He does it very, very well. The underlying plot doesn't survive such close scrutiny though, and it is a little on the routine side.
Still, we have another winner here. Needless to say, I'm going to hunt down his other Challis books.
expendablemudge's review against another edition
3.0
Up from 2.5 because there's something genuinely absorbing about this procedural. But gawdlemitey if the next book has eleventeen characters bumblestumbling around I will boot this series.
Challis needs something. He needs a humanizing hobby, like Montalbano. Plane restoring is dull and unappealing. Destry's a bit less blah, but not overmuch. Tankard's a nasty fucker and I hope he dies in a fire or something equally painful and unpleasant. The other bajillion characters didn't make an impression on me so I don't remember their names or qualities.
Anyway, better than ~meh~ but not by much. Book two, [b:Kittyhawk Down|815141|Kittyhawk Down (Inspector Challis, #2)|Garry Disher|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1333580302s/815141.jpg|801064], better be significantly more involving and intriguing or the series goes flooey with me.
Challis needs something. He needs a humanizing hobby, like Montalbano. Plane restoring is dull and unappealing. Destry's a bit less blah, but not overmuch. Tankard's a nasty fucker and I hope he dies in a fire or something equally painful and unpleasant. The other bajillion characters didn't make an impression on me so I don't remember their names or qualities.
Anyway, better than ~meh~ but not by much. Book two, [b:Kittyhawk Down|815141|Kittyhawk Down (Inspector Challis, #2)|Garry Disher|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1333580302s/815141.jpg|801064], better be significantly more involving and intriguing or the series goes flooey with me.
eleellis's review against another edition
4.0
The Dragon Man by Garry Disher is the first novel in the Australian Inspector Hal Challis series and it is a good one.
The Dragon Man is a pure, dogged police procedural of the pursuit of a serial killer. Typically, I shy away from serial killer novels due to too many writers' reliance upon the mythical, brilliant and diabolical killer that is vastly overused in crime novels. Disher's The Dragon Man is not like that and to this reader, that is one thing that makes his writing so enjoyable.
Let me be upfront - this opening novel by Disher is as good as any Harry Bosch novel by Michael Connelly and maybe even more so.
Disher not only introduces us to Hal Challis but in the opening novel throws a number of new characters at the reader that may take some dancing to keep them straight, and these characters are as layered as the main character.
Challis is tasked with investigating a string of abductions and murders of young women along a local highway. At the same time, multiple other crimes are also being pursued with investigators not knowing if they are related or not.
The storylines are then portrayed in a way that provides a logical conclusion to the plots in the novel by characters that actually investigate.
The Dragon Man is highly recommended to those that enjoy police procedurals, with excellent character development.
The Dragon Man is a pure, dogged police procedural of the pursuit of a serial killer. Typically, I shy away from serial killer novels due to too many writers' reliance upon the mythical, brilliant and diabolical killer that is vastly overused in crime novels. Disher's The Dragon Man is not like that and to this reader, that is one thing that makes his writing so enjoyable.
Let me be upfront - this opening novel by Disher is as good as any Harry Bosch novel by Michael Connelly and maybe even more so.
Disher not only introduces us to Hal Challis but in the opening novel throws a number of new characters at the reader that may take some dancing to keep them straight, and these characters are as layered as the main character.
Challis is tasked with investigating a string of abductions and murders of young women along a local highway. At the same time, multiple other crimes are also being pursued with investigators not knowing if they are related or not.
The storylines are then portrayed in a way that provides a logical conclusion to the plots in the novel by characters that actually investigate.
The Dragon Man is highly recommended to those that enjoy police procedurals, with excellent character development.