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illusie's review
2.0
This started very promissing, but then it went down hill. In the second part of the book there were just too many characters. It got hard to keep track of who was who. I also didn't like that there was a subplot which made it confusing. I won't read the next book of this series.
gbwilliams's review
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
yorugua1891's review
2.0
Could have been great, ended up being a mess.
If someone would have told me that I would rate this book 2 stars when I was halfway through it, I would have said they were crazy. At that point, things were looking pretty good. We had a fast-moving plot, with enough intrigue to keep the reader's interest going, and an author that knows how to write and entertain us with the most banal dialogues and events. The main character, Charles Boxer, has a certain depth and his personal life provided the key elements needed for a character in a series.
So what went wrong you ask? Well, the main story, involving the kidnapping of the daughter of an influential billionaire had enough uncertainty and violence to keep us guessing and engaged. But then the author decided to start adding layer after layer to the story. Many characters started appearing, the reasons for actions by these characters started to become contrived and it became impossible to follow the story. There is not way to remember who the characters are and what they role is without grabbing a pad and paper and getting to work. Even if you do this, the plot goes round and round and you will get lost in the labyrinth. We end up with characters that behave erratically, and the motivations behind these actions are unclear and to tell you the truth also unimportant.
The author was able to get me to the point in which I did not care at all about why things happened the way they did, and he did this by trying to include more and more twists and turns and bringing new protagonists out of left field. When the book ended I felt like I had just wasted a whole bunch of time. It is a shame, because Wilson has the ability to write well, he just got carried away with the plot and I do not believe even he knew where he was going with it. As you can imagine, I have no intention of reading the next book in this series. Proof of this is that the author decided to include a cliff-hanger at the end to get people to buy the next book, and it did not affect me, did not even make me mad, I just did not care.
If someone would have told me that I would rate this book 2 stars when I was halfway through it, I would have said they were crazy. At that point, things were looking pretty good. We had a fast-moving plot, with enough intrigue to keep the reader's interest going, and an author that knows how to write and entertain us with the most banal dialogues and events. The main character, Charles Boxer, has a certain depth and his personal life provided the key elements needed for a character in a series.
So what went wrong you ask? Well, the main story, involving the kidnapping of the daughter of an influential billionaire had enough uncertainty and violence to keep us guessing and engaged. But then the author decided to start adding layer after layer to the story. Many characters started appearing, the reasons for actions by these characters started to become contrived and it became impossible to follow the story. There is not way to remember who the characters are and what they role is without grabbing a pad and paper and getting to work. Even if you do this, the plot goes round and round and you will get lost in the labyrinth. We end up with characters that behave erratically, and the motivations behind these actions are unclear and to tell you the truth also unimportant.
The author was able to get me to the point in which I did not care at all about why things happened the way they did, and he did this by trying to include more and more twists and turns and bringing new protagonists out of left field. When the book ended I felt like I had just wasted a whole bunch of time. It is a shame, because Wilson has the ability to write well, he just got carried away with the plot and I do not believe even he knew where he was going with it. As you can imagine, I have no intention of reading the next book in this series. Proof of this is that the author decided to include a cliff-hanger at the end to get people to buy the next book, and it did not affect me, did not even make me mad, I just did not care.
bobf2d33's review
5.0
This book surprised me. An action book about a kidnapping it was tense and interesting without degenerating into the unrealistic. A rare five star rating by me.
thomas_wright's review against another edition
3.0
convoluted plot changing who the kidnaper is because they wrote themselves into a corner and changing it from a privet investigator in charge to just the police why ?
vraper's review against another edition
2.0
Robert Wilson writes intricate, dense crime plots that combine psychologically-interesting characters with intriguing political machinations. I love his work, and marvel at how he manages to keep such intricate plots together. Capital Punishment is an example of how dense plotting can go horribly wrong. The beginning of the book sets up a fascinating premise - the daughter of a Indian businessman with mob and Bollywood connections is kidnapped in London, and interrogated until she reveals her darkest secret. Then two East End gangsters decide to kill her captors and take the ransom money for themselves. All great fun. Then it goes horribly wrong in the latter half of the book. Countless POV characters appear out of nowhere, including some Islamic terrorists and a Pakistani General. I ended up clueless over who was chasing who, who they all were, and who was responsible for the original kidnapping. The East End gangsters are by-far the most interesting and human characters in the novel, far more than fascinating than protagonist Charles Boxer. Wilson can write wonderful protagonists ranging from Javier Falcon, the tortured Seville detective, to murderous Nazi collaborator Klaus Felson. Charles Boxer is your common 'professional contract killer with a conscience'. It's no surprise that he ends up being sidelined in favour of a lengthy chase sequence in involving the hapless spider-tattooed cockney gangster and his disgraced-nurse mate.
katevane's review against another edition
3.0
Many of us read crime fiction to escape the humdrum of our working lives. We want high stakes, conflicted characters, atmospheric locations. Wilson normally delivers these, but reading this book is a bit like the day job.
Capital Punishment begins in London with the kidnap of Alyshia, a beautiful but troubled young woman. Her father is a wealthy Indian businessman but it soon becomes clear that the kidnapper is after something other than money. Charles Boxer, freelance kidnap consultant, is brought in to negotiate.
The book seems at first to be a psychological thriller, pitting the kidnapper against Alyshia, as he breaks down her defences, then against the family and Boxer. But then it spirals off into a complex account of various businesses, criminal gangs and government agencies across London and South Asia having a lot of meetings, as if to reassure us that being in international espionage or terrorism is no more exciting than any other form of corporate management.
Boxer is a strangely lifeless character. This is partly to do with the plot. In the first half of the novel, he doesn’t have much to do apart from form a relationship with the kidnapped woman’s mother. He gives her lengthy expositions of the kidnap negotiation procedure manual. He swims in the in-house pool. They share lengthy psychoanalytic perspectives on their respective backstories. There are none of the tense, visceral exchanges you would expect from two people thrown into sudden close contact, one facing the possible death or torture of her daughter, the other with the responsibility for saving her life.
The most interesting characters are London’s minor criminals. In particular, Dan, a former nurse turned dealer, has an inner life and degree of conflict which is lacking in Boxer, who is resolutely humourless and decisive. It is in this world that the best of the action and drama takes place.
Wilson has written some great books and I’m sure he will do again. The end of Capital Punishment is set up to allow Boxer to return. He is supposedly giving up international travel to concentrate on his family. Let’s hope he kicks over the trouser press, recovers the personality he lost in transit and inhabits London in the way that Wilson’s Falcón does Seville.
Capital Punishment begins in London with the kidnap of Alyshia, a beautiful but troubled young woman. Her father is a wealthy Indian businessman but it soon becomes clear that the kidnapper is after something other than money. Charles Boxer, freelance kidnap consultant, is brought in to negotiate.
The book seems at first to be a psychological thriller, pitting the kidnapper against Alyshia, as he breaks down her defences, then against the family and Boxer. But then it spirals off into a complex account of various businesses, criminal gangs and government agencies across London and South Asia having a lot of meetings, as if to reassure us that being in international espionage or terrorism is no more exciting than any other form of corporate management.
Boxer is a strangely lifeless character. This is partly to do with the plot. In the first half of the novel, he doesn’t have much to do apart from form a relationship with the kidnapped woman’s mother. He gives her lengthy expositions of the kidnap negotiation procedure manual. He swims in the in-house pool. They share lengthy psychoanalytic perspectives on their respective backstories. There are none of the tense, visceral exchanges you would expect from two people thrown into sudden close contact, one facing the possible death or torture of her daughter, the other with the responsibility for saving her life.
The most interesting characters are London’s minor criminals. In particular, Dan, a former nurse turned dealer, has an inner life and degree of conflict which is lacking in Boxer, who is resolutely humourless and decisive. It is in this world that the best of the action and drama takes place.
Wilson has written some great books and I’m sure he will do again. The end of Capital Punishment is set up to allow Boxer to return. He is supposedly giving up international travel to concentrate on his family. Let’s hope he kicks over the trouser press, recovers the personality he lost in transit and inhabits London in the way that Wilson’s Falcón does Seville.
jameseckman's review against another edition
3.0
A decent if horrifying thriller, mostly populated with well written characters I didn't care for. I don't like characters that kill for hire, no matter what the motive, nor gangsters in general. There's also a bit too much coincidence in timing, everything gets wrapped up at the same instance. Still, a better than average version since many books of this genre have paper thin characters and mindless action.
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