Reviews

The Names of the Dead by Kevin Wignall

baskerville_book_reviews's review against another edition

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5.0

 Everything about this story is predictable or familiar. I never knew how any specific scene was going to go down to the letter, but I had a pretty damn good idea. And I was almost always right.

The main character is one of those unstoppable force protagonists who will stop at nothing to get to his end goal. But he’s also merciful and doesn’t resort to violence if he doesn’t need to, which humanizes him to some degree.

I listened to this book two times in one weekend, trying to find anything to say about it. Yeah, it’s predictable as all hell, especially the ending. But for whatever reason, I still enjoyed it. It has some charm that kept it in the back of my mind. I’ve put off this review for a week and I still don’t know what to say about it.
If you’re a fan of mystery-thriller books, this has nothing new for you to discover. But the characters and story progression are interesting and believable. It’s more of the same with a new coat of paint. If you’re new to the genre, this is a great book to get you into the genre.

Much like my most recent review, Blue Madagascar; I think the modern tech mentions such as Gmail being namedropped will date the book. Imagine a book from 1930 talking about the local radio station and how that reference would be lost on every reader in the modern-day and you see the issue. My second issue with this book is the usage of the word “silencer” in reference to firearm suppressors. Suppressors don’t silence guns and the only way that misinformation is going to die is if people stop using the term and spreading it.
I don’t have much to say about the narration of the audiobook. The narration was well done, the narrator has a way of making everything feel tense when it needs to. Most of the character voices sound incredibly similar, but the dialogue makes it so this isn’t a problem.

This is definitely a book worth reading. Pick up a copy. 

beckylou123's review against another edition

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2.0

This is not my usual genre so if you usually like spy thrillers then you might love this. I got this book through Amazon first reads and I thought I'd try something different but it wasn't for me. I just didn't feel invested in the characters and if it hadn't been such a quick read I might not have continued with it. I would have liked to know more of the back story for Mia and Patrice and I found the ending a little too easily tied up. At least I realised that spy books aren't for me!

allisoneva's review against another edition

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2.0

Not a bad story, per se... But for a thriller, I found myself very un-thrilled.

t_higgsreviews's review against another edition

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1.5

1.5 Stars

swarnell's review

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

3.0

jennyk's review

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4.0

Fast-paced spy novel. Some interesting character elements. Enjoyed the book, but it doesn't reach the heights of Jack Reacher or Gabriel Allon.

catmum's review

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4.0

4.5 stars
James Wesley is former CIA, current prisoner, after an operation results in the death of civilians. He knows he was fed bad information. But by who? And why? And what can he do about it anyway with two more years to serve.
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