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tcancel's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
jacki_f's review against another edition
4.0
This is a rapid page turner which reads like many of Simon Kernick's other thrillers: dual storylines featuring familiar characters, unfolding at a breakneck pace. He's a master at ending chapters that make you want to read just one more.
When the book starts, Tina Boyd is arresting Andrew Kent, a serial killer who goes by the nickname of the "Night Creeper". The evidence against him seems clearcut, but she starts to harbor doubts that she's got the right man. At the same time, policeman Sean Egan is going undercover to infiltrate a criminal gang who are planning something highly lucrative. His motivations are personal as well as professional. These two storylines are connected, although it takes a while for the connection to emerge.
The first two thirds of the book are excellent and tear along nicely. However as the story starts to come together it becomes increasingly silly and riddled with unlikely coincidences. The hero also has the ability to keep going despite being beaten and/or shot numerous times.
A good holiday read, very enjoyable but also totally forgettable.
When the book starts, Tina Boyd is arresting Andrew Kent, a serial killer who goes by the nickname of the "Night Creeper". The evidence against him seems clearcut, but she starts to harbor doubts that she's got the right man. At the same time, policeman Sean Egan is going undercover to infiltrate a criminal gang who are planning something highly lucrative. His motivations are personal as well as professional. These two storylines are connected, although it takes a while for the connection to emerge.
The first two thirds of the book are excellent and tear along nicely. However as the story starts to come together it becomes increasingly silly and riddled with unlikely coincidences. The hero also has the ability to keep going despite being beaten and/or shot numerous times.
A good holiday read, very enjoyable but also totally forgettable.
marsetta's review against another edition
3.0
Found this book to be very predictable. Very disappointed
kelly_79's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.0
hemloc's review against another edition
1.0
Three reasons to read The Last 10 Seconds:
1) I enjoy this style of storytelling that begins at the end and then skips back to the beginning. It works especially well with the crime genre.
2) The procedural side of the story is well-researched, as are the action scenes, which are well-thought-out and believable.
3) It does a decent job of creating intellectual curiosity and making readers read on just to see how it plays out.
Six drawbacks to The Last 10 Seconds:
1) I don't know if it's the crime genre in general or just the books I've read, but the writing is so bland. No wonderful descriptions, no great turns of phrase, no life to any of the scenes. "Derval looked utterly shocked" – that's how most of it is written: basic information that forces readers to do all the work of figuring out exactly how this character must look.
2) The dialogue is awful, repetitive, and unrealistic.
3) The author wants his main characters to be mavericks. They try very hard to be cool while pretending they don't try at all. They're the only ones who see things clearly; others insist it's all a coincidence and not worth looking into. If the only way you can make your characters seem competent is by making everyone else incompetent, you've already lost.
4) The bad guys are cardboard cutouts. There's no character development anywhere, and I have zero emotional attachment to any of them. They could all die horribly, and I wouldn't care.
5) The methods used to increase tension are cheap: lights going out to hide an attacker's identity for a few extra pages, ending chapters on cliffhangers that miss the mark (e.g. "Kent (...) looked up at me (...) and said something very strange indeed."), a scene that was supposed to last 30 seconds taking up 3 or 4 chapters because the author wanted to switch back and forth between POVs, etc.
6) If the only way the author found to make the crime interesting and unexpected was to make it convoluted, unrealistic, and unreasonable, perhaps crime fiction was not the best genre for him.
1) I enjoy this style of storytelling that begins at the end and then skips back to the beginning. It works especially well with the crime genre.
2) The procedural side of the story is well-researched, as are the action scenes, which are well-thought-out and believable.
3) It does a decent job of creating intellectual curiosity and making readers read on just to see how it plays out.
Six drawbacks to The Last 10 Seconds:
1) I don't know if it's the crime genre in general or just the books I've read, but the writing is so bland. No wonderful descriptions, no great turns of phrase, no life to any of the scenes. "Derval looked utterly shocked" – that's how most of it is written: basic information that forces readers to do all the work of figuring out exactly how this character must look.
2) The dialogue is awful, repetitive, and unrealistic.
3) The author wants his main characters to be mavericks. They try very hard to be cool while pretending they don't try at all. They're the only ones who see things clearly; others insist it's all a coincidence and not worth looking into. If the only way you can make your characters seem competent is by making everyone else incompetent, you've already lost.
4) The bad guys are cardboard cutouts. There's no character development anywhere, and I have zero emotional attachment to any of them. They could all die horribly, and I wouldn't care.
5) The methods used to increase tension are cheap: lights going out to hide an attacker's identity for a few extra pages, ending chapters on cliffhangers that miss the mark (e.g. "Kent (...) looked up at me (...) and said something very strange indeed."), a scene that was supposed to last 30 seconds taking up 3 or 4 chapters because the author wanted to switch back and forth between POVs, etc.
6) If the only way the author found to make the crime interesting and unexpected was to make it convoluted, unrealistic, and unreasonable, perhaps crime fiction was not the best genre for him.
miruna_bezi16's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
the_red_one's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-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
3.5
lorrainewardy's review against another edition
5.0
This starts off slightly different to the other Simon Kernick books i've read, its a little slower and doesn't seem to catch you right away. I did give it the benefit of the doubt and i'm glad I did as its an amazing read! Simon amazes me how well he writes, how he gets you so involved as though hes writing about you, its very fast paced once you get into it, almost like watching a film (I have said this before about his other books) but you get so enthralled into it that you don't miss a thing.
vlynnk89's review against another edition
3.0
This moved pretty quickly, but I lost patience for the main detective. I need to read her backstory to see if that makes a difference. Fast plot with lots of twists & turns.