Scan barcode
A review by kikiandarrowsfishshelf
Untraceable by Sergei Lebedev
4.0
Disclaimer: I received an ARC via a giveaway on Librarything.
Undoubtedly one of the reason for the popularity of Law & Order (at least the original an SVU)) is the predictably of how the episodes unfold. You can set a watch to it. The other is most likely the ripped from the headlines stories that appears. Of course, as the advert says, there is a Law & Order twist. In some ways, Untraceable is like Law & Order.
Lebedev’s thriller takes the poisoning headlines from the UK and uses the idea of a mysterious poison. Instead of however focusing investigators or the international manhunt, he focuses on the chemist and special operative connected to the case. It isn’t so much about trying to escape the authorities or get the bad guy. It is more of a examination of what a life of secrets can do to a person.
The focus of the novel is on two men - Kalitin and Shershnev. The pressure and driving force of the novel is the oncoming intersection of the two men. The reader knowns that is coming and that it will change everything.
The book’s setting and time are somewhat nebulous -Germany, Poland, perhaps. But the setting and time are incidental. The book is character driven and the mystery is what drives the two men. It is interesting to not that the sympathy for the characters changes as more of the past is unfolds. In some ways, the only investigator in the story is the reader. This makes the novel more compelling. The clear prose helps to make the book difficult to put down.
Undoubtedly one of the reason for the popularity of Law & Order (at least the original an SVU)) is the predictably of how the episodes unfold. You can set a watch to it. The other is most likely the ripped from the headlines stories that appears. Of course, as the advert says, there is a Law & Order twist. In some ways, Untraceable is like Law & Order.
Lebedev’s thriller takes the poisoning headlines from the UK and uses the idea of a mysterious poison. Instead of however focusing investigators or the international manhunt, he focuses on the chemist and special operative connected to the case. It isn’t so much about trying to escape the authorities or get the bad guy. It is more of a examination of what a life of secrets can do to a person.
The focus of the novel is on two men - Kalitin and Shershnev. The pressure and driving force of the novel is the oncoming intersection of the two men. The reader knowns that is coming and that it will change everything.
The book’s setting and time are somewhat nebulous -Germany, Poland, perhaps. But the setting and time are incidental. The book is character driven and the mystery is what drives the two men. It is interesting to not that the sympathy for the characters changes as more of the past is unfolds. In some ways, the only investigator in the story is the reader. This makes the novel more compelling. The clear prose helps to make the book difficult to put down.