Jigsaw

Frank Pagan #4

by Campbell Armstrong

On a bitter winter evening, during rush hour, a bomb explodes in a crowded train in the London underground. More than a hundred people are horrifically and senselessly slaughtered. In the absence of any terrorist claims come distressing unanswerable Who planted the device? And why? A few hours later in a Mayfair flat a young prostitute is murdered and an enigmatic message written in blood is left in her room... It is addressed to Frank Pagan, counter-terrorist specialist, who has been shunted aside by the political infighting at Special Branch, but is now brought back from exile to investigate the most terrifying case of his career. Pagan, who moves in his own mysterious ways, who flaunts the rule-book and follows his own instincts, is plunged into a darkening puzzle more sinister than a bomb in an underground tunnel. He finds himself pitted against two old the deranged terrorist Carlotta, a woman whose appetite for blood is matched only by Pagan's hunger for justice - and the ghost of Jig, his most famous antagonist, whose death has given birth to new demons.

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction

480 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

aka Thomas Altman, Campbell Black, Jeffrey Campbell (with Jeffrey Caine), Thomas Weldon

Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Campbell Armstrong got a degree in philosophy before taking a position teaching creating writing. After his excellent series about counterterrorism expert Frank Pagan, Mr. Armstrong has written several compelling novels of crime and life in his native Glasgow.

Reviews

[Adele · Rating 3 out of 5]

(2020 Reading Bingo: one word title)
I recall reading Jig a long time ago and held a favourable memory of it being pretty good in the thriller genre stakes. So I came to Jigsaw (having unintentionally skipped the intervening books; Mazurka and Mambo) with the sort of expectations that Chapter 1 went headlong into satisfying. The remaining 36 chapters plus epilogue, set in varied locations and played out through an array of shady characters was essentially a cat and mouse story where special branch’s anti-terrorist agent Frank Pagan chases down the perpetrator behind this London Underground attack. Oh, and with the obligatory femme fatale thrown in for additional sport/distraction. Worth reading and I’ll be on the look out for copies of his other titles.

[Mike Giess · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was my first Campbell Armstrong book. I chose it based on the description and was I ever disappointed. I found it slow and tedious to the point where I couldn’t finish the book-and that is a rarity for me. I don’t see myself purchasing any more books by this author.

[Debi Lodge · Rating 2 out of 5]

Took 6 weeks to get just over half way. Too many character, too much disconnected storylines and in the end I just gave up. Some people love this author, and good for them. But not for me

[Lilly Reads · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very predictable. Only in the last 100 pages did it have a bit of a twist, but only slightly

[Mark Braun · Rating 3 out of 5]

a little disjointed. and many connections left unconnected. our only just barely. I liked Jig more than Jigsaw.

[Matt Kessel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Campbell Armstrong was a new author to me. My Mom gave me this book to read as a "new" author. I really enjoyed this book. I found out after the fact that it was a sequel to Jig by the same author, but that did not detract from the overall story. The characters were interesting and believable. Some aspects of the story were a stretch (but they often are in fictional police novels). I was disappointed that my local library did not carry any of his books so I will be checking eBay to see if I can find anymore of his titles.

[henrys-axe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Should one divide the book into thirds, the first two were very engrossing and well done. The story and plausibility began to fall apart in the final section. Frank Pagan is a forceful character but not without near-fatal weaknesses (making him very human).

[Papamusonda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably the best book I have ever read. It has everything you would want in a story, unexpected twists, action, romance, politics, intelligent characters, absolutely awesome.