What do you think?
Rate this book
The Trade Mission --Signed--
On the heels of his acclaimed bestselling debut Lost Girls, Andrew Pyper brings his darkly musical language, chilling suspense, and psychological complexity to a story of survival in the Amazon jungle. On the delirious eve of the new millennium, Marcus Wallace and Jonathon Bates, two twenty-four-year-old overnight dot-com millionaires, are on a trade mission in Brazil. Their product is Hypothesys, a virtual "morality machine" that promises to help people "make the best decisions of their lives." But when the decision is made to take an ecotour up the Río Negro deep into the Amazon jungle, the Hypothesys team members are forced to make choices for themselves -- choices that carry fatal consequences. In the dead of night, their boat is boarded by paramilitaries who kill the Brazilian crew and kidnap Wallace and Bates, their two older colleagues, and their enigmatic interpreter, Crossman. Blindfolded and thrown into a pit for a prison, they must fight to find the will to survive. But when the increasingly unstable Wallace engineers a violent escape, their own natures emerge as a threat potentially more dangerous than the boundless jungle that surrounds them, or the gunmen who relentlessly pursue them. A rare combination of literary skill, contemporary insight, and outstanding storytelling, The Trade Mission is an electrifying read that confirms Andrew Pyper's mastery of psychological suspense.
Hardcover
First published September 1, 2002
7 people are currently reading
304 people want to read
About the author
Andrew Pyper
39 books1,120 followersAndrew Pyper was a Canadian author. He published over ten fictional books, including The Demonologist, which won the International Thriller Writers Award, and Lost Girls, which was a New York Times bestseller and Notable Book of the Year.
Pyper also published under the name of Mason Coile.
Pyper also published under the name of Mason Coile.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
August 12, 2022
“The Trade Mission” is an earlier novel by one of my favourite Canadian horror writers,Andrew Pyper. Labeled as a “modern day Heart of Darknesss”, it captures a young group of travelers who are kidnapped and left for dead in the Amazon jungle.
Marcus Wallace and Jonathan Bates (identified in the novel only by their last names) are two up and coming tech geniuses, overnight millionaires who are trying to take their new internet venture worldwide. At a summit in Brazil, with their tech team, Barry and Lydia, and a Portuguese interpreter, Elizabeth Crossman, the pair hope to make their new development an international success. When the five are captured at gunpoint during an Amazon River cruise, each of them must determine if they have what it takes to survive in an unknown, wild environment unlike anything they’ve ever seen.
Pyper’s language is descriptive and powerful, and in a way I can see why the comparison to Joseph Conrad was made. Luckily, his words are not uber intellectual, so the plot is easy to find and follow. All of the characters are likable and unlikable in turn, but once they are kidnapped there is no way the reader is not rooting for all of them to survive. There are some pretty descriptive and dramatic forms of torture depicted in this novel, by the way, so I wouldn’t recommend reading this if this is something you can’t swallow.
I almost felt the unrelenting heat of the Amazon, as the travelers struggled through starvation and illness, clinging to life for most of the novel. Although the majority of the story takes place on a boat traveling the Rio Negro, Pyper still manages to write an addictive, page-turning plot.
Pyper is known for his spooky ghost stories, and has been labeled “The Canadian Stephen King”. “The Trade Mission” is not a ghost story, by any stretch of the imagination, and all of the horrors are indeed at the hands of human beings. But really, humanity can be the worst monster of all, and Pyper’s novel only further solidifies that point.
The ending itself had a few unexpected twists, but overall it was satisfying, providing much needed closure. There are no questions left unanswered, and each plot point is brought to a succinct and sufficient end. This was a new type of novel from Pyper, at least from my experience, but even his early works show his underlying talent and bursting creativity. “The Trade Mission” is a brilliant canoe ride into Hell, taking the reader along for the ride.
Marcus Wallace and Jonathan Bates (identified in the novel only by their last names) are two up and coming tech geniuses, overnight millionaires who are trying to take their new internet venture worldwide. At a summit in Brazil, with their tech team, Barry and Lydia, and a Portuguese interpreter, Elizabeth Crossman, the pair hope to make their new development an international success. When the five are captured at gunpoint during an Amazon River cruise, each of them must determine if they have what it takes to survive in an unknown, wild environment unlike anything they’ve ever seen.
Pyper’s language is descriptive and powerful, and in a way I can see why the comparison to Joseph Conrad was made. Luckily, his words are not uber intellectual, so the plot is easy to find and follow. All of the characters are likable and unlikable in turn, but once they are kidnapped there is no way the reader is not rooting for all of them to survive. There are some pretty descriptive and dramatic forms of torture depicted in this novel, by the way, so I wouldn’t recommend reading this if this is something you can’t swallow.
I almost felt the unrelenting heat of the Amazon, as the travelers struggled through starvation and illness, clinging to life for most of the novel. Although the majority of the story takes place on a boat traveling the Rio Negro, Pyper still manages to write an addictive, page-turning plot.
Pyper is known for his spooky ghost stories, and has been labeled “The Canadian Stephen King”. “The Trade Mission” is not a ghost story, by any stretch of the imagination, and all of the horrors are indeed at the hands of human beings. But really, humanity can be the worst monster of all, and Pyper’s novel only further solidifies that point.
The ending itself had a few unexpected twists, but overall it was satisfying, providing much needed closure. There are no questions left unanswered, and each plot point is brought to a succinct and sufficient end. This was a new type of novel from Pyper, at least from my experience, but even his early works show his underlying talent and bursting creativity. “The Trade Mission” is a brilliant canoe ride into Hell, taking the reader along for the ride.
February 2, 2011
I hate it when a book flummoxes me. I hate it when I feel outsmarted by a book, too. Andrew Pyper’s novel The Trade Mission is probably one of those books which deserves to be read twice: once for the story and once for the deeper philosophical issues that I knew were there, but which somehow eluded me. Mostly, anyway.
Jonathan Bates and Marcus Wallace are childhood friends who have become dot com millionaires for their invention of something called Hypothesys.
“We feel that Hypothesys is something that is truly going to change the way we conduct our lives,” explains Wallace to investors gathered in Brazil. “It’s not another Internet site…Hypothesys helps you make the best decisions of your life.”
Ironically, when it comes to making moral decisions with real consequences, Wallace and Bates are left to their own devices. While playing tourist on the Rio Negro, deep in the Amazonian jungle, they (and their companions Elizabeth Crossman, their interpreter; Barry, their managing partner and Lydia, their European counsel) are kidnapped by pirates. What follows is a strange combination of violence and soul searching.
The Trade Mission is narrated by Crossman and she’s in a unique position; as the only one of the party able to speak the language she can embellish or omit. She also seems to love and hate Wallace in equal measure. Truthfully, he isn’t particularly sympathetic. His relationship with Bates is eerily sexual and he often seems smug about his intellectual prowess. As for Crossman herself, she isn’t the most accessible of characters and I have to admit that her role, when the story finally starts to unravel, seems a bit of a cheat. The novel’s section After was too sentimental for me, especially coming after the horrors the characters experienced.
Pyper’s a terrific writer. I’m a fan. I liked his novel Lost Girls, which I read several years ago. But I remember feeling somehow unsatisfied after reading that novel, too. The Trade Mission is billed as a ‘novel of psychological terror.’ Sure, some of it was squirm inducing, but it wasn’t a page-turner in that ‘oh my God, what’s gonna happen next’ way.
Thus the flummox. And the am I missing something. Still worth a read, though.
Jonathan Bates and Marcus Wallace are childhood friends who have become dot com millionaires for their invention of something called Hypothesys.
“We feel that Hypothesys is something that is truly going to change the way we conduct our lives,” explains Wallace to investors gathered in Brazil. “It’s not another Internet site…Hypothesys helps you make the best decisions of your life.”
Ironically, when it comes to making moral decisions with real consequences, Wallace and Bates are left to their own devices. While playing tourist on the Rio Negro, deep in the Amazonian jungle, they (and their companions Elizabeth Crossman, their interpreter; Barry, their managing partner and Lydia, their European counsel) are kidnapped by pirates. What follows is a strange combination of violence and soul searching.
The Trade Mission is narrated by Crossman and she’s in a unique position; as the only one of the party able to speak the language she can embellish or omit. She also seems to love and hate Wallace in equal measure. Truthfully, he isn’t particularly sympathetic. His relationship with Bates is eerily sexual and he often seems smug about his intellectual prowess. As for Crossman herself, she isn’t the most accessible of characters and I have to admit that her role, when the story finally starts to unravel, seems a bit of a cheat. The novel’s section After was too sentimental for me, especially coming after the horrors the characters experienced.
Pyper’s a terrific writer. I’m a fan. I liked his novel Lost Girls, which I read several years ago. But I remember feeling somehow unsatisfied after reading that novel, too. The Trade Mission is billed as a ‘novel of psychological terror.’ Sure, some of it was squirm inducing, but it wasn’t a page-turner in that ‘oh my God, what’s gonna happen next’ way.
Thus the flummox. And the am I missing something. Still worth a read, though.
March 1, 2013
I can't believe hardly anyone has read this great, suspenseful, and often horrific book. It is definitely a "dark descent" into the minds of survivors of a kidnapping, terrible torture, and then finding themselves lost in the Amazon. This book is very well written, and the characters are real. This book needs more exposure. I highly recommend it.
May 4, 2013
I can't remember the last time I was so disconnected from a narrator... until 35 pages in I thought it was a man. Even then it took me a while to get up to speed: "hmm.. okay this guy is wearing a bikini. fine. and he has breasts under the bikini? okay. His name is Elizabeth? oooohhhhh!!!" Not proud, but makes me wonder what clues I usually use for gender and if I always assume men write male narrators and women write female?
May 31, 2019
As most of you have seen, I’ve been celebrating all things Andrew Pyper this May – dubbing it PYPERMAYNIA. I started the month off by reading his latest The Homecoming which was a stunning work of family tension and psychological thrills. It catapulted itself into my favourite book position and one I’m actually considering re-reading, which is something I very, very rarely do.
My ambition was to read The Homecoming, The Trade Mission, The Killing Circle, The Guardians and Kiss Me, his short story collection. Sadly, I have failed you all, as in the month of May I read The Homecoming and last night finished The Trade Mission. I’ll still be reading the other three here in short order, I’d just hoped to get through all five.
In May, Andrew also kindly agreed to a short interview and it was one of my literary highlights to ask him some of the burning questions I had clanging around my head. I cheekily even asked him two more questions via DM that he amazingly answered, but all in all, I’m super happy about PYPERMAYNIA and I hope some others were able to add his books to their TBR or even read some of his work.
Now, as for The Trade Mission – this was a book I’d had on my TBR for a little while. I’m a sucker for all things ‘Lost World’ sounding. Whether it’s the Amazon rain forest, a forgotten island, Dyatlov Pass or something just set in Siberia, then I’m game. The synopsis is one that would always grab my attention – a group of Canadian entrepreneurs have travelled to South America trying to increase interest in their start up business. While there they go on a sight-seeing trip up one of the numerous rivers. After a celebratory party one night they are kidnapped by unknown assailants and from there it becomes a tale of survival.
The story is told from the point of view of 38 year old translator Liz Crossman. The other main characters are the two faces of the business Wallace and Bates as well as 50 something Barry and another co-worker Lydia. I can’t honestly say I remember what Barry and Lydia’s jobs were but enjoyed both characters immensely.
The opening to the story in my opinion is a decent set up for what the business is and why they are down in South America, but ultimately wished it was a tad shorter. The true grit in this tale is Pyper’s psychological journey once the characters are captured.
The jungle itself is one of the biggest antagonists in this story. They are in the middle of nowhere with the only source of travel being on the river, which itself plays host to a number of animals wanting to turn them into a snack.
The survival aspect and tale in this story is top notch. From their capture through to the ending I enjoyed watching each characters descent into turmoil and madness. It should be noted that at the same time of reading this, I was also reading The Silence by Tim Lebbon and Let’s Go Play At the Adams’ by Mendal Johnson. While I haven’t finished The Silence yet, I did finish Let’s Go Play and this trio of stories all play with the mental aspect of survival as well as what happens when the odds are turned against you. They worked well to heighten each other and I really lucked out into each working off of one another.
Overall this is another exciting entry into Pyper’s bibliography and one I’m glad I finally got to read. I’m looking forward to finishing off the rest of his work and will await the announcement of his next release!
4/5 stars to a gripping tale of survival that takes place in a world where everything is out to kill you.
My ambition was to read The Homecoming, The Trade Mission, The Killing Circle, The Guardians and Kiss Me, his short story collection. Sadly, I have failed you all, as in the month of May I read The Homecoming and last night finished The Trade Mission. I’ll still be reading the other three here in short order, I’d just hoped to get through all five.
In May, Andrew also kindly agreed to a short interview and it was one of my literary highlights to ask him some of the burning questions I had clanging around my head. I cheekily even asked him two more questions via DM that he amazingly answered, but all in all, I’m super happy about PYPERMAYNIA and I hope some others were able to add his books to their TBR or even read some of his work.
Now, as for The Trade Mission – this was a book I’d had on my TBR for a little while. I’m a sucker for all things ‘Lost World’ sounding. Whether it’s the Amazon rain forest, a forgotten island, Dyatlov Pass or something just set in Siberia, then I’m game. The synopsis is one that would always grab my attention – a group of Canadian entrepreneurs have travelled to South America trying to increase interest in their start up business. While there they go on a sight-seeing trip up one of the numerous rivers. After a celebratory party one night they are kidnapped by unknown assailants and from there it becomes a tale of survival.
The story is told from the point of view of 38 year old translator Liz Crossman. The other main characters are the two faces of the business Wallace and Bates as well as 50 something Barry and another co-worker Lydia. I can’t honestly say I remember what Barry and Lydia’s jobs were but enjoyed both characters immensely.
The opening to the story in my opinion is a decent set up for what the business is and why they are down in South America, but ultimately wished it was a tad shorter. The true grit in this tale is Pyper’s psychological journey once the characters are captured.
The jungle itself is one of the biggest antagonists in this story. They are in the middle of nowhere with the only source of travel being on the river, which itself plays host to a number of animals wanting to turn them into a snack.
The survival aspect and tale in this story is top notch. From their capture through to the ending I enjoyed watching each characters descent into turmoil and madness. It should be noted that at the same time of reading this, I was also reading The Silence by Tim Lebbon and Let’s Go Play At the Adams’ by Mendal Johnson. While I haven’t finished The Silence yet, I did finish Let’s Go Play and this trio of stories all play with the mental aspect of survival as well as what happens when the odds are turned against you. They worked well to heighten each other and I really lucked out into each working off of one another.
Overall this is another exciting entry into Pyper’s bibliography and one I’m glad I finally got to read. I’m looking forward to finishing off the rest of his work and will await the announcement of his next release!
4/5 stars to a gripping tale of survival that takes place in a world where everything is out to kill you.
July 19, 2013
I really like this Canadian triller writer. I have read 4 of his novels now and they are all page turners. This one takes place on the Rio Negro (sister river to the Amazon) where a small group of business people, who are in Brazil on a trade mission, decide to venture on a 6 day tour. At one point it was so violent I almost had to stop reading, and I can handle a lot, but it is worth reading. A few real doozie surprises. My only criticism is the ending was a bit nice for my liking. Nuff said.
October 24, 2013
I've now read all of this authhor's books. This was his second novel and not my favorite by far. The kidnapping and torture of young Internet phenoms in the jungles of the Amazon did bring a true sense of claustrophobia. But in the end there were too many holes and questions that left me from truly enjoying it.
December 23, 2014
Harrowing and disturbing. A late thirties language interpreter goes on a trade mission with a couple of tech hot shots. Fun and games proceed....not really.
July 5, 2022
A quick read with all the typical cliques including a late-30s single woman depicted as an "old maid", a southern gentleman that breezily cheats on his wife with a sex-worker while on vacation, oh, and two young, bi-sexual tech prodigies thrown in for good measure. It's really too bad that such touching writing is wasted on a story that, even though written in 2002 and set just a few years earlier, aged extraordinarily poorly.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 27, 2011
Andrew Pyper's 2002 novel, "The Trade Mission," is almost an artifact of the dot.com era, a book that gets so carried away with the hype of new ways of seeing the world at the turn of the millenium, that it nearly loses itself in unintentioned parody. But then inexorably the enduring realities of a giant river, a harsh environment and brutal violence sweep the dot.com superficialities away, and a grim and powerful story unfolds. On one level, it is a story of returning to basic survival instincts to struggle against kidnappers deep in Amazon Brazil; on another level, it is an unsparing analysis of complex human inter-dynamics boiling down to fundamental dependence on each other as the conventions of civilization collapse; and on a final level, it is a hard-edged fable about the need to grow up and make real choices.
Some may see this book as a thriller, and there is the desperate theme of chase and escape that feeds that. Others may find the environmental conflicts and the oppression of Indian communities make this for them a political commentary. But overall this novel reaches me as an effort at quite serious character analysis -- can the dot.com entrepreneurs find a real world to live in, where they grow up and define themselves? can the translator do more than interpret life for others, and find a depth and texture to define her life? Pyper is not, I think, entirely successful at this level of his novel, perhaps because the theme of chase and escape is allowed to dominate so powerfully. But his deeper goal makes this a good novel, transcending the adventure story focus on Brazil.
Some may see this book as a thriller, and there is the desperate theme of chase and escape that feeds that. Others may find the environmental conflicts and the oppression of Indian communities make this for them a political commentary. But overall this novel reaches me as an effort at quite serious character analysis -- can the dot.com entrepreneurs find a real world to live in, where they grow up and define themselves? can the translator do more than interpret life for others, and find a depth and texture to define her life? Pyper is not, I think, entirely successful at this level of his novel, perhaps because the theme of chase and escape is allowed to dominate so powerfully. But his deeper goal makes this a good novel, transcending the adventure story focus on Brazil.
December 19, 2016
Elizabeth Crossman has a doctorate, but hasn't been able to find a teaching job, even at a second or third tier university. She finds herself living in a basement apartment in Toronto getting by on translating jobs; she speaks Portuguese. In The Trade Mission she is hired by a software company to accompany them to Brazil as part of a trade delegation from Canada. After the show, she goes with the four founders of the company on an eco-tour, first to the Amazonas city of Manaus, then on a five-day boat trip up the Rio Negro. It is on the Rio Negro that things go horribly wrong; they are kidnapped, the boat's crew murdered.
There's a lot in this book. Andrew Pyper is known for writing genuinely frightening stuff and the lawless heart of the Amazon rain forest up where the borders between the countries blur and where illegal activity is almost a given is a great setting. There's a mix of Western eco-tourists, anthropologists, illegal gold miners, indigenous peoples, pirates and criminals as well as the honest people just trying to get by. Crossman is about as well prepared to survive in a jungle environment as anyone who has spent her life living in the world of academe. That said, the final pages of the novel don't quite hang together as well as they might.
There's a lot in this book. Andrew Pyper is known for writing genuinely frightening stuff and the lawless heart of the Amazon rain forest up where the borders between the countries blur and where illegal activity is almost a given is a great setting. There's a mix of Western eco-tourists, anthropologists, illegal gold miners, indigenous peoples, pirates and criminals as well as the honest people just trying to get by. Crossman is about as well prepared to survive in a jungle environment as anyone who has spent her life living in the world of academe. That said, the final pages of the novel don't quite hang together as well as they might.
June 22, 2016
The Trade Mission was a book that enhanced the experience of what it is like to be taken hostage. In saying that, it showed insight to how we are not impermeable to physical and psychological breakdown in the most extreme circumstances. I often found myself turning the pages to see what was next, Andrew Pyper made this book a piece of literature worth reading until the end to know the outcome. Although this book was good, I rate it a 3 out of 5 because I felt I had no connection to the characters and I was unable to develop a real understanding of why certain actions took place. I mean it's everybody's instinct to do whatever is necessary for survival, it's human nature. But it left me questioning “ why “? Andrew Pyper also made this book extremely descriptive and I often found myself lost in all the description of something that was not what I found important to the book. All in all, if you're looking for a page turner suspenseful book please know this is for you. The adventure through the amazon is what made the book and the ideas that Andrew incorporated are valuable to read for us as readers.
August 8, 2016
Wow! This book had me from the get-go! It is a thriller like none I've read before.
2 young men, childhood friends have created a revolutionary software program called "Hypothesy" which is a virtual reality machine.
They go to Brazil with their team to do a presentation. After those obligations, they decide to do the tourist thing and take an eco-tour up the Rio Negro, deep into the Amazon rainforest.
Events soon change drastically and what follows had me absolutely terrified, but kept me turning the pages.
I thought Pyper's character development of the 2 young men and the narrator were so well done. Pyper also has quite the gift of providing incredible descriptive language to his writing. I often reread a sentence just because it was so well constructed.
2 young men, childhood friends have created a revolutionary software program called "Hypothesy" which is a virtual reality machine.
They go to Brazil with their team to do a presentation. After those obligations, they decide to do the tourist thing and take an eco-tour up the Rio Negro, deep into the Amazon rainforest.
Events soon change drastically and what follows had me absolutely terrified, but kept me turning the pages.
I thought Pyper's character development of the 2 young men and the narrator were so well done. Pyper also has quite the gift of providing incredible descriptive language to his writing. I often reread a sentence just because it was so well constructed.
February 7, 2021
Two childhood friends, virtual reality gurus, invent program to improve choices. They market into South America, are captured with party, psychologically and physically tortured by Amazonians. Visionary (Steve Jobs of pair) retreats into solipsism and chooses to enter Amazon brush, Rousseau would not be caught in dead.
Good thriller and philosophical about making choices. What is best way - a virtual reality program or reflection? Is man a noble animal and most liberated in nature, according to Rousseau? What is civilization, whether based upon computer programs or green flora? How does person assimilate into one's definition of reality?
Good thriller and philosophical about making choices. What is best way - a virtual reality program or reflection? Is man a noble animal and most liberated in nature, according to Rousseau? What is civilization, whether based upon computer programs or green flora? How does person assimilate into one's definition of reality?
July 13, 2014
This is a really really good book, but I have to give a warning to those who are squeamish. I would really only give this book 4.5 due to the gore described do to extreme torture, starvation and parasitic infestation.
This is an ultimate story of survival with a bit of a twist that most people might catch on to, but overall the point is the torture and survival that takes place.
Be warned that the beginning of the story is dated and may confuse some younger readers as the internet age has advanced so rapidly.
I truly recommend this book, just be prepared for moments of uncomfortable.
This is an ultimate story of survival with a bit of a twist that most people might catch on to, but overall the point is the torture and survival that takes place.
Be warned that the beginning of the story is dated and may confuse some younger readers as the internet age has advanced so rapidly.
I truly recommend this book, just be prepared for moments of uncomfortable.
January 28, 2013
I'd give this a 2.5.
I didn't like the main character, Crossman, which made the rest of the book difficult to enjoy. The writing was good, but the characters were unreal - or maybe I just don't associate with those types? Crossman seemed to have a weak constitution and was super insecure, while the other main characters, Wallace and Bates, were made to seem like demi-gods in Crossman's eyes. She loved them and hated them at the same time. I just wanted to get away from her the entire time and wondered why these business guys tolerated her for as long as they did. Ugh.
I didn't like the main character, Crossman, which made the rest of the book difficult to enjoy. The writing was good, but the characters were unreal - or maybe I just don't associate with those types? Crossman seemed to have a weak constitution and was super insecure, while the other main characters, Wallace and Bates, were made to seem like demi-gods in Crossman's eyes. She loved them and hated them at the same time. I just wanted to get away from her the entire time and wondered why these business guys tolerated her for as long as they did. Ugh.
August 4, 2016
I love Andrew Pyper's descriptive and chilling use of written word. However, I struggled to get through this book like no other Pyper creation. While I am completely captivated and enthralled by his darkest paranormal stories, I could not commit to the thrill created by every day men. I was personally troubled by his wonderful description of violence inflicted by human beings. Once I made it past that middle section of the novel, I stopped putting it down after every page and returned to my voracious reading style. Still a wonderfully written book, just not for me.
January 1, 2017
Andrew Pyper takes two internet entrepreneurs and their entourage into the Heart of Darkness in the Brazilian rainforest in a tale that Conrad himself would approve of. Narrated by Elizabeth Crossman, the group's translator, events spiral out of control during an eco-tour, as guerillas take storm their boat and kidnap the group in a scary case of misunderstanding. Amid the confusion of the sounds and sights of the jungle, madness sets in and relationships develop and entwine. Another great work of psychological horror written in Pyper's literary style.
Read
August 1, 2014If not for a friend lending me this which she found in a used book store, I wouldn't have picked it up. Very lyrical, Canadian author. Looking forward to the one that's been picked up for a movie (The Demonologist).
This was kind of a far-fetched story, with believable characters, their flaws and all.
3.5 stars.
This was kind of a far-fetched story, with believable characters, their flaws and all.
3.5 stars.
January 12, 2016
The Amazon is a great place to set a book. I'm also keen to read fiction relating to dot com entrepreneurs and their adventures in their down time.
However I struggled with this book as there were no characters I really connected with. The book is pretty dour reading.
Strange book with a different ending than expected.
However I struggled with this book as there were no characters I really connected with. The book is pretty dour reading.
Strange book with a different ending than expected.
August 7, 2014
I see a mixed bag of reviews - for the same reasons some disliked the tale - I enjoyed it - it does leave unanswered questions and a sense of mystery :) Relevant to our times and our global social environment with elements of good vs evil, jealousy and greed with consequences to our weaknesses .
May 24, 2019
The original idea was intriguing. A contemporary "Heart of Darkness", set in Brazil. But when it got to the really nasty scenes about half way in, the "horror" wasn't worth a modestly interesting narrative.
August 8, 2007
It took a while for this book to get started. It turns out to be a thriller, but I never believed the characters.
November 9, 2007
This book is stange and I can't really say that I liked it, but I had to find out what happens at the end.
April 30, 2008
Whoosh, straight downhill went my impression of Andrew Pyper's writing. Bleh...didn't like this one at all.
He is hot though!!
He is hot though!!
July 28, 2011
So inferior to Lost Girls. What happened Andrew???!!
August 9, 2012
My favourite of Andrew Pyper's books.
Read
September 9, 2012An intriguing story, but be ready for gruesome at times.
January 2, 2017
I would say...a good read for what it is meant to be....a dark thrill, captivating but not realistic. A kind of slow start.
April 4, 2021
Guess I’m too stupid to understand the underlying meaning or to grasp the bloated, “I’m smarter than you” prose....
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews