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Ed Mallory Thriller #2
Sacrifice
LONDON, CHRISTMAS MORNING.
09:13am. Disgraced hedge fund manager Graham Poynter hides shamefully in his Belgravia mansion. All that separates him from the media hounds baying for his blood are wrought iron railings and an elite security team.
10:16am. A masked intruder stands over Poynter and his terrified family, while the last remaining security guard hangs impaled on a railing spike outside the house - a message of intent beamed to the watching world.
10:38am. Surrounding the scene are police helicopters, special forces teams, and Ed Mallory - blind hostage negotiator - who must stop this faceless adversary whose sights are set on exacting twisted retribution.
09:13am. Disgraced hedge fund manager Graham Poynter hides shamefully in his Belgravia mansion. All that separates him from the media hounds baying for his blood are wrought iron railings and an elite security team.
10:16am. A masked intruder stands over Poynter and his terrified family, while the last remaining security guard hangs impaled on a railing spike outside the house - a message of intent beamed to the watching world.
10:38am. Surrounding the scene are police helicopters, special forces teams, and Ed Mallory - blind hostage negotiator - who must stop this faceless adversary whose sights are set on exacting twisted retribution.
480 pages, Paperback
First published November 7, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 17, 2013
A real page turner, had me in it's grip from the start. A tense thriller of a story.
Put this book on your must read list.
Put this book on your must read list.
November 29, 2013
Readers who mopped fevered brows while enjoying Max Kinnings’ first Ed Mallory thriller, Baptism, and fancy more of the same, will not be disappointed by Sacrifice.
Blind hostage negotiator Ed Mallory returns in another countdown of tension. The format of his latest adventure is the same as the first, starting with a violent prologue and hurtling through time-sequenced chapters as another deranged terrorist crisis is tackled.
Where Christian fanatics were behind the Tube outrage in Baptism, this time it is rage against financial swindlers that prompts the fiendish terrorist plot. Graham Poynter, the dodgy businessman behind a Ponsi-like fund collapse and media hate figure, is hiding behind three security guards in a Belgravia mansion when he, his wife Helen and daughter Lily are captured by a former SAS mystery man. A delivery guy, James, who was making his delivery at the wrong time, is also taken hostage, and they are all forced onto the mansion’s roof so that the world’s media can watch the hostage-taker’s theatre of terror. Lily has a grenade attached to her neck and her father is doused with petrol.
The intricacies of hostage negotiation are well explored and gripping to read, and the problem that emerges for Mallory is that the hostage-taker has no demands. This gives Mallory little leverage as the tension builds, with the terrorist slowly losing his cool as events spin towards a horrific finale.
Kinnings skilfully keeps several dilemmas twisting simultaneously through the narrative. Who is behind this audacious but mad plot, which involves Poynter’s business partner also being taken hostage? Why is the hostage-taker, who has killed the security guards, sacrificing himself in a bloody stunt that will land him in jail? Is he planning to kill the hostages? And can the hostages overpower their ruthless captor, an expert killer?
Kinnings is Head of Subject in Creative Writing at Brunel University in London and has come up with the template for a ruthlessly efficient style of commercial thriller. The characters do get submerged amid all the action, but the plot drives forward relentlessly to produce a page-turner that rarely takes its foot off the gas.
February 5, 2014
(I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways).
(This review may contain spoilers).
I tend to like thriller-type books, especially ones with the more 'deviant' crimes. (I blame that on the television series Killer Instinct).
Although the main character of Ed had clearly been in previous books, I found it quite easy to get into his head. He was a character who was easy to relate to and I felt that the author did a really good job of showing how he had to deal with being blind.
I did get a bit confused with the constant switching between different POVs. I think I would have found the book more readable if there had been a few less POV characters.
Most of the book was quite tense to read. I feel that the author did a really good job of capturing the moments of hostage negotiation. I found it really easy to picture what was going on inside my mind and I noticed very few mistakes in the book.
I think I'd definitely be interested in reading more books by this author in the future. This was an entertaining read and fairly easy. I recommend it to people who like thrillers.
(This review may contain spoilers).
I tend to like thriller-type books, especially ones with the more 'deviant' crimes. (I blame that on the television series Killer Instinct).
Although the main character of Ed had clearly been in previous books, I found it quite easy to get into his head. He was a character who was easy to relate to and I felt that the author did a really good job of showing how he had to deal with being blind.
I did get a bit confused with the constant switching between different POVs. I think I would have found the book more readable if there had been a few less POV characters.
Most of the book was quite tense to read. I feel that the author did a really good job of capturing the moments of hostage negotiation. I found it really easy to picture what was going on inside my mind and I noticed very few mistakes in the book.
I think I'd definitely be interested in reading more books by this author in the future. This was an entertaining read and fairly easy. I recommend it to people who like thrillers.
November 24, 2014
A disgraced hedge fund manager is taken hostage - can a blind negotiator save him and his family?
I thought this book had a reasonable story line, but it was slow paced (constantly jumping from one perspective to another). Some of the plot points were silly / ludicrous.
If this book had been harshly edited, probably reducing its length by a third, it would have been a better read (in my opinion).
I thought this book had a reasonable story line, but it was slow paced (constantly jumping from one perspective to another). Some of the plot points were silly / ludicrous.
If this book had been harshly edited, probably reducing its length by a third, it would have been a better read (in my opinion).
August 24, 2017
Loved it, what a follow up to Baptisim. Well written, fast paced, well thought out believable plot, and some twists and turns I never seen coming. I can't recomend it highly enough, and I'm already looking forward to his next book.
July 29, 2016
This is more realistic than Baptism and so stronger because we can focus on the strengths and weaknesses of the characters without having to worry about flooding tunnels in the London Underground.
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January 23, 2016
Blind hostage netogiator Ed Mallory. Disgraced banker Graham and his wife and daughter Lily taken hostage by ex SAS Danny. He is killed and James (Advoy) who hacked into accounts and arranged the whole thing flees with Lily and Lucas. He kills Lucas but leaves Lily.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews