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The Wide World Trilogy #2
The Corners of the Globe
Spring, 1919. James ‘Max’ Maxted, former Great War flying ace, returns to the trail of murder, treachery and half-buried secrets he set out on in The Ways of the World. He left Paris after avenging the murder of his father, Sir Henry Maxted, a senior member of the British delegation to the post-war peace conference. But he was convinced there was more – much more – to be discovered about what Sir Henry had been trying to accomplish. And he suspected elusive German spymaster Fritz Lemmer knew the truth of it.
Now, enlisted under false colours in Lemmer’s service but with his loyalty pledged to the British Secret Service, Max sets out on his first – and possibly last – mission for Lemmer. It takes him to the far north of Scotland – to the Orkney Isles, where the German High Seas Fleet has been impounded in Scapa Flow, its fate to be decided at the conference-table in Paris. Max has been sent to recover a document held aboard one of the German ships. What that document contains forces him to break cover sooner than he would have wished and to embark on a desperate race south, towards London, with information that could destroy Lemmer – if Max, as seems unlikely, lives to deliver it...
Now, enlisted under false colours in Lemmer’s service but with his loyalty pledged to the British Secret Service, Max sets out on his first – and possibly last – mission for Lemmer. It takes him to the far north of Scotland – to the Orkney Isles, where the German High Seas Fleet has been impounded in Scapa Flow, its fate to be decided at the conference-table in Paris. Max has been sent to recover a document held aboard one of the German ships. What that document contains forces him to break cover sooner than he would have wished and to embark on a desperate race south, towards London, with information that could destroy Lemmer – if Max, as seems unlikely, lives to deliver it...
512 pages, Paperback
First published July 3, 2014
172 people are currently reading
1134 people want to read
About the author
Robert Goddard
109 books870 followersIn a writing career spanning more than twenty years, Robert Goddard's novels have been described in many different ways - mystery, thriller, crime, even historical romance. He is the master of the plot twist, a compelling and engrossing storyteller and one of the best known advocates for the traditional virtues of pace, plot and narrative drive.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 163 reviews
March 25, 2016
Description: Spring, 1919. James ‘Max’ Maxted, former Great War flying ace, returns to the trail of murder, treachery and half-buried secrets he set out on in The Ways of the World. He left Paris after avenging the murder of his father, Sir Henry Maxted, a senior member of the British delegation to the post-war peace conference. But he was convinced there was more – much more – to be discovered about what Sir Henry had been trying to accomplish. And he suspected elusive German spymaster Fritz Lemmer knew the truth of it.
Now, enlisted under false colours in Lemmer’s service but with his loyalty pledged to the British Secret Service, Max sets out on his first – and possibly last – mission for Lemmer. It takes him to the far north of Scotland – to the Orkney Isles, where the German High Seas Fleet has been impounded in Scapa Flow, its fate to be decided at the conference-table in Paris. Max has been sent to recover a document held aboard one of the German ships. What that document contains forces him to break cover sooner than he would have wished and to embark on a desperate race south, towards London, with information that could destroy Lemmer – if Max, as seems unlikely, lives to deliver it...
Opening: MAX COULD ONLY WISH HE HAD MADE THE CROSSING FROM Scotland in such weather: calm, cool and benign, the sea sparkled, the sky blue, with puffs of cloud herded at the horizon like well-behaved sheep. He stepped out of the Ayre Hotel into the peace of early morning, lit a cigarette and gazed around him.
Only marked the first Maxted as 3* yet I think about it often. Goddard gets under the skin doesn't he! This is a series that must be read in sequence and the main theme is Paris as Peace Treaty hosts after WWI, complete with the contentious issue of the Shandong Penninsula.
He did his best not to flinch as Tomura cast him a raking, contemptuous glance in which several generations of arrogance had been distilled to a poisonous essence.' - p.289
Cliff-hangar ending
5* In Pale Battalions
3* Into the Blue
5* Past Caring
4* Caught In The Light
4* Long Time Coming
3* Never Go Back
3* Sight Unseen
TR Beyond Recall
3* Borrowed Time
3* Hand in Glove
WL Fault Line
4* Set In Stone
1* Found Wanting
2* Name To A Face
4* Painting The Darkness
1* Dying To Tell
3* Play to the End
3* Out of the Sun
3* Days Without Number
4* Take No Farewell
2* Closed Circle
TR Blood Count
3* Sea Change
3* The Ways of the World (The Wide World Trilogy #1)
4* The Corners of the Globe (The Wide World - James Maxted, #2)
TR The Ends of the Earth (The Wide World Trilogy, #3)
Now, enlisted under false colours in Lemmer’s service but with his loyalty pledged to the British Secret Service, Max sets out on his first – and possibly last – mission for Lemmer. It takes him to the far north of Scotland – to the Orkney Isles, where the German High Seas Fleet has been impounded in Scapa Flow, its fate to be decided at the conference-table in Paris. Max has been sent to recover a document held aboard one of the German ships. What that document contains forces him to break cover sooner than he would have wished and to embark on a desperate race south, towards London, with information that could destroy Lemmer – if Max, as seems unlikely, lives to deliver it...
Opening: MAX COULD ONLY WISH HE HAD MADE THE CROSSING FROM Scotland in such weather: calm, cool and benign, the sea sparkled, the sky blue, with puffs of cloud herded at the horizon like well-behaved sheep. He stepped out of the Ayre Hotel into the peace of early morning, lit a cigarette and gazed around him.
Only marked the first Maxted as 3* yet I think about it often. Goddard gets under the skin doesn't he! This is a series that must be read in sequence and the main theme is Paris as Peace Treaty hosts after WWI, complete with the contentious issue of the Shandong Penninsula.He did his best not to flinch as Tomura cast him a raking, contemptuous glance in which several generations of arrogance had been distilled to a poisonous essence.' - p.289Cliff-hangar ending5* In Pale Battalions
3* Into the Blue
5* Past Caring
4* Caught In The Light
4* Long Time Coming
3* Never Go Back
3* Sight Unseen
TR Beyond Recall
3* Borrowed Time
3* Hand in Glove
WL Fault Line
4* Set In Stone
1* Found Wanting
2* Name To A Face
4* Painting The Darkness
1* Dying To Tell
3* Play to the End
3* Out of the Sun
3* Days Without Number
4* Take No Farewell
2* Closed Circle
TR Blood Count
3* Sea Change
3* The Ways of the World (The Wide World Trilogy #1)
4* The Corners of the Globe (The Wide World - James Maxted, #2)
TR The Ends of the Earth (The Wide World Trilogy, #3)
March 20, 2022
This second installment in Goddard's Wide World Trilogy picks up where The Ways of the World left off. Max will again find himself in all sorts of trouble, and will again manage to wiggle out of it. We find some of the other characters placing themselves inadvertently for their own set of physical harm. Thrillers being what they are, the good guys are only superficially harmed (or recover nicely) while the bad guys are nowhere near so lucky. The baddest of the bad guys remain elusive. But of course! Else why would there be the chase, the risks taken, the tight squeezes wriggled out of?
I'm so glad I stumbled upon Robert Goddard. And that surprises me because I wouldn't have thought I was one for thrillers. Somehow this series has fully captured my attention and I have already ordered a good used copy of the third and final installment. I have picked up a few of his stand alones as well. I won't exaggerate and put a 5th star on them, but they're good'uns at 4-stars.
I'm so glad I stumbled upon Robert Goddard. And that surprises me because I wouldn't have thought I was one for thrillers. Somehow this series has fully captured my attention and I have already ordered a good used copy of the third and final installment. I have picked up a few of his stand alones as well. I won't exaggerate and put a 5th star on them, but they're good'uns at 4-stars.
December 14, 2014
Fool me once.... so the first book was good enough that the surpise at the end about the mystery extending to the next book was acceptable. About a third of the way into this next book however, I started to wonder about the pacing and meandering strands so I flipped to the end and lo and behold - "Continued" appeared there so - not fooling me twice - I did not finish it.
To be fair, if this period is a favourite and the politics is of interest, the level of detail that extends a fairly good mystery story into a third volume could be right up your alley. The writing is good and the main character is charismatic but, for me, just not compelling enough to warrant going along for a third volume. Having said that, if I had known from the outset that this was a trilogy, I may have been a tad less annoyed and more likely to have finished what I had knowingly gotten into.
To be fair, if this period is a favourite and the politics is of interest, the level of detail that extends a fairly good mystery story into a third volume could be right up your alley. The writing is good and the main character is charismatic but, for me, just not compelling enough to warrant going along for a third volume. Having said that, if I had known from the outset that this was a trilogy, I may have been a tad less annoyed and more likely to have finished what I had knowingly gotten into.
September 12, 2015
The second installment of Robert Goddard’s worldwide trilogy, THE CORNERS OF THE GLOBE is a first rate sequel to THE WAYS OF THE WORLD. The main character James Maxted, better known as “Max” continues his quest to discredit the idea that his father, Sir Henry, a British diplomat attached to the English delegation at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 had committed suicide. To avoid rehashing the details of the events surrounding the death of Sir Henry, the machinations that ensued involving a number of foreign secret services, and the impact of events on the peace talks, Goddard provides a handy memo written by Henry Appleby, a member of the British Secret Service that summarizes events in his missive to “C,” the individual in charge of English intelligence, dated 27 April 1919 (see pp. 31-36). The memo allows those readers who have not read THE WAYS OF THE WORLD to gain somewhat of an understanding of why the story line proceeds as it does, though it is a bit confusing at the outset.
The narrative continues as Max arrives crossing over from Scotland and landing at Kirkwall Bay which at the time is overrun by American mine sweepers trying to clear the vast body of water from mines laid during the Great War. Max, who is now in the service of British intelligence, also posing as an agent of the German spy master, Fritz Lemmer, who he suspects was responsible for the death of his father, is to inspect a German warship that has been interned at Scapa Flow. Max’s mission is to recover a document, the Grey File, a coded list that details Lemmer’s foreign operatives that are working for German interests in Paris that is held aboard a German ship. Once the document is located Max is forced to give up his cover story as death seems to follow his path as he races south to London with the documentation that would finally destroy Lemmer.
Goddard weaves a number of sub plots into his narrative that seems to coalesce at various times in the book and points to Goddard’s skill as a master story teller. Max’s mother, Lady Maxted enlists her brother George Clissold to deal with a law suit that was about to be brought against her by a French socialite who had purchased a series of antiquities from her deceased husband. The intricacies associated with the Maxted and Tomura families repeatedly make their appearance. Next, we find Sam Twentyman, a colleague of Max’s from the war, in charge of the British motor pool in Paris trying to avoid being killed by Lemmer’s men who believe he knows where Max can be found. The roles of Travis Ierton and Schools Morahan, whose main business was the exchange of illegally obtained information about the peace negotiations and selling it to the highest bidder is ever present. Horace Appleby and Max’s quest to disclose to “C” the identity of spies within British intelligence, when they themselves have been accused of being spies by members of the secret committee headed by “C” that controls intelligence operations from London is extremely important. Finally, the reader is exposed to the machinations of the Japanese at the peace conference as they try to acquire the former German colony of Shantung from the Chinese.
The role of the Japanese introduces a number of new characters in the story. Marquis Saionji, the head of the Japanese delegation faces political problems at home as he is perceived as not being tough enough in presenting Japan’s position in Paris. His deputy Count Masatake Kuroda is recalled to Tokyo and is replaced by Count Tomura Iwazu, a gangster with interests in Korea and Manchuria, who represents the right wing nationalist faction of the Japanese government. Count Tomuro, employing his son Nuboro, searches for the mysterious Arab le Singe who he believes is privy to secret Japanese documents and information that could destroy Tomuro’s illegal business empire and political influence. The result is havoc and death for anyone who gets in their way. It seems for most of the book that every strand in the story leads to le Singe. What does he know? Lemmer and his men, Nuboro and his thugs, British intelligence led by Appleby and Max are all desperate to find him first so they can figure out the proper course to take to protect their personal and governmental interests. However, as the story continues to unfold, of the utmost importance is that a deadly secret exists that is deeply buried in Japan’s domestic political power struggle. This secret has already cost the lives of Max’s father, Sir Henry, and a growing list of others who have some knowledge of what it is.
Goddard’s historical nuances are as strong in his second installment as they were in the first volume of the trilogy. He points to the problems between the Greeks and Turks as they covet certain territory. The American government’s subterfuge in fomenting a revolution in Columbia in order to obtain a strip of land to push the Panama Canal through. President Wilson’s battle with the Japanese over self-determination for the Chinese. The political infighting within the Japanese peace delegation and government in Tokyo, as well as the arrival of the German delegation to receive the final peace treaty are all significant and presented with historical insight and accuracy.
The glue that seems to bind all the characters, whether from THE WAYS OF THE WORLD or newly introduced in THE CORNERS OF THE GLOBE is the Grey File and what it entails, the knowledge that le Singe may possess, and economic and political influence in Japan. The disingenuous behavior and violence that dominates the story is well suited to the characters that Goddard has developed. The book continues a mysterious historical yarn, but as in the first book, it ends rather abruptly leaving the reader hanging looking forward to reading the final volume in Goddard’s trilogy, THE ENDS OF THE EARTH.
The narrative continues as Max arrives crossing over from Scotland and landing at Kirkwall Bay which at the time is overrun by American mine sweepers trying to clear the vast body of water from mines laid during the Great War. Max, who is now in the service of British intelligence, also posing as an agent of the German spy master, Fritz Lemmer, who he suspects was responsible for the death of his father, is to inspect a German warship that has been interned at Scapa Flow. Max’s mission is to recover a document, the Grey File, a coded list that details Lemmer’s foreign operatives that are working for German interests in Paris that is held aboard a German ship. Once the document is located Max is forced to give up his cover story as death seems to follow his path as he races south to London with the documentation that would finally destroy Lemmer.
Goddard weaves a number of sub plots into his narrative that seems to coalesce at various times in the book and points to Goddard’s skill as a master story teller. Max’s mother, Lady Maxted enlists her brother George Clissold to deal with a law suit that was about to be brought against her by a French socialite who had purchased a series of antiquities from her deceased husband. The intricacies associated with the Maxted and Tomura families repeatedly make their appearance. Next, we find Sam Twentyman, a colleague of Max’s from the war, in charge of the British motor pool in Paris trying to avoid being killed by Lemmer’s men who believe he knows where Max can be found. The roles of Travis Ierton and Schools Morahan, whose main business was the exchange of illegally obtained information about the peace negotiations and selling it to the highest bidder is ever present. Horace Appleby and Max’s quest to disclose to “C” the identity of spies within British intelligence, when they themselves have been accused of being spies by members of the secret committee headed by “C” that controls intelligence operations from London is extremely important. Finally, the reader is exposed to the machinations of the Japanese at the peace conference as they try to acquire the former German colony of Shantung from the Chinese.
The role of the Japanese introduces a number of new characters in the story. Marquis Saionji, the head of the Japanese delegation faces political problems at home as he is perceived as not being tough enough in presenting Japan’s position in Paris. His deputy Count Masatake Kuroda is recalled to Tokyo and is replaced by Count Tomura Iwazu, a gangster with interests in Korea and Manchuria, who represents the right wing nationalist faction of the Japanese government. Count Tomuro, employing his son Nuboro, searches for the mysterious Arab le Singe who he believes is privy to secret Japanese documents and information that could destroy Tomuro’s illegal business empire and political influence. The result is havoc and death for anyone who gets in their way. It seems for most of the book that every strand in the story leads to le Singe. What does he know? Lemmer and his men, Nuboro and his thugs, British intelligence led by Appleby and Max are all desperate to find him first so they can figure out the proper course to take to protect their personal and governmental interests. However, as the story continues to unfold, of the utmost importance is that a deadly secret exists that is deeply buried in Japan’s domestic political power struggle. This secret has already cost the lives of Max’s father, Sir Henry, and a growing list of others who have some knowledge of what it is.
Goddard’s historical nuances are as strong in his second installment as they were in the first volume of the trilogy. He points to the problems between the Greeks and Turks as they covet certain territory. The American government’s subterfuge in fomenting a revolution in Columbia in order to obtain a strip of land to push the Panama Canal through. President Wilson’s battle with the Japanese over self-determination for the Chinese. The political infighting within the Japanese peace delegation and government in Tokyo, as well as the arrival of the German delegation to receive the final peace treaty are all significant and presented with historical insight and accuracy.
The glue that seems to bind all the characters, whether from THE WAYS OF THE WORLD or newly introduced in THE CORNERS OF THE GLOBE is the Grey File and what it entails, the knowledge that le Singe may possess, and economic and political influence in Japan. The disingenuous behavior and violence that dominates the story is well suited to the characters that Goddard has developed. The book continues a mysterious historical yarn, but as in the first book, it ends rather abruptly leaving the reader hanging looking forward to reading the final volume in Goddard’s trilogy, THE ENDS OF THE EARTH.
January 18, 2016
I was delighted to receive this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I'm a huge fan of Robert Goddard, in fact I have a shelf dedicated to his books so I did a little dance of joy around the kitchen when I was approved. This was short-lasted, however, as I found the book hard to get into. i'm not sure if it was the political nature of the story or the myriad of characters that I found hard to keep up with but this book wasn't easy to read and I had to keep going back to find out what was happening. At one point I began to wonder if it had been written by someone else entirely. It has been a while since I last read one of his books so it could just be me but not one of his better stories. It wasn't until the end that I realised this is the second story in a series. Perhaps if I'd read the first, it would all make sense?
abandoned
September 21, 2014Having recently read The Ways of the World by Robert Goddard I was so angry that the book ended mid story, I didn’t plan to continue. However I received The Corners of the Globe (book 2) in the mail and I decided to give it a go. I started reading and got a few chapters in before I remember the rage I had for the first one. I didn’t want to go through that again, so I flipped to the end of the book. There it was, the words ‘To be concluded’, and I abandoned the book on the spot.
Maybe I will read the book again when the final book is released but I suspect that I will have no interest in attempting it again. The story sounds entertaining enough but after The Ways of the World I have too much rage to be forgiving. It is a shame that Robert Goddard would do this to his fans, it doesn’t make me want to read anything else he has written.
Maybe I will read the book again when the final book is released but I suspect that I will have no interest in attempting it again. The story sounds entertaining enough but after The Ways of the World I have too much rage to be forgiving. It is a shame that Robert Goddard would do this to his fans, it doesn’t make me want to read anything else he has written.
Read
December 22, 2015A thoroughly enjoyable second part to the story! With the end of part 2, I can only be thankful that I also have book 3 on hand to commence reading.
May 11, 2024
Setting: Orkneys/England/France; 1919.
Following on from the events in the first book of the trilogy, former fighter pilot James 'Max' Maxted is still hot on the trail of the people behind his father's murder and is on a mission on behalf of German spymaster Lemmer - although intending to double-cross him. Max leaves a trail of death and destruction in the Orkneys and on a journey south, carrying a vital file that he has obtained from the captain of an imprisoned German battleship and pursued by his enemies.
Meanwhile, in Paris, the peace talks in the aftermath of World War One are full of political bargaining and double-dealing, with Sino-Japanese relations also leading to bloodshed as the various parties jockey for position. Max eventually ends up in Paris but is then led on to Marseille, where his life comes under further threat...
This was another excellent read in the series which, although written recently, gives an authentic impression of the era and of the spy novels of the day (The Thirty-Nine Steps is mentioned by one character). This one certainly ended in a cliffhanger, perhaps too much of one! Glad I've got the next book already on my shelves or I would be tearing out what little hair I have left!! - 9/10.
Following on from the events in the first book of the trilogy, former fighter pilot James 'Max' Maxted is still hot on the trail of the people behind his father's murder and is on a mission on behalf of German spymaster Lemmer - although intending to double-cross him. Max leaves a trail of death and destruction in the Orkneys and on a journey south, carrying a vital file that he has obtained from the captain of an imprisoned German battleship and pursued by his enemies.
Meanwhile, in Paris, the peace talks in the aftermath of World War One are full of political bargaining and double-dealing, with Sino-Japanese relations also leading to bloodshed as the various parties jockey for position. Max eventually ends up in Paris but is then led on to Marseille, where his life comes under further threat...
This was another excellent read in the series which, although written recently, gives an authentic impression of the era and of the spy novels of the day (The Thirty-Nine Steps is mentioned by one character). This one certainly ended in a cliffhanger, perhaps too much of one! Glad I've got the next book already on my shelves or I would be tearing out what little hair I have left!! - 9/10.
December 3, 2018
I read the first part of the three-part trilogy and enjoyed it. But this second book has too many characters and too many plot lines. The first half of the book finds Max and the people trailing him on train after train in Scotland and parts of England. Then there's Paris, where most of the action takes place. I'm not a fan of books that end with a cliffhanger and you're forced to read the next installment to find out what happens, and this one has a doozy: Max is about to be killed with a hypodermic needle, but then the book ends. And now it seems we're off to Japan via Marseilles. Is James a British spy or isn't he? Is he just trying to avenge his father's death? It's not easy to follow.
June 21, 2022
My god I hate the way this man ends books. Or rather, doesn't end them. In the middle of a sentence, seriously?! There's also a fair whack of amateur-ish prose e.g. "while this part of the story was happening, this other character was doing this other thing" - you can just tell different parts of the story separately y'know. But the series has me gripped, that's for sure. Will definitely read the third book, for the plot if not the writing style.
December 14, 2022
Audio. The second book in this trilogy keeps me wanting an excuse to don earbuds to listen, like the first book. Intrigue within intrigue.
December 30, 2018
Corners of the Globe is the page-turning continuation of Robert Goddard’s Wide World Trilogy. We chase James (Max) Maxted around Northern Europe in the weeks before the post war peace conference. Its hard to know who to trust in this thriller. Although we want to like Max’s supporting cast of characters, its clear that there is more than one baddie in the bunch. Goddard leaves us hanging at the end, waiting for resolution in the next book in the series.
March 16, 2016
There are parts of The Corners of the Globe which are good and parts which trundle along in a very samey sort of way. It has several POVs which can get confusing, as by the time you're back round to an earlier POV, so much has happened in between with the others, you've forgotten what happened last time. There is a large cast of characters, some with similar/foreign/unfamiliar names which doesn't help, either!
This to me, is a bit like an author who has the option of many different ways that his plot could go and instead of cutting to make a good, tight, fast paced thriller, decides instead to include everything and spread it over 3 books.
It's not that it's badly written - it's fine - but does it stand out as one of Goddard's best well plotted, intriguing, surprise-a-minute stories by an author with a reputation as "the master of the double-twist"? Nah. Nowhere near.
This is the second story in the James Maxted "trilogy". I have issues with the word trilogy in this case, because usually one can expect each book in a trilogy to be concluded in its own right. Yet in this instance, that's not the case. It's like someone has sneaked up to your bedroom, taken the book off your bedside table which you're half way through reading and torn out the last third of it, so that when you come to "the end", you're left hanging with the plot unresolved and, significantly, without feeling that satisfaction of a completing a "good book".
The role of the author is always to be mindful of the experience of the reader and ensure it's a good one. IMHO, on that count, Goddard fails his reader utterly. I hope he's not planning to make the same mistake again.
This to me, is a bit like an author who has the option of many different ways that his plot could go and instead of cutting to make a good, tight, fast paced thriller, decides instead to include everything and spread it over 3 books.
It's not that it's badly written - it's fine - but does it stand out as one of Goddard's best well plotted, intriguing, surprise-a-minute stories by an author with a reputation as "the master of the double-twist"? Nah. Nowhere near.
This is the second story in the James Maxted "trilogy". I have issues with the word trilogy in this case, because usually one can expect each book in a trilogy to be concluded in its own right. Yet in this instance, that's not the case. It's like someone has sneaked up to your bedroom, taken the book off your bedside table which you're half way through reading and torn out the last third of it, so that when you come to "the end", you're left hanging with the plot unresolved and, significantly, without feeling that satisfaction of a completing a "good book".
The role of the author is always to be mindful of the experience of the reader and ensure it's a good one. IMHO, on that count, Goddard fails his reader utterly. I hope he's not planning to make the same mistake again.
February 19, 2016
I don't mind reading trilogies as long as there is a good reason for spreading a story over three books but I didn't feel that this book was anything more than padding. Although I will read the final book in due course (I hate giving up), I've got to the point where I'm not sure I care whether Max ever finds out who murdered his father or why. Despite the glamour of having been a WW1 flyer (one is led to believe that he was probably a fighter ace as well) he strikes me as being ridiculously stupid by the way he is constantly led into impossible and dangerous situations for example, because he doesn't want to ask his Mum a pertinent question. Her answer, of course, would have made this book redundant which is what makes me so angry with the author.
December 6, 2014
An interesting look at a time that has not received a lot of attention, immediately post-Armistice and before the signing of the treaty of Versailles. The world is exhausted but still has the brink of way in the air. Goddard can always be relied upon for atmosphere that draws you in and fails to release, as well as a complicated plot that keeps you guessing to the end. Both of those elements are present in this book, however by the end the reader has to be left wondering if it has gotten too complicated and the ultimate punchline too distant or esoteric to be worth the journey through 3 novels. Time will tell.
November 1, 2022
Continuing Max’s story from book 1. Now he’s playing dangerous games with the evil spy mastermind, involving a chase to get vital documents . Action moves from Paris to Orkney in the North Sea, then back to Europe, Switzerland and Paris. More characters are introduced, along the way plenty are lost. Women play an important part in these schemes. The controlling hand of his British Secret Service agent runs throughout the series, adding both hope and doubts. There’s a lot of trickery, subterfuge, swapping sides, all working to keeping up the pace. Max is always supported by his faithful mate Sam Westaway, handy for watching his back when there’s so much treachery around.
October 23, 2014
I liked the first book, but this story gets stuck in the mud of an implausible plot around Farngold and Lemmer, who only feature as shadowy figures causing ( or may have caused) mayhem with no reason given. Then to find we have to wait until July 2015 for the last part of the trilogy is stretching the reader too much. Better to have issued them closer together so we could get a better feel for the plot. I like Goddard's writing style but this is too protracted. Suggest Robert reads Ian Fleming on how to do secret agents in an exciting tight format!
May 22, 2016
There were just too many plot threads and characters for me. Maybe if I had read the first novel in the trilogy it would have been less confusing, but I found it to be a bit muddled. In addition, if you dislike cliff-hangers, don't read this unless you have the third one on hand--it doesn't just end without resolving some source of suspense, it literally ends in the middle of a sentence. That's just annoying! Anyway, it was pretty good, but not great.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book.
September 4, 2014
Very entertaining but knowing the story would be continued in the next volume detracts from a feeling of "completeness" at the end.
February 21, 2016
I read first in trilogy and though only ok thought second would reveal things. Well 500 wasted pages. Third will stay in shop !!
August 8, 2016
I tried. I really tried. But he lost me from the beginning! Half of it was confusing, the rest was just annoying... I almost made it to the end before I gave up
July 1, 2019
A poor novel by anybody's standards. The characterisation is inconsistent, the events just infuriatingly predictable (especially the ending) and the dialogue boring.
James (Max) Maxted is once again on the trail of Fritz Lemmer, a spymaster bent on selling his network to the highest bidder. The book is pacy and, with no character depth to worry about, is very easy to read. The dialogue is standard early twentieth century clipped but feels unrealistic.
The number of people involved seems ludicrous for Lemmer's secret organisation to have any hope of remaining a secret for very long and the suspense is managed simply by building up a reveal and then not revealing it. It's frustrating, disrespectful of the reader and boring.
A good third of the lines in the book are entirely unnecessary, add nothing to the plot and serve only to extend the non-event to 499 agonising pages. I enjoyed Ways of the World and I expect that Ends of the Earth is a good read but this is pure filler. With a trilogy each book should be able to stand on its own but this falls flat, not being able to tell a cohesive story, despite 499 pages of opportunity to tell one.
A trilogy of three books seems actually to be comprised of two books stretched out into three but despite the End of the Earth promising to provide all of the answers to the questions asked in this book, I've lost all interest and faith that Robert is going to provide them. In fact, it's made me reassess Robert Goddard as a writer I want to read.
James (Max) Maxted is once again on the trail of Fritz Lemmer, a spymaster bent on selling his network to the highest bidder. The book is pacy and, with no character depth to worry about, is very easy to read. The dialogue is standard early twentieth century clipped but feels unrealistic.
The number of people involved seems ludicrous for Lemmer's secret organisation to have any hope of remaining a secret for very long and the suspense is managed simply by building up a reveal and then not revealing it. It's frustrating, disrespectful of the reader and boring.
A good third of the lines in the book are entirely unnecessary, add nothing to the plot and serve only to extend the non-event to 499 agonising pages. I enjoyed Ways of the World and I expect that Ends of the Earth is a good read but this is pure filler. With a trilogy each book should be able to stand on its own but this falls flat, not being able to tell a cohesive story, despite 499 pages of opportunity to tell one.
A trilogy of three books seems actually to be comprised of two books stretched out into three but despite the End of the Earth promising to provide all of the answers to the questions asked in this book, I've lost all interest and faith that Robert is going to provide them. In fact, it's made me reassess Robert Goddard as a writer I want to read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 24, 2017
Six-word review, "Began with enthusiasm, ended in boredom."
The first book in The Wide World Trilogy motivated me to read book 2. Book 2 motivated me to pass on Book 3.
Taking place during the Versailles Treaty negotiations, the basic plot is that James Maxted's Father is murdered in Book 1 and James goes undercover to hook up with Fritz Lemmer, a famous German spy. This volume follows James and others he is connected to as they try to corner Lemmer.
There is also a sub-plot involving the Japanese and their connection to both Lemmer and James' Father.
My main criticisms are that the plot moves far too slowly, involves too many peripheral characters but mostly lacks suspense. There is also a large amount of unnecessary dialogue telling us what we already know. To add to the ennui, the characters, even James, are not at all compelling.
"Why did you finish the book, then?" you ask. I had two reasons. one, I kept hoping the flow would improve and the suspense would be ratchetted up. Two, I just have a hard time abandoning a book, I've gotten a couple hundred pages into.
I can't recommend this book and by extension, Book One in the series.
The first book in The Wide World Trilogy motivated me to read book 2. Book 2 motivated me to pass on Book 3.
Taking place during the Versailles Treaty negotiations, the basic plot is that James Maxted's Father is murdered in Book 1 and James goes undercover to hook up with Fritz Lemmer, a famous German spy. This volume follows James and others he is connected to as they try to corner Lemmer.
There is also a sub-plot involving the Japanese and their connection to both Lemmer and James' Father.
My main criticisms are that the plot moves far too slowly, involves too many peripheral characters but mostly lacks suspense. There is also a large amount of unnecessary dialogue telling us what we already know. To add to the ennui, the characters, even James, are not at all compelling.
"Why did you finish the book, then?" you ask. I had two reasons. one, I kept hoping the flow would improve and the suspense would be ratchetted up. Two, I just have a hard time abandoning a book, I've gotten a couple hundred pages into.
I can't recommend this book and by extension, Book One in the series.
February 23, 2018
Three weeks of reading this turgid, unthrilling thriller - only to end on a cliff hanger. Robert Goddard is taking the piss. What should have been an interesting thriller set against the Versailles Treaty negotiations is just a pot boiler of the Dennis Wheatley stamp. Wheatley did this kind of thing far bettter in the Duc de Richelieu series. There is no sense of the historical significance of 1919 and the shadow of the Russian Revolution. So the May Day French general strike is just an inconvenience- as if we are living in a vintage version of the world of the Daily Mail - it had no significance to the plot. The Japanese villains are racist stereotypes motivated by sadism and lust for power. An interesting novel could have been written about the Versailles carve up - in which minor wartime allies like Japan and Italy were ruthlessly betrayed by the US, Britain and France. But Goddard is not interested enough in history to write it. So we are left with the reanimated world of John Buchan (quite shamelessly). But that is a world which really did die in 1914.
December 13, 2022
Sadly, this thriller is really awful. I picked it up because I otherwise find Goddard's work well written, with interesting characters but in this case the characters are uniformly flat and the plot is like something from an old silent movie, The Perils of Pauline, but without the landlord tying the protagonist to the railroad tracks.
The plot proceeds on parallel tracks, in Scotland and Paris, and the two tales at time seem completely separate, the former involving the pursuit of the protagonist and the latter involving the pursuit of a antiques store employee who sold a bogus artifact.
But worse is the fact that the protagonist's tale reaches a near-climax -- and then the book ends. So, this book, all several hundred pages of it, is nothing more than a serial, aimed at forcing the reader to buy the next installment.
Serials may've worked in the silent movie era but they don't work in a time of expensive hardcover books and the public's ability to "stream the next episode," if a series catches their fancy. D
The plot proceeds on parallel tracks, in Scotland and Paris, and the two tales at time seem completely separate, the former involving the pursuit of the protagonist and the latter involving the pursuit of a antiques store employee who sold a bogus artifact.
But worse is the fact that the protagonist's tale reaches a near-climax -- and then the book ends. So, this book, all several hundred pages of it, is nothing more than a serial, aimed at forcing the reader to buy the next installment.
Serials may've worked in the silent movie era but they don't work in a time of expensive hardcover books and the public's ability to "stream the next episode," if a series catches their fancy. D
November 28, 2018
AUDIO FORMAT: Despite how much I enjoyed the first book in the series, I couldn't get into this one. I tried three times. While the narrator was good, like the first one I listened to, I think the pacing suffered because Max and his sidekick / foil Sam are in separate places (Scotland and Paris, respectively) for a lot of the beginning. I abandoned the story before they came back together, so I don't know when/if they do. Their relationship is Max's main connection with another person, given his estrangement from his family and his lack of a romantic partner. So having Sam so far away from Max for so long is like having the two parties to a romance in separate places -- it just hurts the chemistry and tension.
So, while not terrible, it didn't have the same verve as the first one and I was a DNF.
So, while not terrible, it didn't have the same verve as the first one and I was a DNF.
September 13, 2022
Adding to the mystery and confusion of volume 1 and continuing the pattern of sudden violent death as Max scratches around trying to make sense of why his father was killed and the part German super spy, Lemmer, is playing, pulling strings like an evil master puppeteer.
We are gradually exposed to what Lemmer is up to but remain in the dark as to deeds years ago concerning Max’s Pa and Ma and their various contacts as well as the political manoeuvrings of Japan , China, Russia and the new world order emerging from WWI and the negotiations at Versailles.
As always geography plays it’s part from Scapa Flow to Paris and Marseilles and this helps this rather long book stuffed with memorable characters be worth sticking with.
We are gradually exposed to what Lemmer is up to but remain in the dark as to deeds years ago concerning Max’s Pa and Ma and their various contacts as well as the political manoeuvrings of Japan , China, Russia and the new world order emerging from WWI and the negotiations at Versailles.
As always geography plays it’s part from Scapa Flow to Paris and Marseilles and this helps this rather long book stuffed with memorable characters be worth sticking with.
October 23, 2018
Second part of the trilogy starts in the Orkneys, Scapa Flow, where the German fleet was captured and held. Max retrieves the grey file stolen by a German Captain. The file contains the names in code of Lemmer’s spies throughout the world. max eventually finds his way back to Paris where he finds his mother has intervened in the mystery with some personal details known only to her of the Japanese father and son who are keen to find Max and his friends. Long convoluted story and Jack Fangold is mentioned. He is the key to all the subterfuge it appears. Max is left in the lurch with a gun to his head...........to be continued.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 23, 2020
The second book of the trilogy written by Goddard. I finished the first book a fortnight back. Here Max again enters the world of espionage during the 1919 Paris peace conference. Gi sole motive is to find out the reason behind his father's murder in Paris.
In the book he starts from Scotland and then on to London and the Paris action keeps on at a fast pace.
The book has too many subplots with too many japanese names and it becomes difficult to keep a track of the action.
The worst is that the book ends at a crucial juncture with the words To Be Concluded.
So I have now ordered the third book in this trilogy in the hope of finding out what really happened.
In the book he starts from Scotland and then on to London and the Paris action keeps on at a fast pace.
The book has too many subplots with too many japanese names and it becomes difficult to keep a track of the action.
The worst is that the book ends at a crucial juncture with the words To Be Concluded.
So I have now ordered the third book in this trilogy in the hope of finding out what really happened.
January 25, 2021
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway. This is the second book in a trilogy and as such I've come into it in the middle without having read the first book.
James (Max) Maxted, a Royal Flying Corps veteran, is trying to bring down the man who is responsible for his father's death. The man in question, Fritz Lemmer, runs a spy network, with highly placed members all over the world.
As Max collects information to complete his mission, his life is constantly in danger. And as he travels, his former plane captain, waits in Paris trying to help as he can, endangering his own life.
Be aware that this book ends in a cliff hanger.
James (Max) Maxted, a Royal Flying Corps veteran, is trying to bring down the man who is responsible for his father's death. The man in question, Fritz Lemmer, runs a spy network, with highly placed members all over the world.
As Max collects information to complete his mission, his life is constantly in danger. And as he travels, his former plane captain, waits in Paris trying to help as he can, endangering his own life.
Be aware that this book ends in a cliff hanger.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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