Deathless

by Richard Montanari

A terrifying stand-alone thriller from the London Times bestselling author of the Byrne and Balzano series, Richard Montanari.

**Never before published in the United States**

Michael Roman is finally living the life he always dreamed of--he has a successful career, a beautiful wife and adorable twin daughters.

But his idyllic life is about to come crashing down around him--because Michael is a man with a past. A rising star in the New York District Attorney's office and on the cusp of enormous success, Michael's perfect life begins to unravel when he finds himself the target of a depraved madman, a man who covets everything Michael has and will stop at nothing to take it all away.

In a desperate fight to survive, Michael is forced to confront the dark secrets of his past. He must hunt down the psychopath who is targeting his family and, before it is too late, face the devil himself...

(Previously published in the UK as THE DEVIL'S GARDEN)

Genres: Crime, Thriller, Fiction, Mystery, American

341 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 13, 2009

About the author

Richard Montanari is the Top Ten Sunday Times bestselling author of The Rosary Girls, The Killing Room, The Stolen Ones and the upcoming thriller, The Doll Maker.

Series:
* Jack Paris
* Jessica Balzano & Kevin Byrne

Reviews

[Kelsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sadly nowhere near as addictive + thrilling as the Balzano + Byrne books I've read :/

[Jenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s been awhile since I have read a Montanari book so I am glad this was a stand alone. I don’t recall much, if anything, about his series other than I enjoyed them. This wasn’t the best or the worst thriller. It was kind of ho-hum and probably forgettable but did keep me interested through to the end.

[Plum-crazy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoy Montanari's Byrne & Balzano series, this one, however, is a "stand-alone" thriller but it's still excellent reading (no surprise there)

For once though, it wasn't with the "good guys", Michael & Abby, that my empathy laid but with Aleks. Unusual to be rooting for the baddie, especially as Aleks is a villainous vennaskond (drug lord, extortionist, thief.... oh, & lets not forget murderer) who believes he will live to fulfil the prophecy of Koschei the Deathless - but for some reason I liked him :o)

Anyhow, the good characterisation & great storyline made for a gripping read (as I knew it would!) - & I'd really like to see Detective Desiree Powell featuring in another tale.

[Gatorman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid stand-alone from Montanari. Not as good as the Byrne-Balzano series but entertaining enough. Montanari is an underrated thriller writer. Never disappoints. 3.5 stars bumped to 4 for the quality of writing.

[Beverley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was ok but could have done without the 'deathless' story. At best I don't think it added anything and at worst it was just confusing.

[Lance Greenfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast-paced thriller

A high-flying and ambitious new York Attorney, Michael Roman, who is one step away from the top DA job and appears to have all that he could wish for, suddenly finds his life crumbling all around him. His beautiful twin daughters were adopted from his parents’ homeland of Estonia. A crazy man from that country believes that he has a strong claim on the girls and heads to the USA to take back what he believes to be rightfully his.

If that were the extent of the story, it wouldn’t be worth reading, but the man believes that both he and the girls are living parts of an Estonian folklore. What ensues is a total nightmare, made worse by Michael’s determination to hide what he knows of the truth from his friends who could help him.

There are some horrific, gory scenes in this book, and it moves along at a cracking pace, never losing its tension and momentum.

This is an easy to read book and keeps the reader’s attention from beginning to end.

[Paul · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mediocre at best... i bought this book expecting an airport thriller, something to keep my entertained. While there were some good moments of suspense and tension in the book, I found on the whole that it failed to hold my attention. Maybe it was the whole supernatural element that put me off, but I found the storyline about the seer and etc. to be pretentious and boring. Not the worst book I've ever read, but certainly a wasted few hours of my life.

[Laura Birks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Struggled to get to grips with the pacing at first, but once it got going, boy did it go!

While I found some of the plot to be fairly predictable there were a few moments that surprised me.

The connection between Aleks and his daughters was wonderful to read as it added an element of foreboding to the story that I felt was lacking elsewhere.

While not something I'd normally read, it was recommended by a friend and I'd not be adverse to reading another of his books.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

I really liked this book. It is just the type of fast and pacy thriller that I really enjoy. This is the first book that I have read by Richard Montanari and I'm looking forward to reading some of his other books.

[Kelly · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am not even sure how to review this book aside from saying that what it lacked in tension and progression, it made up for with an overly wordy and descriptive writing style that was rather hard to grasp.

The first chapter introduced us to a Seer who had visions and dreams. I found it difficult to distinguish between her dreams and real-life, but I got there in the end and carried on with the novel, grasping enough to fill in blanks with new events.

I preferred the chapters relating to Michael and his family directly, but they were lacking in both context and tension at the early stage. They were just a series of chapters detailing how the girls were obviously expecting someone, but though both parents witnessed this, neither seemed that bothered. There was little context as to the history of the family, no real personality to any of the characters… it was all just a bit flat.

The chapters relating to Alek were just filler. Useless, barely adding anything to the plot. Were they supposed to be tense? One minute he was slicing someone's eyes open to get information and then the next we had to read about his flight and the fact that he got hit on by a middle-aged woman… it wasn't interesting or progressive, it was just a half dozen wasted pages. All filler and no substance.

I think from reading other reviews that the tension may have ramped up later in the novel, but it took so much effort to get into that I had long given up.

[Giuseppe Ruotolo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here's the dilemma. Your two daughters have been taken away at birth and illegally adopted by an american couple.
You will do anything to get them back.
You are also a vicious killer.
The adopting couple love those two little girls and will do anything to keep them.
Who do you side with?
What would you do in their place?
This is easily one of Montanari's best. The action is relentless as is the suspense.
Surely right will be done in the end. But who will win?

[Dion · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I am not often a fan of the domestic thriller, in the hands of skilful Montanari, you can expect something more. And he delivers that through his Estonian angle, secret doppelgänger/ twin (or is it triplet?) understanding and dark undertones.

[John Toffee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good thriller with the only issue for me was trying to remember and sort all those Russian names!
Great author (love the Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano series) and a good book.

[Stargazer · Rating 1 out of 5]

forgettable.

[Anne Vaughan · Rating 5 out of 5]

K

[Riccardo Galante · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked only the central part of the book. All of the Esonian legend was boring and exagerate and the beginning very slow and not necessary.

[Heidi de Goede · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was really not as bad as some of the reviews!

[Eunice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story, well-crafted! but I didn't like the style of writing.

[Clara S · Rating 2 out of 5]

lecture de plage

[Debby Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful wonderful

Such a good and exciting story..another read I could not let go of..you will love Mickey Roman!!! Thank you for such a wonderful story

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliantly dark and twisty. Really well paced.

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did enjoy this book even though it is quite violent.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty much a stock thriller with added supernatural and Estonian elements. I like Montanari's detailed writing and enjoyed the story but it wouldn't be one I'd read again

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Richard Montanari ist bereits eine echte Autorengröße im Thrillergewerbe. Sein Roman "Im Netz des Teufels" beinhaltet eine spannende Story mit schlichter, schnörkelloser Sprachführung, die dem Leser sofort konkrete Bilder liefert. Trotz der manchmal rasanten Szenenwechsels bleibt die Spannung durchweg erhalten, fesselt den Leser bis zum Schluß. Montanari verbindet hier eine alte russische Legende über einen Unsterblichen namens Koschtschai mit dem Hier und Jetzt. Im Mittelpunkt zwei illegal adoptierte estnische Mädchen, die ursprünglich Drillinge waren.
Als "Unsterblicher" bezeichnet sich ihr leiblicher Vater, ein Soldat und Unterweltler namens Aleksander Savisaar, der dem Tod schon mehrmals von der Schippe gesprungen ist. Er schwängerte eine junge Hellseherin, um dieser Legende Leben einzuhauchen. Dies schien auch zu gelingen, doch von den drei Mädchen, die der Legende nach die Seele des Koschtschai hüten, überleben nur zwei die Geburt und werden kurz darauf vom einem Kinderhändler gekauft und außer Landes gebracht.
Vier Jahre später nimmt Aleksander die Spur seiner Töchter auf. Diese leben mittlerweile in soliden Verhältnissen in einem New Yorker Vorort. Doch es gibt nicht nur einen "Unsterblichen" Der Ziehvater der Zwillinge Charlotte und Emily, der Staranwalt Michael Roman, gehört scheinbar dazu, denn auch er überlebte unverletzt einen Anschlag. So entsteht der typische Konflikt Gut gegen Böse, bei dem Mitwisser und Unschuldige auf oft grausame Weise ihr Leben lassen müssen. Ein ungewöhnlicher Thriller, der den Leser so schnell nicht losläßt. Nach einem fulminanten Showdown, der die psychopathische Seite von Aleksander offenbart, ist das Ende doch mehr als mysteriös und regt zum Nachdenken an.

[Lainy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Blurb from goodreads

Michael Roman is finally living the life he always dreamed of - he has a successful career, a beautiful wife and adorable twin daughters. But his idyllic life is about to come crashing down around him - because Michael is a man with a past. A rising star in the New York District Attorney-s office and on the cusp of enormous success, Michael-s perfect life begins to unravel when he finds himself the target of a depraved madman, a man who covets everything Michael has and will stop at nothing to take it all away. In a desperate fight to survive, Michael is forced to confront the dark secrets of his past in order to save his family.He must hunt down the psychopath who is targeting his family and, before it is too late, face the devil himself.

My review

To be honest I don't know where to start, I normally love Richard Montanari books but it just didn't happen with this one. Michaels story and background with his family is lovely, sad, tragic but quite gripping. When we are introduced to Alexsander Savisaar, again it is quite intriguing and even mystical beginning and I thought it was a good start. However it got weird and hard to follow the story with Alexsander as I wasn't sure if he was mystical and had powers or just a deluded madman.

There is some good action throughout the story and at times it is a gripping and good story but the weird parts were really weird and I just found it hard to concentrate and follow so sadly it is a 2/5 for me.

[Ali Maggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've really enjoyed Richard Montanari's recent books, focussing on detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano. In fact, this is the first book I’ve read by Montanari that hasn’t featured those characters. The book is a departure in other ways too. The hero of the story, Michael Roman, is a lawyer, rather than a detective which instantly gives him less resources and the relationship between the hero and the story is far more personal. The story feels rather less epic than Montanari’s other novels, but that’s because the story is about one man and his battle to save his family, rather than an escalating serial killer, as per his Byrne/Bolzano books, but it does give Montanari an opportunity to explore a story that transcends continents and involves a different kind of horror. A decent thriller, with well written characters, but there’s something that feels less grand that his previous novels.

[Vivienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Certainly a fast-paced thriller but I have to admit that I did not find it quite as engaging as his Jessica Balzano and Kevin Byrne series.

Part of the reason was that I did not take to his main protagonist, Michael Roman, and his wife at all. They just never came alive for me. Strangely the 'villain' of the piece, who was not actually a serial killer despite the publicity material, was more fleshed out and reminded me of Keyser Söze, though not as sophisticated.

It just seemed as though Montanari didn't know where to take the folklore/mystical aspects of what he was writing and it became a rather predictable 'family-in-peril' thriller in its final pages.

So not one of his best but still a 'good read'.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book hasn't been released in the US yet. Richard Montanari is one of my favorite authors, so I ordered this one from Amazon UK. I didnt realize when I bought it that it was a stand-alone novel and didnt include the detectives of his regular series. Once I saw that this book was more about a dark fairy tale, I was a little bit disappointed. I do really like Montanari's style, and it made the book relatively enjoyable after all, but it was really more of a story as opposed to a mystery. I cant wait to get back to his detective series.

[Imogen Brand · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading The Devil's Garden I am not in a hurry to explore any more of Richard Montanari creations. I was hooked for the first couple of chapters eager for a scene where I wanted to skip to the end half way through the book. The Devil's Garden is ideal for reading on the go but not as a book I would recommend to friends.

[Cirrus Minor]

Dieses Buch hat mir tatsächlich besser gefallen als die Geschichten um Balzano und Byrne. Beim Lesen wird man hier auch recht schnell ins kalte Wasser geworfen, aber die Charaktere und ihre Motive finde ich sehr interessant. In der Summe weicht Montanari auch hier nicht vom typischen Schema ab, aber bis zum Ende fand ich es spannend.