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Charlotte Alton #1
The Distance
A blistering debut thriller that introduces the coolest heroine in contemporary suspense fiction.
They don't call her Karla anymore. She's Charlotte Alton: she doesn't trade in secrets, she doesn't erase dark pasts, and she doesn't break hit-men into prison.
Except that is exactly what she's been asked to do.
The job is impossible: get the assassin into an experimental new prison so that he can take out a target who isn't officially there.
It's a suicide mission, and quite probably a set-up.
So why can't she say no?
They don't call her Karla anymore. She's Charlotte Alton: she doesn't trade in secrets, she doesn't erase dark pasts, and she doesn't break hit-men into prison.
Except that is exactly what she's been asked to do.
The job is impossible: get the assassin into an experimental new prison so that he can take out a target who isn't officially there.
It's a suicide mission, and quite probably a set-up.
So why can't she say no?
389 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 1, 2013
120 people are currently reading
2544 people want to read
About the author
Helen Giltrow
5 books30 followersHelen Giltrow was born and brought up in Cheltenham and read Modern History at Christ Church, Oxford. She has worked extensively in publishing, including ten years as a commissioning editor for Oxford University Press. She went freelance as an editor in 2001 and has since worked on a range of fiction, non-fiction and education titles. The Distance is her first novel.
Helen’s writing has been shortlisted for the Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger Award and the Telegraph ‘Novel in a Year’ Competition. She divides her time between her home in Oxford and her partner’s house in Witney.
Helen’s writing has been shortlisted for the Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger Award and the Telegraph ‘Novel in a Year’ Competition. She divides her time between her home in Oxford and her partner’s house in Witney.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 240 reviews
June 15, 2017
*I received a copy of ' The Distance' from the publisher and have given an honest review in exchange*
Charlotte Alton leads a double life. As Charlotte, she's a socialite living in London's docklands, but as Karla, she's a fixer - she makes things happen - makes people disappear- all record of them wiped from existence.
The story covers a period of 25 days, during which Karla has to get a man INTO prison, in order to kill a 'target' for a client. Each chapter concentrates on one character at a time, making it easy to follow. This is a really complex, stylish, and violent thriller. It moves at a good pace, no chance of becoming distracted through boredom, and there are plenty of those edge of the seat moments. All in all an excellent debut novel. Look forward to more from Helen Giltrow.
Charlotte Alton leads a double life. As Charlotte, she's a socialite living in London's docklands, but as Karla, she's a fixer - she makes things happen - makes people disappear- all record of them wiped from existence.
The story covers a period of 25 days, during which Karla has to get a man INTO prison, in order to kill a 'target' for a client. Each chapter concentrates on one character at a time, making it easy to follow. This is a really complex, stylish, and violent thriller. It moves at a good pace, no chance of becoming distracted through boredom, and there are plenty of those edge of the seat moments. All in all an excellent debut novel. Look forward to more from Helen Giltrow.
January 13, 2015
I won't go into a lot of background detail, not because it isn't important (it is) but because it would tell a big chunk of the story. Here's an abbreviated attempt.
Quick summary
Charlotte Alton is a sophisticated Londoner with a secret identity. As Karla, her skill is in making information vanish. When a man from her past, Simon Johannsen, enlists her help in creating an identity to infiltrate an unusual prison called The Program, she uses her network to help him. He's an assassin contracted to find a woman hiding there but Karla becomes worried when she can't find any information about her. And, she determines Simon is seriously at risk.
Story review
In the beginning, things moved rather quickly, almost too fast as there are many characters in the present with back stories told at breakneck speed. And, the roles weren't always clear. Once I got past that, I was hooked into the intrigue and fearful for Simon's undercover role, with lots of twists and surprises.
It's quite a web of intrigue but maybe a bit ambitious. It took too long for the story to unfold, focusing more on The Program versus the characters, making it tough to get fully connect with any of them. By the time it reached the climax, I was just ready for the story to end, though I was pulling for Simon.
Narration
Unfortunately, this was the catalyst for my pacing issues. There was little in the way of character distinction and Atkins rushed through the important prologue so quickly I had to use the Kindle preview to reread it. A stronger performer would have done the book better justice.
The bottom line
This is an impressive debut novel, despite my issues. I enjoy complex plots and intrigue and this story certainly provided that and more. I don't regret having read it and two months later, I'm still thinking about the ending.
(I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review)
Quick summary
Charlotte Alton is a sophisticated Londoner with a secret identity. As Karla, her skill is in making information vanish. When a man from her past, Simon Johannsen, enlists her help in creating an identity to infiltrate an unusual prison called The Program, she uses her network to help him. He's an assassin contracted to find a woman hiding there but Karla becomes worried when she can't find any information about her. And, she determines Simon is seriously at risk.
Story review
In the beginning, things moved rather quickly, almost too fast as there are many characters in the present with back stories told at breakneck speed. And, the roles weren't always clear. Once I got past that, I was hooked into the intrigue and fearful for Simon's undercover role, with lots of twists and surprises.
It's quite a web of intrigue but maybe a bit ambitious. It took too long for the story to unfold, focusing more on The Program versus the characters, making it tough to get fully connect with any of them. By the time it reached the climax, I was just ready for the story to end, though I was pulling for Simon.
Narration
Unfortunately, this was the catalyst for my pacing issues. There was little in the way of character distinction and Atkins rushed through the important prologue so quickly I had to use the Kindle preview to reread it. A stronger performer would have done the book better justice.
The bottom line
This is an impressive debut novel, despite my issues. I enjoy complex plots and intrigue and this story certainly provided that and more. I don't regret having read it and two months later, I'm still thinking about the ending.
(I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review)
November 8, 2014
Charlotte Alton leads a double life, on the one hand a socialite, on the other she is Karla, known as a fixer, someone who can make the worse of the worst disappear from existence. Years ago Karla wipes Simon Johanssen, an ex-special forces sniper from the face of the earth. Johanssen resurfaces needing Karla’s services once again to help him infiltrate a prison known as The Program. His mission is to find and kill an inmate, a woman hiding in this experimental den of horrific criminals.
The Distance is a thriller that tries real hard to race to a startling conclusion. For me it got lost in a quagmire of shadowed characters and confusing plot line. The Distance is not for the weak stomached as there are numerous scenes of graphic torture. It surprised me that though the torture was detailed and descriptive that they left me feeling apathetic to those at the receiving end. I never really became invested in their story or the outcome. Some speck of curiosity pushed me to the end so it couldn’t have been all bad.
There is potential here and certainly room for Helen Giltrow in the ranks of thriller author. Professional reviewers praised The Distance and touted it as being a literate, gritty, complex debut. You decide.
The Distance is a thriller that tries real hard to race to a startling conclusion. For me it got lost in a quagmire of shadowed characters and confusing plot line. The Distance is not for the weak stomached as there are numerous scenes of graphic torture. It surprised me that though the torture was detailed and descriptive that they left me feeling apathetic to those at the receiving end. I never really became invested in their story or the outcome. Some speck of curiosity pushed me to the end so it couldn’t have been all bad.
There is potential here and certainly room for Helen Giltrow in the ranks of thriller author. Professional reviewers praised The Distance and touted it as being a literate, gritty, complex debut. You decide.
July 30, 2014
THAT ENDING! What amazing suspense. So much for growing my nails out. This book drove me crazy, I was so invested in the characters and I always felt that they were putting themselves at too much risk. It is possible that this made me frequently yell the following phrases(in public) " wtf are you thinking!", " why would you be so reckless", and "come on I know you know better than that".
I'm still left with a question at the end of the story, since I was not smart enough to figure everything out, but overall I loved this book. It was truly unputdownable and so much fun. 4/5
Note: I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
January 8, 2015
Really really excellent thriller featuring a main protagonist, Charlotte Alton, who I completely fell in love with and an intricate and clever plot which is completely fascinating and terribly addictive.
Charlotte lives life behind a mask, she has retreated from her old life and has a new, seemingly normal one. Then one day she is asked the impossible – and somehow cannot help but be drawn back into that previous existence.
Apart from Charlotte herself the whole tale is peppered with terrific characters – those who Charlotte knows, knew and will meet – the action is thrilling with a fair few edge of the seat moments and some lovely little twists and turns along the way. I particularly liked the more “techno” aspects of the story, the information highway, the spy elements were excellent and kept me turning the pages avidly to find out who knew what.
One of the strengths of the novel is the blurred lines drawn between the good guys and the bad guys. Pretty much any character you meet here could fall either side of that line dependant on your own viewpoint, the interpersonal relationships are extremely well drawn and the moral ambiguity is woven seemlessly into the story arc. You can lose yourself in there and then suddenly sit up and realise you have been rooting for something awful to happen to someone, or equally that something awful already has but you have glossed over it because you love one of the characters. Nicely done.
There is some violence, not all of this will be for the faint hearted, but it only serves to make a point – the world Charlotte inhabits can be a vicious one and it shows. There is an authentic feel to the whole thing, which makes it often dark but so completely engaging throughout, an absolute page turner.
Overall then fantastic. I really can’t wait to see what is next for Charlotte.
Happy Reading Folks!
Charlotte lives life behind a mask, she has retreated from her old life and has a new, seemingly normal one. Then one day she is asked the impossible – and somehow cannot help but be drawn back into that previous existence.
Apart from Charlotte herself the whole tale is peppered with terrific characters – those who Charlotte knows, knew and will meet – the action is thrilling with a fair few edge of the seat moments and some lovely little twists and turns along the way. I particularly liked the more “techno” aspects of the story, the information highway, the spy elements were excellent and kept me turning the pages avidly to find out who knew what.
One of the strengths of the novel is the blurred lines drawn between the good guys and the bad guys. Pretty much any character you meet here could fall either side of that line dependant on your own viewpoint, the interpersonal relationships are extremely well drawn and the moral ambiguity is woven seemlessly into the story arc. You can lose yourself in there and then suddenly sit up and realise you have been rooting for something awful to happen to someone, or equally that something awful already has but you have glossed over it because you love one of the characters. Nicely done.
There is some violence, not all of this will be for the faint hearted, but it only serves to make a point – the world Charlotte inhabits can be a vicious one and it shows. There is an authentic feel to the whole thing, which makes it often dark but so completely engaging throughout, an absolute page turner.
Overall then fantastic. I really can’t wait to see what is next for Charlotte.
Happy Reading Folks!
August 19, 2018
The story is about Karla who is someone who people to go to seek unauthorised data. Someone needs to get into a prison, but with a twist not with a staff ID, like a warder or a guard but as an inmate. The prison is not like any other prison apart from the forty-foot high wall, and the electric fence razor wire. All underground connections are sealed with regular patrols of armed officers to ensure the safety of all residents.
August 11, 2014
http://koeur.wordpress.com/2014/08/11...
Publisher: Doubleday
Publishing Date: September 2014
ISBN: 9780385537001
Genre: Mystery
Rating: 2.0/5
Publisher Description: Charlotte Alton is an elegant socialite. But behind the locked doors of her sleek, high-security apartment in London’s Docklands, she becomes Karla. Karla’s business is information. Specifically, making it disappear. She’s the unseen figure who, for a commanding price, will cover a criminal’s tracks. A perfectionist, she’s only made one slip in her career—several years ago she revealed her face to a man named Simon Johanssen, an ex-special forces sniper turned killer-for-hire. After a mob hit went horrifically wrong, Johanssen needed to disappear, and Karla helped him. He became a regular client, and then, one day, she stepped out of the shadows for reasons unclear to even herself. Now, after a long absence, Johanssen has resurfaced with a job, and he needs Karla’s help again.
Review: Cover art sux. The side of a car and half a redhead’s face?
(zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz)…WHA? Oh yeah review time. If you read the reviews on this novel, you would think that it is up for the Nebula/PKD/Edgar/Hugo/Nobel award(s). For instance the accolades read like the author’s that pay Kirkus. “Expertly done!”. “An incredible debut!”. What was funny was one reviewer stated plainly that she didn’t like it but gave it 5 stars.
This was a really boring novel. From the story-line to the characters. So much time is spent on a dreary story-line and insipid dialogue that the characters are never fully developed. The premise that there is some hidden lockup facility is absurd and that anyone would entertain getting someone in to kill a woman that may or may not exist and then extracting said killer from an impenetrable shell is laughable. Then there is this “shadowy” organization that Charlotte works for. Really? Shadow-kee-dee-boom-boom. Why the cloak and dagger? Who gives a shjt? Charlotte needs to determine if this is a legitimate assassination as the mark may or may not exist. Wouldn’t you figure that out before you took the job? What is a legitimate assassination anyway? That’s like an having an optimal enema or a refreshing prostate exam. The scene descriptions are exhaustive. For instance Karla is going to bust into an office complex and this soon turns into a chapter on what every frickin’ office looks like. From the copiers to a glazed bookcase then back to another office. How is this suspenseful?
I feel like the red-headed step kid who gets picked last for sand lot games. While everyone in review-land raves and praises this work, I feel that maybe I should have read this with more alacrity and focused discernment on the hidden emotive climes that existed within and between the characters as they groped in an endless sea of dark, machinating and tentacled agendas…BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Publisher: Doubleday
Publishing Date: September 2014
ISBN: 9780385537001
Genre: Mystery
Rating: 2.0/5
Publisher Description: Charlotte Alton is an elegant socialite. But behind the locked doors of her sleek, high-security apartment in London’s Docklands, she becomes Karla. Karla’s business is information. Specifically, making it disappear. She’s the unseen figure who, for a commanding price, will cover a criminal’s tracks. A perfectionist, she’s only made one slip in her career—several years ago she revealed her face to a man named Simon Johanssen, an ex-special forces sniper turned killer-for-hire. After a mob hit went horrifically wrong, Johanssen needed to disappear, and Karla helped him. He became a regular client, and then, one day, she stepped out of the shadows for reasons unclear to even herself. Now, after a long absence, Johanssen has resurfaced with a job, and he needs Karla’s help again.
Review: Cover art sux. The side of a car and half a redhead’s face?
(zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz)…WHA? Oh yeah review time. If you read the reviews on this novel, you would think that it is up for the Nebula/PKD/Edgar/Hugo/Nobel award(s). For instance the accolades read like the author’s that pay Kirkus. “Expertly done!”. “An incredible debut!”. What was funny was one reviewer stated plainly that she didn’t like it but gave it 5 stars.
This was a really boring novel. From the story-line to the characters. So much time is spent on a dreary story-line and insipid dialogue that the characters are never fully developed. The premise that there is some hidden lockup facility is absurd and that anyone would entertain getting someone in to kill a woman that may or may not exist and then extracting said killer from an impenetrable shell is laughable. Then there is this “shadowy” organization that Charlotte works for. Really? Shadow-kee-dee-boom-boom. Why the cloak and dagger? Who gives a shjt? Charlotte needs to determine if this is a legitimate assassination as the mark may or may not exist. Wouldn’t you figure that out before you took the job? What is a legitimate assassination anyway? That’s like an having an optimal enema or a refreshing prostate exam. The scene descriptions are exhaustive. For instance Karla is going to bust into an office complex and this soon turns into a chapter on what every frickin’ office looks like. From the copiers to a glazed bookcase then back to another office. How is this suspenseful?
I feel like the red-headed step kid who gets picked last for sand lot games. While everyone in review-land raves and praises this work, I feel that maybe I should have read this with more alacrity and focused discernment on the hidden emotive climes that existed within and between the characters as they groped in an endless sea of dark, machinating and tentacled agendas…BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
April 15, 2015
Can I just start by saying how I would love to fling my arms around Helen Giltrow and give her a jolly good hug. And here’s why. Over the course of the last couple of months, I have started and failed to finish at least half a dozen thrillers, soon becoming bored with the all too familiar set-ups, and predictable plots. What Giltrow has done is to construct an intelligent and thought provoking thriller that not only provided a slow-burning build up of tension, but was chockful of credible characters, and a tightly plotted narrative that never once made my attention falter. I was in this one all the way…
Starting with the intriguing premise of breaking someone into an experimental prison complex called The Program, to perform a hit, I was instantly intrigued by the depiction of this location. The Program works as an almost self-sufficient prison community, constructed around a run down neighbourhood of houses with its own places of business and rules, but is a nightmarish place to be incarcerated if you are not aligned with the head honchos. Hence, the idea of a professional hitman, Johanssen needing to be placed within this complex to track down someone who may or may not be there, instantly provokes a taut tension to the story. With his actions overseen by the mysterious intelligence operative Charlotte Alten aka Karla, who has spent years selling secrets to shady criminals. Giltrow neatly builds up Karla’s reservations and fears for her former client Johanssen’s safety as he becomes a brutalised inmate of this violent jail- an excellent cast of baddies are at work here- seeking to avoid detection by those he has tangled with in the past. The depiction of his experience are violent and uncompromising, but this adds to inherent tension of the plot, as Johanssen seeks the elusive Cate, but why is she so hard to find and who wants her dead?
Alongside this taut and utterly riveting storyline, Giltrow ramps up the narrative structure with an exploration of Karla’s chequered career in the realm of secret intelligence, and weighting both plots perfectly, Giltrow retains an assured grasp throughout. Attention must be paid I found as this book in no way resembles the usual linear, and frankly quite boring, liturgy of espionage thrillers that currently populate crime and thriller sections throughout the land. Indeed, to my mind, the style of Giltrow’s writing can be viewed as a contemporary version of Helen MacInnes, which is no mean feat. Likewise, the characterisation of Karla herself, and Johanssen, are absolutely paramount to the engagement of the reader. Both are incredibly well-drawn with the necessary balance of steely-eyed determination, masking their dark secrets and ulterior motives, but with those wonderful moments of clarity that draw us closer to their true characters, despite their criminal tendancies. These are not your standard cardboard-cutout characters, and you will find your perception of both changing chapter by chapter, and I guarantee that Cate will also have you on tenterhooks throughout, as her life outside and inside The Program come under closer scrutiny. That’s all I’m saying…
As you can probably tell, I was really quite keen on this, and despite how long it has taken me to get round to reading the book, it was more than worth the wait and delivered in spades. Can’t wait to see what Giltrow produces next. Highly recommended.
Starting with the intriguing premise of breaking someone into an experimental prison complex called The Program, to perform a hit, I was instantly intrigued by the depiction of this location. The Program works as an almost self-sufficient prison community, constructed around a run down neighbourhood of houses with its own places of business and rules, but is a nightmarish place to be incarcerated if you are not aligned with the head honchos. Hence, the idea of a professional hitman, Johanssen needing to be placed within this complex to track down someone who may or may not be there, instantly provokes a taut tension to the story. With his actions overseen by the mysterious intelligence operative Charlotte Alten aka Karla, who has spent years selling secrets to shady criminals. Giltrow neatly builds up Karla’s reservations and fears for her former client Johanssen’s safety as he becomes a brutalised inmate of this violent jail- an excellent cast of baddies are at work here- seeking to avoid detection by those he has tangled with in the past. The depiction of his experience are violent and uncompromising, but this adds to inherent tension of the plot, as Johanssen seeks the elusive Cate, but why is she so hard to find and who wants her dead?
Alongside this taut and utterly riveting storyline, Giltrow ramps up the narrative structure with an exploration of Karla’s chequered career in the realm of secret intelligence, and weighting both plots perfectly, Giltrow retains an assured grasp throughout. Attention must be paid I found as this book in no way resembles the usual linear, and frankly quite boring, liturgy of espionage thrillers that currently populate crime and thriller sections throughout the land. Indeed, to my mind, the style of Giltrow’s writing can be viewed as a contemporary version of Helen MacInnes, which is no mean feat. Likewise, the characterisation of Karla herself, and Johanssen, are absolutely paramount to the engagement of the reader. Both are incredibly well-drawn with the necessary balance of steely-eyed determination, masking their dark secrets and ulterior motives, but with those wonderful moments of clarity that draw us closer to their true characters, despite their criminal tendancies. These are not your standard cardboard-cutout characters, and you will find your perception of both changing chapter by chapter, and I guarantee that Cate will also have you on tenterhooks throughout, as her life outside and inside The Program come under closer scrutiny. That’s all I’m saying…
As you can probably tell, I was really quite keen on this, and despite how long it has taken me to get round to reading the book, it was more than worth the wait and delivered in spades. Can’t wait to see what Giltrow produces next. Highly recommended.
October 1, 2014
A dense, complex and very satisfying thriller. Giltrow is masterful at developing the characters so that you are deeply invested in their story. One of the best things about this book was the unique prison setting called "The Program". The tension is almost constant. Everything about this book works. I agree with another reviewer that this would make a great movie but for thriller fans, this is a book worth reading. At least five stars.
August 25, 2015
"“There are thirty-two ways to write a story, and I’ve used every one, but there is only one plot – things are not as they seem.” So said Jim Thompson. Helen Giltrow's excellent book can be Exhibit A to prove Thompson's point. The central character, Charlotte Alston (or Laura Pressinger or "Karla" or Elizabeth Crow or whoever she wants to be) is an information broker who services a range of clients that include criminals, the intelligence community, the police, whomever. She and her crew create and erase identities, block other people's information searching, maintain safe houses, provide protection services, find information that no one else can find, provide disinformation when needed, and maintain their own anonymity. One of her clients, identity unknown even to the go-between who commissions Karla to do the job, wants an assassin infiltrated into an experimental prison community to kill a woman who has committed an unknown crime
The prison is like a walled off rundown neighborhood where the prisoners are allowed to create their own pecking order while kept from escaping. It is a very dangerous environment, especially if you (the assassin) have enemies within the prison that date back to a muscle job gone bad. That old job is always there in the background, as is the supposed crime that led the woman target to be in the prison. So what was her crime and how did she get into the prison without there being an official record of her presence? How will the assassin find her, or stay alive to do it? Who wants her found? What is "Karla's" past relationship with the assassin (Johansson) and why is she willing to inject herself into the situation without maintaining her usual protective distance?
The woman prisoner appears to be a highly skilled doctor who disappeared several months earlier. Why did she disappear? Why are a number of people interested in her whereabouts or status? Is she even alive? Karla digs away at the mystery around the missing woman even while nurturing the effort to kill her. Why do the people Karla and her men unearth suddenly become at risk? How much risk is Karla and her firm about to encounter? (At one point Karla muses about having encountered an entity much like her firm only one that is more powerful.) Is there a connection between the doctor's unknown crime and the hit man's past failure?
The novel is told by means of several points of view. The primary one is that of Karla, but others are those of Johansson, and Powell (a security specialist brought in by British intelligence to find out who has chosen to provide the police and intelligence community with unfailingly accurate information about unsolved crimes via a now-dead intelligence agent). That source, "Knox," is really Karla, for complex reasons of her own. The hunt for "Knox," to use rather than to reveal and punish, is also always there as a plot element.
I don't do justice to Giltrow's ability to create a complex (but fair) plot structure that drips with tension that is both constant and increasing. Every stage of the book involves people at risk, and the risks increases steadily. Every plot element supports every other plot element, and the novel's finish is both surprising and capable of being anticipated. I'll have to come back to this review and clarify things without giving away anything in a couple of weeks because I have to think about it a bit. It's that kind of book.
The prison is like a walled off rundown neighborhood where the prisoners are allowed to create their own pecking order while kept from escaping. It is a very dangerous environment, especially if you (the assassin) have enemies within the prison that date back to a muscle job gone bad. That old job is always there in the background, as is the supposed crime that led the woman target to be in the prison. So what was her crime and how did she get into the prison without there being an official record of her presence? How will the assassin find her, or stay alive to do it? Who wants her found? What is "Karla's" past relationship with the assassin (Johansson) and why is she willing to inject herself into the situation without maintaining her usual protective distance?
The woman prisoner appears to be a highly skilled doctor who disappeared several months earlier. Why did she disappear? Why are a number of people interested in her whereabouts or status? Is she even alive? Karla digs away at the mystery around the missing woman even while nurturing the effort to kill her. Why do the people Karla and her men unearth suddenly become at risk? How much risk is Karla and her firm about to encounter? (At one point Karla muses about having encountered an entity much like her firm only one that is more powerful.) Is there a connection between the doctor's unknown crime and the hit man's past failure?
The novel is told by means of several points of view. The primary one is that of Karla, but others are those of Johansson, and Powell (a security specialist brought in by British intelligence to find out who has chosen to provide the police and intelligence community with unfailingly accurate information about unsolved crimes via a now-dead intelligence agent). That source, "Knox," is really Karla, for complex reasons of her own. The hunt for "Knox," to use rather than to reveal and punish, is also always there as a plot element.
I don't do justice to Giltrow's ability to create a complex (but fair) plot structure that drips with tension that is both constant and increasing. Every stage of the book involves people at risk, and the risks increases steadily. Every plot element supports every other plot element, and the novel's finish is both surprising and capable of being anticipated. I'll have to come back to this review and clarify things without giving away anything in a couple of weeks because I have to think about it a bit. It's that kind of book.
December 20, 2014
Helen Giltrow's stylish action packed thriller "The Distance" is set in an imagined future combining an undercover criminal enterprise, espionage, an assassin and a re-imagining of the classic John Carpenter movie "Escape from New York". Instead of converting Manhattan into a super max prison, in this novel there is an experimental penal colony "the Program", where criminals live policed by other criminals. For the characters in this fast paced thriller, its a time of upheaval, as many things are going on all at once.
Simon, a former hitter for the mob, wants to get into the Program to find Catherine, a mysterious prisoner.
He turns to "Karla", who used to run a secret criminal enterprise. If you wanted to disappear, Karla made it happen. Karla, however, has taken a step back from overall running of her company and is now active in regular society as Charlotte Alton, a well known socialite. But Simon knows Karla / Alton because she helped him escape the mob after a hit went wrong, and Karla, who cares for Simon, may be the only person who can get him in.
She sets it up. Simon, will have to assume the identity of an American killer, and the mobster who is after him - is in charge in the Program, a penal colony where killers make the rules. Its a tough balancing act, as Simon finds Catherine, a doctor, who is caring for the criminals and the thugs imprisoned in the Program. Why is anyone after her? What has she done? Catherine has her demons and so does Simon, who feels some kinship with the decent doctor.
But Karla does not only make people disappear. She has a conscience. When she finds out information an incipient terrorist plot or other threat to British life, she does not sit on the information. For the last few years, she has been secretly passing the information on to British intelligence through an old spy, Laidlaw, who she carefully chose because of his poor background. British intelligence only knows her by the code name The Knox. But Laidlaw kills himself, and British intelligence does not want to lose the Knox, so they bring in Powell, a professional spy, to hunt down Knox.
And Karla is not willing to be found by Powell, and while he sweats some of the people that she used to pass secrets to Laidlaw, Karla watches Powell. Karla, who might have been a spy in the past, is also hunting. She wants to know why Catherine is in the Program and how she got there. She enlists a cop to help and soon uncovers another plot because no one knows that Catherine is in the Program. Her family thinks she is dead.
The three hunts, Simon's hunt for his target with the help of Karla, Charlotte Alton's hunt for Simon's target with the help of her British cop and the British secret service hunt for Knox, while separate, will soon converge in a artfully written spy - crime - cop story.
It is a really good read. Scoop it up.
Simon, a former hitter for the mob, wants to get into the Program to find Catherine, a mysterious prisoner.
He turns to "Karla", who used to run a secret criminal enterprise. If you wanted to disappear, Karla made it happen. Karla, however, has taken a step back from overall running of her company and is now active in regular society as Charlotte Alton, a well known socialite. But Simon knows Karla / Alton because she helped him escape the mob after a hit went wrong, and Karla, who cares for Simon, may be the only person who can get him in.
She sets it up. Simon, will have to assume the identity of an American killer, and the mobster who is after him - is in charge in the Program, a penal colony where killers make the rules. Its a tough balancing act, as Simon finds Catherine, a doctor, who is caring for the criminals and the thugs imprisoned in the Program. Why is anyone after her? What has she done? Catherine has her demons and so does Simon, who feels some kinship with the decent doctor.
But Karla does not only make people disappear. She has a conscience. When she finds out information an incipient terrorist plot or other threat to British life, she does not sit on the information. For the last few years, she has been secretly passing the information on to British intelligence through an old spy, Laidlaw, who she carefully chose because of his poor background. British intelligence only knows her by the code name The Knox. But Laidlaw kills himself, and British intelligence does not want to lose the Knox, so they bring in Powell, a professional spy, to hunt down Knox.
And Karla is not willing to be found by Powell, and while he sweats some of the people that she used to pass secrets to Laidlaw, Karla watches Powell. Karla, who might have been a spy in the past, is also hunting. She wants to know why Catherine is in the Program and how she got there. She enlists a cop to help and soon uncovers another plot because no one knows that Catherine is in the Program. Her family thinks she is dead.
The three hunts, Simon's hunt for his target with the help of Karla, Charlotte Alton's hunt for Simon's target with the help of her British cop and the British secret service hunt for Knox, while separate, will soon converge in a artfully written spy - crime - cop story.
It is a really good read. Scoop it up.
January 1, 2015
Utterly brilliant. Ok, you want me to say more.
This is a book about a hit man and the woman who sent him in to kill the mark. So two bad guys in effect. Yet Giltrow somehow managed to have me caring about both of them and not just caring about them, but rooting for them.
When Alton is offered the job to get Johanssen into the experimental prison she takes it and she finds a way to get him in. But she’s good at her job and she doesn’t like risk. She likes to know what she’s doing and she wants to keep everyone safe. This job is the complete opposite of all that and she doesn’t like it so she starts to investigate it even as it’s started.
The story is told in alternative chapters between Alton and Johanssen who is inside the prison – which isn’t a prison as you may be imagining, but I don’t want to give too much away. It is a tough and violent place though.
Johanssen finds his ‘mark’ and has three weeks to get close enough to her (yes she’s a female), to find a place within the walls of the prison to execute the kill and get out safely. He manages to get close and spend a lot of time with her, and this is where we learn a lot about both her and him.
And in the mean time, on the outside, we are learning about why someone wants her dead and why she doesn’t appear on the prison records.
It’s an extremely well executed novel, weaving a complicated storyline involving a lot of moving parts, multiple characters and locations with utter ease. The narrative voice has an edge to it. We are talking about the world of contract killings though. And if you didn’t know it was written by a female author, you would potentially consider it having been written by a male hand.. Which gives rise to the debate whether women can write crime fiction well and this book just goes to prove that they can and they can write it in a tone that is required for the book. I’m not saying it’s all hard-edged and sharp, because I kind of had a bit of a thing for the bad boy in this, Johanssen. Yes, I know, he’s a contract killer! See, very confusing and excellent writing!
The ending will have you holding your breath and whipping those pages past at speed. So be warned. You may get paper cuts.
For the first book of the year, this is one to remember.
I’d like to thank the author for my copy of this.
This is a book about a hit man and the woman who sent him in to kill the mark. So two bad guys in effect. Yet Giltrow somehow managed to have me caring about both of them and not just caring about them, but rooting for them.
When Alton is offered the job to get Johanssen into the experimental prison she takes it and she finds a way to get him in. But she’s good at her job and she doesn’t like risk. She likes to know what she’s doing and she wants to keep everyone safe. This job is the complete opposite of all that and she doesn’t like it so she starts to investigate it even as it’s started.
The story is told in alternative chapters between Alton and Johanssen who is inside the prison – which isn’t a prison as you may be imagining, but I don’t want to give too much away. It is a tough and violent place though.
Johanssen finds his ‘mark’ and has three weeks to get close enough to her (yes she’s a female), to find a place within the walls of the prison to execute the kill and get out safely. He manages to get close and spend a lot of time with her, and this is where we learn a lot about both her and him.
And in the mean time, on the outside, we are learning about why someone wants her dead and why she doesn’t appear on the prison records.
It’s an extremely well executed novel, weaving a complicated storyline involving a lot of moving parts, multiple characters and locations with utter ease. The narrative voice has an edge to it. We are talking about the world of contract killings though. And if you didn’t know it was written by a female author, you would potentially consider it having been written by a male hand.. Which gives rise to the debate whether women can write crime fiction well and this book just goes to prove that they can and they can write it in a tone that is required for the book. I’m not saying it’s all hard-edged and sharp, because I kind of had a bit of a thing for the bad boy in this, Johanssen. Yes, I know, he’s a contract killer! See, very confusing and excellent writing!
The ending will have you holding your breath and whipping those pages past at speed. So be warned. You may get paper cuts.
For the first book of the year, this is one to remember.
I’d like to thank the author for my copy of this.
May 3, 2015
Book 9 in #15in2015
Charlotte Alton is a socialite with the money, manners, clothes, and a secret identity as, Karla, an underworld information broker and fixer who arranges impossible crimes, new identities for fugitives, and carefully leaked tips to government spy agencies.
Sound far-fetched? Well, that's just the start.
I've been trying to read more thrillers lately, in an attempt to get a handle on the way they handle exaggeration. This one...
It's a weird book. It has high thriller characters but for most of the book it's a low thriller plot: Karla arranged a cover ID and temporary entrance into an experimental prison colony for a hit man she's secretly in love with. He has a troubled past! The big boss in the prison wants him for his troubled past! His target is a mystery woman that everyone thinks is already dead!
Eventually, the plot turns it around to big stakes and state secrets, but it takes a long time to get there. In the mean time, there are a lot of dead end investigations, scary prisoners being scary, and our protagonist putting herself more and more at risk for her personal haunted tough guy.
Honestly, I would have given it an extra star if it had been shorter. I enjoyed it, but the plot had too much flailing. Still, it was fun.
Charlotte Alton is a socialite with the money, manners, clothes, and a secret identity as, Karla, an underworld information broker and fixer who arranges impossible crimes, new identities for fugitives, and carefully leaked tips to government spy agencies.
Sound far-fetched? Well, that's just the start.
I've been trying to read more thrillers lately, in an attempt to get a handle on the way they handle exaggeration. This one...
It's a weird book. It has high thriller characters but for most of the book it's a low thriller plot: Karla arranged a cover ID and temporary entrance into an experimental prison colony for a hit man she's secretly in love with. He has a troubled past! The big boss in the prison wants him for his troubled past! His target is a mystery woman that everyone thinks is already dead!
Eventually, the plot turns it around to big stakes and state secrets, but it takes a long time to get there. In the mean time, there are a lot of dead end investigations, scary prisoners being scary, and our protagonist putting herself more and more at risk for her personal haunted tough guy.
Honestly, I would have given it an extra star if it had been shorter. I enjoyed it, but the plot had too much flailing. Still, it was fun.
May 22, 2022
Dark and brutal but really compelling, this is an original and well executed thriller. The protagonist is Charlotte Alton, elegant and middle class, who has an alter ego of Karla, dealing in data and secrets in a shady world of espionage and private investigation. She is asked to facilitate an assassin who needs to get into a new style of prison, a kind of self governing complex on a derelict housing estate, and take out a target who officially doesn’t exist. As the job continues, personal and professional issues arise that make Karla suspicious about the validity of the assignment, but she can’t back out now…
I thought this was brilliantly written, it’s a bit darker and more gritty than my usual reading and much of the violence and brutality among the prisoners was more gruesome than I would normally tolerate. However, the complexity of the plot and the figures of Karla and Johanssen (the hitman) kept me gripped and I enjoyed the double dealing and the workings of the espionage world. It all felt sadly too authentic and added to the tension as it built towards a really terrifying confrontation.
It’s a shame that Helen Giltrow doesn’t seem to have written any more thrillers as this was an excellent debut and I would definitely read more about Karla.
I thought this was brilliantly written, it’s a bit darker and more gritty than my usual reading and much of the violence and brutality among the prisoners was more gruesome than I would normally tolerate. However, the complexity of the plot and the figures of Karla and Johanssen (the hitman) kept me gripped and I enjoyed the double dealing and the workings of the espionage world. It all felt sadly too authentic and added to the tension as it built towards a really terrifying confrontation.
It’s a shame that Helen Giltrow doesn’t seem to have written any more thrillers as this was an excellent debut and I would definitely read more about Karla.
May 3, 2015
In the very near future (or a skewed present), a part of London has been demarcated as the Program, a place where criminals are sent rather than to prison. The idea is that the semi-autonomous Program, run by its inmates as a small-scale version of society, will be a better environment to encourage rehabilitation than is an ordinary prison. Of course, it's also a might-means-right society, which means that for many of its inmates it's hell on earth. (There's a political undertext here, although it's never stated.)
Charlotte Alton is a pretty socialite, but she's also Karla, head of a network that can fix things -- such as removing from all records those inconvenient details that people desire should be forgotten. She and her network have had unofficial two-way relationships with not just a rising star of the Met, Detective Inspector Ellis, but also with an intelligence operative, Laidlaw. Now Laidlaw has thrown himself under a train, which means Karla is facing a period of uncertainty in that aspect of her business.
More immediately, she takes on a new commission: to infiltrate a hitman, Simon Johanssen, into the Program so that he can carry out his latest contract. She and Simon have something of a history, although neither has ever admitted to the other the attraction between them. Karla becomes convinced that Simon is being sent into a trap when she discovers that his target appears, officially at least, not to exist. But she's there all right. A physician who once enjoyed a flourishing hospital career, Cate Gallagher is now reduced to running the underfunded emergency night clinic that the Program's head honcho, Quillan, maintains for reasons of personal power. Simon soon weasels his way into a position as one of Cate's medical assistants, and bides his time . . .
That's the basic setup . . . except that I've omitted quite a few plot elements. This is a book that's full of plot, with constantly shifting perceptions of situations and motivations. We're never 100% sure if some of the people Karla and Simon must deal with are friends or enemies. Why has Cate been disappeared into the Program? Was she put there as a punishment or hidden there for her own safety? Is British Intelligence involved? And was she involved with British Intelligence?
Again, I can't describe too much more of the plot, not just for reasons of space but because, with a book so complexly constructed as this one, it's almost impossible to describe one plot element without risking a major spoiler elsewhere.
Don't be intimidated by my focus on the plot's complexity. This is an astonishingly readable piece of work. Once I was captured by it, which took a couple of dozen pages, maybe more, I had very great difficulty putting it down. There are two major suspensions of disbelief involved -- that the Program could be devised and implemented, and that Karla's shadowy organization could both exist and have the abilities claimed -- but I found myself more than willing to do the necessary suspending, so powerful was the tale's narrative force.
As an aside, Giltrow is that rare author who has the ability to write in the present tense without screwing up her use of the past tenses.
I'd much recommend this novel.
Charlotte Alton is a pretty socialite, but she's also Karla, head of a network that can fix things -- such as removing from all records those inconvenient details that people desire should be forgotten. She and her network have had unofficial two-way relationships with not just a rising star of the Met, Detective Inspector Ellis, but also with an intelligence operative, Laidlaw. Now Laidlaw has thrown himself under a train, which means Karla is facing a period of uncertainty in that aspect of her business.
More immediately, she takes on a new commission: to infiltrate a hitman, Simon Johanssen, into the Program so that he can carry out his latest contract. She and Simon have something of a history, although neither has ever admitted to the other the attraction between them. Karla becomes convinced that Simon is being sent into a trap when she discovers that his target appears, officially at least, not to exist. But she's there all right. A physician who once enjoyed a flourishing hospital career, Cate Gallagher is now reduced to running the underfunded emergency night clinic that the Program's head honcho, Quillan, maintains for reasons of personal power. Simon soon weasels his way into a position as one of Cate's medical assistants, and bides his time . . .
That's the basic setup . . . except that I've omitted quite a few plot elements. This is a book that's full of plot, with constantly shifting perceptions of situations and motivations. We're never 100% sure if some of the people Karla and Simon must deal with are friends or enemies. Why has Cate been disappeared into the Program? Was she put there as a punishment or hidden there for her own safety? Is British Intelligence involved? And was she involved with British Intelligence?
Again, I can't describe too much more of the plot, not just for reasons of space but because, with a book so complexly constructed as this one, it's almost impossible to describe one plot element without risking a major spoiler elsewhere.
Don't be intimidated by my focus on the plot's complexity. This is an astonishingly readable piece of work. Once I was captured by it, which took a couple of dozen pages, maybe more, I had very great difficulty putting it down. There are two major suspensions of disbelief involved -- that the Program could be devised and implemented, and that Karla's shadowy organization could both exist and have the abilities claimed -- but I found myself more than willing to do the necessary suspending, so powerful was the tale's narrative force.
As an aside, Giltrow is that rare author who has the ability to write in the present tense without screwing up her use of the past tenses.
I'd much recommend this novel.
March 7, 2023
ספר מתח מעולה, ממש אהבתי
August 6, 2016
Because I'm a lazy reader, and usually a sleepy reader, I'm always looking for that elusive 'fast paced thriller' that will penetrate my torpor, grip my imagination, shake it like a rag doll and leave it gibbering quietly in the corner. The Distance is not that book. WTF. Why is every thriller I read so insufferably dull?! In the case of The Distance, it's because none of the characters are given any dimension. After reading three hundred pages, I DON'T CARE. "Karla", "Charlotte", "Elizabeth Crow", whatever your name is... WHO ARE YOU? And it's not, don't delude yourself, because you're opaque or shrouded in mystery. It's because you're BLAND. There's really not much to you, regardless of how much your author pretends, and insists, that there is. Sorry. And that pretty much goes for all the characters. Nobody engages with anyone else. And the plot? Well, in my usual soporific state, I barely can find the energy to flip pages, never mind do analysis, but I'm pretty sure that if I did, none of it would make any sense at all. I keep finding myself squinting into the middle distance (just before I fall asleep) thinking 'wha....?' 'but...' 'why.....?'. Okay, fine, one example, [SPOILER ALERT - READ NO FURTHER IF YOU CARE ABOUT THE ENDING OF THIS BOOK]... when they need to extract Catherine from The Program, is that really the 'only' way it could be done? 'They had been over the details ten thousand times and nothing else would work'. Really? Whatever. Again, simply not worth the effort of thinking about. But I will say that it feels as if Giltrow, in her effort to give a psychological symmetry to the events and to the motivation, may have skimped a little on the nuts and bolts that supposedly hold this thing together.
But all this is over and behind me now, anyway. NEWS FLASH --> No more thrillers and pulp action adventure books for this guy. I'm on a quest to re-intellectualize myself, beginning with this list from Scientific American of ten books that are guaranteed to 'sharpen your mind'. That's for me: http://www.scientificamerican.com/art... - I've already read a bunch of them, but a surprising number I have not. And I will be.
But all this is over and behind me now, anyway. NEWS FLASH --> No more thrillers and pulp action adventure books for this guy. I'm on a quest to re-intellectualize myself, beginning with this list from Scientific American of ten books that are guaranteed to 'sharpen your mind'. That's for me: http://www.scientificamerican.com/art... - I've already read a bunch of them, but a surprising number I have not. And I will be.
September 17, 2014
The Distance is Helen Giltrow's debut novel.
Giltrow's premise intrigued me - Charlotte Alton, a London, England society woman has a secret life - she deals in information and in those circles is known as Karla. Karla makes things - and people disappear. Simon, a former client, a hired killer, reappears after Karla helped him disappear a few years ago. He's back in the game and needs her firm's help with smuggling him into a prison to carry out a hit. But it's not just any prison....it's a self governing prison colony set up in an abandoned village. The inmates are running things. To go in would be crazy.....
Wow! The Distance delivered one heck of a breakneck read. Both Karla and Simon are large than life characters. Karla is able to access, interfere with and manipulate data, people and situations. Simon, well, Simon takes a beating and keeps on ticking. (way beyond what I think any body could handle, but hey it makes for a wild story) The driven nature of both of these characters accelerates the plot into overdrive. And had me yelling "No.....why would you...." more than once.
The protagonists are intriguing, but The Distance is a plot driven book. The narrative switches between Karla and Simon, offering the reader a chance to see what's happening from all sides. But, no one is telling the truth, and everyone has their own agenda. What we think we know is turned upside down a few pages later. The last few chapters are excellent, throwing in a turn I suspected might be coming, but with even more twists included. The ending is excellent, leaving the door open to a second book with these characters perhaps? (Kinda hoping that's true)
I was fascinated with the idea of a self governing prison colony in current times. Giltrow's prison is stark, bleak and brutal. Her descriptions paint very vivid and visceral images. The ease with which Karla manipuates information is frightening. I can see this book as a movie - maybe with Matt Damon or Mark Wahlberg. Not sure who I would choose for Karla.
Gentle readers be warned, there is graphic violence in The Distance. Fans of powerhouse non-stop thrillers that will keep you up - this one's for you.
Giltrow's premise intrigued me - Charlotte Alton, a London, England society woman has a secret life - she deals in information and in those circles is known as Karla. Karla makes things - and people disappear. Simon, a former client, a hired killer, reappears after Karla helped him disappear a few years ago. He's back in the game and needs her firm's help with smuggling him into a prison to carry out a hit. But it's not just any prison....it's a self governing prison colony set up in an abandoned village. The inmates are running things. To go in would be crazy.....
Wow! The Distance delivered one heck of a breakneck read. Both Karla and Simon are large than life characters. Karla is able to access, interfere with and manipulate data, people and situations. Simon, well, Simon takes a beating and keeps on ticking. (way beyond what I think any body could handle, but hey it makes for a wild story) The driven nature of both of these characters accelerates the plot into overdrive. And had me yelling "No.....why would you...." more than once.
The protagonists are intriguing, but The Distance is a plot driven book. The narrative switches between Karla and Simon, offering the reader a chance to see what's happening from all sides. But, no one is telling the truth, and everyone has their own agenda. What we think we know is turned upside down a few pages later. The last few chapters are excellent, throwing in a turn I suspected might be coming, but with even more twists included. The ending is excellent, leaving the door open to a second book with these characters perhaps? (Kinda hoping that's true)
I was fascinated with the idea of a self governing prison colony in current times. Giltrow's prison is stark, bleak and brutal. Her descriptions paint very vivid and visceral images. The ease with which Karla manipuates information is frightening. I can see this book as a movie - maybe with Matt Damon or Mark Wahlberg. Not sure who I would choose for Karla.
Gentle readers be warned, there is graphic violence in The Distance. Fans of powerhouse non-stop thrillers that will keep you up - this one's for you.
August 27, 2016
Wow. This is a truly edge-of-your-seat thriller and will certainly be one of my best reads this year, no question.
Charlotte Alton is a charming socialite in the London scene, but once she gets behind closed doors she becomes Karla, a business woman who deals in information. Information that's hard or even illegal to obtain. Few people have seen Karla's face. One of the few is Simon Johanssen. And he's turned up after a two-year absence. But the information he wants this time around may just get him killed - something Charlotte/Karla would like to stop from happening if at all possible.
Simon is a hired gun. But his target this time is a prisoner in The Program. The Program is a prison set-up in an abandoned area of London. That part of the city has been walled in and made into a prisoner village, so-to-speak. To escape is impossible. To sneak someone in? That's the challenge facing Karla. Can she get Simon into one of the most dangerous places in the world? Does she want to?
Getting Simon in, and back out again!, isn't Karla's only concern. Some of her other informational endeavors are becoming complicated and while Simon is working on his end, she has a lot to do to keep all her own balls in the air. British intelligence is looking for her, as is the person who hired Simon.
I was genuinely anxious as I read this. In a totally great way. This in an incredible debut.
Charlotte Alton is a charming socialite in the London scene, but once she gets behind closed doors she becomes Karla, a business woman who deals in information. Information that's hard or even illegal to obtain. Few people have seen Karla's face. One of the few is Simon Johanssen. And he's turned up after a two-year absence. But the information he wants this time around may just get him killed - something Charlotte/Karla would like to stop from happening if at all possible.
Simon is a hired gun. But his target this time is a prisoner in The Program. The Program is a prison set-up in an abandoned area of London. That part of the city has been walled in and made into a prisoner village, so-to-speak. To escape is impossible. To sneak someone in? That's the challenge facing Karla. Can she get Simon into one of the most dangerous places in the world? Does she want to?
Getting Simon in, and back out again!, isn't Karla's only concern. Some of her other informational endeavors are becoming complicated and while Simon is working on his end, she has a lot to do to keep all her own balls in the air. British intelligence is looking for her, as is the person who hired Simon.
I was genuinely anxious as I read this. In a totally great way. This in an incredible debut.
April 24, 2017
This is a really good thriller - I stayed up way too late reading it - I couldn't stop until I'd turned the last page and discovered what happened. While I was reading it I kept reminding myself that I needed to breathe, because the novel moves at a breathless pace. There were a few pages of graphic violence (which I have a low tolerance for) so I skipped over those rather quickly. I can't wait for the author's second novel.
January 16, 2015
My Thoughts
Charlotte Alton wears many different masks as she works to hide peoples pasts. When she gets too involved with a client, the job starts to unravel. Who will make it out alive?
Not for the faint of heart! There were a few gruesome parts at the beginning of this book that almost made me put it down. Fortunately I decided to continue reading and I am very glad I did. Ms. Giltrow really has a talent for building suspense. She creates very strong characters that you will either like or dislike. The story became quite the page turner with lots of plot twists. I thought this was an excellent debut. Certainly an author to check out if you like action packed thrillers. It will be interesting to see where she takes this character in future books.
I’d like to thank Doubleday, via Netgalley, for allowing me to read this in exchange for an unbiased review.
Charlotte Alton wears many different masks as she works to hide peoples pasts. When she gets too involved with a client, the job starts to unravel. Who will make it out alive?
Not for the faint of heart! There were a few gruesome parts at the beginning of this book that almost made me put it down. Fortunately I decided to continue reading and I am very glad I did. Ms. Giltrow really has a talent for building suspense. She creates very strong characters that you will either like or dislike. The story became quite the page turner with lots of plot twists. I thought this was an excellent debut. Certainly an author to check out if you like action packed thrillers. It will be interesting to see where she takes this character in future books.
I’d like to thank Doubleday, via Netgalley, for allowing me to read this in exchange for an unbiased review.
August 17, 2015
This was longer than it needed to be, and pretty graphic at times, which I could have done without. I finished it mostly because I wondered what happened, but it really dragged for me at times with long asides about staring into cups of tea and ruminating about life. And how many times can Charlotte call upon the one person she never wants to call? After the third time it is a little silly...
Not sure if I'd recommend or not. Kind of indifferent on this one.
Not sure if I'd recommend or not. Kind of indifferent on this one.
June 23, 2016
Very difficult to follow audio book. The narrator had an English accent that was pleasing to the ear and she changed her voice for the different characters. I could not follow the many, many characters. They were good/bad/assassins/innocent..... I got pretty confused. Although the narrator's accent was nice, it interfered with my ability to understand.
July 11, 2017
I started reading this based on a positive review in The Guardian. The story is a mystery with an unconvincing main character and an unlikely backdrop.
The prose is good. There are a number of artful phrases. Dialog and action sequences are equally well done. Dialog, particularly inner dialog being better. Descriptions are OK but needed better background research. The exception is the violence which is suitably graphic giving this story a gritty feel.
Characters are a bit slim. The Carla and Johanssen characters are the best rendered. (Naturally, they are the protagonists.). Unfortunately, Carla sometimes Charlotte is unconvincing as an uber-competent, darknet deal-maker/information broker. (She's OK as a socialite in disguise.) Johanssen is a mediocrely rendered hard man. (These guys are always ex-SAS/SBS.) Their romance was unlikely and unexplainable. Everyone else is a bit thin, being of stereotypical TV or film quality. For example, the London Gangster characters. Likewise the Spooks . Likewise the ambitious, semi-bent copper. Finally, the denizens of the author's underworld are a lot more intelligent and deliberate than they ought to be.
Plot in high-concept is actually quiet good. The mystery was better than the thriller. Its a good example of the long game trope garnished with red-herrings. It was however, over-complicated. The author should have been more discriminating about her plot lines and how many were *really* needed.
The story falls apart in implementation. For example, all of Carla's Infosphere related dealings are resolved by I know a guy, a thinly veiled Deus Ex Machina. I think the worst part of the story is the awkward and unlikely plot element of The Program. Frankly, it is crap. It smacks of a sop to the current YA fad for dystopias. Giltrow also doesn't know much about Americans. (Americans from the Southern states have drawls not twangs as the New Englanders do.) In general, the convergent plot elements of London Gangsters, British Spooks, ambitious coppers, and Darknet hack0rs is as deep as a carpark puddle.
This story is well-written. I thought the Carla/Charlotte character was brilliant at times. However the unlikely and outlandish elements of Johanssen and The Program were rubbish. Also, Carla's romance motive was unconvincing at best. The story would have greatly benefited without both Johanssen and The Program. The thriller elements of the story left me feeling the author was writing to engage a TV audience. Giltrow should have taken a simpler, more straightforward approach-- straight mystery less attempt at thriller.
Readers interested in a better, but similar story might want to read The Cuckoo's Calling.
The prose is good. There are a number of artful phrases. Dialog and action sequences are equally well done. Dialog, particularly inner dialog being better. Descriptions are OK but needed better background research. The exception is the violence which is suitably graphic giving this story a gritty feel.
Characters are a bit slim. The Carla and Johanssen characters are the best rendered. (Naturally, they are the protagonists.). Unfortunately, Carla sometimes Charlotte is unconvincing as an uber-competent, darknet deal-maker/information broker. (She's OK as a socialite in disguise.) Johanssen is a mediocrely rendered hard man. (These guys are always ex-SAS/SBS.) Their romance was unlikely and unexplainable. Everyone else is a bit thin, being of stereotypical TV or film quality. For example, the London Gangster characters. Likewise the Spooks . Likewise the ambitious, semi-bent copper. Finally, the denizens of the author's underworld are a lot more intelligent and deliberate than they ought to be.
Plot in high-concept is actually quiet good. The mystery was better than the thriller. Its a good example of the long game trope garnished with red-herrings. It was however, over-complicated. The author should have been more discriminating about her plot lines and how many were *really* needed.
The story falls apart in implementation. For example, all of Carla's Infosphere related dealings are resolved by I know a guy, a thinly veiled Deus Ex Machina. I think the worst part of the story is the awkward and unlikely plot element of The Program. Frankly, it is crap. It smacks of a sop to the current YA fad for dystopias. Giltrow also doesn't know much about Americans. (Americans from the Southern states have drawls not twangs as the New Englanders do.) In general, the convergent plot elements of London Gangsters, British Spooks, ambitious coppers, and Darknet hack0rs is as deep as a carpark puddle.
This story is well-written. I thought the Carla/Charlotte character was brilliant at times. However the unlikely and outlandish elements of Johanssen and The Program were rubbish. Also, Carla's romance motive was unconvincing at best. The story would have greatly benefited without both Johanssen and The Program. The thriller elements of the story left me feeling the author was writing to engage a TV audience. Giltrow should have taken a simpler, more straightforward approach-- straight mystery less attempt at thriller.
Readers interested in a better, but similar story might want to read The Cuckoo's Calling.
March 13, 2021
There are several plots and subplots along with characters who have several different names which requires close attention to the text. It is a bit long to read in one or two sittings and I had to keep going back to reread parts to make sure I had all the bits connected. Maybe it should have been more than one novel. It certainly had enough going on for that scenario.
Read
December 11, 2014There is no doubt The Distance is a thriller. It is intense, exciting, and fast-paced. However, none of the action is explicit. Instead, Ms. Giltrow capitalizes on the phenomenon that a reader can typically imagine more horrific scenes than anything an author might put onto paper and deliberately keeps certain scenes ambiguous. In a world as dangerous as the one in which Karla does business, the end result is that those scenes are truly horrifying in spite of a lack of details.
Ms. Giltrow does not just deliberately obscure scenes that include bodily harm. Karla’s world is also shadowy. There is a definitive lack of specifics about Karla’s life that can be quite distracting as it lends itself to allowing readers to focus on trying to fill all of the missing gaps of Karla’s world. However, to do so means missing a fantastic story of intrigue, secrets, bad men, false trails, misdirections, and so much more. The reader is set down into Karla’s and Simon’s worlds with no preparation or warning and must maneuver their way through its dangers as well as its secrets. This creates an intimacy between the reader and Karla and Simon that one doesn’t expect but which makes the story so much more suspenseful.
One of the main themes explored throughout The Distance is the idea of guilt. Simon’s resignation to his fate inside the experimental prison colony underscores his personal feelings about the main crime for which he went into hiding. He may be a contracted killer, but he is seeking atonement for his first crime. does his occupation automatically make him a bad guy? Similarly, Karla uses information to blackmail and manipulate others and does so without compunction. Who is the worse criminal? Readers must decide for themselves, but it does make for an interesting ethical discussion.
The Distance is an excellent example of a spy thriller set in the computer age. The ease with which Karla obtains her information and manipulates situations for her benefit is truly frightening. American readers will also find the level of surveillance of British citizens equally disturbing. Simon’s experiences within the prison colony test the limits of human endurance and showcase mankind’s brutality. The story gains much from its very plausibility and the understated method of storytelling Ms. Giltrow adopts. The Distance is definitely an intense read and one that works well for a winter afternoon.
Ms. Giltrow does not just deliberately obscure scenes that include bodily harm. Karla’s world is also shadowy. There is a definitive lack of specifics about Karla’s life that can be quite distracting as it lends itself to allowing readers to focus on trying to fill all of the missing gaps of Karla’s world. However, to do so means missing a fantastic story of intrigue, secrets, bad men, false trails, misdirections, and so much more. The reader is set down into Karla’s and Simon’s worlds with no preparation or warning and must maneuver their way through its dangers as well as its secrets. This creates an intimacy between the reader and Karla and Simon that one doesn’t expect but which makes the story so much more suspenseful.
One of the main themes explored throughout The Distance is the idea of guilt. Simon’s resignation to his fate inside the experimental prison colony underscores his personal feelings about the main crime for which he went into hiding. He may be a contracted killer, but he is seeking atonement for his first crime. does his occupation automatically make him a bad guy? Similarly, Karla uses information to blackmail and manipulate others and does so without compunction. Who is the worse criminal? Readers must decide for themselves, but it does make for an interesting ethical discussion.
The Distance is an excellent example of a spy thriller set in the computer age. The ease with which Karla obtains her information and manipulates situations for her benefit is truly frightening. American readers will also find the level of surveillance of British citizens equally disturbing. Simon’s experiences within the prison colony test the limits of human endurance and showcase mankind’s brutality. The story gains much from its very plausibility and the understated method of storytelling Ms. Giltrow adopts. The Distance is definitely an intense read and one that works well for a winter afternoon.
September 8, 2014
I was not sure if this was going to be a tight one, exploring a new author can be exhilarating but sometimes awfully painful. But my love of suspense, mystery and crime was too strong to resist. In the end, what I got out of the book is a thrill-a-page and The Distance by debutant author Helen Giltrow turned out to be one of the best suspense novels that I read recently.
Charlotte Alton is a socialite who knows how to play around. She is well-known and frequents the best parties and events in town. But the beneath that lovely face is a woman called Karla who specializes in information. Depending on the nature of the information, work and risk involved, Karla can make anything disappear. Nothing, or so it seems, is too difficult for her. A perfectionist to the core, she has never slipped-up except for one solitary incident concerning a man called Simon Johanssen.
And that mistake is returning to haunt Karla. Simon Johanssen is back, and he desperately needs her help. The Distance is a brilliantly written absorbing page-turning thriller. The concept of The Program – to teach criminals to function within a self-regulating society made up of criminals is imaginative and one which can be experimented in real life. Once you get into the groove of things, it will be highly impossible to put the book down. From start to finish, I was totally engrossed and the pace was electric. It is a truly remarkable debut novel and Helen Giltrow’s storytelling, plotting and characterization fall together beautifully to give one amazing suspenseful novel. Charlotte alias Karla is as intelligent, brilliant and beautiful as she is strong.
Charlotte Alton is a socialite who knows how to play around. She is well-known and frequents the best parties and events in town. But the beneath that lovely face is a woman called Karla who specializes in information. Depending on the nature of the information, work and risk involved, Karla can make anything disappear. Nothing, or so it seems, is too difficult for her. A perfectionist to the core, she has never slipped-up except for one solitary incident concerning a man called Simon Johanssen.
And that mistake is returning to haunt Karla. Simon Johanssen is back, and he desperately needs her help. The Distance is a brilliantly written absorbing page-turning thriller. The concept of The Program – to teach criminals to function within a self-regulating society made up of criminals is imaginative and one which can be experimented in real life. Once you get into the groove of things, it will be highly impossible to put the book down. From start to finish, I was totally engrossed and the pace was electric. It is a truly remarkable debut novel and Helen Giltrow’s storytelling, plotting and characterization fall together beautifully to give one amazing suspenseful novel. Charlotte alias Karla is as intelligent, brilliant and beautiful as she is strong.
June 24, 2014
This is a terrific debut thriller which holds your attention throughout. It's an intricately plotted spiderweb of a story which keeps surprises up its sleeve to the very end. It's original, its complex and its one of the best books in its genre that I've read in some time.
I don't want to give too much away about the story, but in broad brushes: Charlotte Alton works for a small and secretive organisation that helps people disappear, a kind of private witness protection programme. She has a rolodex of secrets at her fingertips to help her get things done. When a former client is hired to kill a woman who is in a high security prison, she is asked to find a cover identity that will get him inside the prison and allow for his extraction after the deed is done. Charlotte takes on the assignment but as she is concerned that it may be a set up, she also starts to investigate who the woman is and why someone might want her eliminated.
I am tremendously impressed at the amount of thought that has gone into this book and the way that the author keeps the tension up throughout. A couple of times I thought I had worked things out, but I was never more than a few pages ahead of the reveal. Like peeling an onion, a further layer would immediately be revealed. I should point out that there is some quite nasty violence in the book, but it never feels gratuitous. Apparently a sequel is in the works and I'm dying to read it.
I don't want to give too much away about the story, but in broad brushes: Charlotte Alton works for a small and secretive organisation that helps people disappear, a kind of private witness protection programme. She has a rolodex of secrets at her fingertips to help her get things done. When a former client is hired to kill a woman who is in a high security prison, she is asked to find a cover identity that will get him inside the prison and allow for his extraction after the deed is done. Charlotte takes on the assignment but as she is concerned that it may be a set up, she also starts to investigate who the woman is and why someone might want her eliminated.
I am tremendously impressed at the amount of thought that has gone into this book and the way that the author keeps the tension up throughout. A couple of times I thought I had worked things out, but I was never more than a few pages ahead of the reveal. Like peeling an onion, a further layer would immediately be revealed. I should point out that there is some quite nasty violence in the book, but it never feels gratuitous. Apparently a sequel is in the works and I'm dying to read it.
September 22, 2014
*ARC
This book kept me on the edge of my seat. It was one I wouldn't let myself read at night because I would have never slept. When I finished it, all I could say was WHAT! I re-read the last 2 chapters and epilogue, because I wanted to make sure I could catch every small nuance that made the ending what it was. Imagine a modern day Robin Hood that deals not in money, but identity. She is a tech guru with a conscious and several nations’ security depends on her even though they don't know it. I cannot wait until the next one comes out.
This book kept me on the edge of my seat. It was one I wouldn't let myself read at night because I would have never slept. When I finished it, all I could say was WHAT! I re-read the last 2 chapters and epilogue, because I wanted to make sure I could catch every small nuance that made the ending what it was. Imagine a modern day Robin Hood that deals not in money, but identity. She is a tech guru with a conscious and several nations’ security depends on her even though they don't know it. I cannot wait until the next one comes out.
January 4, 2015
Crackerjack adrenaline rush. Charlotte Alton is a London socialite, but she is much more. She is Karla, information broker and ID provider for underworld types. When the only man she has ever revealed herself it, Simon Johanssen, shows up with a request, she is in no position to say no. Simon must infiltrate a prison experiment and assassinate a woman that does not exist. No one in this book is as they appear.
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