Alarm Call

Oz Blackstone #8

by Quintin Jardine

Movie stardom, wealth, a successful marriage—Oz Blackstone is standing on the brink of the Seriously Big Time and life just seems to keep lining up the cherries. He should have known it couldn't stay that good for that long. The first sign of trouble appears when Oz finds his ex-wife Primavera Phillips drenched in her own tears—her life in ruins, cheated out of her fortune, and robbed of her baby boy by his lying con-man father. What could Oz do but help? Maybe he should have called for help himself, or stuck to the game plan of looking after number one. Instead he set out on a voyage of dark intrigue and wild discovery that would turn his life upside down—again.

Genres: Mystery, Crime

371 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2004

About the author

Quintin Jardine (born 1945) is a Scottish author of three series of crime novels, featuring the fictional characters Bob Skinner, Oz Blackstone, and Primavera Blackstone. He was educated in Motherwell and in Glasgow where he studied at what was then the city’s only University. After career as a journalist, government information officer and media relations consultant, he took to the creation of crime fiction.

His first wife, Irene, with whom he shared over 30 years, from their teens, died in 1997. He is married, to his second wife, Eileen. They live in both Scotland and in Spain

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read it in one sitting (lying, actually; this morning, in bed!). A great page-turner. Oz has gone from a rumpled, hesitant PI to a highly successful Bond-ish actor, dripping money, happily married (3rd-time lucky) with two kids he adores, living on an estate overlooking Loch Lomond. He's goaded into his old role by an ex, with a story of an American con man who had sired their son, then scarpered with the kid and control of the millions that she got when divorcing Oz. The rest is a romp, across to Fife, then Minneapolis, Vancouver, SF, LA, Vegas. Doesn't bear pausing to catch your breath.

This is a cheekily-tongued (e.g. the mentions of Skinner, his other series) piece of rollicking froth, with the occasional good laugh (Oz has a wicked line in backchat), lots of sexy innuendo, frequent plot twists, and a satisfying mad-dash ending (we need those, don't we, in the moral b/w world of mysteries?)

[S. Lynham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Years ago, I read one of Jardine's books in his Bob Skinner series...wasn't that impressed so passed on reading more of his stuff. Well, these keep turning up in my book boxes so I have broken down and read some...this one is from the Oz Blackstone series. It takes place long before the Primavera Blackstone series, which was the last of his books I read. It was a tad confusing at first given what I knew had happened in the future.

I loved this book. It took me on the same wild goose chase that Oz took in the book and I was astonished when it became clear who was behind the theft of his ex-wife Primavera's divorce settlement money and her child. I never clicked to what was going on until Prim told the story. I love books like that. Plan to read more of this series as the books are shorter and far less gloomy than the Skinner ones....actually might even go back and try another Skinner one or two.

[Margo Allore · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first Oz Blackstone mystery. I liked it but I found some sections kind of "slam stick'. Oz is now with wife No. 3 and two kids, but wife No. 2 comes and needs his help. Many twists and turns but a good read. You want to see what happens at the end.

[Ljohnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story with a super twist. Oz’s life goes in and who makes a surprise appearance, Prim, but she is trouble and Oz being Oz comes to the rescue. Kidnapping, blackmail, infidelity, marriage all these things happen in this read.

[The Villan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn’t read. Donated it

[ilnyb · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd read an earlier book with these characters and quite enjoyed it. This one not so much. Apparently when you get filthy rich even if you're only a character in a book you still become smug, patronising and insufferable. Oh, well, last one.

Some glaring holes in the plot, too, not to mention very silly premises.

[comfort · Rating 3 out of 5]

Primevera turns into a pretty nasty character in this story. She re-enters Oz's life with a sob-story and Oz being the soft-hearted jerk he is helps her out.
There are a lot of cross promotions of the Skinner books and rather than being annoying it makes me chuckle.
Prim leaves Oz with a new responsibility that he didn't know until know he had and Susie is very forgiving.

[Tex · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just found me a new protagonist. He's Scottish and a former police officer and current movie star (really???). He's had a ton of wives and they all seem to come up all the time. Oh, and he's got a sense of humor that I like. Much fun.