Looking Good Dead

click here for more details, find new or used items

Peter James

Our price £4.54 (£6.99)

New from £1.39

Used from £0.01

Pages: 400 (Paperback)

ISBN: 0330434209

Pub: Pan Books

Pub date: 2006-12-01

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 408

Editorial Review:

It's a tricky proposition, changing horses midstream. And with Looking Good Dead, Peter James continues to do just that. The author's reputation as a purveyor of subtly chilling horror and fantasy had been carefully built up over many years, and James had few British peers in this field. But that is not quite the compliment it sounds, for the horror field is in one of its frequent slumps at present, and apart from a few American giants such as Stephen King, some highly talented figures have languished, in some cases even forfeiting their publishers. It's possible that Peter James saw the way the wind was blowing, and decided to move on from his hitherto lucrative horror work, returning to the crime arena (in which he'd worked before) with the adroit Dead Simple, the inaugural book in the series featuring Detective Superintendent Roy Grace. If DS Grace was cut from a familiar cloth (copper struggling with psychological problems), the plotting was innovative and fresh.
And so it's proved to be once again with Looking Good Dead. Tom Bryce picks up a CD which has been left behind on a train seat, but when he attempts to track down the owner, he finds himself the only witness to a savage killing. Reporting the crime to the police has disastrous consequences for Bryce, and the lives of both he and his wife are threatened--by a notification on the Internet, no less. When DS Roy Grace becomes involved, he finds himself up against a malign group of very well organised criminals.

As in Peter James' previous outing for Roy Grace, the plotting here is the thing. James addresses the crime genre as if he had never been away, and although Grace is, to be frank, not strikingly different from any other literary coppers, few people will complain when James' storytelling acumen is as authoritative as it is here.
--Barry Forshaw

Reader Reviews:

This guy just gets better!!! (0/0 people found this helpful)

I've just finished devouring this book, in fact I had to force myself to stop reading last night so I could get up this morning. I didnt think Peter James could better 'Dead silence' but in my opinion he certainly did with this book.
Never before have I found an author that has me picking up book after book without so much as catching my breath between.
Keep them coming Peter, I'm about to start 'Not dead enough' & it wont take me long!!!

I won't be reading this author again (0/0 people found this helpful)

I sadly have to agree with the minority here (should have followed their recommendation and not bought the book, too). I seldom stop reading a book without finishing it, but this too big a challenge for me. I found it boring, the story going back and forth -too much- and so many characters, simply forgettable. I realised I was putting myself through a painful experience, and at the end of the day I read for fun, so why continue?

Do not waste your money on this, get it from the library if you must.

A very good British cop story (3/3 people found this helpful)

I discovered Peter James when I read his previous thriller, Dead Simple, which was excellent. And he betters that with Looking Good Dead.

From a very basic, simple premise, the laptop left on a train, the poor unfortunate who finds it is catapulted into a world of mayhem and potential murder, simply by doing things which any reader could imagine themselves doing - and this is what Peter James does so well, it could happen to anyone.

Once into the story, the plot moves swiftly, but not so you can easily spot the twists, and the characters are completely believable, whether on the side of the angels or not. You'll be hard put to stop reading this once you've started, I certainly couldn't, highly recommended to lovers of thrillers/detective fiction

Slow start but then couldn't put it down (1/1 people found this helpful)

This is the first Peter James book I've read & it was only because someone gave it to me.

It started off quite slow but once I got half way through, I couldn't put it down.

I'll definately be investing in more Peter James books.

Brilliant! (1/1 people found this helpful)

An absolute winner - who wouldn't try to return something found on a train to its owner? But who would find themselves up to their necks in danger like this? Oh - golly-gosh - you've gotta read it! Brilliant!

Similar Products

Dead Simple

Not Dead Enough

Twilight

Sweet Heart

Faith