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Maelstrom by Michael MacConnell, read by Sean Mangan

Relentless action marks this debut action thriller set in Boston and the US east coast. Harry Reilly, retired from active FBI duty, believes that a copycat killer is working in the shadows of other serial killers.

Published 10 January, 2008

Maelstrom by Michael MacConnell, read by Sean Mangan-Spotlight

Maelstrom (Michael MacConnell, read by Sean Mangan, Bolinda Publishing, $34.95 audiobook, 11 CDs, ISBN
9781742011530, December) **

Relentless action marks this debut action thriller set in Boston and the US east coast. Harry Reilly, retired from active FBI duty, believes that a copycat killer is working in the shadows of other serial killers. His daughter Sarah, also in the FBI, comes up against a private ‘Black Ops’-style vigilante group which enjoys hunting down and murdering serial killers. The story opens with the approaching murder of a young couple spending their first weekend together. It’s set up to look like the work of the ‘Lakeside Killer’, but certain details don’t add up. While the writing is somewhat stilted, the style and story premise will appeal to action lovers. The plot’s implausibility is jarring—the FBI exists only to make incredible blunders in pursuit and surveillance; a serial killer deliberately steps out of the shadows for no credible reason; a wealthy ex-military citizen can find a killer’s address more
easily than the FBI; the phrase ‘Violet-Eyed Man’ quickly becomes tedious. Empathy with the victims is lacking—a stylistic fault rather than a plot failure. But Sean Mangan’s reading is magnificent—his voice is textured and spine-tingling without descending to parody. Matthew Reilly fans will probably enjoy this. Recommended primarily for action fans.

Ingrid Heyn is an audiobook specialist at Soundbooks, an opera singer, composer, writer and web designer

This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2007, Thorpe-Bowker


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Comments

2 comment(s) on this page. Add your own comment below.

MITRAJIT BISWAS
17 February, 2008 16:27 [ 1 ]

i had written down some short stories of fiction genre which i want to publish.please help thanking you mitrajit

Louis
25 February, 2008 09:24 [ 2 ]

Michael MacConnell's debut book MAELSTROM is - paraphrasing his own words - a book designed to appeal to thriller and crime fiction devotees; not falling into the trap of being too similar to other authors in either genre. So I read MAELSTROM with that aim in mind. It's definitely a thriller style book - there is lots of fast paced action combined with a sinister, lurking vigilante presence - metering out their version of justice to killers - people that the vigilante's think need to be removed from society. The background of this vigilante group is slowly revealed and there's a wealthy man funding the group for what he believes are noble and true reasons. There's a sense of menace and extreme violence in their acts, there's definitely a sense of forcing those killers to face their enemy on more equal ground - giving them some sort of perceived chance - more than they ever gave their victims. There's also elements of crime fiction in the book in that there is a serial killer with a standard modus operandi - killing violently, seemingly randomly - but there is a pattern that can be discerned and clues to his methods if the investigators dig. There's a copycat killer - muddying the waters of the investigations, threatening the very lives of all the investigation team. There's also the young FBI agent - Sarah - with her mane of red gold hair. She has to live up to the reputation of her father, and to complicate her life even more, the reputation of her lover - a fellow agent - well known and well liked. The quiet menace of the opening segment is truly sobering. The first appearance of the vigilante group is shocking. They seem to appear from nowhere - for a short while the reader is slightly wrong-footed. There's romantic attachment, which, despite a deep feeling of foreboding, was actually handled well - with a slightly different twist which was refreshing.

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