All you have to do to realize how differently each books affects each individual is to read reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. Clearly some books resonate for a whole variety of different reasons. This book is a good example of that.Ray's relationship to his dying father is done, I think, in a very sensitive and emotional manner that resonated more than a few of my chords as I had gone through similar experiences with my father last fall. I suspect for many people, it would have been just boring. For me it was the opposite, if almost unreadable because it struck so close to home. Ray's farther is an ex-cop who wants desperately to help his son in the quest to locate his girlfriend. In the end he locates some key information in his old files.
Ray is an ex-fireman who was almost crushed with his partner (who did not survive) when the WTC collapsed. I must say that the description of Ray trying to stay alive while his partner dies is horrifying in the extreme and very realistic. I got claustrophobic while listening. One unusual method for murder is how the two Mexican immigrants are killed: their car is pumped full of sewage and they suffocate.
This is the third Colin Harrison I have read. This one is a tad different in that the protagonist is perhaps less ordinary - or should I say more extraordinary - than in the other two. On the other hand, his abilities are well within the range of normal considering his métier. Not quite as well done as the others, I think. The Peter Blake character seems superfluous; some of the character's motivations seem bizarre. Still an above average mystery/thriller.
