...
This book is part of a trilogy; with the Sunday Times best selling The Straw Men being the first, followed by this book and then Blood of Angels completing the set.
Michael Marshall in a previous interview stressed that all though these books are a trilogy they also stand alone.
I would ... Read review
Advantages: Gripping thriller with believable characters! Disadvantages: Need to have read the previous book! Too much detail in places!
...debut Novel Only Forward won the Philip K. Dick and August Derleth awards. Spares and One of Us the previous book's successors have been optioned by major Hollywood studios. Previously a sci-fi/horror writer he has now moved onto writing thrillers.
This book is part of a trilogy; with the Sunday Times best selling The Straw Men being the first, followed by this book and then Blood of Angels completing the set.
Michael Marshall in a ... ...A watered down version of the inside front cover!
We follow the story of a guilty man, who walks off into the forest of Washington State intending never to return. When he gets there however he discovers what he believes to be Bigfoot, and from there, things start to spiral out of control.
Back in L.A a shocking discovery is made of a dead woman sat bolt upright in her hotel bedroom. The killer leaves an unusual clue in the woman's ... more
Michael Marshall, also known as Michael Marshall Smith is a novelist as well as a screen writer. His debut Novel Only Forward won the Philip K. Dick and August Derleth awards. Spares and One of Us the previous book's successors have been optioned by major Hollywood studios. Previously a sci-fi/horror writer he has now moved onto writing thrillers. This book is part of a trilogy; with the Sunday Times best selling The Straw Men being the first, followed by this book and then Blood of Angels completing the set. Michael Marshall in a previous interview stressed that all though these books are a trilogy they also stand alone. I would strongly disagree with this and will go into more details regarding this later on in my review!
Plot
A watered down version of the inside front cover! We follow the story of a guilty man, who walks off into the forest of Washington State intending never to return. When he gets there however he discovers what he believes to be Bigfoot, and from there, things start to spiral out of control. Back in L.A a shocking discovery is made of a dead woman sat bolt upright in her hotel bedroom. The killer leaves an unusual clue in the woman's mouth, a computer hard disc and it appears that the killer has something to say! An Ex CIA agent who is trying to get over the shocking death of his parents ends becomes emotionally involved in the case. Three strands in a web of deadly secrets that come together to reveal some shocking truths!!
Characters:-
John Zandt - A cop haunted by the death of his colleague Bobby, and a chilling discovery of dead bodies in the woods. Nina - A very troubled FBI Agent who lately has seen to many dead bodies and is the ex mistress of the above character. Ward Hopkins - An ex - CIA agent recovering from the recent deaths of his parents and is now on the trail of his past and 'The upright man' , his long lost brother who killed his natural parents. The ' Upright Man' - He is the Leader of the Straw Men and long lost brother to Ward Hopkins.
All three characters are linked by the fact that they were previously involved in a case of murders carried out by the Straw Men who believe themselves to be the only ones left of the human race uninfected by a virus promoting social conscience. It is not clear however whether they believe this, or just use it as an excuse to go around murdering people!
Analysis
The book is written mainly in the third person and has four main characters that as the story develops we become to know more about them and how they become involved in the case. As I said at the beginning of my review, I would strongly advise you to read ' Straw men' first as this book continues the story and the development of the characters! Reading this book first just left me confused, and many questions unanswered! It is also a book that you need to read in a short period of time, as I found myself getting lost and having to skip back a few pages to refresh my mind as to what was what! I also felt that at times, far too much unnecessary detail was given to set the scene and so made me lose interest into what was going on. The four main characters were made very real to life and I could thoroughly sympathize with each of there situations in the story. There are a lot of threads to this story, but the author ties them up well towards the end, which I'm afraid left something wanting for me!
Summing up
Although getting confused at times, I thought this was a very well written and chilling thriller, which unfortunately needs to be read after the straw men to get a better understanding of the story and the characters! He has done superb job of making them three dimensional and really believable! Michael Marshall in my mind has produced a very good thriller with lots of twists and turns in the story to keep you hooked!!!! One more reminder, to appreciate the entire story, read ' Straw Men', this one, and then Blood of angels!
Advantages: Enthralling plotlines and ideas and writing Disadvantages: The book is a tad heavy? :P
I was distraught when I browsed to the reviews for The Straw Men by MichaelMarshall Smith when I found that ONE PERSON had reviewed this amazing book!
This is MichaelMarshall's first attempt at the whole criminal storylines, as MichaelMarshall was a fantasty/weirdness writer before The Straw Men. He has been called MichaelMarshall Smith in The Straw Men due to author conflictions, his other publications, except The LonelyDead, are under the name MichaelMarshall. These include: Only Forward, Spares, What You Make It, Cat Stories, One of Us and The Vaccinator.
The Straw Men includes 3 prospective viewpoints. The first is of Sarah. Sarah has been abducted by a serial killer whom we find out is known as The Upright Man. We see chapters of the story from her point of view, as she sits underneath the floor of her tormentor's home ...
Advantages: Real page turner Disadvantages: Not quite believable
This book is MichaelMarshall?s first book in the crime/thriller genre after establishing a successful career as a sci-fi/fantasy author under the name of MichaelMarshall Smith. The book is the first of what now has become a three part series, the next being ?The LonelyDead? and the third being ?Blood of Angels?.
The story is written in a unique style with it being written from three perspectives. You read how the events that are occurring affect each perspective before they meet later in the book.
The first perspective is that of Ward Hopkins. Ward is an ex-CIA officer whose parents are killed in a tragic car accident. Ward never was close to his parents but is still hit hard by their death. The ?accident? that killed them becomes harder to accept when he finds a chilling note left by his father. With the help of an old ...
Product Information for "The Lonely Dead - Michael Marshall" »
Product details
Type
Fiction
Genre
Horror
Title
The Lonely Dead
Author
Michael Marshall
ISBN
0007163940; 0007163959; 000718171X; 1843956659
Manufacturer's product description
Grotesquely arranged corpses are turning up in remote locations across America: is it the work of a bizarre sect or a solitary serial killer? An electrifying thriller from the author of The Straw Men. A guilty man walks alone into the cold mountain forests of Washington State, aiming never to return. What he finds there starts a chain of events that will quickly spiral out of control. Meanwhile in Los Angeles a woman's body is discovered, sitting bolt upright in a motel bedroom. She is dead, and her killer has left his mark. It soon becomes clear he has something to say, and a lot more work to do. And Ward Hopkins, an ex-CIA agent recovering from the recent shocking deaths of his parents, is on the trail of his past, tracking down the men who destroyed everything he once held dear, and the murderer whose face he sees every time he looks in the mirror. These three are ominous strands in a web of deadly secrets, roads to a dark history that should never have been told. There are people who will do anything to protect it. Anything at all. As in life, it's not a matter of who dies. We're all going to die. What matters is who dies last.
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