Tag: Malcolm-Mackay • BookLikes

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review 2019-12-28 07:50

The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter - Malcolm Mackay

In a genre like crime fiction it is very difficult these days to get an original angle to the story. This is however where The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter succeeded. One murder, and the reader is given every detail of its planning, its execution and its aftermath from different angles.

Because we were there, so to speak, there is little crime solving in the novel. What we do get to see is the frustration of police officers and the web of lies some of the characters are spinning. While this sounds very interesting on paper, I found it difficult to connect with any of the characters and I didn't really care much whether they would succeed or not. If any, I probably cheered for the hitman. There also were a lot of things unsolved at the end of the novel, which I don't know will be addressed in the next.

Interesting premise, but in the end, I expected more from it.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

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review 2018-04-10 00:38

For Those Who Know the Ending

Denise

I really enjoyed following Nate Colgan in Malcolm Mackay's last book so I requested this book as soon as I saw it. While Nate appears in this book as well I just wasn't as interested in this one.

This book mainly follows Martin and Usman who partner together to rob the Jamieson organization. Martin, who is new to the area, is reluctant to work with Usman but Usman knows that Martin is the gunman that he needs.

I can't say that I was all that interested in Martin or Usman. I found them both annoying in their own ways and found it hard to at times want to read about them. I did enjoy reading about the final "job" that they worked together and was happy with the outcome of that job.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the galley.

netgalley read-in-2018

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review 2017-01-20 02:11

Every Night I Dream of Hell

Denise

Every Night I Dream of Hell - Malcolm Ma...

For the past couple of days I have been using this book to escape into a world of crime. While I did really enjoy most of this book there were twists towards the end that were a bit predictable and that really lessened my enjoyment of this book. The main character, Nate, was a very interesting character to follow. I would consider reading more from this author.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the galley.

netgalley read-in-2017

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review 2015-09-22 21:36

The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter by Malcolm Mackay

Bettie's Books

bookshelves: hardback, paper-read, autumn-2015, published-2013, noir, mystery-thriller, glasgow, britain-scotland, assassination, betrayal, bettie-s-law-of-excitement-lost, cardboard-characters, casual-violence, cover-hate, drier-than-a-dry-thing, execution, first-in-series, games-people-play, gangsters, getonwithit-already, lifestyles-deathstyles, look-behind-you, moidah, newtome-author, pedestrian, recreational-homicide, recreational-drugs, sleazy, series, under-1000-ratings, next

Read on September 18, 2015

Description: A twenty-nine-year-old man lives alone in his Glasgow flat. The telephone rings; a casual conversation, but behind this a job offer. The clues are there if you know to look for them. He is an expert. A loner. Freelance. Another job is another job, but what if this organisation wants more? A meeting at a club. An offer. A brief. A target: Lewis Winter. It's hard to kill a man well. People who do it well know this. People who do it badly find out the hard way. The hard way has consequences.

Opening: It starts with a telephone call. Casual, chatty, friendly, no business. You arrange to meet, neutral venue, preferably public.

It is valid to say that this is an unnecessary wooden monotonic drek of a book, however, to be charitable I will just say that I have no interest in reading further into the series. I did read through to the end to see if the pedestrian prose ever garnered a zestful slant - rest assured, it didn't break out of the tedium.

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review 2014-12-30 16:12

Kadr z życia zabójcy

POCZYTAJNIA

Lewis Winter musi umrzeć - Miłosz Urban,Malcolm Mackay

Czytając kryminały z różnych stron świata, dostrzegamy cechy odróżniające je od siebie. Kryminał amerykański charakteryzuje się sporą dozą sensacji oraz spektakularnymi pościgami. Kryminały ze Skandynawii są zbliżone do powieści psychologicznej, doprawionej szczyptą problematyki społecznej. Angielski kryminał natomiast czerpie garściami z tradycji Conan Doyle’a i Agathy Christie. Kiedy natomiast weźmiemy do ręki kryminał ze Szkocji, zauważymy, że Szkoci szczególnie upodobali sobie konwencję NOIR. Do tego stopnia, iż dla scharakteryzowania szkockiej twórczości kryminalnej ukuto termin tartan noir. Badacze literatury toczą spór, czy faktycznie tartan noir jest odrębnym zjawiskiem, czy tylko kontynuacją poetyki czarnego kryminału, niemniej jednak termin ten w odniesieniu do szkockich kryminałów jest już powszechnie stosowany. Tartan noir, oprócz motywów charakterystycznych dla klasycznej konwencji noir, cechuje się wyraźną ambiwalencją w konstrukcji głównego bohatera. To typowy antybohater, ale jednocześnie człowiek nie do końca zły. Podczas lektury czytelnik często ma problem z moralną oceną jego postępowania. Kryminał Malcolma Mackaya zatytułowany „Lewis Winter musi umrzeć” niejednokrotnie stawia czytającego w takiej właśnie sytuacji.

Więcej w linku:

http://www.portalkryminalny.pl/content/view/6041/35/