Some Danger Involved: A Novel
by Will Thomas
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Book Summary Information
Author: Will ThomasEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-03-01
ISBN: 0743256190
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Touchstone
Book Reviews of Some Danger Involved: A Novel
Book Review: 5 stars for the atmosphere, 2 stars for the mystery
Summary: 4 Stars
The strength of this novel is the atmosphere--the sense of life in certain sections of Victorian London. The greatest weakness, however, is that it does a very poor job as a mystery, and the storytelling leaves much to be desired. If you glance over the synopses of the books in the series it appears that most (maybe all) of them involve ethnic groups. Some Danger Involved has Barker and Llewelyn working with the Jewish section of London, To Kingdom Come with the Irish, The Limehouse Text with the Chinese, etc. It's an interesting idea, but it also seems rather artificial and forced--as if Barker and Llewelyn are on a cruise ship sightseeing in different countries. There is also the danger that the novelty may pale, and without a good underlying mystery and storytelling strength the series could falter.
Barker is an enigmatic figure--widely-travelled, excellent at martial arts and armed combat, speaks innumerable languages, and seems to have no visible weaknesses (which is rather a weakness in a novel). He explains some things to Llewelyn, who narrates the stories, but there is also much that he keeps to himself. Enigmatic figures are fine--but in terms of the mystery aspects, since Llewelyn is kept in the dark about many things, so is the reader, and so the solution at the end is most unsatisfactory, since it is sprung on the reader without any buildup, hints, or warnings: the reader has no sense of participating in solving the case.
So this is best read for the descriptions of the city, with its various quarters, the influx of Jewish immigrants and the antisemitism. The reasearch seems to be well-done. But realize that it doesn't work well as a mystery novel.
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