Do You like book The Upright Man (2004)?
SLIGHTLY SPOILER-ISH: I thought the first half of this book was sometimes painfully slow with a few too many unnecessarily long passages of internal monologue. BUT, the last 1/3 of the book delivered the goods in a big way. I love these flawed characters and the dark conspiracy their caught up in. The descriptive passages are detailed and effective. I felt the cold and sensed the darkness. I even enjoyed the suggestion of cryptozoid humanoids at the heart of the conspiracy. The way the author dances around this idea is fun reading. On to the third book!
—Pam
This is actually a follow-on from The Straw Men - which I haven't read (yet!). I enjoyed Michael's style of writing, quick-paced and flows well and not filled with needless details - I don't enjoy reading a thriller that is too heavy on what I consider irrelevant details - details that seem to be provided in order to fill pages and which don't actually do anything or add to the plot - it bores me!This book had a couple of threads running through that seem unrelated but do eventually meet... the ending for me was a little too easily wrapped - all of a sudden everything comes together and is tied with a big red bow but irrespective of this, The Lonely Dead has sparked enough interest for me to check out some of Michael's other books...
—Simonne Davis
The first book in the Straw Men trilogy blew me away. It was a serial killer conspiracy thriller that was full of action, originality and some great characters. And The Lonely Dead, the second book in the trilogy, is no different in that respect. It barrels along at a fast pace, there are plenty of action and gripping set pieces, and the characters, some familiar, some new, are great. Marshall's writing is addictive and reminiscent of Stephen King, and he can write action just as well as he can write dialogue and description. The only thing that stopped this getting five stars, is the plot. It's complex and twisting and unpredictable, but it doesn't go very far. One plot strand is solved, but there are yet more questions and not enough answers. There are a few sub plots that are left unexplained and seem pointless in hindsight. I realise there is another book to come, but this second installment felt like filler that could have perhaps been edited down to be split into the first and third books, basically making this a duology rather than a trilogy. However, Marshall's writing and characters more than make up for the plot and this is still a standout book of its genre. Highly recommended.
—Sam Whitehouse