Many moons ago I stumbled across a book that blew me away, I read a lot but rarely do I read a book that stops me in my tracks and blocks me from contemplating any other book for a good few days. This book was called The Contortionist's Handbook by Craig Clevenger (sadly out of print now), one filled with twists and turns, taking you by the hand and allowing you to think that the plot was going in a certain direction, then pushed you off the roof and left you feeling awed and confused. It's one of the best books that I have ever read. Ghostman is just like this. The writing sucks you in, that it's almost like you're watching a film, a huge fast explosions everywhere action thriller. You don't know where it's going, or who you can trust, even the main character is all kinds of shady. It felt an early Chuck Palahniuk book, before he went soft. It’s gritty and a bit dirty, where the characters you rooted for were committing crimes, and where morals were shot out of a speeding car. Imagine if you mixed the brawn of Jack Reacher with the smarts of Poirot and that guy from Person of Interest, you might come close to the complexity of the Ghostman. As much as I love Lee Child books, I wouldn't categorise this as the next one, Ghostman is definitely in it's own smart-arse, don't mess with me, I can out-think and out-fight you category, one that I think it and all the other books will be happy with. This book does not play well with others. I know that this review is a little disjointed, but that’s how my mind has been left after reading it. I feel torn, I want everyone to read it so I can have those; ‘Oh my god, isn’t it fantastic’ conversations, but I also want to hold it close to my chest and reveal like a special gift. ‘Yes, this IS the book you want to read.’

Many moons ago I stumbled across a book that blew me away, I read a lot but rarely do I read a book that stops me in my tracks and blocks me from contemplating any other book for a good few days. This book was called The Contortionist's Handbook by Craig Clevenger (sadly out of print now), one filled with twists and turns, taking you by the hand and allowing you to think that the plot was going in a certain direction, then pushed you off the roof and left you feeling awed and confused. It's one of the best books that I have ever read. Ghostman is just like this. The writing sucks you in, that it's almost like you're watching a film, a huge fast explosions everywhere action thriller. You don't know where it's going, or who you can trust, even the main character is all kinds of shady. It felt an early Chuck Palahniuk book, before he went soft. It’s gritty and a bit dirty, where the characters you rooted for were committing crimes, and where morals were shot out of a speeding car. Imagine if you mixed the brawn of Jack Reacher with the smarts of Poirot and that guy from Person of Interest, you might come close to the complexity of the Ghostman. As much as I love Lee Child books, I wouldn't categorise this as the next one, Ghostman is definitely in it's own smart-arse, don't mess with me, I can out-think and out-fight you category, one that I think it and all the other books will be happy with. This book does not play well with others. I know that this review is a little disjointed, but that’s how my mind has been left after reading it. I feel torn, I want everyone to read it so I can have those; ‘Oh my god, isn’t it fantastic’ conversations, but I also want to hold it close to my chest and reveal like a special gift. ‘Yes, this IS the book you want to read.’

Jack Delton (not his real name) is a Ghostman, a criminal highly trained in disappearing after a heist. Jack is the best in this field, living for the rush and exitement of the game. One day, out of the blue, an old heistmaster manages to track Jack down and asks him to clean up a casino robbery gone south. Jack agrees and is soon busy dodging the FBI and the local crimelord's henchmen. A neat thriller full of intrigues, double crossings and heist-lore. Comparisons with Lee Child's Jack Reacher are not unfounded, the Ghostman also is a loner, albeit on the other side of the law and of the slighly paranoid persuasion. I bet we'll see more of him in the future...

The central character, Jack, or the Ghostman as he calls himself, is an engaging character with a plethora of disturbing skills and traits! Reading his description of current events is both entertaining and cringe-worthy, he appears to have no moral compass which is why he does the things he does and can then walk away without a second thought about those left in his wake. In that respect he reminded me of Jack Reacher and I did wonder whether the use of 'Jack' was an homage to the man-God creation of Lee Child, they both have this ability to do their thing and walk away, however, Reacher does it with a little more style and heart. In essence this section of the book is fine, no great surprises, lots of bloody corpses and a fair amount of mayhem, not to mention a hint of good things to come in the form of a sequel, perhaps featuring Rebecca, the dogged FBI agent and the enigmatic Angela? It was a good read. But the other section of the book was far better. Jack relates the events from five years previously in which a heist goes horribly wrong. Without giving anything away I can state with impunity that this was hugely entertaining and had a superb twist that although I guessed what it was it still made for a wonderful outcome. I suspect this particular twist will feature in subsequent books, after all that much money cannot be ignored! I did enjoy it but I felt that it lacked that certain 'Je ne c'est quoi' that makes Child's character just a little more......well, MORE?!! Still, don't be put off by my adoration and worship of Reacher, give this a try, it is good.

The latest in a series of lone, tough, untraceable male heroes! Although this one is “different”, in that he is involved in crime and some of the action is good, I don’t think it is enough for me to read any further books, plus there is some violence described (I.e. to a child) that I feel is unacceptable.