Anywut?

Title: Hour Game
Author: David Baldacci
Publisher: Pan Books
Language: English
ISBN-13:978-0-330-41173-8
Book Type: Fiction
Category: Mystery & Thriller
Pages: 736
Format: Paperback
Cover Price: £6.99
Publish Date: June 03, 2005
Rating: 4/5
Link: Amazon.co.uk, Pan Books
Synopsis: Following their collaboration in Split Second, ex-Secret Service agents Sean King and Michelle Maxwell have gone into partnership and are investigating the robbery of some secret documents at the residence of the incredibly wealthy Battle family. It seems like a straightforward case of domestic burglary, but soon they begin to suspect links to larger, more terrifying events now shaking the prosperous town of Writghtsburg…

The unidentified corpse of an attractive young woman turns up in the woods; two high school kids, one shot in the back, the other in the face, are found dead in their car; a successful lawyer is discovered stabbed to death in her own home. A serial killer is on the loose. The murderer kills in the manner of famous killers of the past but takes care to leave a stopped watch at the scene of each crime – corresponding to the victim’s position on his hit list.

As the killing spree escalates it seems that the fractured Battle family are somehow involved and Maxwell and King suddenly find themselves racing to solve an intricate puzzle, one that is full of tantalizing clues but barren of solid evidence, and one that is leaving even the FBI confounded. And all the while, the body count is rising…

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Firstly I must admit that it’s been more than a year since I finished Hour Game so my opinions have kind of faded and less detailed than usual.

Hour Game is the second book in the Sean King and Michelle Maxwell series, preceded by Split Second, which I haven’t had the chance to read yet.

Together with The Architect, this one is my favorite for being a very well-crafted mystery thriller. The book is notably thicker than most I’ve read, but not necessarily hard to read at all. It was a joyful ride. The whole 736 pages are packed with details for a crime that had clues leading to everywhere and nowhere but in the end everything tied together neat and well without a single loose thread. Both Sean King and Michelle Maxwell proved to be likable characters. There were balance in the couples, being one man and one woman, being former professionals but now retired into private investigators, being level-head but at the same time sentimental. All of that made their journey to the truth plausible and believable.

I think writing a good mystery thriller is difficult. You’ll need the details, the knots, the revelations, the twists, the ending and most importantly the pacing to make things work. Tie the knots too soon and it becomes rushed. Reveal too late and no one cares anymore. Hour Game managed to stay neat and strong and well-paced, despite its length. Highly recommended.