Reviews for Visibility

The average rating for Visibility based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-12-01 00:00:00 David Gookin As a fearful fog moves through London, Herbert Smith of London's murder squad is on the hunt for a suspect who killed a young scientist in the murky waters of Long Water. London is gripped by this fog which is such a pea souper that it causes ambulances and police to lose their way and hinders people who become lost though they know the area as well as the back of their hand. The fog is also toxic and it makes many people sick and unable to breathe. The hospitals are full of people suffering from breathing difficulties and bronchial ailments. Herbert meets many people of interest in his quest to find the killer. During his investigation he makes friends with Hannah, a blind diver who searches the river for evidence in the case. Her help proves to be invaluable in the fog since she doesn't depend on sight to help her get around. Shady characters come out of the woodwork and spies are around every corner. It seems that the young scientist had proof of something that could change the entire world. After the war, there was spy activity from Russia, England, USA and elsewhere. The hunt was on for Nazi war criminals and there were hunts for communists. And everyone wanted intelligence. Who could be trusted? Who was a spy? Who was a Nazi, or a commie or a double agent? Who had secrets that could change the world? The unsettled atmosphere of post World War II is present in this spy caper set in enshrouding fog in the city by the Thames. The dense fog adds to the mysterious atmosphere as the story skips back and forth between Nazi occupation and the hunt for the mysterious killer where the suspect list grows with each piece of evidence that Herbert discovers. I really enjoyed this story. It was the first book I've read by Boris Starling and I will look for more of his work. If you like a good post World War II yarn with all the paranoia and intrigue, this is a great story and it is filled with the atmosphere of London in 1952.

Review # 2 was written on 2008-05-07 00:00:00 Dmitri Slavin VISIBILITY (Police Proc-Herbert Smith-England-1952) - VG Starling, Boris - 4th book An Onyx Book, 2008, US Paperback ISBN - 9780451412508 First Sentence: The fog was coming, without and within. Det. Herbert Smith is dealing with a body found in the shallows of the Long Water and trying to investigate a case where England's Five, the espionage division of which Smith had been a member, the CIA and the KGB. Making the investigation even more difficult is the worst fog London has ever seen, but Smith is aided by Hannah Mortimer, a police diver with a tragic past. Starling created an excellent sense of place. The denseness of the fog becomes integral to the story. He also excels at character development allowing you to learn about the characters continually thorough the story, as one would get to know people in real life. In fact, the core of the story really was about Herbert and Hannah and what made them who they are. The rest felt secondary around that. The story also lacked a strong element of suspense until you were more than half way through the story. There was a lot of detail, some I found fascinating, some boring but I learned a lot. A firm editing hand would have helped this book tremendously. Although nothing with ever touch Starling's first book "Messiah," I did enjoy this book.