Reviews for The Pied Piper (Boldt and Matthews Series #5)

The average rating for The Pied Piper (Boldt and Matthews Series #5) based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2017-02-22 00:00:00 John Join I bought this book a couple of years ago having sought recommendations from a couple of fellow readers on Shelfari, having asked about American crime authors I might like to try. I had slightly mixed feelings about it overall. On the plus side, it was a good meaty story, plenty of action, and (once I had adjusted to the unfamiliarity of the experience - US cop thrillers of this ilk are a different kettle of fish from the British, Irish and Nordic crime I read a lot more of) made for a pretty absorbing read. The plot concerns the abduction of children in Seattle, and the complicated internal politics which hinder the investigation of the crime. It just felt a bit alien in places, a bit unnatural, as if me being unaccustomed to the setting and the sub-genre it all came across strange. The dialogue seemed very hard-boiled and wise-cracky, and I found this hard to get used to. I know black humour etc. goes on in all jobs, this just felt a bit too sharp and snarky as if in a prime-time drama. I also found it odd that everyone seemed to mistrust everyone else as opposed to co-operating (esp. with regards local vrs federal agents). Perhaps there isn't the same kind of level of suspicion of authorities in the UK, but here is just seemed ridiculous how few people, whether they were a 'goodie' or 'baddie', could be taken as being trustworthy/genuine. It was a big complex novel, thankfully many of the twists weren't eye-rollingly unbelievable (many were achieved through hard work and insight) but the plot was a bit lacking in credibility at times. I also found the female characters to be refreshingly normal in that they mainly behaved like the male characters - there wasn't all the 'constantly thinking about relationships' trope that sometimes is true of female characters in this kind of book. The descriptiveness was sometimes a bit cheesy, but sometimes hit the mark and created an atmosphere. So yes, all in all, a good solid US police thriller, and though I'm glad to have tried Ridley Pearson I won't be rushing to read all his others.

Review # 2 was written on 2010-04-16 00:00:00 Michael Bombara In this genre, for me, there is John Sandford and there is everybody else. Ridley Pearson's Lou Boldt/Daphne Matthews series is really the only one that truly stands along side the Prey books. I've recently given the series a re-read and if you have the chance, I highly recommend them. Pearson creates a very human, very likable cop in his main character Lou Boldt. He's not the badass hero who always saves the day. He's the tireless worker who plugs away at a case until it submits to him. The interplay between him and Daphne Matthews is flawless. Add in some other great characters like LaMoia, Bobbie Gaynes and Showswitz and you've always got some fun in store. The best part of these books is the combination of the case in conjunction with the humanity of the characters. They are real, flawed and doing their best in a world and setting where that's not always enough. I highly recommend starting at the beginning of this series and reading it though. The series starts in the days when a fax machine was a big deal and cell phones were unheard of and advances along with the times. Once you put that aside, it's great reading though. Check them out.