Wednesday, 5 June 2013

Park Avenue by Christopher Smith (a review)

This, the 6th book in the Fifth Avenue series, is up there with the best of thrillers.

The story centres around Leana Redman and her family. And what a family they are - she is all but estranged from her father, mother is in jail for murder, her cousin Pepper (one of the best characters here, just for comedy value) wants to head the family business and Leana's partners dad is the head of the New York Mafia.

In the past Louis Ryan has made it his business to destroy the Redmans. He is dead now, but that isn't going to stop him! He had a plan B and now that plan B is in place - two assassains are hired to finish off the Redman's and people around them. There are 10 names on the list, Leana, her brother Michael and her father are the final 3. There is a lot of quite inventive murder on the way to the final three, all of it quite nasty.

The finale comes at the opening of two massive new Manhatten hotels on the same night - one by Leana, her first project the other by her father (wouldn't you just know he'd have to open on the same night!). Will anyone survive? I'll leave that for you to find out.

This is a story of greed, revenge, big business, rivalry and family - if Jackie Collins and Mario Puzo got together to write something like Dallas - this book is what they would only dream of.

There are faults - mainly with one of the characters who, every time she appears, someone has to bring up the fact that her husbands ex-wife caught them 'on the job', but these are only tiny things that do not detract from the fact that this is a corker of a book. I read it on holiday and was constantly thinking "oh, just a few more pages" and before you know it half the afternoon is gone.

I have not read the previous books in this series (this was a review copy) but you can be sure I will be getting to them the first chance I get

Highly Recommended

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