Afterburn

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View books by Colin Harrison.

Not Many Better - Rated
This was the 3rd of Harrison's novels that I read following Manhattan Nocturne and Bodies Electric. I have to say that I thought that the Havana Room doesn't come close to those 3 novels - each of them amazing to me. I was shocked with the 1 star rating from another reviewer which prompted me to ramble. It's a while since I read Afterburn but I remember being totally enthralled and the characterisation was the best I have ever read. Ok, so I'm a fan, but make no mistake, this book comes with a high velocity plot, brilliant characters and will keep you guessing til the final pages. Harrison is in a class of his own.

Gripping stuff... - Rated
.. I agree with what the reviewer below has said, except his rating of 2 stars!! If you like Colin Harrison as I do, you accept and appreciate his character building, and in effect real, rather than romantic outcomes. This book certainly did make me feel queasy when reading certain of the torture parts, because you read about these things in real life. The Havana Room is I feel his best book, but I recommend them all.

Grisly gorefest - Rated
A Vietnam vet dates a mathematically-gifted ex-con, not knowing that she has ruthless enemies.

Beware: Colin Harrison's foreword about torture bares the heart of this slick thriller: a series of sickeningly graphic torture scenes. Characterisation is good: when the pain threshold rises, you'll sweat with the victims. The plot moves along briskly, with some neat twists including sympathetic characters who do not survive, and villains who do. A scene with a frozen turkey must rank as one of the blackest comedy moments of all time. But if cruelty makes you queasy, give this a miss.

Thriller without a thrill - Rated
I bought this book on the basis of a positive review in a Danish literary weekly. I was sadly disappointed. The plot is uninteresting and predictable, the characters are crude stereotypes, the dialogue is clumsy, the torture scenes are pointlessly sickening, and the sex scenes are dull and uninventive. Twice I found myself leaving the book aside for weeks simply because it wasn't interesting what would happen next - a bad sign for any type of book.You'll have a good chance of finding a better read in any train station or airport kiosk.