Asian Trips - The Shadow Walker
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List Price: $14.00
www.asiantrips.info Price: $11.20
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Manufacturer: Berkley Trade
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Average Customer Rating:   
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.92
EAN: 9780425222331
ISBN: 0425222330
Label: Berkley Trade
Manufacturer: Berkley Trade
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 352
Publication Date: 2008-08-05
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Studio: Berkley Trade
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Editorial Reviews:
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“A crime debut that evokes modern Mongolia with vividness and flair…a robust and entertaining first novel.”( The Age)
As winter falls upon the streets of Ulan Bataar, Mongolia, a serial killer is just getting warmed up. When the mutilated body of a fourth victim is found in one of the city’s most expensive hotels, Nergui, the former head of the Serious Crimes squad, is no closer to catching the killer and will accept any help he can get.
Drew McLeish, a senior British CID officer and no stranger to the savage side of human nature, is sent out to lend his expertise to the investigation. From the abandoned factories of the city’s decaying suburbs to the icy expanse of the barren steppes, Nergui and McLeish follow a trail of the dead.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Competent but lacking.
Comment: The Shadow Walker is a lean, competently written story, but it certainly lacks bite. Unlike those who wrote the blurbs on the book's cover, I would argue that the story within does not do justice to its setting. Readers who are looking for an inside look at the nuances of an exotic culture interspersed with a first rate mystery thriller would be best served with the likes of John Burdett's far superior Bangkok 8. The crime scenes and procedures are supposed to be brutal but even those descriptions cover tired ground - the head and the hands removed? Check. Placed on a table to be found later? Check. Corrupt cops? Check. Trying to trace a phone call before the mysterious caller disconnects? Triple check. Characterization also is lacking. Nergui's past is never explored but only hinted at, and he does nothing to separate himself from other more vibrant mystery characters from other novels. McLeish, the inspector from the UK, offers no theories that I can think of and seemingly exists just so he can be taken hostage later (this plot point is revealed on the book jacket FYI-no spoiler). At one point, Nergui ruminates that he had come to know McLeish as not only a fellow officer, " but also a friend." I don't know how they became friends because neither character offered any information to the other that would foster such a relationship. Plot locomotion is created by a series of scenes that take place at dinners, in offices, and in bars, none of which take advantage of the Mongolian environment or are described in much detail. Upon further review, the dialogue, while serviceable and not cumbersome, consists mostly of the two detectives agreeing with each other that this case, indeed, is difficult to solve. Thumbs down, also, to the clumsy finale, in which a main baddie supplies a several-page exposition speech without much prompting, before leading to a conclusion that we have seen thousands of times before. This review reads like a slam, but the novel isn't an amateurish groaner - it just doesn't really break any new ground. I would hope that if Nergui turns up again we will see what makes the guy tick, and get away from some of the clichés that make this novel very, very average.
Customer Rating:
Summary: First Novel (and it shows)
Comment: Mediocre at best - the setting makes it somewhat interesting but the writing is poor - I would not recommend.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Off Beat Locale but Little Real Cultural Content
Comment: Interesting story set in a unique crime fighting environment. I got the impression that most of the local color came from web searches. A worthy attempt but it would have been better if it had more in depth authenticity.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good First Mystery Novel
Comment: The Shadow Walker is the first novel by Britisher Michael Walters. It is an unusual piece of work in that the main character is a Mongolian detective named Nergui while the British character, Chief Inspector Drew McLeish, plays second fiddle. Also unusual is that the novel is set in Mongolia with much of the action occurring in the capital city of Ulan Bator.
This novel is well paced and manages to impart to the reader much interesting information about Mongolia today without getting dull. Both Nergui and McLeish are interesting characters and, along with the storyline, help to hold the reader's interest. However, the book's ending was abrupt and anticlimatic so much so that this novel does not merit a perfect 5 star review. Hopefully, Walters's next novel will have a more satisfying finish.
Customer Rating:
Summary: strong police procedural
Comment: In Ulan Bataar, Mongolia, the police are stymied as a silent serial killer stalks the streets. The unknown culprit has left behind his fourth mutilated corpse with a severed head and limbs this time in a luxurious hotel. Former Serious Crimes Chief Nergui is ordered back to lead the official investigation, but is frustrated having made no progress at all in catching the predator.
He needs specialized help as serial killers are outside his experience or any member of the department especially his younger replacement as section chief Doripalam. British CID Chief Inspector Drew McLeish is sent to assist Nergui on his quest to catch the killer before more people die, but he realizes that he knows nothing about the land or the people that he is to profile as he is five thousand miles from home. They work as a team with Nergui providing the insight to the city, the suburbs and the Gobi while Drew brings the profiling even as the body count mounts.
THE SHADOW WALKER is a strong police procedural with an exciting serial killer investigation, but it is the location that makes this tale standout. Nergui is a superb cop, but readers will appreciate even more his in-depth tour guide role as he escorts the audience and Drew around the city, the suburbs and beyond.
Harriet Klausner
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