The Black Sun by James Twining
September 15th 2006 03:33
James Twining’s second novel The Black Sun is also the second in series to feature Tom Kirk. After the adventures in The Double Eagle, Kirk has shunned his art robbery ways and has become a decent citizen. Now, he uses his expertise to recapture stolen artifacts. Same thing as before, one might say, but on the other side of the fence.
The novel starts with the murder of an Auschwitz survivor whose arm is sawed off and taken as a trophy. On the other side, Tom and his friend Mario are called to investigate the theft of a few virtually unknown painter. The theft is remarkable only because similar thefts have been attempted and it is clear someone is desperately trying to lay hands on the painting.
It is not long before MI5 ( or is it 6?) comes knocking on tom’s doors. Since the book is written by a British guy, you find a touch of condescension toward CIA and a little glorification of MI5. Soon, the sawed off arm turns up in the fridge of Tom Kirk and the dead guy may not have been an Auschwitz
survivor after all, but a member of the one of the most elite orders of Hitler’s army. That’s funny because when I was reading this novel, Gunther Grass laid bare the skeletons in his cupboard. It turns out that before doing the suicide act, Hitler had sent away his most elite order on secret mission to hide a train, yes a train full of valuable treasures and now, half of the world is after it.
In The Black Sun, Twining makes strides in his plotting, which is more elaborate and complex than in his first novel. The action moves fast enough and the set pieces are very well-etched. But the problem with the novel is its hero. If Kirk was bland in the first book, he is so colourless in this one that even minor characters come off more strongly than him. Maybe in the next novel,Twining should work a bit more on his hero.
One more thing. The cover of the hardcover edition with a humungous black cross does nothing to whet your appetite to read this book. Better cover designs would help the next time around.
The Black Sun by James Twining
It is not long before MI5 ( or is it 6?) comes knocking on tom’s doors. Since the book is written by a British guy, you find a touch of condescension toward CIA and a little glorification of MI5. Soon, the sawed off arm turns up in the fridge of Tom Kirk and the dead guy may not have been an Auschwitz
survivor after all, but a member of the one of the most elite orders of Hitler’s army. That’s funny because when I was reading this novel, Gunther Grass laid bare the skeletons in his cupboard. It turns out that before doing the suicide act, Hitler had sent away his most elite order on secret mission to hide a train, yes a train full of valuable treasures and now, half of the world is after it.
James Twining Source:jamestwining.com
One more thing. The cover of the hardcover edition with a humungous black cross does nothing to whet your appetite to read this book. Better cover designs would help the next time around.
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