Glenn Cooper, Library Of The Dead

Library Of The Dead is a gripping and suspense-filled action throughout.

Highly original storyline and enough twists and turns in the action to keep the reader guessing about the final outcome.

Extremely well researched historical Mystery Thriller, but so well written that this book is probably going to have a broad appeal

to lovers of a well crafted novel - whatever their usual tastes in reading material.

Whilst on a recent holiday with friends in a rental property in the Dordogne region of France; where I had gone to soak up the history and archaeology of the area " particularly the spectacular examples of Cave art; I was loaned a copy of'Library Of The Dead ' .

Being a voracious reader of varied interests I was delighted to receive this unexpected windfall " as I had, in my usual disorganised way, omitted to pack any books to read. A glance at the pr cis on the back cover revealed that the subject matter was my preferred avenue of literary escapism...a mystery thriller. Moreover, it purported to be a crossover Archaeological / Law Enforcement thriller " a very pleasing discovery for me to make, being an archaeologist myself.

However, following further research on the Internet, I found that'Library Of The Dead'was a debut novel. The subject matter promised to be intriguing " but I was aware that I would be navigating uncharted waters. Either I would be swept along on a swift current of enthralling and suspense-filled action into the imaginative and absorbing world of a new author......or simply eddied turgidly along and through some promising yet under-developed story lines, before limply falling off the edge of a flat two-dimensional world. ' Here be Dragons ' indeed.

On the first evening I took the plunge and entered the world of Will Piper, a cynical, embittered and hard-drinking F.B.I. agent ; a man set firmly on navigating the course of least resistance and inconvenience to himself in arriving at his chosen destination - his service pension and the bars in which to spend it.

Piper, formerly THE F.B.I. ' s top profiler and hunter of serial killers has completely from grace and has been quietly sidelined into the mundane backwaters of routine crime investigation. With extreme reluctance, he is railroaded into heading up the investigation into the'Doomsday Killer' , a twisted monster of unimaginable cunning and intelligence....and every law enforcement officer ' s most horrific nightmare; a killer who never uses the same M.O. to cull his prey " and targets victims with no apparent preference for age, sex or race.

The only constant in each death is a ghoulish postcard addressed to the victim "with a note informing them of their due date to die.......

Sadly for me; by this time already a respectable distance into the book; I was rudely dragged back into the real world by my better half announcing that dinner was ready. The meal, though excellent, was totally wasted on me as I mulled over the storyline.... and realised that I was positively itching to get back to the highly original and easily digestible narrative, and punchy, descriptive prose.

By dint of pleading a totally bogus headache " refusing dessert to make it look even more convincing; I excused myself to go upstairs and ' lie down ' and swiftly re-immersed myself in my literary feast. Over the space of the next few days, using any free time that I could snatch, I managed to finish the book. My initial reservations about reading a first offering by a new author - and fears that the narrative might run out of steam or lose direction were totally unfounded.

The saga unfolds over three different time periods and two continents; incorporating dramatis personae from 8th and 20th century Britain, and players from World War II as well as 21st century America . I had to keep reminding myself that this is a first novel by an American author " Mr. Cooper switches easily from the correct and very formal spoken English of WW II Britain, to the less rigid and more fluid conversational norms of the present day, yet without ' Americanising ' the dialogue spoken by his British characters.

The book itself works on so many levels, sets so many moods; totally captivating the reader and completely drawing you into what can fairly be described as a symphonic masterpiece of literature. The author makes excellent and economic use of prose " yet imparts the maximum of information in highly detailed tranches, introducing new characters and situations swiftly and adroitly.

Glenn Cooper makes superlative use of conversational dialogue to impart further background information about his dramatis personae and to set the scene for each new twist and turn in the narrative; using crisp, concise and on occasion highly amusing narration... effortlessly avoiding the pitfall that many authors fall prey to " that of ' lecturing ' rather than subtly informing the reader.

He also makes expert use of every literary ruse and artifice to evoke moods and changes of tempo in his narrative. This first offering is so incredibly well written; and in such an individual and highly engaging style; that it would be insulting to'contrast and compare'with other books of this genre.

This book is crammed with highly descriptive pen-pictures - and fluid, credible conversational dialogue. The evocative and detailed descriptions of life in 8th century Britain are meticulously and accurately researched, the biographical sketches of his Dark Age and modern-day characters being skilfully crafted and presented in such a way that you feel that you are actually present " in that place and time, as an invisible participant in the drama. Mr Cooper ' s in-depth knowledge of his subject matter is immediately obvious " yet is imparted in such a way, that his sympathy for and empathy with his characters is transparently obvious.

Without giving anything away, and spoiling a tantalising, captivating and thoroughly entertaining story, I will cut to the chase, and state that if you enjoy an intelligent and well written tale " whatever your literary taste - then this is a ' must read ' by an Incredible new talent. This book is sheer, blissful and thoroughly enjoyable escapism and is also both highly entertaining and original and I have only one real complaint to make - that I will have to contain my impatience and await the publication of the sequel.......