Great North Road

Peter F. Hamilton

Oct 2012 · Tor UK

About this ebook

ST LIBRA IS A PARADISE FOR EARTH'S MEGA-RICH, UNTIL THE KILLING BEGINS.

When attending a Newcastle murder scene, Detective Sidney Hurst finds a dead North family clone. Yet none have been reported missing. And in 2122, twenty years ago, a North clone billionaire was horrifically murdered in the same manner on the tropical planet of St Libra. So, if the murderer is still at large, was Angela Tramelo wrongly convicted? She never wavered under interrogation, claiming she alone survived an alien attack.

Investigating this potential alien threat now becomes the Human Defence Agency's top priority. St Libran bio-fuel is the lifeblood of Earth's economy and must be secured. A vast expedition is mounted via the Newcastle gateway, and experts are dispatched to the planet - with Angela Tramelo, grudgingly released from prison.

But the expedition is cut off deep within St Libra's rainforests, and the murders begin. Angela insists it's the alien, but her new colleagues aren't sure. Did she see an alien, or does she have other reasons for being on St Libra?

Ratings and reviews

I have been a big Hamilton fan for a long time with the Greg Mandel and Nights Dawn trilogies sucking me right in. It seems to me though that every subsequent book has been slowing in pace and verve. There is a great story here, relate-able and/or interesting characters, really good settings, and as usual for Hamilton very well thought out science and technology. Unlike the previous trilogies I mentioned, this one was just not a page turner for me. I had to force my way through much of this book only being drawn in by the last 1/4 or so of this massive read. I want to get to know a character through the story arc, not through chapters of seemingly pointless interactions. The payoff was worth it, but only just.

Not great, Compared to his other books, I found this to be two separate stories with a little in common but not really helping each other along. The interesting imaginative stuff all happens in st Libra, and would've made a good stand alone story. Newcastle is a tiring crime novel, not my flavour and I was glad when that finished. I recommend Reading Hamiltons sagas instead. I also had to switch to the printed pages option, because the punctuation disappeared halfway through.

But there is no punctuation besides periods and commas. Having no talking marks or punctuation makes it hard to read, they used to be there, where did they go?

About the author

Peter F. Hamilton was born in Rutland in 1960 and still lives nearby. He began writing in 1987, and sold his first short story to Fear magazine in 1988. He has written many bestselling novels, including the Greg Mandel series, the Night's Dawn trilogy, the Commonwealth Saga, the Void trilogy, two short story collections and several standalone novels. Find out more about Peter F. Hamilton at www.peterfhamilton.co.uk , or discover more Pan Macmillan and Tor UK books at www.torbooks.co.uk