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The Innocents (Wil Hardesty Novels)
RRP: $6.50
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You Save: $ 6.50 ( 100% )
Manufacturer: Berkley
Author: Richard Barre
Publisher: Berkley
Average Customer Rating:
Our Price:
You Save: $ 6.50 ( 100% )
Manufacturer: Berkley
Author: Richard Barre
Publisher: Berkley
Average Customer Rating:
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The Innocents (Wil Hardesty Novels) Description
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780425161098
ISBN: 0425161099
Label: Berkley
Manufacturer: Berkley
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 1
Publication Date: 1997-12-01
Publisher: Berkley
Studio: Berkley
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780425161098
ISBN: 0425161099
Label: Berkley
Manufacturer: Berkley
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 1
Publication Date: 1997-12-01
Publisher: Berkley
Studio: Berkley
Editorial Review of The Innocents (Wil Hardesty Novels)
There are seven of them. Children--innocents--whose long-buried remains are uncovered by a flash-flood. No one knows who could have committed such a crime. Clues are scarce, and with the media turning the story into a law enforcement nightmare, time is short. Only Wil Hardesty, a private eye who has more in common with the case than anyone knows, is willing to push hard enough--and dig deep enough--to find the cruelest of killers. The killer of The Innocents...
Customer Reviews of The Innocents (Wil Hardesty Novels)
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: What price children?
Review: This is the first of the Wil Hardesty series. It involves one of those 'flashback' stories of seven children murdered 20 years earlier. Hardesty, filled with debilitating remorse over the death of his own son, is, through a series of events and conversations, asked to help find their killer.
The only clue available is a religious medal given by the father of one of the boys, a few days before the boy was lost. Wil suffers through his own angst, an ability to irritate the local police, his alcoholism, and his failing marriage to come up with a chain of clues, some right, and some horribly wrong.
I have read all of Barre's Wil Hardesty novels. He is a beautiful wordsmith, and in previous reviews I have added that he reminds me of James Lee Burke and James Dickey. It's a wonderful canvas he places his characters upon. The whole series is excellent. I might add with Parker or perhaps DeMille, it is uneccessary to start at the beginning. With Barre it may be a little a little easier.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: BAD THINGS AND GOOD PEOPLE
Review: It's long been known both in the real and literary world that bad things do happen to good people. In Richard Barre's THE INNOCENTS, yes, depressing things do happen; it amazes me that some reviewers found the book such a downer. I found it a tense and credible look at a very different PI, Wil Hardesty, who finds himself investigating the most heinous of crimes. He doesn't deliberately endanger the lives of his friends, and yes, he does have a cross to bear in the tragic loss of his son. In this debut novel, Wil is up against a powerful tycoon who donates lots of money to a church; the charismatic priest who will do anything to get money for his mission and to further his own "saintliness", and some tragic events that lead to the deaths of some of Wil's friends. Hardboiled yet sensitive, painfully realistic and a darn good read.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: A must read for lovers of the mystery genre
Review: Richard Barre is an incredible wordsmith. When reading about his California, I can almost hear the ocean, and feel the warm breezes. His main character, Wil Hardesty is man struggling with his own past, in particular, the death of his young son. This adds a depth to the charecter usually not found in books sbout PI's.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: This won an award?
Review: I was extremely disappointed with this book. I saw that it had won an award for best first novel and set my expectations on it. The book was extremely slow throughout, and dragged on more and more as the book went on. I honestly felt myself not caring how the book ended and put it down many times. The only reason I finished it was that my wife had bought it as a gift for me. Yes, the plot revolves around the morbid concept of young children being killed, but it isn't that in of itself that I consider the downfall of this book. The author has chosen to tell this story from both the hero and antagonist's side, but not to good effect. The suspense doesn't build as to how the two will meet. Rather it drags on as Wil Hardesty draws conclusions from the flimsiest items that he draws hunches on, so that you find yourself feeling the story isn't very credible. Furthermore, the interactions of characters, don't seem that realistic, as Hardesty easily puts his friends in peril throughout the book while clearly aware of the nature of the villains. Overall I feel that the concept of the book had great potential, but the characters and the story itself make the book undesirable. Don't give any credence to the fact that this won an award. I highly recommend that you move on to something else, rather than choose this book.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: "NOT ALL THAT GREAT"
Review: I understand this is Richard Barre's first book. He did far better than I could do. Wil Hardesty is introduced as a PI. There are seven children found in graves after a flash flood. The father of one of the seven hires Wil to find out who killed his son. Seems as people close to Wil either get killed or hurt. I really liked the first 179 pages (paperpack) after that the book seemed to really drag until the last 10-15 pages. If you read it you can see what happened on page 179. I don't want ot say as it would take away from the story. There was a lot of talk and more talk after that. The book does end well but it was a long read, nearly but it down several times.
Review Summary: What price children?
Review: This is the first of the Wil Hardesty series. It involves one of those 'flashback' stories of seven children murdered 20 years earlier. Hardesty, filled with debilitating remorse over the death of his own son, is, through a series of events and conversations, asked to help find their killer.
The only clue available is a religious medal given by the father of one of the boys, a few days before the boy was lost. Wil suffers through his own angst, an ability to irritate the local police, his alcoholism, and his failing marriage to come up with a chain of clues, some right, and some horribly wrong.
I have read all of Barre's Wil Hardesty novels. He is a beautiful wordsmith, and in previous reviews I have added that he reminds me of James Lee Burke and James Dickey. It's a wonderful canvas he places his characters upon. The whole series is excellent. I might add with Parker or perhaps DeMille, it is uneccessary to start at the beginning. With Barre it may be a little a little easier.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: BAD THINGS AND GOOD PEOPLE
Review: It's long been known both in the real and literary world that bad things do happen to good people. In Richard Barre's THE INNOCENTS, yes, depressing things do happen; it amazes me that some reviewers found the book such a downer. I found it a tense and credible look at a very different PI, Wil Hardesty, who finds himself investigating the most heinous of crimes. He doesn't deliberately endanger the lives of his friends, and yes, he does have a cross to bear in the tragic loss of his son. In this debut novel, Wil is up against a powerful tycoon who donates lots of money to a church; the charismatic priest who will do anything to get money for his mission and to further his own "saintliness", and some tragic events that lead to the deaths of some of Wil's friends. Hardboiled yet sensitive, painfully realistic and a darn good read.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: A must read for lovers of the mystery genre
Review: Richard Barre is an incredible wordsmith. When reading about his California, I can almost hear the ocean, and feel the warm breezes. His main character, Wil Hardesty is man struggling with his own past, in particular, the death of his young son. This adds a depth to the charecter usually not found in books sbout PI's.
This book, the first in the series, starts with the discovery of seven bodies. Childrens bodies. Hardesty is hired to discover who they are and why they are there.
Barre writes with a passion, and it shows. The investigative technique is right on, and the book draws you in fast. This is a series any one who calls themself a fan of mysteries should read ...
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: This won an award?
Review: I was extremely disappointed with this book. I saw that it had won an award for best first novel and set my expectations on it. The book was extremely slow throughout, and dragged on more and more as the book went on. I honestly felt myself not caring how the book ended and put it down many times. The only reason I finished it was that my wife had bought it as a gift for me. Yes, the plot revolves around the morbid concept of young children being killed, but it isn't that in of itself that I consider the downfall of this book. The author has chosen to tell this story from both the hero and antagonist's side, but not to good effect. The suspense doesn't build as to how the two will meet. Rather it drags on as Wil Hardesty draws conclusions from the flimsiest items that he draws hunches on, so that you find yourself feeling the story isn't very credible. Furthermore, the interactions of characters, don't seem that realistic, as Hardesty easily puts his friends in peril throughout the book while clearly aware of the nature of the villains. Overall I feel that the concept of the book had great potential, but the characters and the story itself make the book undesirable. Don't give any credence to the fact that this won an award. I highly recommend that you move on to something else, rather than choose this book.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: "NOT ALL THAT GREAT"
Review: I understand this is Richard Barre's first book. He did far better than I could do. Wil Hardesty is introduced as a PI. There are seven children found in graves after a flash flood. The father of one of the seven hires Wil to find out who killed his son. Seems as people close to Wil either get killed or hurt. I really liked the first 179 pages (paperpack) after that the book seemed to really drag until the last 10-15 pages. If you read it you can see what happened on page 179. I don't want ot say as it would take away from the story. There was a lot of talk and more talk after that. The book does end well but it was a long read, nearly but it down several times.