“The Inquisitor” by Mark Allen Smith – The Thin Line Between Right and Wrong
Geiger is a man with a most unusual life. For starters, he remembers nothing before the moment he came to New York on a bus. What’s more, he turns out to have a very useful gift: being able to instantly tell if someone is lying. As such, he has become employed as an agent in charge of extracting information from people, and needless to say, he has a whole bag of tricks up his sleeve to make that happen.
While some of his methods are physical, Geiger truly flourishes when it comes to "convincing" people to say the truth via fear rather than pain. However, he is not all ruthless as he does have one principles he always abides by: never work with children.
When his partner brings a client who demands that Geiger interrogate a twelve year-old buy, things go awry as our protagonist saves the boy and flees to his New York apartment, where the true journey begins.
Contrary to what you may think, the torture techniques employed by Mark Allen Smith in The Inquisitor are far from being the focus of the book. Yes, they are demonstrated in exquisite detail, but much more attention is paid to the character of Geiger and his journey of self-rediscovery.
At first, he appears to be very cold, rude, distant and rational, but the more you learn about him, the more captivating his mystery becomes. Not only are you wondering what kind of life led him to be what he has become, but also what kind of life will he lead now that he has saved a boy’s life and has become the target of a manhunt?
Indeed, his employers didn’t simply let him walk away, sending special operatives to find him and capture him (or perhaps even kill him, should the situation call for it). And so, while suffering from an emotional crisis, Geiger is also forced to run for his life, all while trying to figure out what kind of secret the boy is hiding, without of course torturing him.
All in all, I have to say that this was a very thrilling read, and much to the pleasure of many readers, quite violent in certain segments. However, if you aren’t a fan of violence, rest assured that such episodes are relatively few and far in-between, because as I mentioned earlier, the bulk of the story focuses on Geiger’s inner struggles. There are two mysteries which are being solved simultaneously (the boy’s and Geiger’s), and, for me at least, they are what kept me going on through the book.
At first, he appears to be very cold, rude, distant and rational, but the more you learn about him, the more captivating his mystery becomes. Not only are you wondering what kind of life led him to be what he has become, but also what kind of life will he lead now that he has saved a boy’s life and has become the target of a manhunt?
Indeed, his employers didn’t simply let him walk away, sending special operatives to find him and capture him (or perhaps even kill him, should the situation call for it). And so, while suffering from an emotional crisis, Geiger is also forced to run for his life, all while trying to figure out what kind of secret the boy is hiding, without of course torturing him.
All in all, I have to say that this was a very thrilling read, and much to the pleasure of many readers, quite violent in certain segments. However, if you aren’t a fan of violence, rest assured that such episodes are relatively few and far in-between, because as I mentioned earlier, the bulk of the story focuses on Geiger’s inner struggles. There are two mysteries which are being solved simultaneously (the boy’s and Geiger’s), and, for me at least, they are what kept me going on through the book.
Of course, Mark Allen Smith knew that he couldn’t simply deliver a novel about character development, and so he included many masterfully-crafted suspense scenes, making this book for what I believe to be one of today’s most enjoyable suspense/thriller mystery novels. It may not be the best one, either story-wise or from a technical perspective, but it sure as hell will keep your eyes glued to its pages until the very end, and personally, that’s all I ask from a book.
 | Mark Allen Smith |
Comments
Post a Comment