Visibility

by Boris Starling

Book Overview

An evocative, gritty, and realistic page-turner full of international espionage and brilliant plot twists, Visibility marks a spine-tingling new achievement in Cold War thrillers. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0525949968
• ISBN13: 9780525949961
• Release Date: March 2007
• Publisher: Dutton Books
• Length: 375 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.4" x 9.2"
• Age Range: 14 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 9 and higher

Customer Reviews

a good story

This book is a decent read. The author has a competent writing style with good detail. I admit the idea of a blind female police diver in 1950's England was unlikely - but after stumbling over that particular item the rest of the tale was enjoyable.

Good read

Another book off the beaten path for Starling. However, an excellent read. Loved the historical setting.

Very good

This is my first book by this author Boris Starling, picked up on a whim. In a way, I'm happy to take a breather from "best sellers". What's in the market today? All the best sellers are same, like one reviewer said "Curse you, Dan Brown". At least 50% of the books are DaVinci types, even 3-4 years after the fact, then you got your serial killers, rapists, your comic book adventure (Cussler/Reilly/DuBrul) types, your Kontz's, Kings, Patterson's, etc. Yawn, yawn, and triple yawn. Then you got this one, a 1952 England post-WW2 police mystery. Alright, I thought I'd give it a chance. Not much happens in 1952 England, right? Right away, I realized that Boris is a very good writer. I have to separate my comments into two parts. First are the characters, second is the story. When I say Boris is a good writer, I mean that he has a great talent of writing believeable characters. The characters come across as having realistic 3 dimensional personalities that really come alive from the pages. Not many authors can do that. To many authors, characters are just to move the story along, not much depth to them, but Boris's characters have a lot of depth. I enjoyed reading these characters. Second is the story. Unfortunately, I'm somewhat right about 1952 England. After reading reams of pages on serial killers, the Vatican, long lost treasures, hunts across 3 continents, long dead acquaintances suddenly leaving e-mail for you, 1952 England is somewhat of a let down. I won't reveal much of the story, all I'll say is that the protagonist is a Scotland Yard Inspector who used to be in MI5 during the war. However, Boris does a very good job of describing 1952 England. In looking at his picture on the back I'm very surprised to find him so young. OK, he's a Londoner, but how does he write such a realistic background. For this and the characters I give him full marks. For the story, I give him an A for effort. So, to summarize, this book isn't as exciting as many of the books on the best seller list, but Boris' character development somewhat makes up for it. And if you want to lose yourself from 2007 and put yourself in another place, say 1952 England then this book is just great. And to top it off, Boris is a very good writer. I'll definitely read his other books.

Good book

This is my first book by this author Boris Starling, picked up on a whim. In a way, I'm happy to take a breather from "best sellers". What's in the market today? All the best sellers are same, like one reviewer said "Curse you, Dan Brown". At least 50% of the books are DaVinci types, even 3-4 years after the fact, then you got your serial killers, rapists, your comic book adventure (Cussler/Reilly/DuBrul) types, your Kontz's, Kings, Patterson's, etc. Yawn, yawn, and triple yawn. Then you got this one, a 1952 England post-WW2 police mystery. Alright, I thought I'd give it a chance. Not much happens in 1952 England, right? Right away, I realized that Boris is a very good writer. I have to separate my comments into two parts. First are the characters, second is the story. When I say Boris is a good writer, I mean that he has a great talent of writing believable characters. The characters come across as having realistic 3 dimensional personalities that really come alive from the pages. Not many authors can do that. To many authors, characters are just to move the story along, not much depth to them, but Boris's characters have a lot of depth. I enjoyed reading these characters. Second is the story. Unfortunately, I'm somewhat right about 1952 England. After reading reams of pages on serial killers, the Vatican, long lost treasures, hunts across 3 continents, long dead acquaintances suddenly leaving e-mail for you, 1952 England is somewhat of a let down. I won't reveal much of the story, all I'll say is that the protagonist is a Scotland Yard Inspector who used to be in MI5 during the war. However, Boris does a very good job of describing 1952 England. In looking at his picture on the back I'm very surprised to find him so young. OK, he's a Londoner, but how does he write such a realistic background. For this and the characters I give him full marks. For the story, I give him an A for effort. So, to summarize, this book isn't as exciting as many of the books on the best seller list, but Boris' character development somewhat makes up for it. And if you want to lose yourself from 2007 and put yourself in another place, say 1952 England then this book is just great. And to top it off, Boris is a very good writer. I'll definitely read his other books.

fast-paced 1950s whodunit spy thriller

In 1952 former M15 operative, Herbert Smith works as a homicide detective with the Metropolitan Police's Murder Squad. His current case seems like a no brainer accident caused by the thick fog; a man drowned in a Kensington Gardens pond. However instead of closing the book, Smith tries to at least uncover the identity of the dead floater. He succeeds as the deceased is King's College graduate student Max Stensness. The sleuth also learns that Max was gay and an active member of the Communist Party. Smith finds a tie to his former M15 boss, odious Richard de Vere Green. Hating Green whose treachery cost him his MI5 position, Smith keeps digging hoping to destroy his sneaky deceitful supervisor. Smith begins to find a connection to the Russians and the Americans as Stensness was apparently selling top-secret DNA information to the highest bidder, but the detective wonders if Green was the silent partner. Using real people like double Nobel Prize winner Pauling and incognito Nazi criminal Mengele to anchor the 1950s anti-Communist fervor that swept America (McCarthy era -sounds similar to today's official scares) and somewhat England, Boris Starling provides readers with an exciting deep espionage thriller. The story line looks at the salad days of DNA research combining it with the Red scare and the WWII aftermath still devastatingly visible in foggy London. Readers will appreciate this fast-paced period piece that grips the audience with a whodunit spy thriller. Harriet Klausner