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256th out of 357 books
—
159 voters
The Straw Men (Straw Men #1)
In Palmerston, Pennsylvania,
two men in long coats walk calmly into a crowded fast food restaurant-then, slowly and methodically, gun down sixty-eight people. They take time to reload.
On the Promenade of Santa Monica, California, a teenaged girl gives sightseeing tips to a distinguished English tourist. She won't be going home tonight.
In Dyersburg, Montana, a grief-stric...more
two men in long coats walk calmly into a crowded fast food restaurant-then, slowly and methodically, gun down sixty-eight people. They take time to reload.
On the Promenade of Santa Monica, California, a teenaged girl gives sightseeing tips to a distinguished English tourist. She won't be going home tonight.
In Dyersburg, Montana, a grief-stric...more
Paperback, 484 pages
Published
2003
by HarperCollins
(first published July 30th 2002)
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Community Reviews
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Aug 29, 2012
Shambhawi P.
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Not the faint of heart
Shelves:
favorites,
kickass-protagonist
The Straw Men is a gripping story that will keep on the edge from the very first page. You will be making guesses, trying to make out conclusions and even if you get some of it right that does not reduce the thrill any.
It is quite hard to write this review without spoilers, but I will try.
The story begins with a shoot out in a small town in Pennsylvania where two gunmen kill sixty-eight people without even blinking an eye. We are then taken a decade later where we meet Ward, an ex CIA agent, a...more
It is quite hard to write this review without spoilers, but I will try.
The story begins with a shoot out in a small town in Pennsylvania where two gunmen kill sixty-eight people without even blinking an eye. We are then taken a decade later where we meet Ward, an ex CIA agent, a...more
I decided to read The straw Men after reading one of Michael Marshall's later books Killer Move which happened to make a passing mention to the titular group of this book aka The Straw Men.After completing the book I am going to make a claim that might seem too astronomical to some that Marshall is way better than other contemporary & popular thriller writers like John Grisham, David Baldacci or Lee Child.Now let me get to the review.
PLOT
The book is about an ex CIA agent who after the death...more
PLOT
The book is about an ex CIA agent who after the death...more
MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS. I DON"T "HIDE" MY REVIEWS, NOR PROMOTE THEM BY ANY FEED.
I picked up this book on the strength of of the cover endorsement blurb by Stephen King, who called it "a masterpiece."
I was fooled. The book is interesting -- for writing and plot. But I realized, at book's end, that the author had failed to answer a key question. That made me devalue the whole story.
Backtracking, "Straw Men"'s about a grown only child who lives away from his parents, and isn't emotionally close to th...more
I picked up this book on the strength of of the cover endorsement blurb by Stephen King, who called it "a masterpiece."
I was fooled. The book is interesting -- for writing and plot. But I realized, at book's end, that the author had failed to answer a key question. That made me devalue the whole story.
Backtracking, "Straw Men"'s about a grown only child who lives away from his parents, and isn't emotionally close to th...more
Background/Synopsis:
Michael Marshall writes horror under this name, but is also known for his science fiction, which he writes under Michael Marshall Smith. Perhaps he was inspired by Iain (M.) Banks, who likewise changes names depending on the genre.
The Strawmen is a brutal, well-written horror story about a mysterious group of mass murderers called The Straw Men and a lone serial killer to may be tied to them, who calls himself the Upright Man. The Upright Man kidnaps a young, 16-year-old girl...more
Michael Marshall writes horror under this name, but is also known for his science fiction, which he writes under Michael Marshall Smith. Perhaps he was inspired by Iain (M.) Banks, who likewise changes names depending on the genre.
The Strawmen is a brutal, well-written horror story about a mysterious group of mass murderers called The Straw Men and a lone serial killer to may be tied to them, who calls himself the Upright Man. The Upright Man kidnaps a young, 16-year-old girl...more
Jun 01, 2010
Valeriane
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
thriller-polar-noir,
série
Un thriller plutôt palpitant qui nous entraîne dans un tricot de suspense. En gros, ça s'emmêle et s'entre-mêle jusqu'à une fin... qui nous assure une suite!
1991, une fusillade dans un fast-food : deux hommes abattent 60 personnes avant de laisser une message, Les hommes de paille, et de fuir-un par la porte, l'autre par le suicide.
11 ans plus tard, une jeune fille est kidnappéen selon le même schéma qu'un serial killer prénommé l'homme debout. Au même moment, Ward se rend chez ses parents qui v...more
1991, une fusillade dans un fast-food : deux hommes abattent 60 personnes avant de laisser une message, Les hommes de paille, et de fuir-un par la porte, l'autre par le suicide.
11 ans plus tard, une jeune fille est kidnappéen selon le même schéma qu'un serial killer prénommé l'homme debout. Au même moment, Ward se rend chez ses parents qui v...more
Serial killers bore me rather than scare me. Well, reading about them does. Which is why I was glad that The Straw Men contained much more than bloodthirsty murderers. The writing is good, it's clever and occasionally funny. There are several plotlines that converge in the second half of the book, and I particularly enjoyed the part about Ward, whose dead parents turn out to have some pretty creepy secrets. I'm a sucker for the whole "your-folks-aren't-what-they-seem-to-be"-concept.
There are so...more
There are so...more
I'm really impressed with this book. Nick *props* gave it to me to read, and I had my doubts - I don't like "suspense" novels - and this had the look of one of those 'airport reads.' (Even if it was about serial killers.)
I was very pleasantly surprised. The author has a very lush, descriptive writing style that is informative, original and not over-the-top.
It's the first in a trilogy, I'll warn you - but it does have a (mostly) satisfying ending that means you don't HAVE to read the other books...more
I was very pleasantly surprised. The author has a very lush, descriptive writing style that is informative, original and not over-the-top.
It's the first in a trilogy, I'll warn you - but it does have a (mostly) satisfying ending that means you don't HAVE to read the other books...more
"Just when you think there is nothing new in the world of the suspense novel, along comes one hell of a nasty spider called The Straw Men. It's brilliantly written and scary as hell." - Stephen King.
I'm a huge fan of Stephen King so that was enough to encourage me to pick up the book and I wasn't disappointed. It starts off with a bang and doesn't stop. The style is very similar to King's so the ride is filled with details that hide the extraordinary behind the mundane.
When a son returns home to...more
I'm a huge fan of Stephen King so that was enough to encourage me to pick up the book and I wasn't disappointed. It starts off with a bang and doesn't stop. The style is very similar to King's so the ride is filled with details that hide the extraordinary behind the mundane.
When a son returns home to...more
Jul 14, 2012
HT Goodwill
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
wish_i_hadnt_picked_up
I suppose it was well written, I did finish it after all. If the author's goal was to leave a lasting impression on me, it worked. However, I found it to be profoundly disturbing, and images and ideas haunted me (not in a fun "I had a nightmare" way) for years. The quality of my life was measurably diminished because of the images this book placed in my head.
Here's the one positive thing I gained from the experience of this book: I now am very discriminating about what I read. If it brings darkn...more
Here's the one positive thing I gained from the experience of this book: I now am very discriminating about what I read. If it brings darkn...more
Well that was creepy. What seems to be a straight forward thriller, twists into a secret history of the twentieth century. Almost anything else would be straying into spoilers territory. However, there is one clever idea that I can talk about without too much risk. Michael Marshall Smith seems at first to be using an idea from Matt Ridley's, "Nature via Nuture", specifically the Self-taming hypothesis of human origins. This idea was also explicitly used by Richard Morgan in "The Black Man". Howe...more
I give this three stars with a HUGE caveat! This book began a story with promise. Then, I read the second book, The Upright Man. Totally disappointing. I couldn't believe the story took the route that it did. It was almost as if the author had been told they wouldn't pick up a third novel and he just absolutely crapped out the rest of book 2 (sorry, but I was totally bummed by it...can you tell?). The Upright Man really sets the stage for a good story. The Straw Men tears down and trashes the co...more
I enjoyed this one quite a bit. Actually for about the first 3/4 of it,
I was enjoying it a LOT. Michael Marshall Smith certainly knows how to
keep a reader engaged. Here's a story with three converging storylines, each one teasing us along with the mystery of what the heck is going on.
I had only heard of Michael Marshall Smith via the Pod of Horror podcast. This is a great show, by the way, and it's introduced me to several writers I'm looking forward to reading.
Back to The Straw Men. This isn't...more
I was enjoying it a LOT. Michael Marshall Smith certainly knows how to
keep a reader engaged. Here's a story with three converging storylines, each one teasing us along with the mystery of what the heck is going on.
I had only heard of Michael Marshall Smith via the Pod of Horror podcast. This is a great show, by the way, and it's introduced me to several writers I'm looking forward to reading.
Back to The Straw Men. This isn't...more
I'm a big fan of Michael Marshall Smith's early SF - compassionate, weird and utterly compelling. His shift into dark thriller territory is one that, while understandable in improving his global reach, is less convincing for me. The idea of a vast conspiracy of serial killers is a good one, and he has a knack with tight, twisty plotting and memorable characters. But it's unrelentingly bleak, with little of the humour and lightness of touch that stopped his earlier books like Spares from swallowi...more
May 26, 2011
Michelle (meshe)
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
library-book
Synopsis: This book brings two different stories that seem to be totally unrelated, but we know that they are going to converge at some point.
Ward Hopkins returns home to Montana after his parents die in a car crash to find a note hidden in his dad's chair that reads "We're not dead". His buddy Bobby Nygard, a CIA agent helps him unravel his history and uncover a group called "The Straw Men".
John Zandt, a former police detective is looking for "The Upright Man" who has abducted 5 teenage girls...more
Ward Hopkins returns home to Montana after his parents die in a car crash to find a note hidden in his dad's chair that reads "We're not dead". His buddy Bobby Nygard, a CIA agent helps him unravel his history and uncover a group called "The Straw Men".
John Zandt, a former police detective is looking for "The Upright Man" who has abducted 5 teenage girls...more
Oct 18, 2008
Patricia
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
those that enjoy mystery/the chase
Recommended to Patricia by:
saw it on GoodREADS
I really like a book that surprises me. Too many of them are predictable. While reading the first couple of chapters, I was interested but waiting. Then when I got to about chapter 3, it was BAM! My mouth dropped open. I loved it. Never expected the plot twist. Man I love that in a book and an author. If this book proves to be as excellent as it's beginning, it will be one of the best I have read in a while.
This was a book that kept me guessing, even in the second to last chapter I was still bei...more
This was a book that kept me guessing, even in the second to last chapter I was still bei...more
Michael Marshall, The Straw Men (Jove, 2002)
Okay, let me get the bad out of the way first: there's a plot hole in this book big enough to build a development full of multi-million-dollar homes in. And it's been gnawing at me ever since I realized it. But I can't dock the book any stars, because in every other respect, The Straw Men is just about the perfect thriller, a book that grabs hold early on and refuses to let go. (I read the bulk of it, excepting twenty pages in the beginning and twenty...more
Okay, let me get the bad out of the way first: there's a plot hole in this book big enough to build a development full of multi-million-dollar homes in. And it's been gnawing at me ever since I realized it. But I can't dock the book any stars, because in every other respect, The Straw Men is just about the perfect thriller, a book that grabs hold early on and refuses to let go. (I read the bulk of it, excepting twenty pages in the beginning and twenty...more
Akhirnya ada juga buku baru yang bisa bikin gue penasaran dan bisa bilang its a good one. Cukup beda karena sudut pandang ceritanya berubah-ubah tergantung dengan siapa tokoh yang lagi diceritain. Walopun gue udah nebak pasti pada akhirnya tokoh-tokoh ini saling bertemu. Ketebak juga sih siapa pembunuhnya, tapi bukan itu inti ceritanya yang menarik.
Gue suka dengan penceritaan pembunuhan yang ada di buku ini. Dingin dan kejam. It does gives you the creep bahwa manusia mampu nyakitin manusia lain...more
Gue suka dengan penceritaan pembunuhan yang ada di buku ini. Dingin dan kejam. It does gives you the creep bahwa manusia mampu nyakitin manusia lain...more
This series (Straw Men, Upright Man, Blood of Angels) was a random used-bookstore find that I put aside for my vacation. They had that creepy thriller look going on, with a powerful Stephen King quote on the front jacket of the first one. Couple that with the fact that I wouldn't mind if they got sprinkled with sea spray (which they did), and I was set.
I've read all three books (so consider this a series review rather than a single novel), and I'm still not entirely sure what happened. I liked t...more
I've read all three books (so consider this a series review rather than a single novel), and I'm still not entirely sure what happened. I liked t...more
Only managed half the book tbh. I've been reading a fair bit of serial killer stories lately and my first impression of MM was how descriptive his writing is compared to others I have read this took me a few chapters to get into. I then found myself confused as to who I was reading about (although that may be something to do with the editing on the kindle). In the end I found these two factors started to grate on me as I wanted the writer to "get on with it", but that's just me.
Well, I haven't done that for a while: picked up a book and devoured it with every spare waking moment over little more than two days. I have been pushing this book around for more than half a decade, and have nearly purged it from the collection more than once in that time, but it was very much worth the wait.
A well-paced page turner, this, with really nothing in the way of extraneous moving parts. The best feature to my mind, aside from the rather compelling main plot points, was the lengthy m...more
A well-paced page turner, this, with really nothing in the way of extraneous moving parts. The best feature to my mind, aside from the rather compelling main plot points, was the lengthy m...more
Read a lot of hype about the Straw Men books. I was really looking forward to reading them, but every time I picked up The Straw Men I would move on to something else. It just did not grab me. This week I finally picked it up and finished it. The book has a very strong opening and some suspenseful moments but I felt it dragged a lot. Too much description plus the parallel stories which only meet at the end didn't allow me to connect much with the characters or the action.
I really enjoyed this mystery! Very well-written with a clever narrative style, it made me flinch in fear and at other times, laugh embarrassingly loud. Other than a few distracting Briticisms, the writing was flawless. It reminded me a bit of John Connolly's Charlie Parker series. And I was ecstatic to learn that The Straw Men is the first book of a trilogy. This is, unfortunately, not well-advertised, but I immediately ordered the remained books (The Lonely Dead(aka The Upright Man) and Blood...more
I bought and read this book because it had a strong endorsement from Stephen King on the cover hailing the story as some sort of Second Coming in terms of thriller writing.
Well, not really.
It's a well-written piece; although a bit odd because it shifts back and forth between first- and third-person points of view. Also, the climax drifts a bit more into over-the-top horror territory that's a bit inconsistent with the tone of the rest of the book.
Well, not really.
It's a well-written piece; although a bit odd because it shifts back and forth between first- and third-person points of view. Also, the climax drifts a bit more into over-the-top horror territory that's a bit inconsistent with the tone of the rest of the book.
Pretty good--my only problem is a setup for a sequel, of which there are several. This really bothers me, whether in a book or movie. I’ll probably read them, though. Good characters. I didn’t know how he was going to bring the two divergent stories together, but he does. Although I think it’s pretty far fetched, but entertaining. But for this kind of book (serial killers, conspiracy, etc.) it’s pretty addictive.
Dec 17, 2007
Jesse
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Fans of conspiracy and "Millenium"
Shelves:
detective-mystery
From the start I had high praise for this book, I said right away "This feels like a story from Chris Carter's 'Millenium'". I loved that show, and I really liked this book as well. It has a nice blend of standard thriller/cop mystery, and some conspiracy fiction thrown in. There starts off what seem two different storylines. One story is that of an estranged son investigating the death of his parrents, and finding things aren't as they seemed all his life. The other story is that of a cop falle...more
Absolutely love this book. Picked it up as a "holiday read" a few years back. It has one of the best openings to a book I've ever read - both gripping and shocking. The characters are well rounded, and the switch between first person and third person narrative really drives the story. The ending, whilst satisfying in itself, sets itself up well for the rest of the trilogy. A brilliant idea, well executed.
Well I'm glad I stuck with this one. After a couple of chapters I was prepared to give up on it, so I had a browse at the reviews on here and decided to carry on a while. I'm so pleased I did, I was hooked and couldn't wait to get back at it, even went past my stop on the bus one night! Unfortunately I'd caught sight of a spoiler so knew the connection between Ward and the Upright Man, but how it was revealed in the book was still a surprise. Off to look for the other two in the trilogy now.
Very happy that I found this book at the VA Hospital! I picked it because of the cover. (It is a pre relese copy) Needless to say the subject is disturbing, I do not even read news stories like this, what kept me going is how wonderful a word/phrase smith Michael is. His philosophical diorama's I found fascinating to the point I am going to reread this again very soon!
Really liked this book. It was a page-turner from the very beginning, and always kept me guessing. I usually have these kinds of books figured out within the first 25% of the book, but this one had me guessing until about the last 5 chapters. Very good book, and worth a read. Keep in mind that it is the first book in a trilogy, so be prepared to read all three - I know I am!
An enjoyable, if not very memorable, way to spend a few hours. Marshall writes well, he has a good ear and manages, considering the novel's bleak subject matter, to be genuinely amusing in places. It's good enough that I would consider reading more of his books should I stumble across them in the charity shop, but I wouldn't actively seek them out.
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Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
(1) Michael Marshall - Religion/Spirituality
(2) Michael Marshall - Acting
(3) Michael Marshall - Fishing/Geography
(4) Michael Marshall - German Children's Books
(5) Michael Marshall - Indonesian Fiction
Also, when Michael Marshall Smith writes horror, he uses the name Michael...more
More about Michael Marshall...
(1) Michael Marshall - Religion/Spirituality
(2) Michael Marshall - Acting
(3) Michael Marshall - Fishing/Geography
(4) Michael Marshall - German Children's Books
(5) Michael Marshall - Indonesian Fiction
Also, when Michael Marshall Smith writes horror, he uses the name Michael...more
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May 15, 2013 01:38am