Occasionally cliched, always gripping and in the end quite moving. This is a really well written thriller with an intriguing plot. Initially some of the characters were a little cliched, particularly Kat, who seemed to be filling the Hollywood smart Alec kid role. But as the plot thickens the cast develops and into the second half I was utterly convinced. The pace never flags and there are always plenty of puzzles left hanging to make you want to pick it up again.

I've only recently rediscovered thrillers. Books like this remind me of the pleasure of pure escapism which first made me love books. The important thing for me in a book is that it avoids the cliches which riddle the books of Dan Brown. There is plenty of genre fiction, whether it is SF or crime which takes you out of yourself but isn't populated by characters with a single character trait. The best also make you think about questions you might never have considered or teach you things which you never knew.

These are the books I like best.