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The White Tower
(Sandra Mahoney #2)
by
"In years to come the world will look to The White Tower as the moment when Australian crime fiction got up off its hind legs and howled: We Are Here."
---Ken Bruen, author of The Dramatist
"'Jumpers,' McCallum was saying. 'Jumpers are---well, in my experience jumpers are always badly disturbed. They choose to jump because it's so violent.'"
The body of Niall Howley, a youn ...more
---Ken Bruen, author of The Dramatist
"'Jumpers,' McCallum was saying. 'Jumpers are---well, in my experience jumpers are always badly disturbed. They choose to jump because it's so violent.'"
The body of Niall Howley, a youn ...more
Hardcover, 240 pages
Published
August 22nd 2006
by Minotaur Books
(first published May 7th 2003)
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Community Reviews
Showing 1-51
Sandra Mahoney, a computer crime consultant, was contacted by the mother of a young man found dead at the base of the Telstra Tower in Canberra. The white tower with its viewing platforms looks like a giant hypodermic needle on top of the Black Mountain. The police assumed that the victim was suicidal. Niall was addicted to a role-playing Internet game, and his death resembled the death of his character in the Castle of the Heroes game. But as Sandra investigates Niall's life, she discovers he w
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I didn’t want to put down this crime book. The crime was unusual, the descriptive style compelling and fast paced.
Sandra Maloney , a computer crime investigator, is employed to find out what Niall Howley was up to that led him to suicide. Her investigation convinced her that this was a murder.
The author writes in a visual literary style which draws the reader directly into her investigation
This novel was an insight into how addictions change people and ruin lives. It also surprises the reader ...more
Sandra Maloney , a computer crime investigator, is employed to find out what Niall Howley was up to that led him to suicide. Her investigation convinced her that this was a murder.
The author writes in a visual literary style which draws the reader directly into her investigation
This novel was an insight into how addictions change people and ruin lives. It also surprises the reader ...more
This writer reminds me of a spider. She sits at the centre of a web which she spins with intricately woven, sometimes bewilderingly complex threads, but the threads themselves are so gossamer fine than the reader sometimes struggles to see or grasp them; only Sandra's tenacious pursuit of the truth, inquisitiveness and innate intuition really anchors them at times. I was enmeshed, without quite knowing how, which frustrated but also intrigued.
Similarly, in her use of language, her touch is so l ...more
Similarly, in her use of language, her touch is so l ...more
The writing is excellent. The literary leanings of the author Dorothy Johnson make for a slow-paced story with an air of mystery as well of unreality.
The image Dorothy Johnson evokes of the dead young man fallen to his death at the foot of the tower is compelling, haunting even. The mystique of life, or in this case death, imitating art, namely the world of multiple user dungeon games, is bound to keep the reader mesmerized.
SPOILER ALERT
The author suggests three possible solutions to what appear ...more
The image Dorothy Johnson evokes of the dead young man fallen to his death at the foot of the tower is compelling, haunting even. The mystique of life, or in this case death, imitating art, namely the world of multiple user dungeon games, is bound to keep the reader mesmerized.
SPOILER ALERT
The author suggests three possible solutions to what appear ...more
Johnston is a fresh voice in the crime-solver genre. In The White Tower, her second book in the Sandra Mahoney series, Sandra is hired by the mother of a suicide victim, Niall. Her charge is to uncover the young man's secrets, primarily who he was as a person in the game world that not only consumed his life but alienated him from his parents.
The tone of the book is consistent, the characters complex and multidimensional, often as intriguing as the the investigation and crime-based plot. Sandra ...more
The tone of the book is consistent, the characters complex and multidimensional, often as intriguing as the the investigation and crime-based plot. Sandra ...more
I do enjoy reading thrillers set in Scandinavia, but shudder at the frequent graphic descriptions of gruesome corpses and sickening murder methods. No such nasty scenarios bothered me in "The White Tower". The book certainly conveyed a sense of moounting dread, although it was only after many twists and turns of the plot that I started to believe that a murder had been committed.
The action was presented in an almost matter of fact manner, the nastier possibilities being subtly suggested by such ...more
The book opens with a striking scene and an interesting premise regarding an online gaming community. Sandra, with some help from her partner Ivan, traces the life of Niall Howley at the request of his mother, to discover why he killed himself. She learns about the online game, Castle of Heroes, which appeared to consume Niall, and contacts some of the other players to find out more about Niall and his state of mind. Most of the other players appear to live in Europe, eventually necessitating a
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An interesting plot with plenty of intrigue and suspense. The story flows along quite gently, outlining the everyday concerns of new-Mum Sandra and her family. It resonates with the current day lives of so many ordinary people, aside from the job she has recently undertaken. Filled with episodes of computer hacking, hospital cover-ups, online gaming, potential terrorist links and the all-important murder mystery, the story takes several twists and turns as Sandra digs deep to solve the case. It
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I read this shortly after The Trojan Dog and found it to be far superior. There are several plausible suspects (including the victim himself). The technology is handled a *lot* more realistically, which is necessary for a series based on computer crime investigation. The narrator's romantic life is more calm and more in the background. Finally, the author seems to have learned how to put some shape to her book. There are signs of mounting tension and it leads to a big climactic scene. I'd tentat
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I received this book from Goodreads First Reads. It's clean in its approach, interesting characters and an unusual plot. But felt slightly somnolent, as if there was no need for urgency anywhere, despite its objective. There were suggestions of previous relationships or events but without any explanation in this book about those, or without my reading previous book in series, it was difficult to justify certain actions of the main character. I liked it but more work is needed to tighten the stor
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This book is a believable and satisfying mystery that I believe would appeal to all general mystery readers. Having read and liked the first book in this series, The Trojan Dog, it is my opinion that The White Tower is a stronger installment in the series, having a faster-moving plot and more character interaction.
Well written, and unlike many thrillers, is within the bounds of credibility. The plot held the reader's interest without needing to resort to a mounting body count or excessive violence. There was none of the sadism that seems almost de rigeur in this genre.
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Dorothy Johnston is the author of eleven novels. Her tenth, and the first in a new sea-change mystery series, was published in April 2016. It is titled Through a Camel's Eye. Dorothy has published a quartet of detective novels set in Canberra. The first of these, The Trojan Dog, was joint winner ACT Book of the Year, and the Age gave it their ‘Best of 2000’ in the crime section. It was published i
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Sandra Mahoney
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