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The Loyal Servant
(Angela Tate Investigations #1)
by
Imagine for a moment: you're a mother of three and conscientious government employee, keeping your head down, trying to avoid the latest round of lay-offs, when you discover the schools minister slumped over his desk. Whiskey bottle and scattered pills lying next to his lifeless body tell their own story.
But you know for a fact the minister wouldn't take his own life. Wha ...more
But you know for a fact the minister wouldn't take his own life. Wha ...more
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Kindle Edition, 356 pages
Published
December 1st 2011
by Two Pies Press
(first published January 1st 2011)
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Start your review of The Loyal Servant (Angela Tate Investigations, #1)
It's been awhile since I read a British political crime novel and I was not disappointed in this Lucy Cavendish Award winner. Americans may find this plot slow and maybe a little unexciting compared to the accelerated action in most of their own, but I enjoyed it.
Caroline is an ordinary public servant who stumbles across the suspected murder of a hitherto unassuming colleague. Just how hidden his depths are she is about to discover, to her and her family's cost.
Joining up with an older, hard-bo ...more
Caroline is an ordinary public servant who stumbles across the suspected murder of a hitherto unassuming colleague. Just how hidden his depths are she is about to discover, to her and her family's cost.
Joining up with an older, hard-bo ...more
Really a good read, and pretty real. Indeed so real at times I was pretty darned irritated by middle-aged indecisive women, until I realised that none of us is ready to handle the kind of thugs that powerful people can employ to get their requirements filled...
It wasn't only that; even the everyday family things such as a teenage boy, and a mother's fear about interfering with him and his friends, could get irritating, but then again one has to realise that that is what families are all about, a ...more
It wasn't only that; even the everyday family things such as a teenage boy, and a mother's fear about interfering with him and his friends, could get irritating, but then again one has to realise that that is what families are all about, a ...more
A Whitehall conspiracy with a civil servant and a cynical journalist allied to uncover the connections. Takes far too long to get going.
I am not a reader of political thrillers in general and it took me a while to get into the story. In fact, it felt like nothing much was happening for the first third or so. Then the pace ramped up and I could hardly put the book down. I won't go through the plot, but I'll concentrate on on what I liked and didn't enjoy.
Firstly, I liked the characters of Caroline and Angela. They are both strong women and I felt I was really with them.
The male characters of the book tended to come across as we ...more
Firstly, I liked the characters of Caroline and Angela. They are both strong women and I felt I was really with them.
The male characters of the book tended to come across as we ...more
Oh dear.............she lost me at 15% in when it turned into slapstick.......it just got daft and was enough for me, I'm afraid.
I was shocked to see this, too-"I'm so glad your home"...that's a big ouch. A sedan was mentioned at one point too which I thought strange as we're not in America. Then at one point it got silly with her offering WAY too much information to her boss (although speechmarks were dropped there as well). It continued to where we were at a protest and there's where the comed ...more
I was shocked to see this, too-"I'm so glad your home"...that's a big ouch. A sedan was mentioned at one point too which I thought strange as we're not in America. Then at one point it got silly with her offering WAY too much information to her boss (although speechmarks were dropped there as well). It continued to where we were at a protest and there's where the comed ...more
The Loyal Servant is a fast-paced, political paranoia thriller. There is a lot of plot (handled well except towards the end when things felt rushed) and a lot of characters. I did have problems with some of the characters. For example, Angela, the anything for the story newspaper reporter, is initially very unpleasant and never becomes likeable despite her role in the story. And the mother of titular character Caroline seems to be dramatically pointless (and irritating!). My problems with a few
...more
I guess I entirely missed the boat on this. I thought the plot dragged on endlessly. Could not bring myself to finish it and I read everything.The plot lines were very good but I could not stay with it.
Lost interest within the first 3 chapters. Maybe I will go back to it once I've read through the rest of my books.
...more
Ugh.
Absolute rubbish. Supposed to be a political thriller but turned out to be a cliche riddled story about a 'switched on' woman's dysfunctional family and a tired old female hack bringing down a corrupt politician and his criminal network. Weak unbelievable plot bogged down in sub plots staggering around. The reader can sense the writer believing she's writing an exciting story but the characters are uninteresting. Lead character's family is irrelevant to the plot but forced upon us. Any strength
...more
Good reading.
The story involved a lot of dirty politics and Angela's search to bring the truth to light. Larson and King would use any means to get the power to control their dirty tactics. Caring little, who was killed or harmed. Caroline, with Angela's help, put a stop to it all. ...more
The story involved a lot of dirty politics and Angela's search to bring the truth to light. Larson and King would use any means to get the power to control their dirty tactics. Caring little, who was killed or harmed. Caroline, with Angela's help, put a stop to it all. ...more
Such intrigue and distrust with the government? Surely not!!
A senior civil servant is found dead at his desk and it's officially a suicide. A dedicated member of his staff looks into it, as she does not believe it. Bring in devious and unscrupulous members of parliament and business men/women and what a web of deceit unfolds ...more
A senior civil servant is found dead at his desk and it's officially a suicide. A dedicated member of his staff looks into it, as she does not believe it. Bring in devious and unscrupulous members of parliament and business men/women and what a web of deceit unfolds ...more
Politics And Darkness
Superbly written in English English and an exposure of dastardly tricks at high level and the lengths the establishment will go to in order to cover things up. When the police seem to be complicit in the conspiracy, who do you turn to when your loved ones are at risk? Loved it, very readable and difficult to put down.
Superbly written in English English and an exposure of dastardly tricks at high level and the lengths the establishment will go to in order to cover things up. When the police seem to be complicit in the conspiracy, who do you turn to when your loved ones are at risk? Loved it, very readable and difficult to put down.
Lots of twists
Too many chapters - it could have been sharper too much chat for me. But if you like political intrigue and lots of characters with different needs and wants it would be for u.
Too many chapters - it could have been sharper too much chat for me. But if you like political intrigue and lots of characters with different needs and wants it would be for u.
I could not get into this book
Good Read
Great Reading. Enjoyable. Eva Hudson has a way with words. Her series are definitely worth reading for us series junkies. Keep on Reading on.
Great Reading. Enjoyable. Eva Hudson has a way with words. Her series are definitely worth reading for us series junkies. Keep on Reading on.
And I am still caught up in reading thrillers...
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Right from the start, with poor Caroline trying to get a flirty security guard off her back and fleeing his attentions to the office of Martin, who just committed suicide (or did he?) I was engrossed.
One of my favourite aspects of this mystery is that we are not quite sure what is happening, or why, at the start. Caroline does not believe Martin killed himself, but nobody seems to agree. But what did happen to Martin ...more
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Right from the start, with poor Caroline trying to get a flirty security guard off her back and fleeing his attentions to the office of Martin, who just committed suicide (or did he?) I was engrossed.
One of my favourite aspects of this mystery is that we are not quite sure what is happening, or why, at the start. Caroline does not believe Martin killed himself, but nobody seems to agree. But what did happen to Martin ...more
Surprisingly enjoyable political thriller featuring a civil servant and a journalist trying to win against the most powerful forces in the country.
I must admit that Political Thrillers are not a genre that I read normally, so I almost hesitate to say too much about it other than some broad generalizations since some of the things I noted might be the norm within the genre.
This was a very fast paced book, which I assume was part of the thriller aspect, which was fine and kept me turning the pages, however, I found some of the transitions at that pace to be rather abrupt. At one point, I had to reread to figure out what happened during a tr ...more
This was a very fast paced book, which I assume was part of the thriller aspect, which was fine and kept me turning the pages, however, I found some of the transitions at that pace to be rather abrupt. At one point, I had to reread to figure out what happened during a tr ...more
This book is a political thriller, not the type that I usually consider my first choice. I initially decided to read this book because it had a strong woman as protagonist. The setting is present day London, also a plus.
This book grabbed me and held my interest from the beginning. Unfortunately, I had to read it in too many chunks, and toward the end I stayed up too late to finish the book because I had to know how it ended. For a first novel, I thought it was very well done.
There are actually s ...more
This book grabbed me and held my interest from the beginning. Unfortunately, I had to read it in too many chunks, and toward the end I stayed up too late to finish the book because I had to know how it ended. For a first novel, I thought it was very well done.
There are actually s ...more
When Caroline, a civil servant in the Department of Education, finds the minister dead in his office it starts her on a quest to find the truth. The official verdict is suicide which is confirmed by the note left but Caroline isn't convinced.
She manages to get a reporter interested and together they attempt to uncover what really is happening in the Academies division. Caroline's home life is disintegrating around her and at times her worlds collide.
I really enjoyed this book which is very topic ...more
She manages to get a reporter interested and together they attempt to uncover what really is happening in the Academies division. Caroline's home life is disintegrating around her and at times her worlds collide.
I really enjoyed this book which is very topic ...more
This was a surprisingly engrossing novel. The protagonist is a middle aged woman who works for the Department of Education (civil service) in London. She discovers the dead body of a Member of Parliament in his office and does not believe the suicide charges. She begins to investigate her own department (academies) and to work with another woman, an investigative reporter. The heroine also has three children, her mother and heavily drinking husband living with her. The more she investigates, the
...more
I loved reading this fast paced and gripping political thriller. I loved the protagonists and it was refreshing to read strong female characters, I loved the kick-ass attitude both Caroline and Tate had and I was laughing out loud to Jean's antics too. The plot kept me riveted so the book kept me up all night. I was surprised to see saloon cars referred to as sedans in this British political thriller and there was the odd typo but the story prevailed. I'm not a parent myself, so it could just be
...more
I really found this an enjoyable thriller that kept me engaged almost from the start. A civil servant discovers her minister dead at his desk and a reporter is intrigued by what his colleague might have been working on before he met with an accident - will their paths cross? Obviously the answer is yes but in a well worked and satisfying way. The characters worked well for me and the pace was very good indeed. I found the last 30% of so quite hard to put down. Maybe not the most challenging read
...more
Barely 3 stars, more family drama then suspense thriller, the main story could have fit in a 100 pages or less and would have read better.
Too much family. No sex, no (or not much) romance.
The characters where real, however and I really liked the main character (which for me is Caroline), but am a bit ambivalent about Angela Tate, who sometimes comes across as a not very likable unscrupulous reporter.
Bought this because I liked the Skyberg/FBI Embassy-Books, where Angela Tate pops up in a support ...more
Too much family. No sex, no (or not much) romance.
The characters where real, however and I really liked the main character (which for me is Caroline), but am a bit ambivalent about Angela Tate, who sometimes comes across as a not very likable unscrupulous reporter.
Bought this because I liked the Skyberg/FBI Embassy-Books, where Angela Tate pops up in a support ...more
I don't normally read political thrillers but decided to take a chance with this one. Although I found the plot interesting I also found it not easy to believe and of the characters were all a little too much of whatever they were. The men were all a little too weak to be believable. All of the children had various problems and the grandmother was too focused on her own interests. Caroline was dedicated to finding out the truth but also far too controlling, and Angela was a stereotype of an extr
...more
Really enjoyable read. Great characters imagined in reality. The author unveils the layers of government that we never see and show us how politicians use the vacuum of knowledge to abuse their power. The arrogance of the politicians is stunning as the characters are pushed to the age. The contrast between the day to day marital issues of a working mother and the heady politics. Very fast moving and easy to read.
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*What Lizzie Thought*
Ok, now I am not a fan of political thrillers in general, I normally find them kind of boring. I was so thankful I picked up The Loyal Servant to read! It was everything that the majority of political thrillers aren’t. It was interesting, attention grabbing, suspenseful and extremely well written. I was hooked after the first chapter, immediately drawn in.
Read The Full Review ...more
Ok, now I am not a fan of political thrillers in general, I normally find them kind of boring. I was so thankful I picked up The Loyal Servant to read! It was everything that the majority of political thrillers aren’t. It was interesting, attention grabbing, suspenseful and extremely well written. I was hooked after the first chapter, immediately drawn in.
Read The Full Review ...more
It took me a long time to get through this book. I was hoping for a big climax as I approached the end. But, in the end, it just fizzled for me.
I think the author had the germ of a great story and there was a great plot to be had. I just think she missed an opportunity for a really special book.
I think the author had the germ of a great story and there was a great plot to be had. I just think she missed an opportunity for a really special book.
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Readers also enjoyed
Eva Hudson was born and raised in south London. Before taking up writing seriously at the age of 43, Eva worked as a local government officer, singer, dotcom entrepreneur, portrait artist, web designer, project manager and content editor.
In 2011 her first novel, The Loyal Servant, won the inaugural Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize from Cambridge University. The book was also shortlisted for UK TV's P ...more
In 2011 her first novel, The Loyal Servant, won the inaugural Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize from Cambridge University. The book was also shortlisted for UK TV's P ...more
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Angela Tate Investigations
(2 books)
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