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Roman Solaire #1
The Crystal Towers
Roman Solaire, the common man's James Bond.
Roman Solaire travels to New York where he navigates the dangers between an upscale real estate firm, the grand opening of their hot new property the Crystal Towers, and a beautiful young intern. Things turn deadly as Solaire closes in on a rich and powerful business magnate whose involvement in international terrorism marks this Solaire's first assignment to date.
approx. 19,000 words
Roman Solaire travels to New York where he navigates the dangers between an upscale real estate firm, the grand opening of their hot new property the Crystal Towers, and a beautiful young intern. Things turn deadly as Solaire closes in on a rich and powerful business magnate whose involvement in international terrorism marks this Solaire's first assignment to date.
approx. 19,000 words
- GenresCrime
ebook
First published June 1, 2011
About the author
Thomas Fincham
78 books158 followerspen name for Mobashar Qureshi
THOMAS FINCHAM holds a graduate degree in Economics. His travels throughout the world have given him an appreciation for other cultures and beliefs. He has lived in Africa, Asia, and North America. An avid reader of mysteries and thrillers, he decided to give writing a try. Several novels later, he can honestly say he has found his calling. He is married with two kids, and he lives in a hundred-year-old house. He is the author of LEE CALLAWAY series, the HYDER ALI series, the MARTIN RHODES series, and the ECHO ROSE series.
THOMAS FINCHAM holds a graduate degree in Economics. His travels throughout the world have given him an appreciation for other cultures and beliefs. He has lived in Africa, Asia, and North America. An avid reader of mysteries and thrillers, he decided to give writing a try. Several novels later, he can honestly say he has found his calling. He is married with two kids, and he lives in a hundred-year-old house. He is the author of LEE CALLAWAY series, the HYDER ALI series, the MARTIN RHODES series, and the ECHO ROSE series.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 6, 2013
I received this book as part of a LibraryThing give-away. I also know this writer from a writers' forum and I find this review not easy to write, but I was asked to review as part of the give-away.
I think the story and series has potential. It's fast-paced, with lots of action. It's not a story you'd read for character development, but that's within expectations of the genre.
That said, as this story stands, it falls down for me in one small and one fairly big area.
First of all, the style bothers me. There are (on my ereader) whole pages with paragraphs that are 4-6 words long and all start with the same word. Descriptions are so sparse as to make me think that this is a first draft. My first drafts look like this, because I haven't yet filled the scenes out with words that add colour and emotion and I haven't yet weeded out repetition and "the cat sat on the mat" type sentences. There is lots of pronoun confusion, especially at the start of the book.
More seriously, the characters do not feel like they are either very smart or knowledgeable in their field of work. The problem is that I don't think enough solid research went into the story.
They ask in-your-face-type obvious questions like "Do you want to do business?" Well, why else does someone come into an office?
Or they would not say stuff like "maybe it's some tax cheat". They would KNOW how crims cheat on their tax.
The agency never suspected Fox's wife? Really? He's supposed to be sending money to Africa, she's described as medium-dark, and they can't tell that she's got African heritage? They can't put two and two together? Even if they really couldn't tell by her looks (which I find very hard to believe), they never ran any background checks on her? Seriously? I mean--all property crooks around here put all their stuff in their wife's name. That's the oldest trick in the book.
And: there is no way of transferring money internationally that is not traceable. Seriously? Never heard of bitcoins? Google it.
Google did not bring up anything under "Court of International Law" which makes me think it's made up, but then, the rest of the book is not James Bond enough to be scifi and justify made-up stuff.
A million dollars is not a very expensive unit.
And why such awkward descriptions of the bit of technology that Levack uses in the pursuit. If these guys knew what they were doing, they would be bristling with technology, or have backup vans somewhere bristling with technology. Even if they weren't bristling with technology, they would speak about the technology in language bristling with tech jargon, because they would know the surveying tech inside and out.
I'm neither a crime writer nor serious crime reader, but these guys sound like they're bumbling through stuff.
This could be an interesting James Bond-like tale, but it would require much more solid research into the methods and tech used by spies. Crime, Science fiction and historical fiction are research-heavy genres. Research isn't only interesting, it makes a vast, VAST difference to the quality of the result. It lifts a vaguely amusing story to a story that feels authentic, teaches readers things they didn't know and makes readers recommend the story to others.
I think the story and series has potential. It's fast-paced, with lots of action. It's not a story you'd read for character development, but that's within expectations of the genre.
That said, as this story stands, it falls down for me in one small and one fairly big area.
First of all, the style bothers me. There are (on my ereader) whole pages with paragraphs that are 4-6 words long and all start with the same word. Descriptions are so sparse as to make me think that this is a first draft. My first drafts look like this, because I haven't yet filled the scenes out with words that add colour and emotion and I haven't yet weeded out repetition and "the cat sat on the mat" type sentences. There is lots of pronoun confusion, especially at the start of the book.
More seriously, the characters do not feel like they are either very smart or knowledgeable in their field of work. The problem is that I don't think enough solid research went into the story.
They ask in-your-face-type obvious questions like "Do you want to do business?" Well, why else does someone come into an office?
Or they would not say stuff like "maybe it's some tax cheat". They would KNOW how crims cheat on their tax.
The agency never suspected Fox's wife? Really? He's supposed to be sending money to Africa, she's described as medium-dark, and they can't tell that she's got African heritage? They can't put two and two together? Even if they really couldn't tell by her looks (which I find very hard to believe), they never ran any background checks on her? Seriously? I mean--all property crooks around here put all their stuff in their wife's name. That's the oldest trick in the book.
And: there is no way of transferring money internationally that is not traceable. Seriously? Never heard of bitcoins? Google it.
Google did not bring up anything under "Court of International Law" which makes me think it's made up, but then, the rest of the book is not James Bond enough to be scifi and justify made-up stuff.
A million dollars is not a very expensive unit.
And why such awkward descriptions of the bit of technology that Levack uses in the pursuit. If these guys knew what they were doing, they would be bristling with technology, or have backup vans somewhere bristling with technology. Even if they weren't bristling with technology, they would speak about the technology in language bristling with tech jargon, because they would know the surveying tech inside and out.
I'm neither a crime writer nor serious crime reader, but these guys sound like they're bumbling through stuff.
This could be an interesting James Bond-like tale, but it would require much more solid research into the methods and tech used by spies. Crime, Science fiction and historical fiction are research-heavy genres. Research isn't only interesting, it makes a vast, VAST difference to the quality of the result. It lifts a vaguely amusing story to a story that feels authentic, teaches readers things they didn't know and makes readers recommend the story to others.
November 5, 2018
Exciting read!
I want more!! Glad there are other books in this series. Good pace and well developed characters. I could keep the characters straight as I read. Exciting and unpredictable.... Recommend reading this series!!
I want more!! Glad there are other books in this series. Good pace and well developed characters. I could keep the characters straight as I read. Exciting and unpredictable.... Recommend reading this series!!
April 10, 2019
Loved Roman, current day Robin Hood. Can't wait to see if he goes international. Book moves fast. Suspense and heart.
August 12, 2019
full of action, a real page turner.
February 9, 2017
This book deserves 5 stars. Character/plo/world are are extremely well developed and described, I held my breath a few places in the book too!!!! An excellent book i could not out down and some people giving review about this book are 1, lying for a reason I don't understand, and 2, if an author can tell you silver bullets kill werewolves and you believe it, or that saying wingardioleveosa makes stuff float, and you don't go give those books, (like all the werewolves in london, etc, or all the Harry Potter books,) a bad rating because it wasn't what would happen in real life, v then It will prove you are being disrespectful to this authors works of FANTASY that HE crested. I read to ESCAPE reality. And I do not want/need/desire my book to reflect reality. Give this book an honest chance and disregard the negative reviews. I used to hear NEVER JUDGE A BOOK BY IT'S COVER.My new advice, DONT READ REVIEWS TO MAKE DECISION TO BY A BOOK. A BOOK IS LIKE BEAUTY... IT IS AN OPINION OF *ONE* PERSONS AND BEAUTY IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER... Same thing with books...
October 30, 2012
I was lucky enough to win an e-copy of Roman Solaire and the Crystal Towers in a Librarything Giveaway.
I enjoyed this little novel, and for the most part it was very well written. A lot of the action sequences are written in very short, sharp, punchy sentences, possibly as a device to convey how the actions are happening, onomatopoeic style, but personally I would have preferred to read these parts of the novel as more complex sentences, perhaps running on to show the general speed and flow of the actions. If these short sentences had been developed into complex ones the story could have gained a bit more depth and length.
It was nearly free of the usual spelling and grammatical errors that I usually find punctuating self-published novels of this kind, which was a delightful surprise (I only found one too/to slip up towards the end). I also enjoyed the few puns that seemed to be carefully injected from time to time. I would have liked to have known a little more about Roman Solaire, the protagonist; his motivations and basic character seemed to be quite elusive and enigmatic, though perhaps character development is something that will be revealed in the following novels (which I was also lucky enough to win – reviews to follow).
You would be forgiven for thinking the story a little run of the mill – white collar crime, terrorism and espionage – but was crafted well into a quite original plot, and the ideas executed well. I am looking forward to both reading more of this series and more of this author’s work in general.
I enjoyed this little novel, and for the most part it was very well written. A lot of the action sequences are written in very short, sharp, punchy sentences, possibly as a device to convey how the actions are happening, onomatopoeic style, but personally I would have preferred to read these parts of the novel as more complex sentences, perhaps running on to show the general speed and flow of the actions. If these short sentences had been developed into complex ones the story could have gained a bit more depth and length.
It was nearly free of the usual spelling and grammatical errors that I usually find punctuating self-published novels of this kind, which was a delightful surprise (I only found one too/to slip up towards the end). I also enjoyed the few puns that seemed to be carefully injected from time to time. I would have liked to have known a little more about Roman Solaire, the protagonist; his motivations and basic character seemed to be quite elusive and enigmatic, though perhaps character development is something that will be revealed in the following novels (which I was also lucky enough to win – reviews to follow).
You would be forgiven for thinking the story a little run of the mill – white collar crime, terrorism and espionage – but was crafted well into a quite original plot, and the ideas executed well. I am looking forward to both reading more of this series and more of this author’s work in general.
December 29, 2011
4 STARS
I enjoyed Roman Solaire. I tried something new with my kindle I turned the audio on and it read the book to me. Not as well if I bought a audio cd but it let me listen to the book while I was able to do other things at same time. I think I am going to do this a lot and be more productive and read more books than I can do other wise.
Roman Solaire gets things done, he does not work for any goverment and does what he thinks is right. He took months to figure out how to get a key off one person by being a waiter and by helping custome lifted key from around his neck. But later pictures showed of him doing it and he was blackmailed into doing another job with expenses paid. He took them up on that.
It was a well written story that made it easy to follow Romain and made sense of how he set himself up to get the information he wanted. I will read more of his books or listen to them. It kept my attention in the story. I was given this ebook from librarythings in exchange of honest review.
I enjoyed Roman Solaire. I tried something new with my kindle I turned the audio on and it read the book to me. Not as well if I bought a audio cd but it let me listen to the book while I was able to do other things at same time. I think I am going to do this a lot and be more productive and read more books than I can do other wise.
Roman Solaire gets things done, he does not work for any goverment and does what he thinks is right. He took months to figure out how to get a key off one person by being a waiter and by helping custome lifted key from around his neck. But later pictures showed of him doing it and he was blackmailed into doing another job with expenses paid. He took them up on that.
It was a well written story that made it easy to follow Romain and made sense of how he set himself up to get the information he wanted. I will read more of his books or listen to them. It kept my attention in the story. I was given this ebook from librarythings in exchange of honest review.
April 2, 2012
Great book! A quick read...it's so well written, clear and concise, that it's easy to finish in one sitting!
Roman Solaire is a very cool character..strong and truly cares about trying to do the right thing! I sure hope to see many more books involving him and his new, not totally unwelcome, side kick!
Roman Solaire is a very cool character..strong and truly cares about trying to do the right thing! I sure hope to see many more books involving him and his new, not totally unwelcome, side kick!
December 14, 2012
Yet another good story by Mobashar Qureshi. This is about the 5th novel I've read by this author and every story has been worth reading. This one is as well. Nice taut little thriller that gives you just enough to keep you interested. First in the series was an excellent way to spend the afternoon in the sun and I can not wait to read book 2 and 3. Good Job.
October 11, 2011
This was a short story that is well written and easy to read. The characters are well explained and the storyline was easy to follow. I picked this book up on Sunday night and finished it Monday night. I would truly like to read more stories involving Roman Solaire and his missions.
July 17, 2013
Quick read! Great storyline just needs to be expanded on. If you are looking for a quick read to fill some time, this is the book for you. It is easy to read and can be read in one setting.
I was given this novella in exchange of an honest review.
I was given this novella in exchange of an honest review.
September 26, 2013
it was ok. glad it was free.
May 10, 2015
Good quick read! Just enough "who dunit" to keep you reading and make you want to know more about the protagonist
June 10, 2015
Wow, what a fantastic story, and all the more too true and realistic. Roman Solaire is a good character who manages to get ingratiated into the lives of many
July 14, 2015
This was a pretty good book but I think if compared to other spy books this one falls short. It was a bit rushed for me. I think if the author took his time it would have been better.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews