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Available
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Description
Fiction. Literature. Suspense. Thriller. HTML:Richard Eusden is on his way to work in London one unremarkable winter morning when he is intercepted by his ex-wife, Gemma. She has sad news of his old friend, Marty Hewitson. Marty is dying, but needs a favour done for him at once. Eusden reluctantly agrees and sets off on what should be a simple errand. But soon it turns into a race for life, his and Marty's, across Belgium, Germany and Denmark and on into the Nordic heart of a mystery that somehow connects Marty's long dead grandfather, Clem Hewitson, an Isle of Wight police officer, with the tragic fate of the Russian Royal Family. Eusden discovers to his dismay that he can trust no-one, not even an old and dying friend, in a battle for survival with those who are determined to steal the secret they believe he and Marty hold �?? and will kill for it if they have… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member Georg.Miggel
What can make you read a Goddard between two books from the Millenium series? There is only one reason: You are for vacation in Valletta/Malta, and there is only one bad, dirty and crowded bookshop (called “Agenda” on Republik Triq, [keep in mind: Whenever you go to Malta, provide yourself with
I found "Found Wanting" wanting. In the beginning I was somehow relieved that the story is at least set in Denmark and Sweden, but all the same it could not substitute Mikael and The Girl. The language is bad. The characters are lame. The plot is complicated and twisted, but in the end you are not interested in the poor solving of the boring riddles. Even the bad guys are really dumb. You can always take a gun from the murderer because they all are too stupid to hold a gun. The only (half-way) interesting person dies on page 80 (in a church), all Germans (and Danes) are criminal, Helsinki is cold and it always rains in Cologne. You found this review wanting? Read the book and compare, but, please, don’t spend money on it.
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books on the Valletta Airport!!]) with all kind of useless books but no Swedish crime novels. Bad luck. I found "Found Wanting" wanting. In the beginning I was somehow relieved that the story is at least set in Denmark and Sweden, but all the same it could not substitute Mikael and The Girl. The language is bad. The characters are lame. The plot is complicated and twisted, but in the end you are not interested in the poor solving of the boring riddles. Even the bad guys are really dumb. You can always take a gun from the murderer because they all are too stupid to hold a gun. The only (half-way) interesting person dies on page 80 (in a church), all Germans (and Danes) are criminal, Helsinki is cold and it always rains in Cologne. You found this review wanting? Read the book and compare, but, please, don’t spend money on it.
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LibraryThing member AHS-Wolfy
Richard Eusden is a bored civil servant working at the Foreign Office in London and desperately wants some excitement in his life. Along comes Gemma, his ex-wife, to provide him with some. She has been tasked by her other ex-husband and Richard's life-long friend, Marty Hewitson, to deliver an
Richard finds out that the case holds documents that may bring to light the fate of the last of the Romanovs and that they could be worth a fortune. Betrayals and double-crosses abound in this country hopping twist of a story, passing though Belgium and onto Germany, Denmark and Finland. The scenery is excellent and it's a shame the story and characters don't match it. Still fairly readable though and the last hundred pages do fly by.
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attaché case to him in Brussels. Seeing as he hasn't seen Marty since he skipped the country while on bail, which Richard put the money up for, and add in the fact that Marty now has an inoperable tumour, Richard agrees and sets off on the errand that will forever change his life.Richard finds out that the case holds documents that may bring to light the fate of the last of the Romanovs and that they could be worth a fortune. Betrayals and double-crosses abound in this country hopping twist of a story, passing though Belgium and onto Germany, Denmark and Finland. The scenery is excellent and it's a shame the story and characters don't match it. Still fairly readable though and the last hundred pages do fly by.
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LibraryThing member edwardsgt
A typical Goddard tale, weaving historical fact with fiction in real settings, this time as diverse as the Isle of Wight to Helsinki, with a hero thrown into a setting in which he has little experience. I always learn something from Goddard's historical facts and real locations with which he
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sprinkles his stories and find them enjoyable, this was no exception. The basis of the story is the fate of Anastasia, one of the Romanovs, who it is said, survived the massacre suffered by her fellow family members and whose existence was the subject of much international speculation. Goddard skilfully weaves in a visit by the Romanovs to Cowes in 1909, apparently witnessed by a relative of the hero, Richard Eusden's childhood friend Marty, who drags Richard into a search for the truth about Anastasia. Naturally others are equally keen to keep all the Romanov secrets well and truly buried... Show Less
LibraryThing member cathymoore
Goddard once again successfully intertwines historic fact with fast-paced fiction. This time the mystery of the last Tsar of Russia and his daughter Anastasia leads our hero, unassuming civil servant Richard Eusden, on a mad dash across northern Europe. Lots of mysterious villains and richly
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described locations alongside Goddard's customary plot-twists make this a really enjoyable read. Show Less
LibraryThing member booksinthebelfry
A well-written thriller that plays with great style on the mystery surrounding the fate of the Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia. Even if you've made up your mind on the matter (or don't think it matters at all!) Goddard's imaginative variation on the Romanov conspiracy theme provides enough action
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and plot twists to while away a wintry evening or two in a most satisfying manner. Show Less
LibraryThing member alisonb60
I agree with some of the comments here, not one of his best and a disappointment. I read Name to a Face a while ago which was excellent. Found Wanting left me with the feeling that he did not take long to write it.
LibraryThing member AdvaKramer
Generally speaking, it is a pretty good suspense book: it is good paced, interesting places, seems well researched, intriguing conundrum (based on a real life mystery the western world seemed quite obsessed about in various points in time), well written.
However, I was not pulled in - I did not get
It may have been partly due to the fact that I, myself,have been curious about the Romanov's story and read about it a few months prior to purchasing the book. Problem was, in the last few years there was an advancement in the mystery, after a burial place have been discovered with bones of the two missing bodies of the Romanov's. I was left to wonder when the book was written in relation to that discovery - terrified it was written beforehand, I didn't really check it out (couldn't remember when the grave was found, and refused to look it up).
I hated the fact that the ending may have been marred for me, and I think it had something to do with me not really connecting to the book.
Of course, when I got to the end and this whole thing was referenced, I liked the book better.
Even if I disregard my personal conflict with the book, I still think the book was missing an emotional link for me that prevented me from really enjoying it. It was tepid for me.
I do like to point out, that my experience with suspense books is minimal, at best. It is not usually the genres I read, though I do like to enjoy it once in a while. Maybe enthusiasts for the genre will be able to appreciate the book more.
However, I was not pulled in - I did not get
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that 'can't-put-the-book-down' or the 'I-must-continue-reading-every-chance-I-get' feeling. It's why it took me about four months to read the book - I just forgot about it every time I put it down.It may have been partly due to the fact that I, myself,
I hated the fact that the ending may have been marred for me, and I think it had something to do with me not really connecting to the book.
Of course, when I got to the end and this whole thing was referenced, I liked the book better.
Even if I disregard my personal conflict with the book, I still think the book was missing an emotional link for me that prevented me from really enjoying it. It was tepid for me.
I do like to point out, that my experience with suspense books is minimal, at best. It is not usually the genres I read, though I do like to enjoy it once in a while. Maybe enthusiasts for the genre will be able to appreciate the book more.
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LibraryThing member ecw0647
Goddard's book --at least those I've read -- have common theme: a rather ordinary man is thrust into a vast conspiracy through no fault of his own and must figure a way out. In this case, British civil servant Richard Eusden is asked by his ex-wife, Gemma, to meet someone in a train station on the
The plot was formidable and rather predictable, but as an audiobook it held my interest, perhaps because the shower was nice and warm. I like Goddard but suspect this is not one of his better books.
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continent and collect a briefcase. He is then to take the briefcase to Marty, his ex-wife's current husband, and a former friend of Richard's. Gemma then sort of disappears from the story, but she is replaced by a cast of thousands. I won't even begin to sort out the plot for you because I can't. Seems everyone is somehow involved with the Tsar and fingerprints and about two-thirds of the way through I kept wondering whatever was motivating Richard who could (and should) have bailed many times.The plot was formidable and rather predictable, but as an audiobook it held my interest, perhaps because the shower was nice and warm. I like Goddard but suspect this is not one of his better books.
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