I reserve "brilliant" for works by John McPhee and James Michener, but on that scale, John Pearce's Treasure of Saint-Lazare is at least "very good." Considering it's an early work from an unheralded author who clearly understands the key to hooking readers is to create believable characters and to craft a thrilling plot with unexpected twists and turns, I fully expect Pearce to move up the scale with his subsequent works.
I'll try not to include spoilers here, but to quickly lay out the plot, it's 2008, and a displaced American in Paris, Eddie Grant, gets sucked into a deadly search to find a Raphael painting that disappeared at the end of World War Two. Grant, a former soldier, follows in the footsteps of his late father, a military intelligence agent who once tracked down art looted by the Nazis. From Paris and Sarasota, assisted by a woman from his past, Jen Wetzmuller, he sets out to locate the priceless work of art. It's a race against time to find both the painting and the killers of Wetzmuller's father -- who also happened to be his own father's partner, Roy Castor, in finding stolen works of art. In fact, it's Castor's murder that touches off the rapidly unfolding and suspenseful chain of events that will have you holding your breath until the thrilling denouement.
The best thing about Pearce's book is how absolutely readable it is. Many new-ish authors lard up on descriptions as if they get paid by the adjective. His writing does description nicely in a spare way. Dialogue is realistic among characters, who are not at all cartoonish. The protagonist, Eddie Grant, has both an interesting past and a riveting dark side that keep the reader sympathetic to him. The book's unlikely and unexpected pairing of Paris and Sarasota as dual settings is unusual and quite different and unpretentious. Pearce does just as enthusiastic a job introducing readers to the City of Crackers as he does the City of Lights.
I actually felt this book was too short. It ended abruptly, and I was left wanting more -- more Eddie Grant, more Jen Wetzmuller and more intricate plot. Pearce has done a strong job introducing and developing characters, and I look forward to greeting them again in the pages of a new book.
If I have any suggestion for Pearce, it would be to treat his book like one of the fine French red wines his characters drink and let the plot (and the readers) breathe a bit. Much like a Hong Kong movie, action is a bit too fast-paced. Readers need more interludes, more time to reflect and absorb. This book could have run another 20 pages and would have been even better for it. Lastly, while I was fascinated to go inside the mixed- and expatriate culture of Americans abroad, absent a family tree, it was a bit hard to follow whose mother was French, who lived in Germany, who married whom and why. It was an early distraction in the book, but luckily, one that passed quickly and never again was a factor.
I wish Pearce luck. He's publishing under his own steam and his own label. It's a rough world out there to get your name in lights and your book on the bestseller list. I've read a lot of new authors recently, searching for the next pearl in the rough and a new author who doesn't just phone things in. With the Treasure of Saint-Lazare, I think I've found them. Now, Pearce just needs another few hundred thousand avid readers to agree with me and discover this book. They should. He is, indeed, ready for prime time.
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From the Publisher
Hidden treasure, murderous plot
The unforgettable story of one man's perilous journey to avenge his murdered family and find the true love he thought he'd lost forever.
Full-throttle adventure
Eddie Grant has unfinished business. He never caught the man who caused his family’s murder, but now he's close. Never cross a man who’s out for revenge…
A sailboat explodes
A bomb shatters the midnight silence, giving Mark and Kate only seconds to escape before their sailboat turns into a flaming hell. A wrecking crew batters down the wall of their shop to steal a crucial tool the CIA needs to prevent a coup in Eastern Europe.
Climax on the high seas
COMING SEPT. 15
Eddie Grant cracks the case that began with Treasure of Saint-Lazare, beginning with a spectacular robbery in Paris and ending with a gunfight on the high seas.
International Thriller Author JOHN PEARCE
John Pearce is author of the Eddie Grant series of thrillers, the first of which, Treasure of Saint-Lazare, was chosen as best historical mystery of the year when it was published. His fourth novel, The Final Heist, wraps up the decade-long story, opening with a spectacular armed robbery on Avenue de l'Opéra in Paris and ending with a running gunfight on a World War II freighter in the Med.s
In between, Eddie finds the king's ransom in gold bullion his nemesis Claude Khan stole from the wealthy but unwise investors of Paris and Washington, and breaks up a dangerous effort to clear the way for a Russian takeover of Central Europe, all the way to the German border.
About the author
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- Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2012
- Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2023
- Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2017
Top reviews from other countries
- Ronald N DReviewed in Canada on October 6, 2016
One exciting and totally enthralling read. Super well done.
