View source for The Triangle by rashbre

{{infobox 
|title= The Triangle
|author= rashbre
|reviewer= Sue Magee
|genre=General Fiction 
|summary= A page-turning adventure story which characters you warm to, but the author has a tendency to over-explain and the book should have been copy-edited before publication.
|rating=3 
|buy= Maybe
|borrow= Yes
|format= Paperback
|pages=232 
|publisher= Trafford Publishing
|date= September 2009
|isbn=978-1425171896  
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1425171893</amazonuk> 
|amazonus=<amazonus>1425171893</amazonus> 
|sort= Triangle
}}

Brian's trip to the art gallery was a treat, courtesy of a private ticket from a friend and the white room was much better than the last gallery he'd visited.  It was, though, to be his last such visit as he was silently knifed by a professional hit man.  His friends were stunned, not just at his death, but at the way in which it had come about.  What could Brian have been doing to attract ''that'' sort of attention?  Jake had given him the ticket and it dawned on him that he had been the target rather than Brian.  Some recent events clicked into place…

Now, that's the point at which I'd high-tail it to the police and lay all my cards on the table as I begged for protection.  Jake, Clare and Bigsy (he's not a small man) are made of sterner stuff.  Whilst Jake goes into hiding, Clare and Bigsy set out to unravel the mystery in a trip that's going to take them to Zurich via Paris and back, whilst the hit man heads to Cannes and then back to the UK to finish the job he'd bungled, pursued by some Russians who think that he's double-crossed them.  Throw in a former American military hero who's not too fussy about legality, some Arabs and an awful lot of money and you have the makings of a very good adventure story.

And it ''is'' a good adventure story as rashbre never lets the pace slacken for a minute.  He's found three good lead characters who bounce off each other nicely and have complementary strengths.  He's wisely opted to avoid the lure of romance or sex to spice up the story and delivers a well-crafted story.  It's intricate, contemporary but without being too tied to a particular moment in time and a fun read.

There are, though a couple of problems with the book, both of which could easily be eliminated.  There's a tendency to over-explain and it left me feeling patronised.  I could (just) cope having Blu-Tack explained to me but ''Gare-du-Nord, "Station of the North"'' left me cringing and when it was quickly followed by ''TGV (Train of great speed)'' I came close to snarling. 

More irritating though was the lack of proper editing. Occasionally there seemed not to have been even basic proof reading.  At one point I wondered if English was rashbre's native language.  Words are missed out, misused and sometimes it's difficult to understand the sense. Annoyingly there would be many pages with no problems and I would settle into the book.  Then there would be several errors in quick succession and I found myself looking at the words rather than reading the story.  We're promised a sequel – and I'm looking forward to it – but I hope that rashbre gets these basic points right.

I'd like to thank the author for sending a copy of the book to the Bookbag.

If this book appeals then we think that you might also enjoy [[Vanished by Joseph Finder]].

{{amazontext|amazon=1425171893}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=7159274}}

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