Thursday, September 02, 2010

Black Rain by Graham Brown


Title: Black Rain
Author: Graham Brown
ISBN: 9780553592412
Publisher: Dell, 2010
Mass Market Paperback, 528 pages
Genre: Thriller; #1 Danielle Laidlaw
Rating: B
Source: Paperback Swap

First Line: The darkness of the jungle loomed above, its dense, tangled layers spreading like a circus tent from the towering pillars of massive trees.

When I read that Black Sun, the second Graham Brown thriller featuring Danielle Laidlaw, was out at the end of August, I thought I remembered the first sitting on my shelves. I took a look and was relieved that my memory was in proper working order for the moment. In no time at all, I was deep in the Amazon with Danielle in Black Rain.

Danielle Laidlaw is an investigator for a covert branch of the National Research Institute. She takes a team deep into the Amazon rain forest to discover the source of radioactive crystals, and to search for an ancient Mayan city. This puts Danielle and her group directly in the path of ruthless billionaire Richard Kaufman-- as well as an extremely hostile tribe of natives and violent man-eating creatures. Within days, Danielle is faced with choosing between the mission objective or the lives of her team and herself.

Even though I'm normally a character-driven reader, there are times when I want to read something fast and fun. Black Rain had the added bonus of being deep in the Amazon dealing with Mayan mythology, both of which interest me.

The plot is fast-paced and interesting, and even though thrillers are not known for characterization, one of them stood out in this novel. McCarter, a member of Laidlaw's team, behaved in a smug, self-righteous manner throughout most of the book, but when the chips were down about as far as they could go, he received two thumbs up from me. I'm just not used to being favorably impressed by characters in a thriller, and this means that I'm going to be looking for Graham Brown's Black Sun for my next Mayan mythology and Amazon rain forest fix. If you're in the mood for something fast, fun, interesting, and even scary at times, I suggest you give Graham Brown a try, too.


3 comments:

  1. I don't read many thrillers, but I like the rain forest setting. Just a minor question: The Maya lived in what is is now Mexico and Central America so the connection to the Amazon rain forest is, well, interesting. Is this addressed in the book?

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  2. I like the setting for this one..what's not to like about man-eating creatures, Mayan mythology, and a crazy billionaires. Yup, I do believe this one will be going on my wish list.

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  3. Beth-- Yes, this is addressed in the book.

    Kris-- Good! I hope you enjoy it!

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