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kerrynicole72's review against another edition
4.0
I bought this book because it's set in Thailand and I'm headed there in about two weeks. Sadly I'm not going to Ko Samui which is now where I want to go because of this book, lol. I digress. I quite liked this book and the story line. You can't help but fall a little in love with David despite some serious imperfections. I just bought the second book in the series and am looking forward to reading that one too.
luffy79's review against another edition
5.0
Everyone Burns by John Dolan is a criminally unknown novel. To think I might never have discovered it. It's set in Thailand. That mattered to me because I've never read a book rooted there. I warmed to the linguistically amalgating consonance of Indian sounding names. We need to keep revising our opinion of the main character, David Braddock. It's crazy how we need to update and collect new strands of info about him. Everything that happens here is plausible.
Apart from the murders, there's not one shot fired or explosion detonated. Braddock is a cultured character, and when he drives the narrative forward, we get to appreciate the author's mind via him. Braddock does not even have a PI license. That fact defines the direction of the case in question. David does not have any epiphany. In case you are beginning to think that there's only one person in the book, rest assured...having said that, the author has chosen not to delve into purple prose. Sometimes that pays, sometimes you feel further description has gone amiss.
Let me try and articulate why I like this book so much. The hero has flaws instead of eccentricities. The story sets up its red herrings with a seasoned, practiced signature. You don't get annoyed by the speculation arising in your mind, because guessing here is fun and you think you are on the money about some of your assumptions. I myself hit paydirt once in the book. The beginning burgeons with multiple cases for our antihero. That's it, or was it, for me. Maybe you'll unearth more reasons to like the book. Have fun.
A belated word of caution; not all facts in the book are true. Case in point, German is not the only language to have a single word meaning "schadenfreude". The English have a mirroring word of their own. Epicaricacy.
Apart from the murders, there's not one shot fired or explosion detonated. Braddock is a cultured character, and when he drives the narrative forward, we get to appreciate the author's mind via him. Braddock does not even have a PI license. That fact defines the direction of the case in question. David does not have any epiphany. In case you are beginning to think that there's only one person in the book, rest assured...having said that, the author has chosen not to delve into purple prose. Sometimes that pays, sometimes you feel further description has gone amiss.
Let me try and articulate why I like this book so much. The hero has flaws instead of eccentricities. The story sets up its red herrings with a seasoned, practiced signature. You don't get annoyed by the speculation arising in your mind, because guessing here is fun and you think you are on the money about some of your assumptions. I myself hit paydirt once in the book. The beginning burgeons with multiple cases for our antihero. That's it, or was it, for me. Maybe you'll unearth more reasons to like the book. Have fun.
A belated word of caution; not all facts in the book are true. Case in point, German is not the only language to have a single word meaning "schadenfreude". The English have a mirroring word of their own. Epicaricacy.
vesper1931's review against another edition
Gave up after a couple of pages because of "disappeared quicker than a Scotsman's generosity."
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