The Dealer and the Dead - Hardcover

Seymour, Gerald

3.62

563 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1250018781 ISBN 13: 9781250018786

Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books, 2014

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"The three British masters of suspense, Graham Greene, Eric Ambler, and John le Carre, have been joined by a fourth-Gerald Seymour." -New York Times

The Dealer and the Dead is the newest heart-pounding thriller from international bestselling author Gerald Seymour, the "best spy novelist ever" (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Sometimes surviving a war can almost seem worse than dying in it.
Vukovar, 1991--a small Croatian village near the Serbian border. In a moonlit field, the villagers await an arms shipment they need to make a last-ditch fight against the advancing Serbs. The promised delivery never comes, and the village is overrun.
Eighteen years later, a body is unearthed from a field, and with it the identity of the arms dealer who betrayed them. Now the villagers can plot their revenge.
In leafy England, Harvey Gillot regards himself a man of his world. There is only one blemish on his record, and that was all a long time ago. But Gillot, his family, his friends and his enemies are about to be pitched into a sequence of events that will unfold across Europe with breath-taking drama and almost biblical power.
Harvey Gillott is about to find out what happens when the hand of the past reaches out to the present-and it's holding a gun.

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Review:

In a Croatian village near Vukovar, a body is unearthed in a field – that of an arms dealer. Nearly twenty years earlier, a betrayal had taken place, involving the dead man: the besieged villagers had been desperately waiting for an arms shipment that never arrived -- arms that would have given them a chance against the Serbs moving against them. But there was no delivery, and the village fell. The philosophy of the villagers is that revenge is a dish best served cold, and now knowing the identity of the person who betrayed them, they draw plans for payback. In England, arms dealer Harvey Gillott is about to be drawn into a dangerous situation – and he will find that the past has a very long reach.

This is the intriguing premise of The Dealer and the Dead, and it will prompt the customary noises of admiration for its author, Gerald Seymour. Enthusiasts often make extravagant claims for their favourite authors, but discerning thriller readers can safely say that the best practitioner currently working in the UK is the veteran Seymour. He is, quite simply, the most intelligent and accomplished in the current field, and even his misfires (of which there aren’t many) are more interesting than most of the competition. Here, we have a typically compromised Seymour anti-hero, a masterfully organised globe-spanning narrative and a mass of highly persuasive detail. When so many novelists are content with shop-worn plots, Seymour always manages to create fresh and original protagonists, and weaves for them situations that are unlike anything he (or his peers) has come up with before. The Dealer and the Dead is Seymour firing on all cylinders, and his rivals need, once again, to look to their laurels. --Barry Forshaw

Review:

Seymour [is] incapable of creating a two-dimensional character . . . The ending is brilliantly orchestrated. (The Times)

Crisp, taut and contemporary, by a stylish writer. (Rachel Redford, the Observer)

'Discerning thriller readers can safely say that the best practitioner currently working in the UK is the veteran Seymour. He is, quite simply, the most intelligent and accomplished in the current field . . . Here, we have a typically compromised Seymour anti-hero, a masterfully organised globe-spanning narrative and a mass of highly persuasive detail. The Dealer and the Dead is Seymour firing on all cylinders, and his rivals need, once again, to look to their laurels. (Barry Forshaw)

With Seymour, not only do you get a cracking story deftly gold, but you also feel you are learning something. (Birmingham Press)

[Seymour's latest story] doesn't disappoint (Oxford Mail)

The final scenes are brilliantly orchestrated by Seymour, the sustained tension becoming almost unbearable . . . Without doubt, The Dealer and the Dead is one of the finest thrillers to be published so far this year. (Yorkshire Evening Post)

[Seymour's] meticulous research shines through in his latest thriller. (Oxford Times)

riveting stuff (Manly Daily)

'In a day when shop-worn plots in the disguise of well-written books are doing the rounds, The Dealer and the Dead comes as a refreshing, breathtaking story that keeps you gripped right till the very end. (Indian Express)

The Dealer and the Dead displays his usual ability to concoct a tightly controlled plot that is cleverly engineered . . . steadily crafted into a compelling tale . . . Another first-class thriller from the always reliable Seymour. (Canberra Times)

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