A Good Thriller discussion

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A breakneck race against time…and an implacable enemy.

An anonymous young woman murdered in a run-down hotel, all identifying characteristics dissolved by acid.

A father publicly beheaded in the blistering heat of a Saudi Arabian public square.

A notorious Syrian biotech expert found eyeless in a Damascus junkyard.

Smoldering human remains on a remote mountainside in Afghanistan.

A flawless plot to commit an appalling crime against humanity.

One path links them all, and only one man can make the journey.

Pilgrim.

I read it 2 years ago; agree - terrific thriller

Rick wrote: "I read it 2 years ago; agree - terrific thriller"

You're welcome to join our discussion. We'll start soon :-)

Unfortunately, Terry Hayes's new book will not be available until 2018 :-(

Thanks for setting up a thread, Agnieszka. I'm good to start whenever is good collectively for everyone.

How do you guys as a group tend to read buddy reads? Do you read up to a certain point and converse? Or just read at leisure and discuss at end? I've only ever done one on one buddy reads. This is my first time as a group. I always love them!

I can start whenever... just let me know.

Rick wrote: "Unfortunately, Terry Hayes's new book will not be available until 2018 :-("

Rick is that The Year of the Locust ? I'm confused because I see there was a Pilgrim 2 published in 2015 I Am Pilgrim #2 with 3 stars, 8 ratings and no reviews?!

Amy wrote: "Thanks for setting up a thread, Agnieszka. I'm good to start whenever is good collectively for everyone.

How do you guys as a group tend to read buddy reads? Do you read up to a certain point and..."

With the last books each of us read at their own pace and we posted our thoughts along or commented the messages other posted :-)

I can start January 1 or anytime later - usually I read several books at once and stay that way flexible :-)

Perri wrote: "Rick wrote: "Unfortunately, Terry Hayes's new book will not be available until 2018 :-("

Rick is that The Year of the Locust ? I'm confused because I see there was a Pilgrim 2 publ..."

: Expected publication: May 1st 2018 by Simon & Schuster Audio
Unfortunatelly there are people rating books before they read them and according to GR there is nothing we can do about it :-(
Some of the readers rated a teaser of the book which isn't much better than rating bevore reading ;-)

Yes, the 2018 Terry Hayes book is "The Year of the Locust."

As far as I know, there is no "I am Pilgrim 2" available in the US.

How about if we start from the beginning of the month and use January as a timescale to read in? Then, post thoughts here (without spoilers!) as we go along or at the end of the read. Easiest way of doing things me thinks! :)

Sounds good!

Janet wrote: "How about if we start from the beginning of the month and use January as a timescale to read in? Then, post thoughts here (without spoilers!) as we go along or at the end of the read. Easiest way o..."

I see it the same way!

Sounds good to me. It is kind of long and I am hoping to fit it in so I can read with you!
I don't know if anyone else mentioned it, but it would be nice if everyone used spoiler tags, if necessary. :)

Wow, I'd really like to fit this one in if I can....

I'll be picking up my copy tomorrow or the next day. Will definitely get to start it later in the week.

I'll see how I get on with my current read then I'll start this next.

I know you're all aware but please be mindful of spoilers until everyone has read. I've just read a review of another book on GR and the reviewer gave the murderer away??!!! I won't be reading that book now!!

Janet wrote: "I'll see how I get on with my current read then I'll start this next.

I know you're all aware but please be mindful of spoilers until everyone has read. I've just read a review of another book on..."

I hate that kind of reviews as well especially since you can mark the entire review spoiler if you don't like / don't know how to mark single parts!

Since I'm pretty fast reader I'll read for a few days my library books first and start with I am Pilgrim around the next weekend and more of you started reading by then :-)

I've got an Audible copy and I've been listening to about an hour a day. It's very good (and a decent narrator) but I'm not sure about the backstory. It seems there's more backstory than present, but I'm not that far.

I always try and mark spoilers anyway and if for some reason back in the day lol, when I couldn't figure out how to mark them, is crazily write SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER alert at the top lol

I hate when people do that too! :-(
I still have not seen the movies Fight Club or Arlington Rd because people spoiled it! That also goes for Greys Anatomy. Boooo to them lol

Arlington Road.One of the best thrillers I've ever seen. Very creepy.

I learned to stay off of Twitter because of spoilers. People in the Eastern time zone ruining it for us Pacific time zone people.

Yes, Kirsten! I have to do that big time with Instagram for like a week if I miss an episode of The Walking Dead. There will be memes everywhere to spoil it if I don't!

On another note, I Am Pilgrim is pretty interesting. I'm liking it so far.

I started my January PIFM read this week Broken and it's really good.

I'm planning to start this weekend!

Amy wrote: "On another note, I Am Pilgrim is pretty interesting. I'm liking it so far."

and it just keeps getting better.........

I've started it a couple of nights ago. A good start so far.

I'm struggling with this. I'm about 120 pages in. Some of it is really good but some of it isn't and pushing through those bits is what I'm struggling with. At the moment it's reminding me why I don't like reading these type of thrillers. I'm not sure what to do.... :(

One of the strengths (and drawbacks) it's how thorough he is at setting it up. It's almost too much. We have the crime and then we have all this background.

I can only say, Janet, that we should probably stick through it until it gets back to the present. I remember reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and giving up on it the first time because of all the background/financial stuff at the start. I only picked it up again because a bunch of people urged me too.

Hhhmmm. And I'm actually nearly 200 pages in! It's a boy because the good bits are an adrenaline rush and are seriously good. *sigh*

Oh for flip's sake phone... I meant "it's annoying!"

Not sure how far I am. I am listening to the audiobook and am in Part 2. I am 4 hours in and at 21%.

I am really enjoying it. Well written and well narrated, it's just the overarching backstory is getting to me. I''m not sure if all of it is necessary.

However, it may be like Tom Clancy where the logs that fall off the back of the ship on page 200 are integral on page 600.

I'm at 30%. I know what you mean. There's an awful lot of stage setting and backstory and some of it is driving me nuts. I'll keep on ploughing. It has been said in many reviews about the level of backstory and that it needs to be pushed through. I suspect this book needed a tighter edit.

Yeah, I'm not sure the backstory needed to be so thorough. Perhaps, he could've left it out and used it for a prequel?

I know what you mean. I fell off and was also reading another book, and started to heavily concentrate on that one. I should have just stuck with it. I'll pick it back up tomorrow. Thanks for the updates. I'll know to just try and keep going. This and The Killer/Hunter were my first of these type of books and I feel ashamed but also put down The Killer/Hunter. I'll pick that one back up in February if I fall for this one. So many people loved them both.

If I recall correctly, it starts to steadily speed up around 50%, and much of that back story comes back into it. Stick with it ladies.

Hi, these are interesting comments because I haven't heard any backstory criticisms about this book, actually I haven't heard any criticisms of it at all...

I like Pilgrim's dry character and his detailed observations of other people and I've just read about the incident with the Rider of the Blue and that worked well for me.

One small thing - I was surprised when he talks about Bruce, one of the technicians at the crime scene. He says that Bruce is Chinese-American and is called Bruce 'for obvious reasons'. (Chapter Four, para 2)

It's just one sentence and not central at all to the plot but this jarred with me. I think it's the word choice of 'obvious' I don't like. Pilgrim can have whatever views about other people he wants and I don't care - but when an author uses 'obvious' and doesn't give any explanation, it doesn't work.
Is the author saying that people around Bruce didn't know how to pronounce his actual name/ that he has a Chinese name they don't use/that Bruce has chosen a new name himself or is Pilgrim making a joke? (One that isn't 'obvious' to me)
Well, whatever it is - you can see that I didn't like it.
It's not something to put me off the wonderful scope of this book but I hope the author doesn't keep doing it.

Only a guess, but maybe a Bruce Lee reference. Hong Kong and American actor.

Yes, that's the problem for me - we have to guess and people can come at it from all sorts of angles.

This book is a meticulous thriller and that's why this 'obvious' (when it isn't) stands out.

I recognized the reference immediately but only because the inference is one of a pop culture nature.

And Ann, I see you recently read Triptych...I've been dying to get to both that and Void. I don't know why I keep letting them slip by in queue.

Amy wrote: "And Ann, I see you recently read Triptych...I've been dying to get to both that and Void. I don't know why I keep letting them slip by in queue."

I'd recommend one over the other ;~)

Lol David, my delay in reply was I just went and purchased Imperfect Strangers on Amazon. I need to get this ball rolling and I want to read this one first since it was released first and much adored as well. I'm forever saying it and not doing it. Soon enough now, my friend! Thank you. :-)

I've finished!!

I can't finish til next week as something has come up! What did you think, Janet?!!! Must have got better although I was enjoying the background. You killed it there at the end.

I've written a review. It doesn't have spoilers so I'll post. At least this way you have to choice to read now or wait until you guys have read it.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I just started Part Two and I'm really liking Pilgrim's cold character. So I was surprised (view spoiler)[when, after 9/11, he talks about wanting an ordinary life and wanting to fall in love. (hide spoiler)]

When we are learning about Saracen, I thought the passages about his mother worked very well. They really portrayed the oppression of Muslim women in Saracen's world and his mother's strength of spirit.

Ann wrote: "I just started Part Two and I'm really liking Pilgrim's cold character. So I was surprised [spoilers removed]

When we are learning about Saracen, I thought the passages about his mother worked ver..."

I got the impression that he wasn't so much a cold character, so much as one who had his feelings locked away.

David said, "...one who had his feelings locked away...."

hmmm.... I'll get back to you on that one, once I've got to the end :)

I agree. I didn't think of him as cold. More he was able to lock his feelings down when required.

I think he has to have them locked away. He wouldn't be able to do his job otherwise.

I like the scenes with Saracen and his mother. They show that the character has depth. I'm not near done. But I am liking it, just all the background and exposition got a bit tiring at some points.