Dead Line

Disappointing. As Dame Stella Rimington was DG of MI6 I expected something better. This story is na?ve and cumbersome.

If you like thrillers don't bother, if you like Mills and Boon this might just do it for you.

In 2004 Stella Rimington published her first novel, "At Risk". I vaguely remembered enjoying it and hadn't heard much from her until I saw "Dead Line" on Audible. Both books are part of the "Liz Caryle" series - the first and fourth respectively. Unfortunately "Dead Line" was sadly lacking the qualities of a classic thriller. The first part of the two part download kept my interest. However, with over 3 hours left of the second part I found myself getting a bit restless and just wanting things to speed up and end. By this stage the plot ceased to be gripping and any twists were simple and minor. I also sometimes have problems with thrillers written by women and this author falls into the trap of others by describing the emotions and love-life of the main (female character) in such a way that may appeal to some woman but not to some men such as myself. Overall an fairly enjoyable enough thriller that ultimately fails to deliver the punches that so many other authors can do. After "Dead Line" I'm reluctant to continue reading any more of the "Liz Caryle" series.

This was one of those books you struggle to settle with initially I think the reason for this could lie in the fact you are introduced to large number of characters very quickly and establishing who is the central one is frustrating.
I did listen to the first 30mins and gave up until much later, when i have to say it was well worth going back to. Its well written well narrated and reveals itself as a very high quality piece of work which you would expect from such a renowned author.