Book
The body of David Hayes / Ridley Pearson.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780786867257
- ISBN: 0786890010 (pbk.)
- ISBN: 0786867256
- Physical Description: 344 p. ; 25 cm.
- Edition: 1st ed.
- Publisher: New York : Hyperion, c2004.
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| Genre: | Psychological thrillers. Crime thrillers. Psychological fiction. Mystery fiction. |
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Available copies
- 6 of 6 copies available at BC Interlibrary Connect. (Show)
- 1 of 1 copy available at Radium Hot Springs Public Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 6 total copies.
Other Formats and Editions
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Radium Hot Springs Public Library | FIC PEA (Text) | 35130000024202 | Adult Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Monthly Selections - #1 February 2004
Pearson found a perfect groove early on for his much-acclaimed Lou Boldt-Daphne Matthews series, and it has been running flawlessly through eight installments. He changes focus this time, moving forensic psychologist Matthews to the background and elevating the wife of Seattle police Lieutenant Boldt to center stage. What results is a novel that adds depth and resonance to the ongoing series but that, as a stand-alone thriller, proves slightly less galvanizing than usual, which is not to say that there isn't plenty of pulse-pounding suspense and lovingly laid-out procedural detail. The plot revolves around the reappearance of David Hayes, with whom Liz Boldt had an affair and who embezzled millions from the bank where she is a high-ranking officer. Hayes is out of prison and needs Liz to access the bank's mainframe if he is to recover the embezzled millions, now dangling in cyberspace, and avoid the wrath of the Russian mob. In order to find the money and keep Liz out of harm's way, Boldt must balance the contradictory roles of jealous husband and objective investigator. Give Pearson credit for turning away, albeit temporarily, from the edgy relationship between Boldt and Matthews and tackling instead a much trickier topic: the sinews that hold together a long-term marriage. No easy task for any writer, especially one who must simultaneously face the plot-driven demands of the high-octane thriller. Mission accomplished, even if the plot burns a slightly lower-grade fuel this time. ((Reviewed February 1, 2004)) Copyright 2004 Booklist Reviews. - BookPage Reviews : BookPage Reviews 2004 April
Follow the moneyThe ninth novel in Ridley Pearson's series featuring Seattle police detective Lou Boldt cleverly combines a high-tech crime with one of the oldest plot twists in the mystery genre: the stolen object hidden in plain sight device first used in Poe's "The Purloined Letter." In fact, the title of the novel, The Body of David Hayes, is itself something of an exercise in misdirection.
David Hayes once worked as a computer specialist at the bank where Lou Boldt's wife, Liz, now directs technical operations. A digital whiz kid, Hayes managed to embezzle $17 million that no one could trace, though investigators suspected it had been stashed in an offshore account. Convicted of wire fraud and sent to prison for four years, Hayes is paroled just as the bank is about to conclude a profitable merger. When the two institutions' records are merged, the $17 million transaction that he has apparently hidden somewhere in the bank's computers will disappear.
Liz Boldt is not only one of the few people with access to the bank's highest-security computers, she was also having an extramarital affair with Hayes at the time of the embezzlement. Oh, and a videotape of her having sex with Hayes has surfaced and is quickly circulating. The Boldts' marriage is threatened by her affair, and both of the Boldts are in danger of, at best, losing their jobs and, at worst, being implicated in an ever-lengthening list of criminal offenses. Ultimately, Liz must make an anguished choice between what is best for her family and what is best for the bank.
Pearson shows his usual mastery of the intricacies of structure and the subtleties of suspenseful pacing. He is clearly fascinated by the kinds of ironies that keep character and situation connected even as events accelerate and the characters' understanding of those events seems always a day late and a dollar short. The situation he presents is pretty close to absolute misery for the Boldts, but this gripping thriller is a terrific diversion for Pearson's readers.
Martin Kich is a professor of English at Wright State University. Copyright 2004 BookPage Reviews.
- Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2004 February #1
A massive, long-dormant case of embezzlement bobs to the surface, spelling trouble for Seattle Lt. Lou Boldt (The Art of Deception, 2002, etc.) and his banker wife and nonstop suspense for their fans.Back when Liz Boldt allowed computer wizard David Hayes to seduce her, she didn't bargain on the sequel: He looted WestCorp, the Seattle bank she worked for, of $17 million that nobody's been able to trace to this day. Seattle's finest don't know where the money went, how Hayes hid it, or even where it came from. But now that Hayes has been paroled after serving five years for fraud, the case is back to haunt the Boldts. First, Lou is called to a fresh crime scene when Danny Foreman, the old friend from the Washington Bureau of Investigation who'd pushed hardest to close the case, is stunned and doped (and Danny's troubles are far from over). Then Liz is confronted, first with Hayes's unwelcome request for help, then with sordid evidence that her affair with Hayes could go public at any moment. In short order the Boldts are squeezed by a bunch of brutal, blackmailing bad guys headlined by Sturgeon General Yasmani Svengrad, a mafiya-connected importer; Lou's colleagues on the force, all of whom seem to be reading from different playbooks; Liz's bosses at the bank, whose impending merger sets a deadline for Hayes to recover the missing $17 million; and the elusive and unreadable David Hayes. The result is an impossibly tangled skein of double, triple, and quadruple crosses, as Lou and Liz struggle to keep their threatened marriage afloat by figuring out exactly which of their many demanding contacts they can trust to help to do what-and when they'll need to change plans at a moment's notice.Breathlessly exciting stuff, though impossible to follow in any detail either as it's going down or after it's over. Copyright Kirkus 2004 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved. - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 2004 March #1
In Pearson's latest Detective Lou Boldt thriller, computer whiz David Hayes has embezzled $17 million from the bank where he worked and hidden it within the computer system. Now paroled for the crime, he wants to get the money and be free of all competing parties, including some utterly ruthless Russian Mafia types who will stop at nothing to get the loot. Years before, Hayes had an affair with Boldt's wife-now VP of systems at the bank-and he blackmails her into helping him recover the money. Though dedicated and skilled, Boldt and his team are human and fallible; Boldt must balance his jealousy as a husband with his professionalism as a detective. Pearson's novels are always well written, and he takes special care with richly drawn subordinate characters. Intriguing, exciting, and highly recommended for most popular fiction collections.-Robert Conroy, Warren, MI Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information. - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2004 February #4
Lt. Lou Boldt is still top cop in the ninth installment of Pearson's Seattle Police Department series. (Undercurrents; No Witnesses; etc.). This time the case involves Boldt's wife, Liz, who's weathered many a storm throughout her marriage: chemotherapy, a separation, the kidnapping of their daughter and now the revelation of her affair with David Hayes, a computer whiz at the bank where she's an executive. Hayes embezzled $17 million and went to jail, but now he's free and the never-recovered money has both cops and robbers interested in his whereabouts. Liz had nothing to do with the theft, but Russian mobster Gen. Yasmani Svengrad (known as the Sturgeon General because he's the head of a caviar importing company) thinks the money belongs to him, and she's the key to getting it back. It's all extremely complicated, but with the help of Sgt. John LaMoia and Boldt's former lover police, psychologist Daphne Matthews, who is now living with LaMoia, Boldt hopes not only to solve the case but to protect his wife's reputation and keep his marriage from foundering. The difficulty is that Boldt's personal problems, which mount to near soap opera levels, tend to distract from the more interesting crime elements. Pearson's uneven writing too often veers into the mawkish when attempting to reveal Boldt's inner feelings ("She touched him once lightly on the arm as he opened the door. The tenderness of that gesture cut him to his core and he felt emotions ripple through him"). Pearson wisely eschews the sentimentalism as he builds to a climactic finale in which Boldt cleverly manipulates friend and foe alike to save Liz and serve justice. (Apr. 5)FYI: Pearson is a real go-getter with a number of new projects on tap. He's writing a prequel to Peter Pan with Dave Barry, scripting a pilot that he hopes to sell to Showtime, has completed a documentary for The Animal Planet and still has time to tour with writer/rockers the Rockbottom Remainders. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
