What do readers think of Blacklight Blue by Peter May? Write your own review.

The ending left me cold. I'm not going to put any spoilers here, but the ending definitely brings to light that this is number 3 in a series. The main detractor in this novel was the fact that it was written in flashback style, which is much more effective on film than it is in print. It had a disjointed feeling at points. This is definitely NOT a mystery, but is indeed a thriller. As someone who has not read any previous Enzo File novels, it left me wishing for more mystery and less "Grisham".

A quick, entertaining read filled with mystery, humor and family drama. The third Enzo installment in the Enzo chronicles plays out in Paris and small towns in France and Spain, a fascinating backdrop that held my attention. The action is fast paced and non-stop, if not a tad far-fetched and predictable at times. I have not read the other two books in the Enzo files series but plan, in particular, to seek out "The Critic" which involves the disappearance of a famed wine critic in a French vineyard. "Blacklight Blue" is recommended for mystery buffs … although it might be wise to read the first two in the series …more for additional character development and background. (less)

Enzo MacLeod, a Scot teaching on a faculty in southwest France, confidently bet that he could use his expertise to crack seven notorious murders described in a book on cold cases by Parisian journalist Roger Raffin. Enzo has in fact solved the first two crimes.

But the third is far from his mind right now: he has just been diagnosed with a terminal illness, and he has become the victim of someone who seems intent on destroying his credit and his relationships as well as getting him arrested for murder.

Having established a safe house to protect his loved ones he sets to work. Are his personal woes somehow …more connected to the digging he has done into the brutal murder of a boy in a Paris apartment sixteen years ago? Can he stay alive long enough to catch the long-hidden killer? This is the third installment in the series.

The plot line sounds great. The main character has worked well in other books. The author has written many novels. In my opinion this book simply falls flat.

There is a lot of violence in the book where one looks on dispassionately. The author fails to make the reader care enough about the victims to be as shocked as we should be. The best suspense in the book is in the personal lives of Enzo and his daughter not in the actual murder mystery.

I truly enjoyed the descriptions of Strasbourg and Paris, France. The author did a good job of bringing the city to life. The setting for the book is very well done.

Overall, I felt the writing did not flow well. A chapter is ended without pulling the reader to the next chapter. It was supposed to be a thriller but failed to thrill me. I gave this book 2 out of 5 stars. (less)

Rarely, if ever, has it been necessary for me to skim descriptive pararaphs to finish a book, but this was the only alternative in finishing this book. The plot unbelieveable, the redundancy of fact unnecessary made this a difficult read. The characters not compelling, the coincidence of circumstance hard to believe, the writing poor. The ending leaving a path for future books too obvious. Not having read the previous installments of this series, it seemed unbelievable that this being the third the protagonist was so predictable.