Extraordinary People (The Enzo Files, 1)

After reading the Lewis Trilogy, I decided to give this Scottish/French mishmash a try. I now detect a familiar set of strengths and weaknesses. May is a screenwriter and puts you in the street, or under it, with verve and perfect detail. However, plot lines are contrived, motivations are barely credible and character analyses would just about suffice for Masterpiece Theater. At one point, Enzo McCleod, the protagonist, declines police help to save his estranged daughter because he has been told not to ask for it. The clues, the reasons for them and the tracing of them feel like a board game, and not one you would return to.

To be fair, I could not stay with this book. I read probably a third of it, and I just couldn't keep plowing on. There was nothing that I found interesting or compelling. I have read several other Peter May books and enjoyed them all, but this one is very different and just not particularly interesting. Perhaps someone else can show prove me wrong, but I usually try to give a book every chance to draw me in. This one simply did not in any way.

I really liked the Lewis Trilogy, and thought perhaps I was on to something worthwhile with this series. Wrong. An unlikely protagonist (Scottish/Italian biologist living in France?) and an absurd mystery (a dismembered victim whose body parts are scattered across the continent accompanied by totally obscure clues to where another part may be found) strain credulity. Most of the action involves Google searches, which are inherently boring. Much attention is paid to dropping names and descriptions of various places around Paris and the French countryside, which meant nothing to me. This was a weak homage to Dan Brown and those implausible Nicolas Cage movies about clues hidden in famous documents. Nothing here to make me want to pursue his series. This was one of those books that I read to the end from a sense of obligation to see it to completion. Oddly, the last 30 or so pages (which most reviewers thought were disappointing) was the only part I liked. I'd say "Au revoir, Monsieur McLeod," but that would be misleading since I won't be back.

A Parisian journalist has written a book about seven unsolved crimes. The protagonist, Enzo Macloed, have made a wager that he can solve the most perplexing of these crimes by applying new science. He's trained as a forensic biologist.The crime turns out to be more gruesome and bizarre than anyone imagined. And solving it involves deciphering clues that are like riddles left by the killer or killers for some unknown reason. These are not clues the reader has hope of interpreting – too arcane and obscure. But Enzo is brilliant, and so is his student assistant – and with the help of the Internet and forensics, they triumph.So this is a very intellectual mystery, despite the gory nature of the crime.Enzo's complex relationships add interest. He has a daughter who hates him for good reason and a younger daughter who loves him unconditionally. He left his first wife, and his second wife died. Now there's a new romantic element in his life, a strangely distant and wildly passionate woman who and keeps sending him mixed messages.This is not my favorite Peter May book. I found the motivation of the crime unbelievable and the clues too convoluted. But the book is well written, and redolent with Parisian atmosphere. I’ll read the next book in the series just to find out what happens next in Enzo's life. He's an engaging character.

Enzo Macleod was challenged to find answers to the cold case of missing Jacques Gaillard who had disappeared ten years prior. The police had no idea whether he’d just vanished or had been murdered – no clues whatsoever. This was a case that Enzo was determined to crack – and with his field of forensics from when he was in Scotland, he knew he was qualified.Living in France for almost twenty years, Enzo and his teenage daughter Sophie managed well. But he had another daughter living not too distant – Kirsty would have nothing to do with him however. Even on the one occasion he waited for her and begged her to listen to him, she sent him on his way, stating she never wanted to see him again.The discovery of a dismembered head buried in the vast underground tunnels of Paris, and the clues that accompanied it meant Enzo’s challenge had just deepened. Could he solve the puzzle? And what would it mean if he did? Enzo’s quest was inviting danger – this was one murder that the killer thought he had got away with; and he would do anything to stop Enzo in his tracks…Extraordinary People is #1 in the Enzo Files series by Scottish author Peter May and I enjoyed it very much. A fast paced thriller with twists and turns to keep the reader on his/her toes; I certainly didn’t guess the identity of the killer until the reveal. Highly recommended.

This book is the first in the Enzo Files series by Peter May. Our protagonist is an English man living and teaching in Cahors France. He becomes involved in investigating a cold case disappearance and presumed murder of a high-profile French man. The victim was not universally liked so suspects are available. Some of the events and the investigation itself may seem unlikely, but it is a well-written story that held my interest. Most of the action is in Cahors or Paris and the French setting is attractive to me. There is action and suspense along with reasonably engaging characters. The resolution was slightly less than satisfactory to me, but the rest of the book offset that. I have already purchased several of the next books in the series which I expect that both my husband and I will read.

Sub Da Vinci code. Enzo Macleod, Scotsman living in France, explores series of unsolved murders where the objects buried with the corpse give clues as to where the next body is buried. None of this makes a lot of sense. While I quite enjoyed the descriptions of the different french settings, it's all rather slick and superficial and you don't gain any insights into what makes French culture different. The text is peppered with French phrases, which as a French speaker, I found OK, but might irritate others. Presumably this is to convey a sense of authenticity, but I couldn't spot the logic of why some words were in French and others in English. I think this is supposed to be light weight holiday reading, and while it is competent, there aren't any thrills or humour.

Beguiled by Peter Mays' Lewis trilogy, I thought I'd give Enzo a go. He's not the most dynamic central character, sharing dogged determination and emotional fragility with his Lewis counterpart, and you don't spend a lot of time in laboratories, but you might need street maps of various French cities (particularly Paris) to keep up with developments. I haven't been to Paris or Lewis, but feel I know Lewis now, whereas I'd be just as lost in Paris now as before reading the book. It didn't conjure any picture in my mind, despite having seen many films and television programmes in which Paris and its architecture played a part. The street names are important for the plot, as the tunnels beneath the city play a role, but these streets are no more defined than the tunnels.The story unfolds requiring little detective work by the reader and it might do for light holiday reading, but I'm not sure I'd feel compelled to follow Enzo's adventures any further.

A five star tour de force. Brilliant writing, great plotting. A Scottish maverick in France solves a cold case for a bet and comes to terms with old betrayals and fatherhood and new love. In between getting battered and drunk on who s Kyle a nd wine. The book at times reads like a tour guide of Paris and various other French cities. The French tourist office must love this writer. Apart from the mystery I wanted to visit all the places so lovingly described. Can't wait for the next in the series.

Woah this book is fabulous. Having read the Blackhouse trilogy several times and absolutely loved them I was really keen to get stuck into another series from Peter May. I first downloaded this book about a year ago but just couldn't get on with it, I struggled with all the French words and long convoluted French place and street names so I gave up after a couple of chapters. Anyway a year on and with nothing much else to read I decided to give it another go and boy am I glad I did, it's a tremendous read. Yes I still found all the French blurb a bit tiresome but I guess you can't set a book in Paris and not have some French expressions but I could have done with less. The storyline though is superb, it's a bit like a glorified treasure hunt with mysterious clues to lead you onto the next discovery, only there's no treasure to be found, only body parts and at the end of it all the uncovering of a murderer. Who is a surprise, I certainly didn't suspect who it was but thinking back there are very subtle clues pointing to who it is, I just didn't put them together quickly enough. This is a very very clever plot, tightly woven and utterly fascinating. The characters are likeable and believable and I can't wait to see how all the complicated relationships unfold over the next books in the series. Book two already downloaded and waiting to be read as soon as possible. This is certainly a book full of extraordinary people and Peter May is most definitely one extraordinary writer.

Came to this after the Scottish island series with real characters in real setting. This was more Agatha Christie, just a puzzle to solve, totally contrived with no connection with reality at all. Solutions popped up with convenient coincidences at regular intervals. Well written, with a strong narrative drive, but not for me, thanks. I have neither the time nor the inclination to play this sort of literary game. Give me Resnick or Rebus any day.

Having been converted to Peter May fandom by the excellent Lewis Trilogy, which was only enhanced by Entry Island, I was slightly apprehensive about trying out Enzo Macleod for size. The reason being that my foray into ‘extra-Lewis’ territory hadn’t been a happy one after being thoroughly disappointed by the first in the China Series, The Firemaker. Admittedly, I didn’t finish it and may go back to it in due course: the culture clash ‘lost in translation’ nature of the narrative seemed a bit forced; lacking the verisimilitude that made the Lewis books so ‘real’.Luckily, my experience this time round was a pleasant one. We have a middle-aged ‘grumpy old man’ as protagonist: Enzo Macleod, Professor of Biology at a ‘second rank’ French University, a somewhat embittered and battered victim of life’s vicissitudes, which have left him with no wives and two adult daughters, one doting, one not so. He takes on a bet to solve one of the country’s most baffling mysteries; the disappearance of one of its rising young stars, ten years previously. What follows is a kind of Anneka Rice type ‘Treasure Hunt’ around France hunting down clues to the whereabouts of the missing person.It’s all a bit preposterous but thoroughly entertaining for all that and I’m now looking forward to the second instalment of Enzo’s adventures: I might even give the Firemaker another go!

Not quite sure what to make of this - I have read the Lewis series of books from Peter May and really enjoyed the atmospheric writing and descriptions of the islands and the people. This book came as somewhat of a surprise to me in terms of the style of writing. Completely different and you'd be pushed to say it was the same author.Story itself is OK, although the twists are telegraphed very early - you can spot what is coming a mile off.What I found somewhat distracting was the fact that the characters are supposed to be speaking in French and yet there is the odd French word thrown in - Peter May lives in France, hence the setting for the book, but the French/English thing was a bit clumsy for me.

This is the first volume in Peter May's series of novels featuring half-Italian, half-Scottish, Enzo Macleod. Enzo is a difficult character, generally considered as hot-headed, petulant and truculent by most people who encounter him. He also has a complicated family, having two daughters from different relationships. The younger of the, Sophie, dotes on him while the elder, estranged Kirsty purports to loathe him and refuses to see him.Having trained as a forensic scientist and worked with the Metropolitan Police, Enzo now lives in the French town of Cahors and lectures in biology at the University of Toulouse. He has not entirely relinquished his former life and makes a bet with the local governor that he can solve seven 'cold cases' involving murders around France solely by using his forensic investigative skills.The first murder that he starts to investigate is that of Jacques Gaillard, former adviser to the government and renowned film critic and bon viveur (sorry, I don't know the French term for such people!), who had disappeared tend year previously. With the assistance of Roger Raffin, an insalubrious reporter for one of the French national newspapers, Enzo becomes enmeshed in a tril that leads him all over France.At times the book seems reminiscent of a Dan Brown story, as Enzo and Raffin decipher arcane clues, with tantalising references to the Knights Templar. The plot never loses plausibility, though, and the story is never less than gripping, and I also enjoyed the descriptions of the investigator's journeys around France.

I found it hard to believe this was the same author who wrote 'The Lewis Trilogy' - it was interminable. I didn't care about who had died and why, it seemed a bit pointless and the clues were hard to follow. Maybe it would have helped if I knew Paris a lot better but then I've never been to the Isle of Lewis either and was drawn into those books. I think that's the problem, the characters were not very engaging and when I read the description of enzo I just thought 'oh, grow up you sad man and get a haircut while you're at it' and my opinion of him didn't alter as I continued on. The descriptions of the places visited - houses, streets, catacombs contained a lot of detail but a lot of it just felt like padding. I finished it eventually by skipping through a lot of the descriptive passages and was a bit underwhelmed which was a pity as I had high expectations. It could have been cut to a novella quite easily. Maybe the subsequent books are better but I don't think I'll be reading them.

Having really enjoyed the 'China' and 'Lewis' books, I though I must give this a try. I found the book heavy-going until I realised that my problem was that I felt at a disadvantage as I do not speak French. The book is in English, so why is this a problem?? Well, almost every chapter is interspersed with French words that the author felt were needed to give the book 'colour'. Once I realised this, I stopped trying to translate every French word, phrase or address, and just read the book!! I would obviously have preferred to see the English word 'slut' or 'whore' in the text (which I understand is the translation of 'poutain') but once I realised it was just an epithet of distaste judging by the other words in context, I read it in that context, and didn't worry about the meaning (I only just looked it up!!).Other than this initial problem, the book worked very well for me. Good characterization; believable plot as such, although quite why the 'perpetrators' chose to leave clues about their actions struck me as odd. This was explained in the book, but it didn't totally make sense to me. Do the dirty deed - hide all the evidence - but leave clues behind?? No, I don't think so.Overall, a good read which kept me intrigued. By the plot? No, I worked that out about halfway through the book, but still read through to the end without problem and enjoyed it. So what intrigued me??? The thought of an 18-carat diamond nose stud supposed worn by one of the characters. Beyonce's 18-carat diamond engagement ring cost $2.5 million and is about 30mm by 15 mm. Worn as a nose stud, I can only wonder how big the wearers nose was.

Read lots of peter may's other books and rated them 5 stars (books about Lewis and Canada), but this series is not up to the same level. The stories seem to hop and progress a little unbelievably and simply in comparison. I bought all six books at the same time, and have read through them so the books are readable, just not up to the same level. Definitely got in to the books as the series progressed.

I really enjoyed Peter May's Shetland series, which were well written, engaging and thoughtful. I therefore thought the it would be well worth trying the Enzo Macleod series. It was, however, a total disappointment. The writing was not as engaging as the Shetland series and the plotting was simply ridiculous. The characterisation was hollow. I really had expected something far more intelligent for Peter May, but what I found was more like Dan Brown.

I won't go quite as low as one star but, believe me, this is not a good book.EVERY low star reviewer has said it, but is this REALLY the same author that wrote the The Lewis Trilogy??It's a low grade book that doesn't flow and has weak, stereotypical characterisation- the absolute polar opposite of TLT.The Blackhouse is one of the top ten best books I've ever read, and I read a lot of books. This cannot be the same author?!?Read The Blackhouse and forget this!

Like others, I was drawn to this book because of the sheer brilliance of the "Blackhouse trilogy". But, boy, this was a struggle and I really struggled to believe this was the same author. The plot was appalling and unbelievable. As someone else wrote, if one can believe it, this is like a (very poor) man's Da Vinci Code. The story is ridiculous, the clues are convoluted and just stupid. I just shook my head as the next series of stupid linkages were revealed. Perhaps Peter May was trying to make the story as "movie-genic" as possible but the result for me is to sully my regard for his writing and commit never to read any more of this Enzo MacLeod series. What a bummer of a book.

Well, this was a bit different. Scotsman lives and works in France and uses his skills to seek to unravel one of France's most notorious unsolved crimes. As is usual with Peter May it was a bit heavy with the descriptive prose which occasionally distracted from the plot. I got a bit fed up of his minute descriptions of all the roads in Paris where some of the action is set. I know where the main tourist sites are but most of these places meant nothing and I felt I didn't need quite so much detail to enjoy the book. Aside from that it was an enjoyable read, the plot twisted and turned and kept me interested all the way through. I'll certainly look out for more Enzo novels.