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The Mark | 
 enlarge | Author: Jason Pinter
Publisher: Mira Books
Category: Book
List Price: £4.07
Buy Used: £0.04
You Save: £4.03 (99%)
Used (36) from £0.04
Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 564164
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 384
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.6 x 4.2 x 1.2
ISBN: 0778324893
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780778324898
ASIN: 0778324893
Publication Date: July 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
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| Customer Reviews:
 Amateur, reads like the first novel it is July 11, 2008
Unlike the other reviewers here I found this book totally putdownable! It reminded me very much of Meltdown (3 stars overall rating on Amazon) and a very inferior written version of the first Bourne film. Here a young journalist takes on the FBI, the NYPD and a tough NY gang and survives by outwitting and outfighting them all.
Sadly for me the story took a long time to get going and Henry's character is not a particularly interesting one, and full of cliches. Ditto the villains, particularly the assassin who actually I found rather comic rather than chilling as the blurb promises. The relationship too between Henry and Amanda, a girl student who he hitches a ride with to escape NY who then sticks with him through everything is completely derivative (Meltdown, Bourne as above) but without any redeeming tension or ambiguity between them as in the Bourne film.
The writing style is gratingly chirpy shading into the purplest of purple prose: "Anne's photo was his second heart, and it beat with the venomous blood of a man whose thirst for vengeance could never be quenched" (p.117) - ok I know no-one reads a thriller for literary style but the mixed metaphors and clunky emotions get between the reader (at least this reader) and the story. It also has some laugh-out-loud moments which I assume aren't intentional e.g. when the supposed toughest gang leader who owns NY allocates the deadliest assassin the job to take out our young hero and then asks anxiously "Don't you need a notepad or something? Jot all this down?" (p.118) - priceless!
This is sadly one of those books where a 24-year-old journalist straight out of college and a girl student can escape from a deadly assassin by spraying him in the face with mace; and then go on to find a hidden package in a not very hidden place that the said police, FBI, gang etc couldn't find...
I picked this up looking for some high-octane tension and excitement for a few hours escapism but I'm afraid I found this a damp squib, and far too politically-correct about violence. For a much better and more authentic read try The Bloomsday Dead.
 OK ish..... June 20, 2008
I think some of the other reviewers must work for the publishers as their praise is far too plentiful for this debut novel. It was OK, but not outstanding. The context of the storyline was a bit cliched for me, Henry Parker gets his dream job at the newspaper he's always wanted to work for and within 2 days is being chased around the country by various unhinged gangsters and federal agents for something he didn't do. He then manages to enlist the help of a complete stranger and they fall in love and manage to clear their names whilst evading capture and death on many occasions.
That said, there was something about the book that made me want to finish the book and I did enjoy it, of sorts. This is the kind of book that you take on holiday with you and is a pleasant read. Will I read his next book? Not sure. I might wait for some neutral reviews to come out before parting with my cash.
 One of the best debuts I've ever read! June 17, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
`The Mark' is the debut novel from Jason Pinter and is so good you'd think he'd been writing books for years! The story begins when a rookie reporter for the New York Gazette, Henry Parker, is sent to interview an ex-con and is caught up in some bad business, resulting with him killing a cop. Henry is then on the run from the police, the mob and a coldblooded hitman, all who want him dead.
I got this from the Vine programme as it sounded interesting from the product description and I had a good feeling about it when I read the blurb from some of the biggest US crime writers such as James Patterson, Lee Child, Jeffery Deaver and Tess Gerritsen but I wasn't expecting it to be this good.
From the opening chapter I was completely engrossed in the story and really got into Henry's character. The killing and the start of the pursuit happens within the first 50 pages but after that I literally couldn't put the book down. With the situation that Henry was in I just couldn't see how he would ever get out of this and it kept me guessing until the last few pages. Also the question of what was in the missing package stayed a mystery until the end too and had a really good outcome once it was revealed. Being that the police didn't know what happened at the crime scene with Henry and all their focus being that he is a cop killer kept me in two minds when reading the chapters about the policeman Joe Mauser as I felt for him but also got terribly annoyed with how he was just so one minded about taking Henry down regardless of the cause. An excellent touch, in my opinion.
The short chapters and the flicking from the first person account from Henry to the police officer and brother-in-law of the murdered cop, Joe Mauser, to "The Ringer" who is the assassin, kept the story extremely fast-flowing and exciting from start to finish.
Overall I can't express how much I enjoyed this book enough and will definitely be lending it to my friends and family in the hope that they will enjoy it as much as I did. I highly recommend this book and can't wait to read the next in the series, The Guilty, later this year. This could easily be the best thriller of 2008. Read it now!
An impressive debut novel May 20, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Henry Parker, an ambitious young journalist finds his life irrevocably changed in just a few short minutes. Assigned to interview an ex-con, he has a choice to walk away when he hears sounds of violence or do the right thing and intervene. He does the latter and is soon hunted by both the police for a murder he didn't commit and by ruthless mobsters for a mysterious and highly valuable package they believe he has.
"The Mark" has been nominated for several best new novel awards and it's easy to see why once reading this book. The story line is taut and highly entertaining as Henry gathers one clue after another to discover not only the truth behind the murder he was framed for, but also the location of a package a lot of scary people are prepared to kill for to get their hands on. In this book the cops can be as ruthless as the hired thugs and assassins employed by vicious gangsters and equally as indiscriminate whether Henry survives his arrest or not.
I can quite easily see Jason Pinter competing directly against the likes of John Grisham or James Patterson and perhaps even outdoing them. "The Mark" is a thoroughly entertaining thriller and I'll certainly read its sequel "The Guilty".
Not quite there February 29, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is a debut novel from Jason Pinter. Highly recommended by many top-notch thriller writers, according to the advance book I was sent so I was expecting more than I got.
The storyline develops well but the characterization is fitful and disjointed. Similarly, the descriptive words are sometimes exaggerated for the circumstance described. The author states that he wanted to bring a young main character into the general readership. That's fine but the 'hero' has to be seen to be consistent. Sometimes he's strong and able to deal with the heavy criminals, sometimes he's weak-kneed and reliant on the dubious assistance of a young girl.
This slows down the story of a pursuit of the two young people by a myriad of thugs and over-the-top policemen. The main killer. the 'Ringer' just doesn't do it for me and he certainly has more lives than the proverbial cat. No doubt he'll find a way of reappearing in Pinter's next book unlike many of the other characters.
Having said all that, I did want to read to the end. I was intrigued enough to wonder what the origins of the storyline were all about and I would certainly read his next book, 'The Guilty' due out next year, if only to see if his main characters are developed into a rounder and a more believable entity.
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