Not My Thing

Great book

James Hadley Chase never fails to thrill. Another great book.

NOT MY THING 1983 (Chase died in 1986)The plot of "Not My Thing" is not only very realistic but also very imaginative : the professional killer organizes a perfect murder, a very dirty one, and when everything is ready he changes everything in a kidnapping ! And a strange one, the ransom money is not paid to get back the girl alive ! Everybody manages to double cross the others...The main part is given to Ng Vee, a vietnamese refugee. Ng Vee is a real straight arrow, well educated by a priest and not interested in money. He just want to get a job and help his mother, and he is a worker ! Thin and lightly built he has got a strange power in his fingers because an old chinese has given to him a special knowledge of the human body... The life has been very hard to him, he has fighted to protect his mother and he has got such nerves that he strongly impressed his new master, a professional killer.Ernie, his master, is the Evil, he involves him in crime, he proposes him girls, he proposes him big money (half a million dollars), a spendid life cruising on a yatch... Shannon, the snatched girl, is the Good. The suspense is tremendous : has he got enough guts to betray his master ? Will he find a way to rescue Shannon ?Imagine you are making a movie of it, your main task would be the staging of such a wonderful character.Book introduction :MARRIAGE, MURDER AND MAYHEM...Ruthless tycoon Sherman Jamison is determined to have an heir. He will let nothing stand in his way. Not only his wife unable to provide him with a child, but as a devout Catholic she will not consent to the divorce her husband so desperately wants.And so Jamison decides to get rid of her.PERMANENTLYNot my thing is the powerful, compulsive new novel of betrayal and death from James Hadley Chase, the master of mystery and adventure.Other introduction :Jamison finished his drink and set down the glass with a vicious clink. His thoughts now were only for Tarnia." Bed with you ? Get out of my sight ! I've had enough of this. I want a divorce ! " There was a long pause, then Shannon walked to the door." When you want me to go, tell me, " she said quietly. " I will pray for you. "Jamison heard the door close softly, then he heard her walk slowly up the stairs.So vicious was his mood, so frustrated his mind, that he said half aloud, " Right, you stupid, religious bitch, you've signed your own death-warrant ! "

First started reading JHC books over 40 years ago and read all of them. He, like Lee Child, is (or was) English but has perfected the dialogue of contemporary America (the US). What he is especially good at is leaving you caught on the hook at the end of each chapter. Just as you want to put it down, go to sleep, go to work, you can't. You HAVE to read on. So I read the book very quickly.The plot involves a very wealthy man seeking to have his wife killed. He uses a snake like lothario as the go-between to have it arranged. It should be straight forward but, as the saying goes, there is no honour amongst thieves. And it is their greed, and innate duplicity that makes the plan unravel. Good, strong characterisation. Clever plotline and a denoument I didn't see coming. Want a good read that will grip and entertain you? Read this. It brought back my callow youth when I first 'found' JHC while working in the heat, smell and flies of Bahrein.

Not all JHC's books are equally good. This is well worth reading. It is amazing how he thinks of so many unexpected twists an turns to the plot.

CONTINUING TO ENJOY JHC

Professional hit-man Ernie Kling has a contract for a killing. What happens forms the backbone of this story. As usual, a number of characters are drawn into the story, which builds up with a pace that keeps the reader on the edge of his seat.

J H C IS BY FAR THE BEST