Rating: 
Summary: Beyond Genre Good
Review: This book is so good it is amazing that Lawton is not a top seller in the U.S. Black Out is very well written and evocative of a whole era in British history. Lawton makes Grisham, et. al. look like amateurs. All Lawton's books are readily available on Amazon.co.uk -- faster and cheaper until America "discovers" how good Lawton is.
Rating: 
Summary: London Calling
Review: This first book in the Troy series left me rather torn. On the one hand, it's a gripping page-turned stuffed with great characters and atmosphere, all set in London just prior to D-Day. On the other hand, the plot relies on so many coincidences and contrivances that one's suspension of disbelief is sorely tested. Like the Berlin detective Bernie Gunther in Phillip Kerr's excellent WWII trilogy (collected as Berlin Noir), Lawton's D.S. Troy is a wonderful character. Born in England to upper class Russian Jewish parents, he doesn't believe in Queen and country, but pursues a broader notion of justice. As a young Scotland Yard whiz-kid, he tries to unravel a series of murders and disappearances tied somehow to former German scientists and the American military. The downside is-and I give nothing away by saying this-that too many central figures in the story are connected to Troy's personal life. One victim lives above his closest police friend, another is known to his uncle (who just happens to be a scientist working in military research), another central player is known to him from childhood, and another important character has a past history with Troy as well. Not to mention the climax, in which Troy's well connected brother plays a key role. It gets to be rather a lot to ignore, and the worst part is, there isn't really a need for all those connections to be there! Fortunately, Lawton provides ample detail and atmosphere to keep everything enjoyable. His portrait of the tough conditions in wartime London, and the privileged place of the American military there is striking. Food rationing, bombing raids, dense fog, rubble-strewn streets, tough East End children, it's all highly evocative. Similarly, he provides a picture of England's simmering domestic political situation that will come as a surprise to many American readers. Every character springs to life under Lawton's pen, from Troy's keen subordinate, to his canny superior, to a hooker with a heart of gold, and bluff American officers. My own favorite is the cross-cursing Polish forensics expert. Coincidences aside, the book is exceedingly well-written, and it's shame Lawton isn't better known in the US. A second Troy book, Old Flames, is set in 1956, a the third, A Little White Death, in 1963-neither of these had yet been published in US.
Rating: 
Summary: A rather contrived novel
Review: This story has a lot of twists and turns in it. The main character is Detective Freddie Troy. He starts out with a piece of a body and puts together an rather intricate plot involving the Allied High Command, Russian Spies, Nazi scientists and OSS types. There are a number of interesting people along the way. Tosca who works for a lot of different people and always seems to have the next clue. Diana Brack, a mysterious woman involved in the caper more than it seems. Jimmy the OSS killer type or so we think. Onions, who is Troy's boss, and a rather cryptic sort. Troy spends most of the book falling in and out of bed with different ladies, stumbling about in the dark of 1944 London and getting the living snot beat out of him by different folks. But the novel works of fails on the mounting bits of evidence and much of it shows up just at the right time. An adequate first outing.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best spy series I've ever read
Review: Unfortunately for U.S. readers, Lawton's publishers are just now getting around to introducing this series to us. Fortunately, for those of you who like the series (I'm a huge fan) and are willing to deal with currency exchange rates, you can go to Amazon.co.uk and get the rest of the series in paperback (Riptide, A Little White Death, Black Out and Old Flames). As I recall, Riptide (1941) is really the first book in the series, followed by Black Out (1944), Old Flames (1956) and A Little White Death (1963), even though they weren't written in that order. For the reviewer who thought Troy encountered too many coincidences, well that's life in England. Families are connected in many odd and different ways with other families and it's alway who you know, not what you know, that propels you along in life. With a little more background information about Troy, his detective life might be a little more believable. This is really an outstanding series with fully drawn characters, feelings, motivations and situations. In addition, you will meet the most prominent characters in each book and get to know and understand them even better. If you find you really like Troy, please get all the books and read them in order. This is a wonderful series that I can't recommend highly enough for Brit/spy/good story fans.
Rating: 
Summary: The Greatest Detective Since Inspector Clouseau!
Review: While Lawton effectively recreates the atmosphere of wartime London, the plot begs more questions than it answers. Troy didn't know he was fighting a woman in the dark alley? What was Lady Diana's motivation? Was she simply unable to resist the Svengali-like Wayne? Was she insane? Why were the boffins killed -- because they were Communists who wouldn't help with the war effort or because they were Communists who went West to help with the war effort? Carroll's White Rabbit was a more believable character than Tosca. The whole story just didn't pan out.
Inept describes the detecting skills of Lawton's character, Sgt. Freddie Troy. He can't tail suspects, is always caught by surprise in dangerous situations, and blunders from one life-threatening crisis to another. Troy makes Clouseau look like Philip Marlowe!
Lawton needs to return to square one. He has a character, an era of interest and feeling, now all he needs are some story-telling skills and he'll be a novelist!
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