An authentic Stradivarius violin turns up in Romania. A Stradivarius is rare enough, but this one is even more special. It is thought to hold the code disclosing the location of a treasure hidden in the fifteenth century. The violin is steeped in haunting mystique: it is believed to have been hidden by Vlad Dracula, whose historic tyranny led to the fabrication of the myth of vampirism. Russian, … Russian, Chinese, and Romanian gangs centered in Boston want the code and all of them are hot on the trail. Violence is their language¿brutality, their technique. And who is hired to see that the treasure lands in the rightful place? None other than Michael Knight with a little help from his senior law partner Lex Devlin and his crony, Billy Coyne, Boston¿s deputy district attorney.
Michael uses the thin leverage of his knowledge about the violin to keep each of the three gang leaders at bay, while he follows the chain of historic clues from a violin shop in the Carpathian Mountains to a gangster-infested nightclub in Bucharest, to a university in Istanbul, and back to the gang headquarters of the three competing criminal organizations. Secrets from the past and present collide along the perilous shuttle between Boston and Romania. In the end, what is the righteous solution?
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High Stakes: A Knight and Devlin Thriller, Book 6, my second read/listen from author John F. Dobbyn. Well-written & enjoyable, I found it very enjoyable. Bill Nevitt’s narration is, as always, excellent and adds greatly to the book’s enjoyment, in fact, it was his excellence in narration that attracted me to this book & this author, and made the 11-hour 13-minute mystery/suspense pass quickly. Now that I’ve read a John F. Dobbyn book I’ll be looking to read more. I was given an Audible copy of this book & am voluntarily reviewing it. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 – July 24, 2018).
action-adventure, thriller, lawyers, the-mob, suspense, international-crime-and-mystery
A real high tension action thriller involving Boston lawyers, the Russian mob, the Chinese mob, and a Stradivarius violin. Fast paced and intense, there’s plenty to keep the mind busy. I like the way that Bill Nevitt keeps the suspense up and yet doesn’t let it get bogged down in the historical asides.
Lots of action in this book! In High Stakes, the sixth Knight and Devlin book, readers find three criminal groups, the Russian mafia, the Chinese tong, and the Romanian mob are all after a valuable item that Michael Knight has come into possession of. How this lawyer outsmarts these groups is very interesting and keeps the pages turning. Will the treasure be found? Who will end up surviving this cat and mouse game? The author definitely knows how to write intrigue! I’m looking forward to reading more in this series. I listened to the audio version of the book and Bill Nevitt does a great job narrating this thriller. I was given a complimentary copy of the book and was not required to write a review. The opinions are my own.
This review is for the audio book.
I enjoyed this book. A lot was going on so the hours flew by while listening to this book. What I liked was the way Michael out smarted the different bosses and the way he used them against each other. The book was well written and the historical elements surrounding the treasure add to plot. With plenty of action and guns it is a full throttle thrill ride.
Michael is taking his wife on a much needed holiday he just has to stop at a shop and pick up a package for a client. Michael not knowing what he is collecting agrees because a free holiday is still a free holiday. He should have know better, if it sounds to good to be true then it probably is. By agreeing he ends caught in the middle of three gangs trying to get there hands on a long lost treasure. The item is Stradivarius violin, which is key to leading who ever holds it to a treasure hidden by Dracula. With Russian, Chinese and Romanians all of the secret Michael must use all the tricks he has up his sleeve to work out who the rightful owner of the violin is and more importantly who should get there hands on the treasure. But with all gangs, they are dangerous for a reason and don’t play fair. Michael and his friends find there lives threatened and the stakes might just be too high this time when all the guns come out.
I liked the narrator and think he does an excellent job with all the voices in this book bring the characters to life.
Fasten your seat belts! HIGH STAKES hits the ground running in the first chapter. Lawyer Michael Knight, trapped alone on a gondola high in the mountains of Romania, sweeps the reader into a violent world of competing Chinese and Russian criminals, and a priceless Stradivarius violin that holds the secret to finding the treasures of Vlad the Impaler, hidden since the 15th century. This fast-paced page turner is John Dobbyn at his best – a surprising and complex plot, a fascinating history lesson, a swoon-worthy romance, and intriguing characters written with humor and depth. But for me, the heart of this story is Knight’s moral choices and his drive to do the right thing. HIGH STAKES is High Octane and High Reward.