Official Review: Thirst by Thierry Sagnier

joshfee77 · Post by **joshfee77** » 15 Oct 2018, 04:13

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Thirst" by Thierry Sagnier.]

3 out of 4 stars

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Thirst is a crime thriller by Thierry Sagnier. This is its third release; it was previously published as Wasted Miracles (2012) and The Girl, the Drugs and the Man Who Couldn't Drink (2013). Drug dealer Herbie is "accidentally" murdered by Nigerian thugs working for cocaine kingpin The Zulu. It begins when the van they are travelling in hits a pothole and Akim's knife slips into Herbie's chest. Herbie screams, Akim panics, and Herbie ends up stabbed and shot to death. The Zulu is less than pleased, given Herbie was meant to surrender information worth a million dollars. Arriving at Herbie's apartment to find it full of police, his girlfriend Josie finds she no longer needs to break up with him; someone has split them "terminally". Unfortunately, that someone also believes Herbie has provided Josie with the crucial information he needs. Soon, Josie herself goes missing...

Sagnier's writing was solid and well-edited, making the story fluent and readable. There were examples of elegant prose: "Catherine saw whirlpools of sadness in her daughter's eyes"; high-quality characterisation: "He thought she looked haggard; her eyes were old and her lips made one thin line. She was wearing jeans and a short leather jacket and her hair was disarrayed"; and subtlety: "She stared out the window, seeing blurry trees and blurry grass" (a neat way to say her eyes filled with tears). With concise sentences and description that quickly got to the point, I breezed through the chapters.

The interaction between characters featured great dialogue and body language, making these scenes very natural. There was a gritty sense of realism throughout; I got a sense of genuine characters with genuine problems. Each had their own idiosynchrasies woven through the tapestry of the tale; for example: "Orin looked disgusted, sucked hard on his pipe, stuck out his tongue, and spat a small piece of tobacco." Small details like these really brought scenes to life in my mind. The action scenes were exciting, with plenty of tension in the lead-up to one particular scene - very well done.

Unfortunately, I found ten minor errors in the first 200 pages of Thirst. There was an occasional incorrect word (such as "discrete" instead of "discreet") but the rest were simple typographical errors: missing punctuation or a missing letter, which could be easily fixed. Though fifteen to twenty errors in total isn't a huge amount, this is the third release of this book under a third different title, so some readers might expect to have these wrinkles ironed out by now.

Aside from these errors, I found nothing else to dislike about this book. The story was captivating, the characters vivid and three-dimensional, and the ending clever. With the typographical errors fixed, I would definitely give it 4 stars. In its current state, I rate Thirst 3 out of 4 stars. I think any fan of crime thrillers would enjoy this book. It does contain violence and drug use, but nothing too gory. Sagnier adds a brief autobiography at the end, featuring his own view on writing: "Thick skin is a prerequisite; writers live amidst rejection, from agents, publishing houses, editors and readers. This being said, writing is also the only endeavor where I refuse to indulge in false modesty. I think I’m pretty good." On this, he is absolutely right.

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Thirst
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Debjani Ghosh · Post by **Debjani Ghosh** » 16 Oct 2018, 00:21

I like reading your review. You have displayed the writing prowess of the author through some solid examples. Even in the third edition, easily fixed errors crop up, it points towards shoddy editing. Thanks for the insightful review!

Sonya Nicolaidis · Post by **Sonya Nicolaidis** » 16 Oct 2018, 00:22

I really enjoyed your review of this book: it sounds very descriptive and the characters all seem well developed and they ‘come to life’. I wonder why it has been released so many times prior under different names? Nevertheless, I’ll be adding this one to my shelves for a closer look.

T_stone · Post by **T_stone** » 16 Oct 2018, 02:01

The characters in this book look real and relatable. Why is this its third release with a different title? I agree with you that after its third release, the errors should have been gotten rid of. However you've piqued my interest in this book with you great review. Thank you.

HollandBlue · Post by **HollandBlue** » 16 Oct 2018, 06:43

Good character development and solid plot make this book sound like a winner. It's a shame it wasn't edited better. Thanks for your review!

writer808 · Post by **writer808** » 16 Oct 2018, 07:24

I enjoyed the review. Everything well explained. The story seems interesting and drama-oriented.

Post by **kandscreeley** » 16 Oct 2018, 07:37

Despite the errors, this sounds like a very solid plot. Once again, I'm not sure why authors tend to skip the editing process, but this is something that can easily be remedied. Thanks for a great review. It's a book I'll have to look into.

Manang Muyang · Post by **Manang Muyang** » 16 Oct 2018, 13:21

I am excited to know that Thierry Sagnier writes very well as I selected one of his books for review. This "Thirst" seems like a winner except that the errors persisted. The previous titles also seem better. Nonetheless, I am still looking forward to meeting Sagnier.

Thanks for the incisive review!

Samy Lax · Post by **Samy Lax** » 16 Oct 2018, 23:18

Sagnier does seem to be good at writing. Interesting storyline as well.

Lovely review!

joshfee77 · Post by **joshfee77** » 22 Oct 2018, 01:54

Debjani Ghosh wrote: ↑16 Oct 2018, 00:21 I like reading your review. You have displayed the writing prowess of the author through some solid examples. Even in the third edition, easily fixed errors crop up, it points towards shoddy editing. Thanks for the insightful review!

Thanks. Some very good writing in this book. A high quality author for sure.

joshfee77 · Post by **joshfee77** » 22 Oct 2018, 01:55

sonya01 wrote: ↑16 Oct 2018, 00:22 I really enjoyed your review of this book: it sounds very descriptive and the characters all seem well developed and they ‘come to life’. I wonder why it has been released so many times prior under different names? Nevertheless, I’ll be adding this one to my shelves for a closer look.

Not sure why all the title changes, but it is a really good read anyway. Thanks for commenting!

joshfee77 · Post by **joshfee77** » 22 Oct 2018, 01:56

T_stone wrote: ↑16 Oct 2018, 02:01 The characters in this book look real and relatable. Why is this its third release with a different title? I agree with you that after its third release, the errors should have been gotten rid of. However you've piqued my interest in this book with you great review. Thank you.

Thanks. Regardless of the different titles, it's a great read. Highly recommend it.

joshfee77 · Post by **joshfee77** » 22 Oct 2018, 01:57

BookReader+6 wrote: ↑16 Oct 2018, 06:43 Good character development and solid plot make this book sound like a winner. It's a shame it wasn't edited better. Thanks for your review!

Definitely. And some excellent writing. Thanks for your comments.

joshfee77 · Post by **joshfee77** » 22 Oct 2018, 01:58

writer808 wrote: ↑16 Oct 2018, 07:24 I enjoyed the review. Everything well explained. The story seems interesting and drama-oriented.

Thank you. A very engaging book with some great tension and character development.

joshfee77 · Post by **joshfee77** » 22 Oct 2018, 02:00

kandscreeley wrote: ↑16 Oct 2018, 07:37 Despite the errors, this sounds like a very solid plot. Once again, I'm not sure why authors tend to skip the editing process, but this is something that can easily be remedied. Thanks for a great review. It's a book I'll have to look into.

Yeah, the editing wasn't too bad on this one, but it's all relative at this point: 15-20 errors beats the 40+ I've seen in some books I've reviewed! If you like crime, you'll enjoy this. Thanks!