Good ...but it could have been betterJuly 12, 2008 Barton Keyes(England) 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
What could have been a very good book is reduced to a good one by some very poor editing. There are leads not followed up (why was Armand Hammer being scrutinised by MI5?); characters suddenly appear in the narrative having been introduced once 30 pages ago; there is occasional Boy's Own detail (do we really need to know the complete Mark and variant of the radar equipment on board rescue helicopters?) there is an over-reliance on acronyms. The book would have also benefitted greatly from a few plans of Piper Alpha showing the arrangement of some of the locations where the narrative is placed. The author makes significance of the confusion occasioned by the darkness, smoke and maze of the platform's layout; his writing occasionally worsens the confusion for the reader. But it's still a page-turner and a shocking story of incompetence, confusion, greed and heroism.
