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The loner : the life of Xavier Aislado / as told to Quintin Jardine.

By: Material type: TextTextPublication details: London : Headline, 2011.Description: x, 530p. ; 20 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780755357185 (pbk.)
  • 0755357183 (pbk.)
Subject(s): Genre/Form: Subject: Brought up by his hard-nosed father and ferocious Spanish grandmother, Xavier Aislado is a gentle giant. And though Xavi's bond with his grandmother grows, he is abandoned when his family return to Spain, leaving him in Edinburgh to complete his education. Years later, when his promising sporting career is cut short, Xavi pursues his true passion: journalism. And when his first assignment ends in violent death, he is drawn into a dark new world. With his childhood sweetheart, Grace, by his side, and a burgeoning career, Xavier has everything to live for. As his life and work become increasingly entwined, Xavi is immersed in a story of tragedy, loss and betrayal, in search of a truth that may ultimately destroy him...
Holdings
Item type Current library Collection Call number Copy number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Fiction Davis (Central) Library Fiction Collection Fiction Collection JAR 1 Checked out 29/04/2024 T00519138
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A brilliant new stand-alone crime thriller from Scotland's Crime Master

Xavier (Xavi) Aislado is a gentle giant, half Spanish, half Scot, brought up in Edinburgh by his grandmother, Paloma Puig, a ferocious old lady whose grim brand of care sees him into his teens, until his father moves back to Spain, leaving him to grow up fast. His emergence into manhood is colourful, and eventful. After a short career as a professional footballer, he turns to journalism, and has a bloody introduction to the trade, as his first assignment ends in violent death. Inevitably, remorselessly, as his autobiography unfolds, Xavi's life and his love become entwined with his work, and he is immersed in tragedy, loss and betrayal, going halfway round the world in search of a truth that may destroy him. Quintin Jardine's evocation of Xavi's fated world is an unforgettable story of a man riding a one-way train to oblivion. Will he escape, before it hits the buffers, full-speed?

Brought up by his hard-nosed father and ferocious Spanish grandmother, Xavier Aislado is a gentle giant. And though Xavi's bond with his grandmother grows, he is abandoned when his family return to Spain, leaving him in Edinburgh to complete his education. Years later, when his promising sporting career is cut short, Xavi pursues his true passion: journalism. And when his first assignment ends in violent death, he is drawn into a dark new world. With his childhood sweetheart, Grace, by his side, and a burgeoning career, Xavier has everything to live for. As his life and work become increasingly entwined, Xavi is immersed in a story of tragedy, loss and betrayal, in search of a truth that may ultimately destroy him...

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Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Jardine's first stand-alone lacks the twists and compelling lead of his Bob Skinner police thrillers (Grievous Angel, etc.). The book's conceit-that the fictional Spanish-born journalist Xavi Aislado (whose last name means "the Loner") has shared his notes for an autobiography with the author-doesn't add anything, but the bigger flaw is the slow-moving story line of Xavi's life, as he transitions from student through professional footballer to Scottish crime journalist. The elegiac opening, in which an older Xavi recalls, "There was a time when a few of the sun's rays shone into my life," sets the stage for the inevitable tragedy that derails him. The overly detailed description of his vicissitudes as a goalie may appeal to sports enthusiasts, but those sections will drag for Jardine fans used to gritty scenes of violence and Skinner's navigation of the treacherous shoals of office politics. (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

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