Pendulum (Pendulum (1)) Hardcover – June 6, 2017

In PENDULUM, successful UK author and screenwriter Adam Hamdy has penned a great read. And a great ride. We’re experiencing an epidemic of sorts. And on both sides of the Atlantic no less. All of a sudden, right and left, feeling remorseful for their misdeeds, people are committing suicide, hanging themselves by their necks.In PENDULUM, Hamdy has written and tells an exceptional story. Dribbling it out one little nibble at a time. You’ll be starving for more. What’s behind this wave? Who’s behind it? Hamdy reveals all in due course. But not until the end. (And nothing I'm going to spoil here.)Perhaps best of all, Hamdy introduces us to two terrific new characters, English photographer John Wallace, and FBI Special Agent Christine Ash. Each in a boatload of trouble. Who find their way to one another. In the nick of time. If in the nick of time.You’ll be wanting more of Wallace and Ash. That’s for sure. And Hamdy leaves just enough room in the conclusion of PENDULUM to suggest that’s exactly what we may get. If we’re lucky.#1 NYT bestselling author James Patterson calls PENDULUM “one of the best thrillers of the year.” That’s no exaggeration.

I agree with all those who said that it's impossible to put the book down. It is, because it is very fast-paced, even though it's very long. I'm not giving it five stars because of several factors: there was a great deal of overkill (literally) throughout the book, and it is impossible to believe the two main characters survived mentally or especially physically. There were also loose threads. At the part of Riker's Island, I actually checked to see I was reading the same book as I had been -- that part seems totally out of place. The relationships between the main character and both Connie and Ash both needed to be fleshed out more, Connie initially and Ash at the end. Finally, almost all of the other characters (except Bailey) seemed little more than placeholders.That said, it was still a very good read.

I don't think I've ever read a book that provoked so many feelings. It was difficult to read the start of this book, as the characters developed it became a very good book. As the plot was revealed, the novel became nearly great. When a author goes to such great lengths to answer every question, to solve every problem, it is tremendously disapproving to have a very late issue unresolved.Despite the slow start, this book was a 5 star for me until the epilogue, but then that is just a single readers opinion.

I want to read this again. I will read it knowing the outcome to see if I could have foreseen it. Very intriguing.

I can't even count the number of books I read a year. I really enjoy maybe 70% of them. I loved this story and will be able to remember it years from now. My one disappointment is that it's only a trilogy!

I can’t begin to say what a roller coaster ride this was. It was full of suspense with lots of unexpected twists peppered with sweet moments - I couldn’t put it down!

This book was very good. The characters were believable and likable. The plot was intriguing with many twists and turns. It was difficult to put down and kept me guessing till the very end. I would recommend this book to my friends and I gave it five stars for the book’s enjoyment.

It wastoo long---kind of dragged in the middle,

I'd seen Pendulum mentioned after its release quite a few times on social media, so I was really intrigued to see what it was about. When I looked it up the first thing that struck me was the cover, it gave me the shivers so I knew I definitely wanted to read it.Could you imagine waking up to realise that you have a noose around your neck, that the man standing in front of you with a mask and body armour has the other end and intends to hang you, no? This is how Adam Hamdy introduces us to John Wallace, the main character in the book. John doesn't know why he has a noose around his neck or why someone is trying to kill him, hell he doesn't even know who that someone is.John ends up running for his life, after finding clues in the US he leaves England and travels to where he thinks he can find some answers. What really happens is an intense game of cat and mouse and a story that has you biting your nails. The characters are well developed and I didn't actually realise when I started reading that this is book one of a trilogy so I was very pleased to know we'll hopefully be getting more from them soon.Hamdy opens the book with an intense scene and keeps the intensity going right through to the end. This is a fast paced book with lots to keep you thinking about. I really was desperate to get to the end and find out the who and why and I just couldn't guess, which I love trying to do while reading a book. I ended up downloading Pendulum on audible so I could continue listening during the day when it wasn't possible to physically read the book. I've never actually read and listened to the same book, it's usually one or the other for me so this was quite a novelty. The narrator Luke Thompson did a very good job and it was easy to listen to. The emotion and fear came over very well in his voice and when I went back to read the book I had his voice in my head.This really was an intense thriller which I thoroughly enjoyed and I'm looking forward to the next book in the trilogy.

Despite a very original opening chapter and a fast moving storyline which keeps the reader grip, this book is pretty awful!John Wallace finds himself with a noose round his neck about to be killed and he doesn't know why. Cue a serious of events which take him across England and then to the US, figuring out who is trying to kill him and why. The body count keeps climbing but what is going on.I don't want to detail the plot much more than that, but I will comment on the writing itself: it has the feel of a first book by a new author (which it is). There's lots of detailed research about how you would get from one place to another etc, and you get the sense that the author has really tried. However, the characters have no depth. It's impossible not to mix up half the characters and to be honest it made no difference to the storyline itself. The main character John Wallace is a bit non-descript... is he Jason Bourne (without realising it), or is he a mild Robert Langdon (from Da Vinci Code) who just finds himself in odd scraps. When the motive for the whole storyline comes clear, the character falls completely flat.The enemy is unbelievable, reminding me more of a character from Highlander (this book is not meant to be fantasy-themed). I also got fed up with the unnecessary description such as a small kitchen... who cared - it made no difference to the storyline.This will end up as a movie, and if they add a bit of depth to the characters it may be reasonable, but I'm not sure. I only gave it two stars because I did find myself wanting to read to the end and it not really challenging my brain, so ideal for a holiday read. This book is the first of a trilogy (there is a bit at the end of the first hinting where the second may go) and I have the next two to read... I hope they are better.

Remind me not to trust recommendations by Radio 2 Book Club then as this isn't particularly good - it had a promising start, with the idea that someone tries to murder the main character by making it look like suicide, and although he survives, no-one believes that he didn't try to kill himself. Unfortunately, as it progresses it becomes increasingly like a direct-to-video B-movie from the 1980s. Full of clichés in terms of characters and action scenes, it becomes annoying quite quickly – are we really supposed to believe that the baddie can shoot at the main character on multiple occasions without hitting him, but somehow always manages to hit everyone else? Or that he manages to disarm one armed policeman with 'rapid punches and kicks', snatch his gun off him and kill the other armed policeman who was supposedly alert and pointing his gun in that direction, without the second policeman reacting in any way? It's just lazy writing with cartoon-like characters and no attempt to temper preposterous action scenes with any sense of realism. I read around 80% of the book before giving up when I got to the 'jumping-off-a-tall-building-but-timing-it-just-right-to-land-on-a-passing-cable-car' scene.

I love crime and thriller books. The the only kind I’ve read for over 50 years.I enjoyed the story line behind this one and actually got this so that i could read the two follow up books with a good base knowledge of the characters and their histories.Although there is a lot of action and suspense i feel the author, Adam Hamdy, fails to inject any warmth into his characters. They come across as wooden and featureless. There are no moments of humour and the pace is unrelenting. Unlike for instance, the Alex Cross novels where one feels a certain affection towards the characters and their situation.It’s all doom and gloom and no upbeat momentsA shame because otherwise this could be a great novel

Pendulum is the first book in a trilogy featuring John Wallace, a troubled war photographer who comes round to find a masked man in his apartment trying to hang him and stage a suicide.  Fate intervenes and Wallace grabs the opportunity to escape however the masked man is determined to finish the job and will take down anyone who stands in his way.The story takes us from London to America as Wallace follows the trail of murder/suicides to find out who is trying to kill him and why.   With a body count that Tarrantino would be proud of, Pendulum is an action thriller with pace, excitement and several nail-biting moments.A fast paced, page-turner of a thriller, Pendulum would make a cracking film