by Kate Morton
This book is the third one I have read by this author. I really enjoyed the first one, Forgotten Garden, but found the second, House at Riverton, disappointing. This one was much better than the second one, I am not sure how I feel it compares to the first as it has been a long time since I read it.
The story is about a women who tries to investigate a crime she witnessed when she was 16. She saw her mother kill a man who came to their house. As she digs into the past she finds out that her mother had a fiancee, whom she didn't marry and a friend, Vivienne, whom it appears she had a falling out with.
As she goes through family photos and tries to get her mother who has dimension and who is dying, to open up about the future, she and her brother check other leads to fill in the picture. Her mother admits that she had a past she regrets and that she is glad to have had a second chance for a happy life.
The main character finds out that the women who is her mother is not really who she claims to be -- rather the friend of the person they believe to be their mother who has taken their "mother's name" and identity.
The women they thought was their mother was killed in the bombings and the second women took the opportunity to escape to a new life away from her abusive husband. The man who showed up at her home, and whom she killed, was her first husband.
The story was very well told, alternating between the war years and the present. The story keeps you guessing until the end. The only thing I found puzzling is that although the women's husband was told that she died in the bombings, he tracks down the woman. How did he find out she wasn't really dead?
That is never explained.
Thursday, 24 January 2013
Sunday, 13 January 2013
Carnival
by Rawi Hage
The book is the story of a taxi driver, Fly, and the people he meets and has met in his life.
Fly's parents were circus performers, his mother a trapeze artist/contortionist. His father flew on a magic carpet. His father flew away when Fly was young and Fly's mother fell into the arms of many of the men of the circus. She commits suicide and Fly is adopted by the "bearded women" who looks after him like a mother. Part of his life he serves as a seer at the circus, guessing people's weights and other things.
When the book starts Fly is a taxi driver in an unspecified big city. The carnival is a big time in the city, lots of visitors and lots of business for the taxi drivers.
Fly describes two types of taxi drivers, the spiders, who wait for bookings from the dispatcher and the flies like him who roam around the streets and pickup fares at random.
Fly lives like a fly on the wall, watching things that happen. He describes the many weird and scarry types of customers he meets in his job and some of his fellow taxi drivers. He also describes some of the people that he gets two know, befriend, prostitutes, the son of one of the prostitutes who is fostered by another couple when his mother isn't capable of looking after him, drunks, a university student who makes money by being an exotic dancer, a drug dealer who is murdered one night when Fly takes him on a regular drive to conduct his business. Some of the prostitutes go to a building near a factory and provide their services at a cut rate fee once per month because they feel sorry for the poor immigrant workers. Several of the characters seem to have mental issues. But there is affection and honour among "theives" and the down and out.
Many of the customers he has are weird, one of them is an academic (Alberto Manuel - is this a nod to Alberto Manguel the bibliophile? early in the book reference is made to Borges) with a huge library which he bequeaths to fly. Fly has the books piled to the ceiling in his apartment, organized according to his own unique classification systesm. He reads voraciously and has quite a broad knowledge as a result. He tries to engage some people in philisophical discussions or makes references to books and ideas in some of the discussions he has with people. He feels books are precious, vital to society. I am assuming the author of this book intends his book, this book, to be one of these beneficial treasures.
Fly keeps trying to make friends with a young woman in his building but finds out she is a lesbian. He has occasional sex with some of the women he meets but most of the time he satisfies himself by masturbating while imagining himself taking part, possibly having an impact as part of important historical events.
The author has a wonderful way of writiing, his wording is passionate, vibrant, poetic at times. It was interesting how he presented the weirdos on the one hand and the affection and friendships that developed between Fly and his friends. Fly could be violent at tiimes, particulary to customers who ripped him off. Fly is a loner, but he remembers and appreciates the people who were kind to him. He feels like an outsider and is an observer for the most part. He does help some people. I think he is touched by what he sees and would really liked to have been able to change the world for the better.
I think the backstory of the "carnival" is an interesting plot element. People get to dress up in disguise and do crazy or bad things without being "known". Carnivals are welcome by people for their novelty but the "carnies" are probably thought of as fringe people, weirdos, not to be trusted. Fly shows us that carnivals are not the only place you find these types of people. One thing that I found unexplained in the story is that near the end several taxi drivers are murdered. No explanation is given for who is doing it or why -- is someone searching for fly because he witnessed the murder of the drug dealers and is killing other cab drivers instead? As time passes most of Fly's friends die or bad things happen to them. In the end he gets on his father's magic carpet and "flies away".
The book is the story of a taxi driver, Fly, and the people he meets and has met in his life.
Fly's parents were circus performers, his mother a trapeze artist/contortionist. His father flew on a magic carpet. His father flew away when Fly was young and Fly's mother fell into the arms of many of the men of the circus. She commits suicide and Fly is adopted by the "bearded women" who looks after him like a mother. Part of his life he serves as a seer at the circus, guessing people's weights and other things.
When the book starts Fly is a taxi driver in an unspecified big city. The carnival is a big time in the city, lots of visitors and lots of business for the taxi drivers.
Fly describes two types of taxi drivers, the spiders, who wait for bookings from the dispatcher and the flies like him who roam around the streets and pickup fares at random.
Fly lives like a fly on the wall, watching things that happen. He describes the many weird and scarry types of customers he meets in his job and some of his fellow taxi drivers. He also describes some of the people that he gets two know, befriend, prostitutes, the son of one of the prostitutes who is fostered by another couple when his mother isn't capable of looking after him, drunks, a university student who makes money by being an exotic dancer, a drug dealer who is murdered one night when Fly takes him on a regular drive to conduct his business. Some of the prostitutes go to a building near a factory and provide their services at a cut rate fee once per month because they feel sorry for the poor immigrant workers. Several of the characters seem to have mental issues. But there is affection and honour among "theives" and the down and out.
Many of the customers he has are weird, one of them is an academic (Alberto Manuel - is this a nod to Alberto Manguel the bibliophile? early in the book reference is made to Borges) with a huge library which he bequeaths to fly. Fly has the books piled to the ceiling in his apartment, organized according to his own unique classification systesm. He reads voraciously and has quite a broad knowledge as a result. He tries to engage some people in philisophical discussions or makes references to books and ideas in some of the discussions he has with people. He feels books are precious, vital to society. I am assuming the author of this book intends his book, this book, to be one of these beneficial treasures.
Fly keeps trying to make friends with a young woman in his building but finds out she is a lesbian. He has occasional sex with some of the women he meets but most of the time he satisfies himself by masturbating while imagining himself taking part, possibly having an impact as part of important historical events.
The author has a wonderful way of writiing, his wording is passionate, vibrant, poetic at times. It was interesting how he presented the weirdos on the one hand and the affection and friendships that developed between Fly and his friends. Fly could be violent at tiimes, particulary to customers who ripped him off. Fly is a loner, but he remembers and appreciates the people who were kind to him. He feels like an outsider and is an observer for the most part. He does help some people. I think he is touched by what he sees and would really liked to have been able to change the world for the better.
I think the backstory of the "carnival" is an interesting plot element. People get to dress up in disguise and do crazy or bad things without being "known". Carnivals are welcome by people for their novelty but the "carnies" are probably thought of as fringe people, weirdos, not to be trusted. Fly shows us that carnivals are not the only place you find these types of people. One thing that I found unexplained in the story is that near the end several taxi drivers are murdered. No explanation is given for who is doing it or why -- is someone searching for fly because he witnessed the murder of the drug dealers and is killing other cab drivers instead? As time passes most of Fly's friends die or bad things happen to them. In the end he gets on his father's magic carpet and "flies away".
Thursday, 10 January 2013
Bruno: Chief of Police
by Martin Walker
Captain Bruno Correges is the Chief of Police, the only police officer, in the town of St. Denis in the Dordogne region of France. His is a comfortable life, he knows all the town's people and they respect him. All are in agreement against the inspectors who come to town to make sure the markets are complying with EU rules.
The town is shattered when an old man, an Arab, a war hero, is brutally murdered in his home. At first it appears that some young hooligans, racists, one of whom might the the son of the town's doctor, might have committed the crime. That new is disturbing enough, but when a rally against racism is turned into a melee by racist thugs, things get even more tense locally and politically nationwide.
While the other national police forces have the responsibility for solving the crime it is Bruno's sleuthing that leads to the answer, the murdered man, who had been living under a false name since WWII was actually a war criminal, terrorizing the French countryside, for the Germans. The powers that be decide that is better to let the investigation die quietly. Bruno confronts two people he thinks are the perpetrators but he does not arrest them or turn them in the authorities. Was justice achieved?
In the story Bruno and all the officials seem more intent on keeping the good name of the community and not inflaming public anti-immigration sentiiments than on carrying out the law.
The story was interesting, the characters are colourful, but the outcome not necessarily satisfying. I am sure the french would not appreciate the way their various officials are portrayed.
Captain Bruno Correges is the Chief of Police, the only police officer, in the town of St. Denis in the Dordogne region of France. His is a comfortable life, he knows all the town's people and they respect him. All are in agreement against the inspectors who come to town to make sure the markets are complying with EU rules.
The town is shattered when an old man, an Arab, a war hero, is brutally murdered in his home. At first it appears that some young hooligans, racists, one of whom might the the son of the town's doctor, might have committed the crime. That new is disturbing enough, but when a rally against racism is turned into a melee by racist thugs, things get even more tense locally and politically nationwide.
While the other national police forces have the responsibility for solving the crime it is Bruno's sleuthing that leads to the answer, the murdered man, who had been living under a false name since WWII was actually a war criminal, terrorizing the French countryside, for the Germans. The powers that be decide that is better to let the investigation die quietly. Bruno confronts two people he thinks are the perpetrators but he does not arrest them or turn them in the authorities. Was justice achieved?
In the story Bruno and all the officials seem more intent on keeping the good name of the community and not inflaming public anti-immigration sentiiments than on carrying out the law.
The story was interesting, the characters are colourful, but the outcome not necessarily satisfying. I am sure the french would not appreciate the way their various officials are portrayed.
Monday, 7 January 2013
The Bat
by Jo Nesbo.
This is the first book in the mystery series about Harry Hole, a Norwegian police officer. The books have been very popular so I thought I would try one.
Surprisingly, this first book is set in Australia, not Norway. Harry has been sent to Australia to participate on a police investigation into the strangulation of a Norwegian girl who was living in Australia. Harry is puzzled when he is met at the airport by an Aboriginal police officer who said he asked to work on this case with Harry.
The officer takes him to a circus performance and shows him a few sites in Australia. In the course of the investigation Harry also meets a boxer, and several less than desirable characters. He also meets a young Swedish woman and becomes romantically involved with her.
Harry has a troubled past, he was driving a police vehicle, drunk, while on duty.. This resluted in the death of his partner and disabling of a young child in another vehicle. He avoids alcohol.
As the investigation proceeds it is decided that the murder may have been the work of a serial murderer. Several suspects are investigated with no arrests. Harry and his friends try some very unprofessional things to get information. They suspect a clown may have been the murderer, he is found brutally murdered, and the Aboriginal police officer is found hung in the clowns home. It is discovered that the police officer was a heroin addict but further investigation proves that he was murdered.
Harry is supposed to return to Norway but instead engages in an ongoing drunken binge, while trying to work on his own to solve the crimes.
Harry tries to catch the person he is convinced is the murdering by asking his girlfriend to participate in a setup. He is wrong about his suspect and she ends up losing her life.
I found the first half of the book slow to get going and get my interest, but by the mid-point it became an interesting, action-packed, if some what depressing story.
I enjoyed it, but I am puzzled as to why the author would start the first book in the series in Australia, rather than Norway. Perhaps the author and publisher felt the exotic locale would be appealing.
This is the first book in the mystery series about Harry Hole, a Norwegian police officer. The books have been very popular so I thought I would try one.
Surprisingly, this first book is set in Australia, not Norway. Harry has been sent to Australia to participate on a police investigation into the strangulation of a Norwegian girl who was living in Australia. Harry is puzzled when he is met at the airport by an Aboriginal police officer who said he asked to work on this case with Harry.
The officer takes him to a circus performance and shows him a few sites in Australia. In the course of the investigation Harry also meets a boxer, and several less than desirable characters. He also meets a young Swedish woman and becomes romantically involved with her.
Harry has a troubled past, he was driving a police vehicle, drunk, while on duty.. This resluted in the death of his partner and disabling of a young child in another vehicle. He avoids alcohol.
As the investigation proceeds it is decided that the murder may have been the work of a serial murderer. Several suspects are investigated with no arrests. Harry and his friends try some very unprofessional things to get information. They suspect a clown may have been the murderer, he is found brutally murdered, and the Aboriginal police officer is found hung in the clowns home. It is discovered that the police officer was a heroin addict but further investigation proves that he was murdered.
Harry is supposed to return to Norway but instead engages in an ongoing drunken binge, while trying to work on his own to solve the crimes.
Harry tries to catch the person he is convinced is the murdering by asking his girlfriend to participate in a setup. He is wrong about his suspect and she ends up losing her life.
I found the first half of the book slow to get going and get my interest, but by the mid-point it became an interesting, action-packed, if some what depressing story.
I enjoyed it, but I am puzzled as to why the author would start the first book in the series in Australia, rather than Norway. Perhaps the author and publisher felt the exotic locale would be appealing.
Thursday, 3 January 2013
The Stockholm Octavo
by Karen Engelmann
This is a book that caught my eye while I was browsing at Chapters.
It takes place in the 1790's in Stockholm. It is the story of a young Customs Agent who frequents a gambling parlour hosted by a woman who also reads cards. He is worried because his boss insists he get married, or lose his job. His boss is convinced that he must be married to be "responsible" and mature. He confides in the host of the card parties and she says she has had a vision for him and offers to read his cards. Each night for eight nights he comes to her place and they work to find the eight cards of the Octavo that will describe his future.
As the young man tries to figure out who the people identified in the cards are in his life, he becomes involved in a spat between the card reader and another woman over a beautiful, possibly powerful fan. Fans are considered not only a fashion item but a sign of status and also a way for women to overpower men. At this time there are forces working to defeat the current king, the two women are on opposite sides of this issue, one is working for the king, the other actively against him. One of the women will stop at nothing, including murder, to achieve her goals. As the story progresses a couple of other young women enter the story as do two french brothers, master fanmakers, who have escaped from France because of the turmoil their.
Through all the political intrigue and quest for the powerful fan, the young man works to identify his future.
It was an interesting story, for the unique setting and time period. The author did a great job of developing the story and keeping it interesting until the end. I enjoyed it.
This is a book that caught my eye while I was browsing at Chapters.
It takes place in the 1790's in Stockholm. It is the story of a young Customs Agent who frequents a gambling parlour hosted by a woman who also reads cards. He is worried because his boss insists he get married, or lose his job. His boss is convinced that he must be married to be "responsible" and mature. He confides in the host of the card parties and she says she has had a vision for him and offers to read his cards. Each night for eight nights he comes to her place and they work to find the eight cards of the Octavo that will describe his future.
As the young man tries to figure out who the people identified in the cards are in his life, he becomes involved in a spat between the card reader and another woman over a beautiful, possibly powerful fan. Fans are considered not only a fashion item but a sign of status and also a way for women to overpower men. At this time there are forces working to defeat the current king, the two women are on opposite sides of this issue, one is working for the king, the other actively against him. One of the women will stop at nothing, including murder, to achieve her goals. As the story progresses a couple of other young women enter the story as do two french brothers, master fanmakers, who have escaped from France because of the turmoil their.
Through all the political intrigue and quest for the powerful fan, the young man works to identify his future.
It was an interesting story, for the unique setting and time period. The author did a great job of developing the story and keeping it interesting until the end. I enjoyed it.
Sunday, 16 December 2012
An Ice Cold Grave
by Charlaine Harris,
This is the first in a new series by the author of the Sookie Stackhouse mysteries. In this series Harper Connolly, a victim of a lighten strike, has the ability to sense the dead and the cause of their death. She is summoned to Doraville, N.C. by a reluctant but desparate Sherrif. Six young boys have gone missing. The previous Sherrif seemed to think the boys had run away but boys keep disappearing.
Harper is given tips on a few places near where the young people were seen prior to their deaths, including where vehiles have been found. They eventually go to a barn on an abandoned property and she senses not six but eight bodies. The authorities are stunned by the news and the accuracy of her work.
Harper is devastated by the number of deaths and the amount of pain the boys suffered prior to their deaths. She wants to get paid and get out of town. However, she is attacked outside her motel by an unknown assailant and ends up in the hospital. When she is released from hospital she is asked to stay in town for the memorial service for the boys and agrees to do it.
She wants to leave town but then goes to another location where animal deaths were sensed but now she senses a human body and discovers a den with a victim, still alive, who is chained up and a local boy, who was accused of the animal murders, has committed suicide. His father is arrested but Harper thinks he must have had an accomplice to help him overpower the boys. The police agree that there probably was another criminal involved. Harper's hunch is right and the other man captures her and tries to kill her.
This was an okay mystery, it wasn't terribly engaging and the story of the pedophilia bothered me, it seems to be a very frequent story in books and tv crime shows these days. I am not sure that I would bother reading any others in this series, there wasn't really anything unique or appealing.
This is the first in a new series by the author of the Sookie Stackhouse mysteries. In this series Harper Connolly, a victim of a lighten strike, has the ability to sense the dead and the cause of their death. She is summoned to Doraville, N.C. by a reluctant but desparate Sherrif. Six young boys have gone missing. The previous Sherrif seemed to think the boys had run away but boys keep disappearing.
Harper is given tips on a few places near where the young people were seen prior to their deaths, including where vehiles have been found. They eventually go to a barn on an abandoned property and she senses not six but eight bodies. The authorities are stunned by the news and the accuracy of her work.
Harper is devastated by the number of deaths and the amount of pain the boys suffered prior to their deaths. She wants to get paid and get out of town. However, she is attacked outside her motel by an unknown assailant and ends up in the hospital. When she is released from hospital she is asked to stay in town for the memorial service for the boys and agrees to do it.
She wants to leave town but then goes to another location where animal deaths were sensed but now she senses a human body and discovers a den with a victim, still alive, who is chained up and a local boy, who was accused of the animal murders, has committed suicide. His father is arrested but Harper thinks he must have had an accomplice to help him overpower the boys. The police agree that there probably was another criminal involved. Harper's hunch is right and the other man captures her and tries to kill her.
This was an okay mystery, it wasn't terribly engaging and the story of the pedophilia bothered me, it seems to be a very frequent story in books and tv crime shows these days. I am not sure that I would bother reading any others in this series, there wasn't really anything unique or appealing.
Monday, 10 December 2012
I am Half-Sick of Shadows
by Alan Bradley,
This is a book in the mystery series about the precocious little British girl Flavia de Luce. This is the fourth book that I have read in the series, and will probably be the last. The books still seem to be receiving acclaim but I get more disappointed with each one I read.
I found the first one fun and interesting, both the character of the little girl and the setting were interesting and novel. The second was okay, and the third was, in my opinion even weaker. I picked up the fourth one because I wanted a Christmas story read but again I was disappointed.
Not much happens in the story - the murder doesn't occur until past the halfway point of the story. I was ready to say.... kill somebody already! so the story gets some action and intrigue. The mean sisters and the disinterested father who is drowning his fear about losing his home in his passion for stamps, are running thin as storylines. The story just happened to take place at Christmas but could have taken place anytime. I was hoping for more of a Christmas theme, poisoning with some sort of Christmas product, or something like that... but none of it happened.
I think i will try Dicken's Christmas Carol next, I am sure it will be more engaging.
This is a book in the mystery series about the precocious little British girl Flavia de Luce. This is the fourth book that I have read in the series, and will probably be the last. The books still seem to be receiving acclaim but I get more disappointed with each one I read.
I found the first one fun and interesting, both the character of the little girl and the setting were interesting and novel. The second was okay, and the third was, in my opinion even weaker. I picked up the fourth one because I wanted a Christmas story read but again I was disappointed.
Not much happens in the story - the murder doesn't occur until past the halfway point of the story. I was ready to say.... kill somebody already! so the story gets some action and intrigue. The mean sisters and the disinterested father who is drowning his fear about losing his home in his passion for stamps, are running thin as storylines. The story just happened to take place at Christmas but could have taken place anytime. I was hoping for more of a Christmas theme, poisoning with some sort of Christmas product, or something like that... but none of it happened.
I think i will try Dicken's Christmas Carol next, I am sure it will be more engaging.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)