Tag: mystery

Sleuthing in the dark

From Charlie’s Point of View by Richard Scrimger

Book #28 for 2009

I had high hopes for this book because it had such an original premise: the Stocking Bandit has been on an ATM robbing rampage, and Charlie’s dad has been arrested because the police are convinced he is behind the crime.

As if that isn’t enough for a kid to deal with, Charlie happens to be blind. With the help of his friends, Charlie must find the real Stocking Bandit — and fast!– before it’s too late for his dad.

As YA books go, it’s a good blend of relevant themes, such as dealing with a disability, friendship, family, and bullying, but the multiplicity of themes also works against the book, as it draws the story away from the mystery. As a whodunit, it doesn’t quite take off because it tries to tackle so many themes that only bog down the book.

It takes forever to before the action and the actual sleuthing starts, and while the main premise of the book is a blind sleuth (which, to me is so cool), the actual sleuthing isn’t all done by Charlie. I understand that he needs his friends to act as his seeing guides, but they end up stealing a lot of the thunder. The book is entitled From Charlie’s Point of View, and yet the story’s point of view (the persona) shifts to his friends Bernadette and Lewis every few chapters and it annoyed me because I think it leaves the main character, Charlie, short-changed.

The book design is thoughtful; I think the braille patterns and the blank spreads signifying Charlie’s blindness were great details, but it takes more than that to hold a reader’s attention.

This is the second book I’ve read in Dutton’s Sleuth line — the first was Lulu Dark Can See Through Walls, which was average — and I’m getting quite disappointed. I think I’ll pass the next time I come across another title from this series.

***
My copy: hardcover with dust jacket, P50 from the Fully Booked sale table, now on my BookMooch inventory.

My rating: 2/5 stars

Sucker-punched.

A Heart of Stone by Renate Dorrenstein
Book #27 for 2009
Book #4 for Diversity Challenge (American)

After reading The Dream Merchant, I felt a little loopy so I grabbed the first book off my TBR pile just so I could clear my mind, and I didn’t read the back cover (now that I read the summary, I am thinking it wouldn’t have helped) nor did I have any idea what the book was about, as I got it from the book swap at the last BMP party.

I wasn’t planning on reading it, but Tracy Chevalier’s recommendation on the cover (“moving, chilling, powerful”) caught my eye. It started out innocently enough, as a coming-of-age novel high on Americana and it was a compelling read. The protagonist, Ellen, is quite likeable, and I found myself smiling at the quaint family portrait she painted.

A few chapters into the book though, it becomes clear that there is something sinister lurking beneath the surface of the picture-perfect family, and the goosebumps started breaking out. There is a dark mystery at the heart of the book, something that happens after Ellen’s twelfth birthday that continues to haunt her twenty-five years later.

The passages alternate between homey and gruesome, in a disturbing medley. And as the dark family secret was starting to unravel, I couldn’t stop reading, although I was getting increasingly queasy and was stuffing my fist into my mouth to keep myself from screaming and/or getting sick. In a vile sort of way, the book is so engrossing it makes you read through all the trauma, until you feel like you’ve experienced it all as well.

I don’t think I’ll read it again because the first time was traumatizing enough, but it was a very good read that was gripping from start to finish.

***
my copy: trade paperback, now on my BookMooch inventory

my rating: 4/5 stars

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

“Few things leave a deeper mark on a reader than the first book that finds its way into his heart. Those first images, the echo of words we think we have left behind, accompany us throughout our lives and sculpt a palace in our memory to which, sooner or later – no matter how many books we read, how many worlds we discover, or how much we learn to forget – we will return.”

This is one of my favorite lines from the book The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, which has definitely found its way into my heart — from cover to cover!

Set in the heart of post-war Barcelona, The Shadow of the Wind is an exquisite blend of elements I love in books: literary mystery, horror, romance, and even some swashbuckling action!

In The Shadow of the Wind, 10-year old Daniel Sempere‘s life is changed forever when his father, a bookseller, brings him to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books (“Every book, every volume you see here has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it…”).

In the tradition of this labyrinthine repository of obscure tomes, a first-time visitor must choose a book and take care of it forever, making sure it stays alive and never disappears. Daniel is immediately drawn to a handsome volume entitled “Shadow of the Wind,” by a little-known Spanish writer Julian Carax. The mysterious book sets off Daniel’s curiosity about Carax and he embarks on a quest to find out more about the author, whose life gets more and more entwined with Daniel’s as the story progresses.

The beautiful language is lush and wordy, rich with descriptions that just bloom with life — exactly the way I like it. And I like the fact that very few people (well outside of the FFP circle) have heard about it, and that it’s not that easy to find at the book store — it has this word of mouth success that doesn’t need the hype to make it a bestseller.

And the characters — they seemed to jump off the page. Fermin was my favorite — he had the best lines! I loved it when he said:

“Look, Daniel. Destiny is usually around the corner. Like a thief, like a hooker, or a lottery vendor: its three most common personifications. But what destiny does not do is home visits. You have to go for it.”

I also felt really sad for the gay watchmaker Federico Flavia, who was persecuted for his flamboyant lifestyle. I like Daniel too, as a protagonist. He is young and impetuous, but is charming and believable, and I think I fell in love with him too.

I’d have loved to write a longer review, but it’s been around nine months since I read the book, and it’s due for a reread this year. But I would have to say that it’s one of the best novels I have ever read, and I loved every bit of it; reading it was one of the best experiences I’ve had with a book — I laughed and cried and seethed and shivered and gushed throughout it all, and I couldn’t put it down. Sigh.

I can’t wait for the prequel, Angel’s Game, due in September 2009.

***
My copy: Phoenix trade paperback, mooched from Triccie. I want a hardcover. And an illustrated edition.

My rating: 5/5 stars!

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is a short novel about Christopher Boone, a 15-year old autistic boy, who one day finds his neighbor’s dog murdered, with a garden fork sticking out of it.

Because he loves puzzles (he is exceptionally gifted in Math), Christopher decides to solve the mystery of the murder (and write a book about it)… Except that he discovers more than he ever bargained for.

The book is a refreshing read because it’s told from the point of view of an autistic kid, and you get an insight into how Christopher’s mind works, how he deals with people, his emotions, and all his quirks. I actually thought it was a murder mystery, but it was more of a coming-of-age novel, revealing how an autistic boy deals with the different events in his life, and how he makes sense of the chaos using his own logic.

All in all, a very insightful read.

***
My copy: Vintage contemporaries mass market paperback, yet to be upgraded

My rating: 4/5 stars

Labyrinth by Kate Mosse

People think that when they’ve read the Da Vinci Code, all other Grail mysteries will pale in comparison. Surprisingly, the Labyrinth holds up its own quite well, probably because of the difference between the two books.

I love the fact that Labyrinth is a female grail adventure, weaving a story between two female characters that live 800 years apart. Just recently Janeh and I were discussing the difference between male and female authors, and how they focused on different things (males plot driven, females detail-driven), and this novel is a good example.

In present day (2005), Alice Tanner stumbles into a hidden cave while on an archeological dig in the mountains of southwest France. She discovers two skeletons and a labyrinth pattern engraved on the wall and on a ring, which triggers visions of the past and propels her into a dangerous race against those who want the mystery of the cave for themselves.

This narrative alternates with the story of Alaïs, in the year 1209, a plucky 17-year-old living in the French city of Carcassone, a sort of free country (under tolerant Cathar Christians) that welcomes all religions, that has been declared heretical by the Catholic Church. The Crusaders siege the city, and Alaïs’s father, entrusts her with a book that is part of a sacred trilogy connected to the Holy Grail, but evil forces, including her sister Oriane, are out to get this sacred book for their own ends.

The stories are interwoven, with events mirrored in different situations experienced by the two women in their time.

There are some gory bits, surprising from a woman writer, and a lot of adventure — a medieval battle and a modern-day chase, all in one book! There’s even a love story, although I must commend how Mosse integrated into the story without it seeming contrived.

Mosse also skillfully spins out her yarn bit by bit, disclosing details a bit at a time, never fully revealing anything until the end of the novel, making it a page-turner to the very end.

Finally, I love her take on the Grail mystery, because it’s a refreshing point of view, a unique take on the Grail legend (ergo, without the conspiracy spin: she doesn’t claim it’s the truth, unlike Dan Brown, although she does come up with a lot of daring premises) that makes it an extraordinary read.

***
My copy: originally a mass market paperback, upgraded into a hardcover with dustjacket, mooched from the US

My rating: 5/5 stars

photo courtesy of http://hopeeternal.files.wordpress.com/2007/07/mosse-kate-labyrinth.jpg