Ricardo

A great (gritty and fun) start

Revisado: 06-04-20

First, I have to say that for modern sensibilities good old detective inspector Frost might be too much. Readers who want police fiction to be spotless PC will be offended by his unrepentant misogyny. But Frost novels, like most noir fiction, don't need to satisfy our sense of righteousness or leave us with feelings of justice well served. They are meant to entertain and unsettle our perceptions of the world. This novel, the first of a popular series (not the best, though, book 4 is the best), is full of chaotic irreverent humor. Even if it was written in 1984, the contemporary reader probably feels it is much older.
One frequent complain in the reviews is a dialogue where Frost jokingly blames a teen girl from seducing the vicar that secretly takes nude portraits of her. Readers complain Wingfield doesn't take the vicar to justice, or makes them feel better with the character facing dire consequence of his acts. But the best police fiction would never do that.
British crime novels from that time (excluding cozy locked room murders) are as gritty or worse trying to reconstruct a time where society was less than illuminated (any sensible readers should avoid too David Peace's Red-Riding Quartet, even if its a great work of fiction). But even where Peace is dead serious and dark, Wingfield is always tongue-in-cheek awful, dancing on the edge of the abyss with a very savage sense of humor. And most of the reviews that condemn this book for its lack of sensibility, are read straight on, missing the absurd and delightful sense of humor in the prose, the structure and the character. Wingfield, there it's closer to Tom Sharpe than to Elizabeth George.
The Audible edition is a delight to listen. Stephen Thorne (the narrator) really captures the flair needed in the humor and the rhythm.

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Must read (listen).

Revisado: 02-22-20

This is a brilliant, honest (non fictional) group of essays that shed light not only on the authors previous works and world view, but on our difficult and controversial times.
He is a voice for reason and freedom in a time where both things might be frowned upon.

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Disappointing Mystery

Revisado: 11-28-13

What disappointed you about Secret of the White Rose?

There's something about mystery books when we, who are reading or listening (in this case) are able to understand something the character doesn't. It might be some clue left there by the writer to build the mystery tight, in which case we're able to guess before the sleuth does, or construct theories in our head to explain the mystery.
Then there's the other type. When something is so obvious you have to wait for page after page until the character adds two and two and understands and acts accordingly. Sometimes the wait is unbearable.
The Secret of the White Rose is full of the second type situations.

The is the historic novel syndrome.
Pintoff works hard to setup the time, working in describing every detail of New York in the early 20th Century. But it never feels like the characters live in that city, it feels as if they were describing it to readers in the 21th. Let me make my point. There's a careful description of signature places in the city at that time. A description that sometimes borders into a Lonely Planet guide for time travel. The main character seems to pick always the most representative places of the city to eat, drink, spend the afternoon or make appointments, just like a tourist visiting the main spots in the city to take a picture and bring it home to prove he was there.

The setting is very interesting for a mystery. We're talking about a city growing with migration. In the chaos produced by the anarchist bombings, one of the first terrorist threats in New York. Police is corrupt. Criminology is regarded at best with suspicion.
Police work is regarded almost with brute force. Ergo, its a very unlikely place for a procedural to happen.

In certain ways it reminded me those two early good efforts by Caleb Carr: The Alienist and The Angel of Darkness. There he's able to convey the procedural approach as a whim by a clever professor. Looking upon it with psychology in mind. Both are serial killer novels, that use the time as atmosphere and a setting of chaos an shadows. Pintoffs New York never feels real.

What could Stefanie Pintoff have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Editing. This novel had at least 100 pages in excess. You don't create a city by describing its main spots, its better if you recreate the mindset of the time. The psychology of the characters. How would a person living in that New York see their city. The reader should adapt himself to the characters point of view and not the other way around.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Joe Barrett?

Maybe. I would try an excerpt. His voice and acting was good. But sometimes the audio editing of the book didn't help him. So a dialogue was cut in half and his acting and voice would change from half the line into the other. That was confusing.

What character would you cut from Secret of the White Rose?

That's not the problem. Even the too modern and clever to be true Alistair belongs there.

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Fantastic sequel

Revisado: 05-21-10

Turow has been writing great novels since PRESUMED INNOCENT reinvigorated the Legal Thriller and gave way to careers like John Grisham's.
One of his best's traits is his ability to create narrative voices, so unique and deep, it feels as if friends had departed with the last page.
He is also able to produce surprising twists that fit perfectly into his characters moral biases and principles. There's a logic behind his plot, and a logic that works firstly in Kindle's County's world, and never submits to the expectations and predictable turns of a blockbuster novel.
The sequel wasn't as surprising as the first novel, but then, who could surprise you like that again.
I will count the days for the next Kindle County novel to arrive.
Edward Hermann's read is wonderful. Both when he does Rusty's voices, the third person narrative behind Molto, or Nats personal thoughts.
Shame that Audible doesn't credit Orla Cassidy in the Narrated credits. She does a wonderful job with Anna. Not only in capturing the character's voice, but going beyond reading, projecting the character's feelings into her voice with complete ease. She's become one of my favorite narrators with this book.

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