Babs

Intelligent, compelling, touching and entertaining

Revisado: 03-19-25

I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a book this much. I happen to love Shakespeare and am fascinated by Elizabethan and Tudor history, but these are not prerequisites to enjoying this book. It is a story of two young people who can achieve their goals in life only by hiding their true identities -- which is a very Shakespearean concept by the way! The author's meticulously researched details -- the food, the clothing, navigating the London of old -- add so much depth and texture. And Shakespeare himself could have crafted the penultimate scene!

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Do I care about these low-life criminals?

Revisado: 02-02-25

I thought this was going to be related to the other James Grippando characters, but Andie is barely in it. And I didn't expect the main characters to be low-life, ridiculously inept criminals. At least the grifters in books by Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen are entertaining, but I don't want to waste any more of my time on these guys.

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Clever mystery, compelling characters

Revisado: 04-03-23

A town in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, getting used to life after WW2. A pillar of the community is run down on a quiet street, with only two children as witnesses. Rookie Inspector Jimmy Urquhart, an Ontario native still getting used to island ways, is on his first date with reporter Sandy "Notepad" MacDonald when he gets the call to investigate. He and Notepad soon realize that the victim had many secrets, dating back to before the War -- but so do most of the townsfolk.

Ring spins a great yarn while capturing the idiosyncrasies of a small community that's also a cultural melting pot of Scots, Irish, French and Italian. And Jimmy, Notepad and Sgt. "Pretty" MacDonald are characters you want to spend more time with.

Ring is also an excellent narrator, with a rich, soothing voice that captures the rhythms of the characters' speech patterns.

I look forward to future adventures!

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Heavy-handed and cringe-worthy, bad narrator

Revisado: 10-28-21

As a big Louise Penny fan, I was looking forward to this book. I finally gave up about a quarter of the way through. Joan Allen's narration didn't help -- her voice was harsh and irritating, and it was hard to differentiate characters. But the book itself was so disappointing. It felt as if it was rushed to publication without good editing, and the characters are unappealing. These are supposed to be smart people. But a key character is so meek that she can't manage to alert her State Department bosses about a terror attack warning. And in the middle of this international terror crisis, the Secretary of State rants about how it's all the fault of the former administration and its handling of foreign affairs. I tried reading the book to see if it worked better that way, but there was too much ranting and not enough subtlety.

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Don't read this is you have been sexually abused

Revisado: 10-26-20

I had never read any of John Banville's work, but I was intrigued by the New York Times review. I was enjoying this story of a murdered priest, church politics and family secrets, and I am a huge fan of John Lee as a narrator. But towards the end of the book, I had to endure 33 minutes in which a sexual predator recounts grooming and abusing his victims (I can say no more in case there are people who want to be surprised by the ending). All I could think about were my friends who have been through this kind of abuse, and how traumatic this would be for them. I am not saying that an author can't write about this, but I think a book like this should include some kind of warning about disturbing content.

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Narrator was hysterical, story was unsatisfying

Revisado: 03-01-20

I adore Charles Todd's books, both the Bess Crawford series and the Rutledge series. They deal with the tragedies and complexities of post-war England with subtlety and beautiful detail. So I had high hopes for this one. At first, I thought it was only the narrator who bothered me -- her voice hit a fever-pitch within the first few minutes, and she portrayed Francesca as yelling or screaming far too often. Would a woman of her class and background be shrieking so much? An experienced narrator can portray anger and grief without having listeners feel as if we are in the middle of a shouting match. Then I realized that the book left me cold as well. Incredibly confusing, very few sympathetic characters and too much "Perils of Pauline" drama. I'll wait for Nurse Crawford and Inspector Rutledge!

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Engaging, moving and enlightening!

Revisado: 05-16-19

I did not enjoy the author's previous book, so I approached this one with reservations. But I totally enjoyed it. Three very different sisters from a Sikh family in London, each at a crossroads in life, try to fulfill their mother's dying wish by traveling together to India. The sisters' personalities, challenges and conflicts are very realistic, but we also get a taste of the tension between cultural traditions and personal desires. Couldn't put it down.

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I will live with this book for a long time

Revisado: 01-01-17

Literally just finished it, so it's probably too soon to write a proper review. I confess that it took me a while to get into the story -- would probably have been easier with a regular book -- but then I became hooked. I am so moved by the scope of this novel and by the characters, especially that of Sparrow, the composer forced to become a laborer and factory worker during the Cultural Revolution. The book made me sad and angry because of the lives wasted and destroyed by political ideology and mob rule. But I feel as if Ms. Thien has given voice in this beautiful novel to those who were lost and damaged by the Cultural Revolution and the events in Tianmen Square. I thought the narrator did a fantastic job. I have an e-book version of this, so I think I will go back and "read-read" it to soak in all the details. But before that, I'm dying to do some research on the period of Chinese history she writes about -- I visited there three years ago but want to put this story in its historical context. Thank you, Ms. Thien!

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Great new career for Harry!

Revisado: 11-02-16

It's always tricky what to do with heroes when they are police officers who are officially past retirement age. Having Harry in the San Fernando Police Department, solving a fascinating rape case, along with an intriguing private investigation, makes for a really interesting story.

I always liked Titus Welliver as a reader, and now that I have been watching him as Bosch on TV, he is perfect for this book.

The book has a beautiful and touching ending that brought tears to my eyes.

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Not as strong as Volume 1, but good

Revisado: 02-21-13

I was literally counting the hours until my pre-order of this book arrived. It was certainly compelling, but not as strong as the first volume, in my opinion.

The plot got very complicated -- yes, the Civil War was complicated, but the battles and plot twists were sometimes hard to follow -- and as another reviewer mentioned, some of the dialogue was long-winded.

What I felt in this book was that characters that were quite well-drawn in Volume One became a bit more stereotypical in this book. The "villains," Ashton and Bent, were somewhat ridiculous in the first book -- I thought heaving bosoms and nymphomania were the stuff of really bad romance novels -- but became very caricatured in this one. The sex scenes were cringeworthy.

But even well-drawn characters like Charles and Orrie lost some luster here.They often fulfilled the stereotype of the Southerner as "hot-blooded" and "impetuous" -- if they'd been horses they might have stomped their feet!

I generally like Grover Gardner as a narrator, but he's pretty weak on accents.

Having expressed these reservations, it's still a really engaging and moving story, and gives a sense of the human bravery and sacrifice that shaped this terrible period in American history.

Now counting the days and hours until Part 3 arrives!

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