Bookworm Meets Bookworm: Crime

Showing posts with label Crime. Show all posts

1.24.2013

A Review: Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes

Catherine leads a life of long nights of debauchery and good times. When she meets Lee, an obnoxiously beautiful man in an equally beautiful suit, at a night club, a passionate relationship begins that seems too good to be true. Lee, however, slowly begins to spend more and more nights out and shows signs of increasing aggression. Catherine doesn't realize his harmful potential until it's too late. Told between the past and present, Catherine looks back on a relationship with a man she hardly knew and presents the struggle to live afterwards.

Into the Darkest Corner originally interested me because I enjoyed Before I Go To Sleep and Gone Girl, which seemed in line with what Haynes was offering. The novel is definitely very similar to the two and offered an equal amount of shock, sex and violence. However, unlike Gone Girl's complex narrative, Into the Darkest Corner was a bit more to the point without many of the twists fans of Flynn have come to expect.

The novel pretty much dives right into the story and gives the reader a good sense of Catherine's character. We follow her along to parties, to work functions and on the night of her fateful meeting with Lee. Fast forward, we see a highly disturbed Catherine, much different from the carefree, and at times, completely careless, woman Haynes has first introduced. I don't know much about individuals who suffer compulsive disorders like Catherine, an exercise that forces her to check the locks of her home repeatedly, exhausting herself in the process, but felt that the symptoms seemed realistic. While I found these made the story much more believable, I do feel the scenes of door checking and so forth could have been cut down without taking anything away from the reading experience.

I'd recommend this title for those who love the genre, are looking for a quick read and can stomach intense scenes of violence and sex. Some readers may have trouble understanding Catherine's character from the start. I felt that she made terrible decisions and a lived a life on the edge, and often grew frustrated when she repeatedly allowed Lee to lie and hold details (such as his occupation) from her (surely this would raise eyebrows). Furthermore, her friends are absolutely deplorable and I had a hard time believing they would have made the decisions they did. However, these obviously keep the novel together to make it the train wreck you can't stop looking at.

A title sure to keep the reader engaged Into The Darkest Corner is a thrill-seekers delight.

I received a copy of Into the Darkest Corner from TLC Book Tours in exchange for an honest review of the title.

Visit the following sites to learn more about Elizabeth Haynes: Website, Facebook page, Twitter account.

11.16.2012

A Review: A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

I initially picked up A Study in Scarlet to work towards my 50 titles pledge for Classics Club, but also used it to help me complete my goal of Peril the First for the RIP VII Challenge. I was ashamed to admit that I had never experienced Sherlock in literary form and thought it had been long enough.

Sherlock Holmes is called to the scene when I man is found dead in an abandoned home. His body, left without wounds that imply violence, is sprawled beneath the word rache (or revenge in German) painted in blood on the wall. Watson, Holmes's new roommate, is along for the ride and relates the situation as it unfolds.

I had mixed feelings about this one. While I can definitely say that Doyle is a talented writer and certainly had the smarts to invent such a character, I found the sudden change in narrative and the long, detailed excerpts a bit taxing.

We first encounter Holmes when he's introduced to Watson through a friend. Despite repeated attempts from said friend to warn Watson of the peculiarities of his new acquaintance, Watson decides that the financial benefits outweigh any weirdness on Holmes's part, and in he moves. Friend disappears. Watson is then swept into the whirlwind that is Holmes's life. He indicates the numerous visitors of all different backgrounds, the fact that Holmes practically never takes a moment to relax (except for the moments when he lounges on the couch and stares at the wall for hours), and that Holmes can literally deduce practically anything about an individual within the first 60 seconds of interaction. When Watson, a wounded ex-soldier and doctor, decides to accompany Holmes on his newest case, he's blown away by his ability to pull together the events of the case faster than any member of Scotland Yard.

The crime was put together pretty well. Motive and details were consistent and plausible in the crime-novel sense. However, I can't note particular inconsistencies or flaws at the moment; although, I did notice them while reading. I would have to say that my biggest issue with the novel was the sudden jump from the then present situation with the case to the back story of the murderer. The move from Victorian London to the unruly expanse of the Wild West atmosphere of Utah is completely unexpected and clumsily included. Moreover, it's clear that Doyle opposed the Mormons because he certainly doesn't portray them in a positive light once we do finally understand where he's going. While I won't divulge what does occur in the scenes that build the murderer's motive, I will admit that this section was far more interesting than reading Watson's internal dialogue and watching Holmes flit around like a school boy.

I won't say I was incredibly impressed with this one. I've heard that this isn't the best of the series, so I won't swear them off forever. It was clever, but I just never felt really engaged. It took my nearly two weeks to complete despite the fact that it's a mere 150 pages (with illustrations)! If you enjoy smart crime novels that just happen to be classics, I'd say give it a go. I'd also encourage you to do so if you enjoyed the recent BBC series, because I thought it was a great adaptation and enjoyed comparing the two.

3 of 50 completed for the Classics Club

8.23.2012

A Review: Broken Harbor by Tana French

A family of four is found in their seaside home; two children and their father dead, their mother barely hanging on. Mick "Scorcher" Kennedy has been sitting idle after a past case didn't particularly turn out as well as it should have, adopting a rookie detective, Richey, in the hopes that this will be the case that offers redemption. When he receives orders to take on the case in Broken Harbor, a location that brings back memories of a childhood summer he'd rather forget, he's in for more than might be able to handle.

To say that I was anticipating this title is an understatement. I practically had a calendar count down set up at the house. After reading the other three in this series with an intensity unmatched, I knew that her fourth would not disappoint.

Broken Harbor was a bit more detective novel in that it provided much more detail to the actual technical aspects of inspecting a crime scene than the other three offered. While I won't say I learned much, as I don't know how authentic the experience actually is, I thought it made a difference enough to really separate it from the other three. Kennedy has a deranged sister that he is constantly supplying attention, the story focused less on his own issues, that of the location of the crime and its relation to his own family, unlike the others. Both Faithful Place and Broken Harbor required the reader to follow a detective (rivals, mind you) in a case, while reconciling their own connection with the location of the crime committed. While Frank's from Faithful Place was much more disturbing, Broken Harbor offered enough frustration for me to understand the impact of these respective places to their narrators.

My only complaint is that I felt like many of the characters, while offering their own personality, have very similar voices. Perhaps you could argue that the murder squad requires a certain type of individual in order for success, but I felt that the opening felt much like the other three. However, French is a brillant writer, who, effectively, and in a very entertaining manner, builds the scene and the individuals that interact within it.

I've seen reviews that proclaim this is the favorite of the four, but I can't say I agree. While it was entertaining, a book I did have hard time putting down, it was by far one of the least thrilling in my opinion. I didn't necessarily know what was going to occur or who may or may not have committed such a terrible crime, I had some ideas and felt like Scorcher's preoccupations with his sister and his partner took away from the suspense. This effect, most likely intentional, displays French's ability as a writer to build a character and force the audience to review the sequence of events through such a tight lens. There were moments when I was far more agitated with Scorcher's treatment of his younger sister than he ever allowed himself to be and almost wished her character were not involved in the book. However, it was evident that she had to exist in order to keep the memories of Kennedy's mother, and that terrible summer, alive for the whole family to constantly remember. French makes this novel in-your-face in the present as the murdered family's life is picked apart. A loving couple destroyed by a economy turned upside down, stuck in a home crumbling around them, in a deserted neighborhood that once offered grandeur.

As I've said before, you don't have to read this series in order (unless you're a stickler about that kind of thing). Characters are mentioned in several of the novels, but it certainly isn't a make or break situation. If you enjoy a real thriller, pick up The Likeness or In the Woods; if you're looking for a highly satisfying crime novel with smart characters head for Faithful Place and Broken Harbor.

7.24.2012

Excitement: Tana French's Broken Harbor Release

People! I'll admit that despite being a bookworm I generally don't get too excited about new releases. However, I am so excited about Tana French's newest novel, Broken Harbor, which was released today. While I know I should have visited an indie store this evening to pick up a copy, I couldn't resist when J asked if there were any books I wanted when he was making an order on Amazon. So. My copy should be delivered sometime today. Excited face.

From Goodreads:

In BROKEN HARBOR, a ghost estate outside Dublin - half-built, half-inhabited, half-abandoned - two children and their father are dead. The mother is on her way to intensive care. Scorcher Kennedy is given the case because he is the Murder squad’s star detective. At first he and his rookie partner, Richie, think this is a simple one: Pat Spain was a casualty of the recession, so he killed his children, tried to kill his wife Jenny, and finished off with himself. But there are too many inexplicable details and the evidence is pointing in two directions at once.

Scorcher’s personal life is tugging for his attention. Seeing the case on the news has sent his sister Dina off the rails again, and she’s resurrecting something that Scorcher thought he had tightly under control: what happened to their family, one summer at Broken Harbour, back when they were children. The neat compartments of his life are breaking down, and the sudden tangle of work and family is putting both at risk . . .

Don't know about Tana French?! Who are you?!? Where have you been?!?

Take a peek at my reviews of her first three novels (and then read them and love them):

A Review: In the Woods by Tana French