Customer Comments

techeditor has commented on (78) products.

Suspect by Robert Crais

techeditor, May 6, 2013

SUSPECT is a crime novel,and it's not great literature. Although I prefer more literary books (and, yes, there is such thing as a literary crime novel), this book is more than just a who-done-it.

Robert Crais describes a wonderful man-dog relationship. Unlike so many man-dog relationship fiction, such as RACING IN THE RAIN, this story never sounds childish. This is why I rate SUSPECT highly.

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The Boy in the Snow (Edie Kiglatuk Mysteries) by M J Mcgrath

techeditor, April 27, 2013

I won't rate this book because I couldn't finish it. I gave up. The opening scene was enough to tell me I wouldn't like it, but I read further and didn't change my mind.

This book begins with a ridiculously unrealistic scene that put a bad taste in my mouth right away. But I hoped the story would redeem itself. Instead, it seemed young adult, what I might have read when I was 12.

I don't need easy reading. So I stopped wasting my time.

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Canada by Richard Ford

techeditor, April 26, 2013

Although CANADA did not contain much dialog, which ordinarily is necessary to preventing a book from droning on and on, this is so well written that I didn't care--at least at first.

The narrator is a grown man recounting, in the first part of the book, his parents' crime when he was 15 years old. I loved this part enough to make plans with my husband to visit Richard Ford's book event at a library three hours away. My only criticism is that the boy he remembers sounds more like an 8-year-old than a 15-year-old.

I could also criticize an incident near the end of this part, but that would be a spoiler. You'll know it when you get to it. Then you'll agree it was unnecessary, and maybe you'll throw the book against the wall like I wanted to.

But I didn't. I read Part 2. And I didn't like it, at all. I pretty much thought the narrator was a 15-year-old wimp. This is when he ends up in Canada, and all the Canadians he deals with are wierdos. Their actions are never explained, and neither are his.

Part 3 is better because he's an adult. But here, too, his actions are never adequately explained.

In spite of a great beginning, CANADA turned out to be a disappointment.

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Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

techeditor, March 12, 2013

DARK PLACES was written by Gillian Flynn before she wrote her 2012 smash success GONE GIRL. Although the two books are different, DARK PLACES is every bit as good as GONE GIRL, and I encourage you to read it. It's a five-star book.

This book begins with a declaration by one main character that will interest you right away. There's no wait of several pages or chapters here, no wondering whether you should give up after page 50.

From there, you will learn, little by little, of an event 30 years ago. You think you see what happened until you see it from another main character's perspective. And every chapter divulges more and more information.

I see in both GONE GIRL and DARK PLACES, plus in an even earlier Flynn book, SHARP OBJECTS, that she has a definite style. That is, all three of her books grab your attention on page 1 and tell the story from different points of view while going back and forth in time.

DARK PLACES should have been the success that GONE GIRL is. Who knows why it wasn't; it really is that good. But I predict that it will be recognized more now when readers of GONE GIRL become curious, as I did, to read Flynn's other books.

Please be glad I skimp on details. I don't tell you the story so you can discover it as you read the book. How can a thriller be thrilling or a mystery be mysterious otherwise?

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Faithful Place by Tana French

techeditor, March 5, 2013

Where to begin? It's a good bet you care most about whether and how much I liked FAITHFUL PLACE. I did, very much. But I skip a summary of the story because it's best that you discover it as you read it rather than before you read it. So no details here. Read it.

The main character in FAITHFUL PLACE is Frank (Francis) Mackey. He is a flawed narrator. He's also a detective.

Faithful Place is a fictional neighborhood in Dublin, Ireland's inner city. This is where Frank grew up and where, apparently, few ever leave. Frank is an exception. He left when he was 19 and cut ties to his family for 20 years.

Now we're with him as he investigates murders in Faithful Place, his old stomping grounds. These are not his cases, not his official business. But they're his personal business, and the lead detective wants to wrap them up and call them solved. Frank knows they aren't.

This is such an exceptionally well-written character-driven thriller. Tana French describes the residents of Faithful Place so well, particularly the members of Frank's family.

Good sign: I dreamt about them.

Another good sign: I was practically thinking with an Irish accent.

This would be a great bookclub read. Every character in the book, especially Frank, with all his flaws, would generate so much discussion. My biggest question would be, what does this story say about Frank and his choices in the end?

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