I know i know what a stupid pun, but i couldn't resist! :) Finally, my book review is here! Well, ive set it up more for purposes of recommendation. Here it goes:
THE THRILLER/DETECTIVE SUMMER CHASER:
These are five fantastic books to finish off your summer with. I am a huuuge fan of gothic fiction (especially Victorian because thats where it gets most ridiculous) and detective fiction (also Victorian because that is when detective fiction developed!).
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins: One of the greatest novels of the Victorian age! But dont be deterred by that lofty title. This book is the furthest away from stuffy as you can get. Not only is it a spectacular "whodunnit" concerning the loss of a large, sacred Indian diamond in Yorkshire, an evil uncle's revenge and three Indian Brahmins who would go to any lengths to get their sacred gem back but it also pulls apart Victorian English society. The story is told by different people throughout, written in their style and to the best of their memories. You will learn to love the old man Betteredge and his Robinson Crusoe fixation, and come to spite the tactlessly Bible-quoting Miss Clack. I will not say more except: Miss Verinder and co are not easily forgotten.
Self's Deception by Berhardt Schlink: Translated from German, this is a "whodunnit" set in the roughly modern age. Gerhard Self is a reserved PI who was hired by a high-ranking government official to find his daughter Leonore. The investigation leads him to places like a psychiatric hospital where he is told that she died. Then he discovers that she is alive and on the run. PI Self later finds himself in a web of deception as the investigation comes apart. Schlink is also the author of The Reader, the bestselling German novel that was made into a wonderful film a few months ago starring Kate Winslet.
The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith: This needs no introduction. The quintessential con-artist and murderer, Ripley lives the high life in Venice and Rome under the name of Dickie Greenleaf, the wealthy son of parents who trusted Ripley to find and bring him back to America. Fascinating. I was holding my breath the whole time, thinking, hows he gona get out of it this time? Book over movie anyday.
The Haunted Hotel by Wilkie Collins: Again with the Venice. This is a tale of a dark countess who "steals" an innocent girl's husband and as she lives with him in his Venetian palazzo, servants dissapear and people start to die. The countess corners a doctor in the first chapter and asks" I want to know, if you please, whether i am in danger of going mad?" and then "she sat down again. In the plainest possible words, she began the strangest and wildest confession that had ever reached the doctor's ears." Come on! How can anyone resist?
The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale: This is a reconstruction of events by Kate Summerscale of a gruesome domestic murder in early Victorian England. In the perfectly respectable Road Hill House, a child is murdered and the culprit is someone from inside the house. As investigators expose every inch of the family's lives to a voracious and wildly speculating public, the very fabric of English society begins to tear and the great Inspector Whicher and the Kent family's lives are tossed into the thick of the frenzy. This is an extremely interesting read. I was very pleased that it wasnt just some vulgar, voyeuristic reconstruction as so many of these "crimes of the past" books are. It was extremely insightful and Summerscale seems to have stuck to the facts while capturing perfectly the mood of the age, tirelessly detailing the rise of the detective into popular English society and the effect this high-profile case had on the national conciousness. Not to be missed!
Hope you guys like my suggestions and sorry for the super-bad posting these days. Honestly its not my fault, my life just wont give me a break!
