Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Book Review:  Ripper by Stefan Petrucha
This suspenseful novel, set in 1890's New York City, tells the story of Carver Young, an orphaned boy with a penchant for detective stories and a quick mind.  Carver is "adopted" by a former Pinkerton Detective, Albert Hawking, who sees promise in the young boy.  Carver is on a quest to locate his birth father, yet at the same time Jack the Ripper has turned up in New York and is wreaking havoc in the city.  Carver learns a terrible secret about his father and must save the city before Jack kills again.
Overall I found the pacing to be good, and the action was fast-paced. Some of the historical inaccuracies can be explained away when reminded that this is a work of fiction - the author never declares otherwise.  I enjoyed the book, in all of its dark and suspenseful glory.  The characters were engaging, but I do have to admit that there was not enough distrust for me.  I felt like the "secret" agents were a bit too forthcoming with their "top secret" information, and Carver readily believed anything that anyone told him - he did not have a distrustful bone in his body.  And the fact that everyone listened to a bunch of teenagers is a bit surprising - it almost made the book Scooby Doo-esque.  With all that in mind, the author does pull it together well, and his storytelling is top notch.  I feel like he wants to continue the storyline, but it is a very good stand alone novel as well.  Either way, if you are a fan of thrillers and Jack the Ripper stories, you should try it out!

Monday, May 6, 2013

Book Review:  Splendors and glooms by L.A. Schlitz
Have you ever read a book, and at the end you felt like you needed to process for a bit?  That was this book for me.  I honestly cannot say whether I liked it or not.  The premise is interesting - two orphans (Parsefall and Lizzie Rose), working for an evil magician-puppeteer (Grisini), are called on by his nemesis (Cassandra) to break a curse that is slowly killing her.  At the same time a privileged young girl (Clara) disappears, and only the magic of Grisini or his Cassandra can free her.  Parts of the story are quite intriguing - what deep dark secret is Clara hiding, how did Parsefall lose his finger, and how can Clara be freed?  I also enjoyed the characters - they are not one dimensional.  All, except for Grisini, have good and bad characteristics.  Clara acts the role of the proper British child, but she secretly resents her home life.  Parsefall loves Lizzie Rose like a sister, but, because of his upbringing, shows his love in abusive ways.  Lizzie Rose is a kind and gentle soul, but she explodes with emotion when cornered like a feral cat.  This makes them much more realistic.  The issue I have is with the story line.  When Grisini disappears, Lizzie Rose and Parsefall must fend for themselves.  As they try to survive without a guardian, they receive a letter in the post from a mysterious dowager who wants to leave her fortune to them.  Believing they will be inundated with riches, they leave their life in London to go to Strachan's Ghyll, the woman's home.  However, the old woman has an evil ulterior motive - the curse that has been plaguing her for her life can only be broken by a child, and she can use one of Grisini's foolish orphans to break her dreaded curse.  The story takes a long time to "rev up", but once it gets going it is quite good.  The ending, however, is lacking.  Too neat and tidy.  The dreariness of the entire book was erased with an ending as cliched as "and they all lived happily ever after".  Overall, the book had great characterization and description, but I feel the story line could have been much better.  It's a "meh" for me.