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Review Date: 1/17/2014
I really enjoyed this book. I didn't figure it out until the end and it was satisfactory. I will likely look for something else by this author.
Review Date: 7/5/2010
I read this for a book club and will probably not look for anymore from this author anytime soon. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood, but this story was definitely NOT fast-paced in my mind at all. I was not into all the introspection, and I agree that the ending was not satisfying at all.
I did not know it was based on fact and will look up the story, but I just did not enjoy this book.
I did not know it was based on fact and will look up the story, but I just did not enjoy this book.
Review Date: 12/27/2013
Helpful Score: 1
I loved The Thirteenth Tale and highly recommend it every chance I get. This one falls short of that experience. I agree that it isn't exactly a ghost story at all but the ghost of an action that comes to haunt William Bellman all his life. It is atmospheric and somewhat macabre but doesn't qualify as horror or even really ghostly. I did enjoy it but would much rather tell someone about The Thirteenth Tale. Maybe next time....
Review Date: 3/22/2014
I like this author already but wasn't sure I would read this one. I started it to see if I'd like it........170 pages later I finally put it down to go to sleep! To me, this was a wonderful suspense story in the style of a really good film noir. I liked the detective Harry Stuyvesant and his inner dialogue. Highly recommended.
Review Date: 1/27/2014
I finished this book late last night and was very moved! It's billed as a novel of discovery but I see it as a story of sacrifice and redemption. This tale has a traumatic beginning but keep reading.....the ending is worth the journey. I agree with the comments about the language, the atmosphere, the characters, etc. I have read another of Charles Martin's books and this one is even better than the first. It will NOT be the last.
Review Date: 7/24/2010
I didn't expect to enjoy this book but I really did. The vernacular sounded true instead of grating, like I thought it might. I recommend this and will look up more of House's work.
Review Date: 5/30/2014
I agree with the other review.........I've loved all of the series, but this one was decidedly different. To me it was the creepiest of them all. I did not know Jack the Ripper was involved and gasped when it was revealed. It's evident there is an ongoing series here and I will happily read the next one.
Review Date: 8/23/2015
This is not my very favorite of Sandra Dallas's books but she is one of my favorite authors, by far. This story is about a woman who finds out her sister has been murdered in a Denver brothel. The same sister who slept with her cheating husband in New York. Beret goes to Denver to find out who murdered Lillie and meets with resistance to her investigation. I, too, found a couple of the situations lacking sense but I was not put off by them. This book is much more of a mystery novel than the others of Dallas's that I have read. My favorite is Prayers for Sale which I have listened to twice and now own.
Not to take anything away from Sandra Dallas, but the above mentioned recommendation of the Gaslight Series is an excellent one.
Not to take anything away from Sandra Dallas, but the above mentioned recommendation of the Gaslight Series is an excellent one.
Review Date: 3/1/2015
Helpful Score: 3
I read a lot, and I read a lot of historical fiction. My favorite of those are mysteries. I have a new favorite in Gods of Gotham!! I laughed, I got teary, and I was surprised while reading this book. I love the flash language and would like to read more about it. I am not doing this book justice by my review but I am definitely recommending it to all historical mystery lovers. Can't wait for the next one!
Review Date: 6/2/2010
This book reads like the best historical fiction, but it's not fiction at all. It's the author's story of growing up in an England divided by the Jewish/Christian "difference" before the Nazis ever showed up. Harry Bernstein could see the difference looking out his own front door...on one side of the street, he lived with his Jewish family and neighbors, on the other side were the Christians, and rarely did they cross that "invisible wall" running down the center of their lane. The details are indeed rich and the story draws the reader in immediately. For me, the most remarkable detail is that the author wrote of his boyhood at the age of 96!!
It isn't your typical Holocaust book and the better for it.
It isn't your typical Holocaust book and the better for it.
Review Date: 6/2/2010
Helpful Score: 4
I was fascinted by this book, chosen by my library's reading club. It took me longer than usual to read because I kept refering back to the painting to connect names and lives with faces. I considered the amount of research necessary by Ms. Vreeland on not just the history but the actual painting techniques, and it had to be considerable. She painted with her words, showing me an artist's mind and also that of the models themselves. This book made me look up our local art museum to see if any Impressionist, particularly Renoir, works are here. I will go see them, and look for more Vreeland works of art as well.
Review Date: 1/17/2014
Helpful Score: 1
I almost gave up after about 20 pages but went ahead. I found it necessary to read but not enjoyable. I didn't like any of the characters and cannot imagine recommending this one. It seemed like a formulaic film noir script without all the great dialogue. I also didn't like Mr. Ripley but adored Rules of Civility.
Review Date: 9/14/2010
I really enjoyed this book and think it will become a keeper for me. I loved the story of the three women's lives and how they intertwined. I appreciated the detail and the simplicity at the same time. Give it a try.
Review Date: 6/23/2010
Helpful Score: 1
I read The Historian a few years ago and loved it, not being a fan of vampires at all. It intrigued me so I was looking forward to a similar experience with The Swan Thieves, especially since I'd just read The Luncheon of the Boating Party, and the two books shared a similar theme.....art and French Impressionism. I also hadn't read a "big" book in a while and wanted to settle down with a nice, long story. Well, it was long. I did not like the pace of this book, the character of Mary, or much else unfortunately. I got to about page 350 and started skimming to get to the end. A friend at the library told me the mystery did get resolved, so I plowed ahead and finished but was glad to be done with it. It makes me want to re-read The Historian to see if I had a lapse of taste....or the author did.
Review Date: 10/13/2013
Helpful Score: 1
I loved this book and can only echo the other two reviews so far.......it is heartfelt and well worth reading. I've also read Where the River Ends, which moved me to tears. Someone told the author he writes like a girl...I say he writes like a human fully in touch with his feelings. Recommended.
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