Review: A mind-bending ghost story
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 10, 2013
I really loved this book: part mystery, part ghost story, part love story, part action-thriller. From the first page, I was involved and intrigued, and many hours were lost in this supernatural world set in both modern-day London and the last century. I believe the author has touched upon an idea that is mesmerizing not only to other writers but avid readers as well. The idea? Of a fictional character coming to life. Actually tearing himself out of the pages of a story and forcing his way into the real world, bent on revenge. "Motivated by Gothic dark passions of obsessive love and hate as it is... a disembodied Heathcliff." Who out there who has ever read or written a book is not able to think of a character he/she would love to meet, face to face?A compelling concept.The creator of this problem is Aleks Sager, a protagonist who begins as almost an anti-hero, yet soon he reveals just how sweet and loveable he truly is. He will go to great lengths to protect the woman he loves from the dangerous character he wrote into life.Elliot writes beautifully, visually, so that the reader is caught up in the smells, the textures, the food and lights and life of London. Each scene is immediate, vividly drawn, filled with sensory details. There's more: she's a master at characterization: I LOVED the way Aleks and his best mate, Rick, banter and curse at each other, and poor Natalie's vapid thoughts, and the wonderful Aunt Sally. Then she brings in the scary, paranormal element, which includes, yes, an ouija board. Elliot never fails to include humor in her stories, a dry, tongue-in-cheek look at the foibles of humanity.Perhaps it's inevitable that a modern day woman falls in love with this romantic figure from old Russia. Their scenes together are so animated, as are all the scenes, really, that I began to think what a wildly popular movie this story would make. Ivan Ostrowski, the character dragged from fiction into reality, is more enticing than any zombie or vampire out there.Enthusiastically recommended.