Review: Absolutely Fabulous
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 5, 2014
Having read the first two in the Time, Blood and Karma series, I was well aware of Braddock's troubled past and so I was very much looking forward to discovering the details involved. A Poison Tree takes us back to 1999 in lovely(or not so)Leicester, England, and grants us a window on the events leading to Braddock's departure for the Far East. As with the first two, the writing is superb and one cannot help but appreciate Mr. Dolan's command of the English language. In addition to being filled with intrigue, the plot contains a good deal of philosophical offerings as well as Dolan's trademark humor."A copy of Madame Bovary was open on my desk. Like most of my reading it had been recommended to me by my sister-in-law, Anna. Years before she had taken it upon herself to give me a literary education, and to my surprise I had become a voracious consumer of Russian and European novels, philosophical works and, God help me, poetry. If my former rugby-playing friends had been aware of my guilty weakness for books, they would without doubt have felt inclined to squeeze my privates in the scrum by way of warning. At least my PA was diplomatic enough not to mention it when she found this sort of material concealed among my paperwork. It must be like finding your boss is downloading porn. Only worse." - David Braddock, A Poison TreeThe above passage is one of several gems at which I chuckled throughout what is, often times, a poignant tale. I can readily identify with how undesirable reading can be in certain circles.At any rate, I loved this book and truly could not pry the Kindle from my hand whenever I delved into it. I habitually read several books at once and generally will hop back and forth between them without any sense of urgency for completion. Every now and then one comes along which will force me to lay all the others aside and actually stay focused, and this was certainly in that group. There is mystery, humor, and insight about life which I believe all can relate to contained within. One wouldn't have to have read the first two in order to follow this plot but after reading any of Mr. Dolan's work it becomes difficult to not crave more.*waits impatiently for book #4*