Review: Unexpected and surprising.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 13, 2014
Okay, I'll admit it.......I'm stumped for how to review this book. Did I enjoy it? Mostly, yes. Do I want to read the next book in the series? Certainly. Did this one have subject matter that surprised and bothered me? Absolutely.To begin with, the cover of this novel just might give a false impression. It looks kind of cutely harmless and yet the subject matter goes from standard mystery fare to really dark and difficult to read about. I have a hard time enjoying reading novels dealing with torture for sexual gratification but that is what I found here. Yet on the other hand, it was very difficult for me to believe this was a debut novel by Thomas Shawver because the result here is very polished and articulate, well plotted and well written. Plus this author wrote about what he knows from his life experiences which gives his subject matter a huge feeling of authenticity when he talks about old or rare books and being an attorney as well as time served in the military. My expectation was to read about the antiquarian book trade where someone had some highly valuable erotica for sale and that lead to a murder. That was partially correct, but only to get the whole story started. So be aware, these are definitely not cookie-cutter characters. They change from good to bad to purely evil in a way that sneaks up on you as you read. And it isn't just the plot that progresses from light to dark, even the characters have surprising twists to them. As I think about the book now it is easy to see that most of the characters are really damaged individuals and the overall tone of the novel is actually dark. If you are expecting to get a novel of sweet, fluffy characters sitting around a table in a second-hand bookstore sharing gossip and chocolate chip cookies, you will be very surprised, perhaps even disappointed. And who knew there was such an Irish centered community in Kansas City, Missouri? Certainly that came as another aspect of the novel that kept me a little off kilter. Kansas City is wonderfully described, by the way, and you will definitely feel as if you are right there where the action is taking place.There is a sub-genre to the mystery novel category which I personally refer to as "lite" mysteries and that's where I thought this book was headed. I was curious about Shawver as an author and wanted to read his novel. What I found was unexpected and, yes, surprising. There is positively nothing "lite" about this overall novel or the subjects of sexual perversions, torture, and madness. I'm hoping the next book in the series will head in a different direction because the craftsmanship of Mr. Shawver's writing is superb.I received this novel as an ARC through NetGalley. The opinions expressed are my own.