About the Book: The deaths of Rob Castor and his girlfriend begin a wrenching and enthrallingly suspenseful story that mines the explosive terrains of love and paternity, marriage and its delicate intricacies, family secrets and how they fester over time, and ultimately the true nature of loyalty and trust, friendship and envy, deception and manipulation.
As the media takes hold of this sensational crime, a series of unexpected revelations unleashes hidden truths in the lives of those closest to Rob. At the center of this driving narrative is Rob's childhood best friend, Nick Framingham, whose ten-year marriage to his college sweetheart is faltering. Shocked by Rob's death, Nick begins to reevaluate his own life and his past, and as he does so, a fault line opens up beneath him, leading him all the way to the novel's startling conclusion.
My Review:The danger of putting too many good endorsements on a book is that the expectations for the book are high. So when I opened this book, I expected to be blown away.
And I wasn't. That's not to say it's not a good read. The prose is very rich, there were times when I just wanted to stop and savor the words. But the beautiful words weren't anchored by characters I cared about or a story that kept me turning the pages.
The book is very much the examination of Nick's soul and life. With the loss of his best friend, he feels he's lost himself. So every relationship in his life gets examined, as he tries to figure out how things turned out the way they did. This sort of slow examination, while telling the story of what happened to Rob in parts, does lend itself to some nice insights but since I never was able to feel anything for the characters or manage to care about what happened to Rob it didn't really have much of an impact on me. Having said that, if you enjoy getting lost in the all the wonderful ways that words can be used, this is a quick read you might enjoy. Check it out here.
Rating: 3/5
Things You Might Want to Know: There's some foul language and sex. 
Monday, February 23, 2009
Review: Now You See Him by Eli Gottlieb
Posted by Amy at 12:00 AM
Labels: Book Reviews
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
Like you, I enjoy getting lost in words alone. Sometimes, I'll even read a book just for that.
Great review. I am glad you said it like it is. I really do desire to care about the characters. That is one thing that always keeps me reading.
Thanks!
Kelly
I felt exactly the same way. With all the hype it got when it came out, I was expecting great things. Like you said, the writing is wonderful. But what is wonderful writing when you absolutely detest the characters? I have seldom hated a character more than Nick. Seldom have I encountered a more self-centered, self-destructive character! And he never redeemed himself in any way. I could have stood it if he had. It was a disappontment.
I rarely read the back covers except to get quick story idea and I never read the endorsements until it's over. I hate to be influenced. Still, sometimes I read books that are hyped to see what the hype is about but I don't like a review to be fresh in my mind.
That is really difficult when a book is TOO hyped. That being said, this still seems like a decent read.
Lilly....I really do go back and forth between what is most important to me...great prose, great characters, or great plot...I really like to have them all!
Kalea_kane..I want to like at least one character!
Heather..I'm thinking of writing a post on endorsements. Too much hype doesn't do anything for anyone!
bkclubcare..I'm usually like you, I like as little info as possible, but it's hard to ignore when it's on the front cover!
Swapna...it is a decent read, and if I hadn't left my book in the car while I was writing this review I would have included some passages to demonstrate the writing is really good.
Post a Comment