Reviews - Le loup gris | The StoryGraph

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This series has evolved to be less mystery and more sprawling political thriller. That still works for me, though. Enjoyed the complicated threads of this one, even as the “this could happen right now” horrified me.

angorarabbit's review against another edition

2.5

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Context: this is the first book of Ms Penny’s I have read it is the 19th in a series.

My overall feeling is this book was a combination of political thriller, cosy mystery with an isolated cloistered monastery or two thrown into the mix. The jaunts between impending doom and Three Pines were disorientating. While Ms Penny did give enough backstory to her reoccurring characters that I could understand their places they still felt as stereotypes to me.

Three Pines seemed quite charming and I might not have minded staying there and getting to know Gracie and Rosa. Though I’m still unsure what species Gracie is. Sometimes Gracie is on the sofa or at underfoot but it is always “the dogs and Gracie”. Why is Gracie always mentioned separately from “the dogs”? Who takes care of the dogs and Gracie when M and Mme Armand Garmache are in town? Perhaps they go as well?

My main complaint is the motivation of the villains in the story. They are all over the place and some make no sense at all. What was in. It for the RCMP officer for them to take such drastic actions. The monk seems to be totally at odds with anyone else in the plot. If we take the motivation as a political power grab it doesn’t make sense. No camps were built after 9-11 or 7-5, or 26-11. A terrorist or false flag attack on a strong first world democracy does not necessarily create a dictatorship. Nor does a dictatorship necessarily jump start action on climate change.

The minor complaint is that I don’t think an adult can learn lip-reading within 2 weeks of losing their hearing well enough that they could communicate with a therapist. Every lip reader I’ve known has had hearing loss since early in childhood. I also have met very few lip readers so perhaps some adults are fast learners? Ms Penny does get a bonus point for detailing how draining lip reading in a social environment is. Starting to learn ASL and LSQ would be a good idea.

Honestly I almost DNFed this at 60%, The unending ending did not pay off my perseverance.

Content Warnings