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ciska's review
3.0
*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review*
Author
Born in Alaska and raised in Michigan, Martin Ott joined the Army as a Russian linguist and interrogator before attending the University of Michigan. He began writing fiction and poetry in his undergraduate years.
He has traveled through the United States and internationally, and these influences can be seen in his poetry travelogue, Poets' Guide to America from Brooklyn Arts Press, cowritten with John F. Buckley. He moved to Los Angeles in 1995, and often writes about his adopted city.
Review
Lesson's I learned from this book. One: Do not ever start a relationship with an interrogator. You will always be one of his subjects. Two do not ever date an actor who wants to role play in different parts of your relation. Three do not play golf in the middle of the night on an unlit course.
The main character Norman Kross is a very broody, depressive person. He obviously has some serious issues and there are many points in the book where I felt like slapping him and telling him this was the time to do something. He has no proper reaction towards any person in his surrounding. He does understand and catches the signals given by people but does not react to them and feels bad about it after. But this goes on and on and on and he does not seem to learn from it. As a female this mad me cringe over and over again.
The other character George Stark, the actor, is a real creep. He is scary and gave me the same feeling as Pennywise gave me years ago. You never know what he is up to and he can be everywhere. I really loved that aspect of the book.
The development in the story between Kross and Stark is solid but for 200 pages there are to many things happening. I did not know the places of all the extra characters mixing Lawrence and Owen up all the time. There was a lot of family drama going on which seemed to be important in the one part of the chapter and was waved away a bit on other parts. There where the diary parts in chapters which I could not always place in the story. I like stories where parts of a diary are written out if they make sense for the chapter before or after it but I did not always experience a connection between them though they did give some insight in Norman's head.
Ow and that actor... is a creep
Author
Born in Alaska and raised in Michigan, Martin Ott joined the Army as a Russian linguist and interrogator before attending the University of Michigan. He began writing fiction and poetry in his undergraduate years.
He has traveled through the United States and internationally, and these influences can be seen in his poetry travelogue, Poets' Guide to America from Brooklyn Arts Press, cowritten with John F. Buckley. He moved to Los Angeles in 1995, and often writes about his adopted city.
Review
Lesson's I learned from this book. One: Do not ever start a relationship with an interrogator. You will always be one of his subjects. Two do not ever date an actor who wants to role play in different parts of your relation. Three do not play golf in the middle of the night on an unlit course.
The main character Norman Kross is a very broody, depressive person. He obviously has some serious issues and there are many points in the book where I felt like slapping him and telling him this was the time to do something. He has no proper reaction towards any person in his surrounding. He does understand and catches the signals given by people but does not react to them and feels bad about it after. But this goes on and on and on and he does not seem to learn from it. As a female this mad me cringe over and over again.
The other character George Stark, the actor, is a real creep. He is scary and gave me the same feeling as Pennywise gave me years ago. You never know what he is up to and he can be everywhere. I really loved that aspect of the book.
The development in the story between Kross and Stark is solid but for 200 pages there are to many things happening. I did not know the places of all the extra characters mixing Lawrence and Owen up all the time. There was a lot of family drama going on which seemed to be important in the one part of the chapter and was waved away a bit on other parts. There where the diary parts in chapters which I could not always place in the story. I like stories where parts of a diary are written out if they make sense for the chapter before or after it but I did not always experience a connection between them though they did give some insight in Norman's head.
Ow and that actor... is a creep
nads25's review
5.0
The Interrogator’s Notebook-the title in itself drew me from the letter T. As many people, I too am just human and fickle when it comes to matters that rise suspicion and clarity. I mean what human out there would deny their eagerness to know things? Who out there wouldn't want to know how to pull information from others, who wouldn't want to know how to react or avoid when in question? Suffice to say just the title, The Interrogator’s Notebook, that alone chained me from the word go.
Martin Ott starts his novel off with a lesson, “Mapping the Body.” From a bird’s eye view one’s first impression is that the novel will be some kind of an autobiography or maybe even a documentary on the way the body and mind works. Sitting here, maybe, that’s exactly why I was intrigued in the first instance.
Surprisingly, Martin’s first words change your perception. He starts it with, “In the beginning, there was not god. There were men who questioned the nature of the universe,” And there it was: I was intrigued. Aren’t you?
The Interrogator’s Notebook is a psychological thriller novel based on the life of Norman Kross – a career interrogator who works in some of the most dangerous locations throughout the world. What makes the thriller all the more appealing is the fact that Martin hasn’t branched on about his protagonist’s worldly adventures, which in itself could be as adventurous. Instead he created an exciting thriller that points back to Norman himself, his struggles within his own marriage, his family.
I had the honour of interviewing Martin a while back and wanted to know how close he was to this main character Norman Kross. I questioned how interlinked his own story was with that of his protagonist. His answer seemed diplomatic yet insightful when he noted that he feels all authors dip into their own well of experience; he confirmed that he did use some detail from his own life but that Norman’s life was vastly different from his own.
What I liked:
Martin Ott has a way with words. I loved the way he describes things from every day locations to tables and chairs, boots and paper. He has this novel way of depicting things that puts you right there at the edge, in the story with his character.
I am intrigued by the way he allows his readers to experience the deterioration of his protagonist. We see so many stories about hero’s that are unaltered, unaffected and un-deranged. Martin allowed his character to have flaw, which is risky but it made the story line that much more gripping. His family life was - to say the least really in chaotic, far from normal, colorful.
I found Martin’s descriptions on his characters, especially his villain and his surroundings, masterful. In fact all I wanted to know was what George Stark was up to next, which character he was going to express, how close Norman will get to resolving the murder.
Having said this, this specific point also created a small dislike.
The name Stark constantly pulled me out of the story to compare George Stark back to the familiar figure of Robert Downy Jr. Even though I thought the character lay out to be masterful, I did constantly compare this particular villain to Stark meets Sherlock Holmes both done brilliantly by Robert D. I don’t know whether this was intentional or deliberate but yes-- If this novel had to go to film I would struggle to see any other character other than Robert portraying the role successfully.
All in all, I can say that this was one of the best novels’ I have read this year.
Martin Ott starts his novel off with a lesson, “Mapping the Body.” From a bird’s eye view one’s first impression is that the novel will be some kind of an autobiography or maybe even a documentary on the way the body and mind works. Sitting here, maybe, that’s exactly why I was intrigued in the first instance.
Surprisingly, Martin’s first words change your perception. He starts it with, “In the beginning, there was not god. There were men who questioned the nature of the universe,” And there it was: I was intrigued. Aren’t you?
The Interrogator’s Notebook is a psychological thriller novel based on the life of Norman Kross – a career interrogator who works in some of the most dangerous locations throughout the world. What makes the thriller all the more appealing is the fact that Martin hasn’t branched on about his protagonist’s worldly adventures, which in itself could be as adventurous. Instead he created an exciting thriller that points back to Norman himself, his struggles within his own marriage, his family.
I had the honour of interviewing Martin a while back and wanted to know how close he was to this main character Norman Kross. I questioned how interlinked his own story was with that of his protagonist. His answer seemed diplomatic yet insightful when he noted that he feels all authors dip into their own well of experience; he confirmed that he did use some detail from his own life but that Norman’s life was vastly different from his own.
What I liked:
Martin Ott has a way with words. I loved the way he describes things from every day locations to tables and chairs, boots and paper. He has this novel way of depicting things that puts you right there at the edge, in the story with his character.
I am intrigued by the way he allows his readers to experience the deterioration of his protagonist. We see so many stories about hero’s that are unaltered, unaffected and un-deranged. Martin allowed his character to have flaw, which is risky but it made the story line that much more gripping. His family life was - to say the least really in chaotic, far from normal, colorful.
I found Martin’s descriptions on his characters, especially his villain and his surroundings, masterful. In fact all I wanted to know was what George Stark was up to next, which character he was going to express, how close Norman will get to resolving the murder.
Having said this, this specific point also created a small dislike.
The name Stark constantly pulled me out of the story to compare George Stark back to the familiar figure of Robert Downy Jr. Even though I thought the character lay out to be masterful, I did constantly compare this particular villain to Stark meets Sherlock Holmes both done brilliantly by Robert D. I don’t know whether this was intentional or deliberate but yes-- If this novel had to go to film I would struggle to see any other character other than Robert portraying the role successfully.
All in all, I can say that this was one of the best novels’ I have read this year.
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