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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
This is Rowling’s second foray into crime thrillers under her pseudonym Robert Galbraith, and is very much in line with the first. For the Harry Potter fans its important to remember that this is not anything like Harry Potter. Go in expecting it to be and you will be disappointed. Really its best to think of Galbraith as an entirely different author.
In The Cuckoo’s Calling Galbraith was very much setting up the series and introducing us to the characters, particularly Strike. This time around he had more time to begin to develop the characters, mainly Robin. While we were introduced to Robin in the first book we really learn her backstory.
Beyond this there is little that I can say….at least not without giving away the story. It follows the same general structure of The Cuckoo’s Calling, and indeed most crime thrillers. A crime is committed and we are presented with a host of potential suspects. What makes one crime book stand out from another is how well the plot is laid out, can we tell straight away who the perpetrator is, and how likable the main characters are. I certainly didn’t guess right until the end who the perpetrator was, and while the whole male – female crime fighting duo is a bit of a cliche, it works.
I picked this up having enjoyed the previous book, which I would term an enjoyable holiday read, and in need of a light read. It may not be world class literature, but it was certainly exactly what I needed at the time. If you are looking for some pool side reading this summer I would definitely rate the Cormoran Strike series.
In The Cuckoo’s Calling Galbraith was very much setting up the series and introducing us to the characters, particularly Strike. This time around he had more time to begin to develop the characters, mainly Robin. While we were introduced to Robin in the first book we really learn her backstory.
Beyond this there is little that I can say….at least not without giving away the story. It follows the same general structure of The Cuckoo’s Calling, and indeed most crime thrillers. A crime is committed and we are presented with a host of potential suspects. What makes one crime book stand out from another is how well the plot is laid out, can we tell straight away who the perpetrator is, and how likable the main characters are. I certainly didn’t guess right until the end who the perpetrator was, and while the whole male – female crime fighting duo is a bit of a cliche, it works.
I picked this up having enjoyed the previous book, which I would term an enjoyable holiday read, and in need of a light read. It may not be world class literature, but it was certainly exactly what I needed at the time. If you are looking for some pool side reading this summer I would definitely rate the Cormoran Strike series.
Robert Galbraith Heath (May 9, 1915 – September 21, 1999) was an American psychiatrist.[1][2] He followed the theory of biological psychiatry that organic defects were the sole source of mental illness,[3] and that consequently mental problems were treatable by physical means. He published 425 papers and three books.[4][5][6] One of his first papers is dated 1946.[7] He was profiled as a "famous American psychiatrist" in 1983 by Psychiatric Annals.[8]
Heath founded the Department of Psychiatry and Neurology at Tulane University, New Orleans, in 1949 and remained its chairman until 1980.[4][9][10] He performed many experiments there involving electrical stimulation of the brain via surgically implanted electrodes. He placed deep brain stimulation (DBS) electrodes into the brains of more than 54 patients.[11][12][13][14] Indeed, he has been cited as the first, or one of the first, researcher(s) to have placed electrodes deep into the brains of living human patients.[15][1] It has been suggested that this work was financed in part by the government, particularly the CIA or U.S. military.[16][17][18]
In 1972, he claimed to have converted a homosexual man to heterosexuality using DBS.[13][19] Heath also experimented with psychosurgery, the drug bulbocapnine to induce stupor, and LSD,[20][21][22] using African-American prisoners in the Louisiana State Penitentiary as experimental subjects.[23] He worked on schizophrenia patients, which he regarded as an illness with a physical basis.[24] Today Heath's work is considered highly controversial and is only rarely used as reference material.[1][25][26]
Heath founded the Department of Psychiatry and Neurology at Tulane University, New Orleans, in 1949 and remained its chairman until 1980.[4][9][10] He performed many experiments there involving electrical stimulation of the brain via surgically implanted electrodes. He placed deep brain stimulation (DBS) electrodes into the brains of more than 54 patients.[11][12][13][14] Indeed, he has been cited as the first, or one of the first, researcher(s) to have placed electrodes deep into the brains of living human patients.[15][1] It has been suggested that this work was financed in part by the government, particularly the CIA or U.S. military.[16][17][18]
In 1972, he claimed to have converted a homosexual man to heterosexuality using DBS.[13][19] Heath also experimented with psychosurgery, the drug bulbocapnine to induce stupor, and LSD,[20][21][22] using African-American prisoners in the Louisiana State Penitentiary as experimental subjects.[23] He worked on schizophrenia patients, which he regarded as an illness with a physical basis.[24] Today Heath's work is considered highly controversial and is only rarely used as reference material.[1][25][26]
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
more predictable than the first but more human than cuckoo's.
Engaging, but lots of language and a very gruesome murder scene. 18+
Very poor, and much worse than his/her first Cormoran Strike book. Only the 'whodunnit' element kept me reading till the end, and even that was ludicrous. Cliched writing e.g. "Her nimble fingers danced over the keyboard". Ok for a train journey I suppose.
I really wish that these books didn't take sooooooo long to really get into it. Once they do I find myself enjoying and being sucked in. But damn if it isn't hard in the beginning. I also will say, it is very hard to remember and differentiate all of the characters. Particularly all of strikes various relatives and friends who are all basically the same people or unmemorable otherwise.
I'm worried that these books keep getting longer and longer and that this problem will only exacerbate. But i'm still eager to keep going for now.
I'm worried that these books keep getting longer and longer and that this problem will only exacerbate. But i'm still eager to keep going for now.
I thought the mystery was a little more intriguing in this second book — and I'm happy we got to see Robin & Cormoran's working relationship grow over the course of the book.
Cormoran Strike in The Silkworm, how do I love thee? Let me count the way (and offer my apologies to Elizabeth Barrett Browning for the use of her Sonnet # 43).
1. I liked this book even more than Cuckoo's Calling, the first novel in the series featuring detective Cormoran Strike. The characters and the mystery were even sharper this time around. I particularly liked that the "crowd" Cormoran and Robin had to infiltrate this time was the literary set - authors, editors, publishers and agents and their various hangers-on - potential murderers all of them.
2. I liked this book even more than most of the Harry Potter books (by the same author, of course), as I felt some huge patches of those books (even the final one) were just filling and building. There was no filler here. The pacing and the sequence of scenes all lead towards a dash to the ending in which Cormoran reveals the identity of the killer and the proof needed to sway the (once again non-believing) police. Simultaneously we also learned more information about the relationship of Robin and her fiance Matt, watched Cormoran deal with the very public marriage of his ex-fiance, and after teasing delays, finally address the work relationship between Robin and Cormoran, and whether she is a secretary or a junior detective.
3. I liked this book more than the other detective series that I've been reading lately, which includes recent series featuring Flavia de Luce and Jackson Brodie, as well as old stand-by Precious Ramotswe from the Ladies Number One Detective Agency series of books. While I've liked all of these series enough to have read multiple books from each, I haven't stalked a series of mysteries, tracking them all down and pacing around waiting for the next release, but I'm about to start. I'm already on the library wait list for number three, Career of Evil, and am about to start googling about future releases. I usually reserve this level of book-related lunacy for sci-fi series. Have I mentioned how I'm stalking this year's releases of Morning Star and The Last Star?
4. I love the characters. I love Cormoran. And Robin. But not them together, I don't think, but I do think Robin should ditch Matthew because he's a drip. But you kind of feel sorry for Matthew, but not really, because he could choose to not be a drip. And not at all sorry for Cormoran's ex-fiance, as she's nothing but sadness for him, texting him after 8 months of radio silence on the day before she marries someone else. Bitch, please. But Cormoran doesn't take the bait, because he's a man. A man with a cadre of interesting friends, ranging from a half-brother who can get him in to the most exclusive restaurants, to a best friend whose father drives a cab and whose wife is a lawyer, to a media contact who happens to have a sister in the publishing industry, and police detective whose life he saved, not to mention his sister (and the pesky three nephews whose ages he can't remember - does this make Cormoran Uncle Scrooge McDuck?), not to mention the fascinating client and her daughter . . . It's an interesting range of characters.
So there, you should read these books. Especially this one because the book universe was even more interesting than the model / rock star / old money universe explored in the first book in this series. Unless you have a really weak stomach, as there is a murder, you know, as it is a mystery. And as a result there is a scene that's a little brutal. If that's the deal-breaker for you, well, here's your warning.
A Five Star rating for me means that I'm literally walking around telling people to read it. I've already stopped a co-worker in a hallway today (who claims she's started it - causing me to yell at her to hurry up already). I'm meeting 6 other people from one of my book clubs for sushi tonight. Guess who's going to dominate the conversation with pre-book club lobbying for a future selection.
1. I liked this book even more than Cuckoo's Calling, the first novel in the series featuring detective Cormoran Strike. The characters and the mystery were even sharper this time around. I particularly liked that the "crowd" Cormoran and Robin had to infiltrate this time was the literary set - authors, editors, publishers and agents and their various hangers-on - potential murderers all of them.
2. I liked this book even more than most of the Harry Potter books (by the same author, of course), as I felt some huge patches of those books (even the final one) were just filling and building. There was no filler here. The pacing and the sequence of scenes all lead towards a dash to the ending in which Cormoran reveals the identity of the killer and the proof needed to sway the (once again non-believing) police. Simultaneously we also learned more information about the relationship of Robin and her fiance Matt, watched Cormoran deal with the very public marriage of his ex-fiance, and after teasing delays, finally address the work relationship between Robin and Cormoran, and whether she is a secretary or a junior detective.
3. I liked this book more than the other detective series that I've been reading lately, which includes recent series featuring Flavia de Luce and Jackson Brodie, as well as old stand-by Precious Ramotswe from the Ladies Number One Detective Agency series of books. While I've liked all of these series enough to have read multiple books from each, I haven't stalked a series of mysteries, tracking them all down and pacing around waiting for the next release, but I'm about to start. I'm already on the library wait list for number three, Career of Evil, and am about to start googling about future releases. I usually reserve this level of book-related lunacy for sci-fi series. Have I mentioned how I'm stalking this year's releases of Morning Star and The Last Star?
4. I love the characters. I love Cormoran. And Robin. But not them together, I don't think, but I do think Robin should ditch Matthew because he's a drip. But you kind of feel sorry for Matthew, but not really, because he could choose to not be a drip. And not at all sorry for Cormoran's ex-fiance, as she's nothing but sadness for him, texting him after 8 months of radio silence on the day before she marries someone else. Bitch, please. But Cormoran doesn't take the bait, because he's a man. A man with a cadre of interesting friends, ranging from a half-brother who can get him in to the most exclusive restaurants, to a best friend whose father drives a cab and whose wife is a lawyer, to a media contact who happens to have a sister in the publishing industry, and police detective whose life he saved, not to mention his sister (and the pesky three nephews whose ages he can't remember - does this make Cormoran Uncle Scrooge McDuck?), not to mention the fascinating client and her daughter . . . It's an interesting range of characters.
So there, you should read these books. Especially this one because the book universe was even more interesting than the model / rock star / old money universe explored in the first book in this series. Unless you have a really weak stomach, as there is a murder, you know, as it is a mystery. And as a result there is a scene that's a little brutal. If that's the deal-breaker for you, well, here's your warning.
A Five Star rating for me means that I'm literally walking around telling people to read it. I've already stopped a co-worker in a hallway today (who claims she's started it - causing me to yell at her to hurry up already). I'm meeting 6 other people from one of my book clubs for sushi tonight. Guess who's going to dominate the conversation with pre-book club lobbying for a future selection.