Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz

4 reviews

gillianengelbrecht's review

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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20lbsofglass's review

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dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I think the biggest problem I have with this book is Dudley. He’s central to the story, but incredibly boring. He never feels like a character. No personality whatsoever, just a name that gets mentioned a lot and becomes very important towards the end. The worst part of his character is that he makes Hawthorne a worse character by proxy. Part of what makes Hawthorne a good character is his banter and general relationship with Horowitz, and we get none of that with Dudley. They are supposedly very good friends, but they have no chemistry whatsoever. Without Horowitz, Hawthorne is kind of a bland, generic detective. I think it’s cool that Horowitz went for a swing with this book, and it’s an admirable attempt to add some realism to the series. In real life, someone isn’t murdered every time a new book is due. While it’s cool to have this addressed, I think Horowitz would’ve been better suited just completely forgoing the realism. It’s not something people even really look for in this type of book, and I think everybody who enjoys whodunits is able to suspend disbelief that there are so many regular murders. I think this mystery is good and it deserves to be told. It’s clever, there are good clues, and the reveal is satisfying. It just unfolds in a very uninteresting way compared to the previous installments. If this were set in the present and was just a standard Horowitz/Hawthorne mystery, it would be far more entertaining and might even rank among the best of the series. The way this played out, the Horowitz sections were easily the most entertaining. I think that another problem that arose with shaking up the formula this way is that third person doesn’t suit Horowitz as much. He’s great at writing himself as the narrator. His attempts at figuring out the mystery make the story so much more engaging to the reader because they can put themselves in his shoes, rather than just reading about a genius detective who is three steps ahead of them, which is what this book is. It’s nice to share the frustration at not being able to figure things out, and that only happens in small doses in this book. It’s a shame, because it’s what makes this series so unique in the world of modern whodunits.
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sarahb919's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.25

Didn’t care too much for this one. The who-dunnit portion was good and interesting but I hated most of the characters, including the narrator and main detective, Hawthorne, who was a racist but was still fawned over by the narrator and the detective’s former partner. “Better a racist than a murderer?” I wouldn’t be too sure. 
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aileron's review against another edition

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lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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