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3.38 AVERAGE
3.38 AVERAGE
Love the writing style and the story. Wonderful.
I almost put this down. It was a struggle in the beginning because 1. there didn't seem to be anything going on, 2. the format, 3. the over abundance of words that didn't seem needed but then later almost a change in language style.
Finally about 1/3 of the way in it started to progress. Enough to enjoy it? No. Enough to keep going? Yes. You want to know if certain characters get what they deserve.
Unfortunately, while I understand why it was done for the story, the best character in the book has the most horrible end. That broke my heart and I was actually angry at the author for killing off what I felt was the best person in the story.
Plus I felt many of the characters didn't fit with those of Dickens - even Scrooge, taking the Christmas thing literally with decorations up all the time but letting them get dusty? Or being shrewd in business but in charity it seems he just gave to anyone with a story. I would think he'd at least seek out who would best use the money for the poor or start his own charity.
The story might have been better had it had independent characters and thus you had no previous idea of how they should behave. Using the characters from A Christmas Carol added nothing to the story.
It might have been partially my fault for thinking this was more of a Christmas story than it was.
Finally about 1/3 of the way in it started to progress. Enough to enjoy it? No. Enough to keep going? Yes. You want to know if certain characters get what they deserve.
Unfortunately, while I understand why it was done for the story, the best character in the book has the most horrible end. That broke my heart and I was actually angry at the author for killing off what I felt was the best person in the story.
Plus I felt many of the characters didn't fit with those of Dickens - even Scrooge, taking the Christmas thing literally with decorations up all the time but letting them get dusty? Or being shrewd in business but in charity it seems he just gave to anyone with a story. I would think he'd at least seek out who would best use the money for the poor or start his own charity.
The story might have been better had it had independent characters and thus you had no previous idea of how they should behave. Using the characters from A Christmas Carol added nothing to the story.
It might have been partially my fault for thinking this was more of a Christmas story than it was.
"- Well, funny as it may sound, I've some experience in this area. Dead fathers, I mean.
Her eyes flick towards me, flick away again.
- Now, I don't believe you can actually speak to them or touch them. But if you can ... if you can convey to them that you're happy and everything's fine ... well, then, they needn't worry about you, and they can ... they can rest, can't they? Finish their journey."
I just wrote how I was branching out with my Christmas selections. I made a big point about how there was to be no Scrooge. BUT, it is my favourite Christmas story, written by my favourite authour, SO, when I read the blurb to this one and it was a thriller starring a grown-up Tiny Tim, WELL, I just had to include it in my reading pile. And Scrooge (Uncle N in this story) plays such a little part. But, just so you know, he is still keeping Christmas in his heart.
I loved everything about this story! Every character, every atmospheric word, every dark corner of Victorian London. The pace starts slowly but gets faster and faster as the mystery evolves and our heroes find themselves in deeper peril. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough and more than once I had to stop myself from reading the final chapters. The mark of a stellar story for me and I believe Dickens would be proud of his Mr. Timothy.
Her eyes flick towards me, flick away again.
- Now, I don't believe you can actually speak to them or touch them. But if you can ... if you can convey to them that you're happy and everything's fine ... well, then, they needn't worry about you, and they can ... they can rest, can't they? Finish their journey."
I just wrote how I was branching out with my Christmas selections. I made a big point about how there was to be no Scrooge. BUT, it is my favourite Christmas story, written by my favourite authour, SO, when I read the blurb to this one and it was a thriller starring a grown-up Tiny Tim, WELL, I just had to include it in my reading pile. And Scrooge (Uncle N in this story) plays such a little part. But, just so you know, he is still keeping Christmas in his heart.
I loved everything about this story! Every character, every atmospheric word, every dark corner of Victorian London. The pace starts slowly but gets faster and faster as the mystery evolves and our heroes find themselves in deeper peril. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough and more than once I had to stop myself from reading the final chapters. The mark of a stellar story for me and I believe Dickens would be proud of his Mr. Timothy.
Listened. Chosen at random from the library's shelves. Excellently written and read. Young Tim Cratchett of Dickens fame is now 23 and is hale and hearty, except for a slight limp. He lives in a whorehouse, where he tutors the madam in reading. He sees two dead young girls and investigates how they came to die, with the help of young Colin and Philomila. Reads like an authentic Victorian novel and is full of suspense and atmosphere.
Delightful historical fiction in an action novel form. The dialog, the vocabulary, the tone, and the color put you right there in London in 1860, or at least how I imagine London would have been. The bad guys are as black as coal (and pretty creepy), the good guys are as pure as snow, and the ghosts stay dead and in the background. The characters and settings are rich and wonderfully sketched.
On the down side, I never understood the how Tim's plodding letters to his father advanced the story, and I deducted one star because there is nothing profound about this book, it's just an engaging action story set in the past.
Oh, for the audio book, definitely five stars for the reader!
On the down side, I never understood the how Tim's plodding letters to his father advanced the story, and I deducted one star because there is nothing profound about this book, it's just an engaging action story set in the past.
Oh, for the audio book, definitely five stars for the reader!
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It took me a while to get sucked into the story, but once I did, I couldn’t put it down.
Better than Pale Blue Eye, but not nearly as good as Black Tower, (my impetus for reading more by this author.) Too wordy and slow going for the first two thirds, it’s not the thriller it claims to be, except for perhaps the final two chapters.
Occasionally interesting but ultimately a tenuous connection to A Christmas Carol. It’s billed as a sort of sequel. It isn’t.
Occasionally interesting but ultimately a tenuous connection to A Christmas Carol. It’s billed as a sort of sequel. It isn’t.
I really enjoyed this, but then the actual crime part got a little too dark for me.
Does this count as "A Christmas Carol" fan fiction? Timothy Cratchit is all grown up and we spend way too long on his grief, his mysterious encounters, his relationship with good old Ebeneezer, and I'm not even sure what else, before we get to the action. The action is pretty thrilling and rather dark, but I was looking for a few more ties to the original tale.