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A review by matt357
Cari Mora: from the creator of Hannibal Lecter by Thomas Harris
2.0
This book is unfortunately disappointing. Coming from someone with Harris's pedigree and after such a long break this is something of a doa. Given the long break before this book, this is a chance to see if all his skills were ruined by the last two Hannibal books
Harris uses several techniques he's used before, a history told in parts and flashbacks, lots of narration from a clearly evil character, a crime story with little police involved, and those only seeing the edges of this, but here these all feel a little... flat.
We start here with Hams-Peter, and within 10 pages he's already openly talking about abducting and killing someone purely for her looks. He comes off as an attempt to make a Hannibal for this book, but here he's too strong in the villainy, and consistent with it, and comes off looking cartoonish.
Secondly comes the other main character, Cari. She's beautiful, confident, dangerous and loving of animals and those she knows. At times she comes off as over perfect, but her quietness and self reflection fight against this admirably. Her past here could reasonably explain a lot of her personality, flaws included, which is nice to see.
The central question here, is who will get some of Pablo Escobar's gold, and how. The back and forward, plot and counter plot is engaging, and the action scenes both fast and bloody, showing Harris's experience here, especially his time in films.
If you've not read Harris before, this isn't worth your time. Instead pick up any of his first 3 books, those are much better and unarguably worth the time they take. If you've read his other works, this is just about worth the effort, although it does feel like watching a world class athlete warming up. I can only hope that's what this book represents, and that we'll see Harris back soon with something better.
Harris uses several techniques he's used before, a history told in parts and flashbacks, lots of narration from a clearly evil character, a crime story with little police involved, and those only seeing the edges of this, but here these all feel a little... flat.
We start here with Hams-Peter, and within 10 pages he's already openly talking about abducting and killing someone purely for her looks. He comes off as an attempt to make a Hannibal for this book, but here he's too strong in the villainy, and consistent with it, and comes off looking cartoonish.
Secondly comes the other main character, Cari. She's beautiful, confident, dangerous and loving of animals and those she knows. At times she comes off as over perfect, but her quietness and self reflection fight against this admirably. Her past here could reasonably explain a lot of her personality, flaws included, which is nice to see.
The central question here, is who will get some of Pablo Escobar's gold, and how. The back and forward, plot and counter plot is engaging, and the action scenes both fast and bloody, showing Harris's experience here, especially his time in films.
If you've not read Harris before, this isn't worth your time. Instead pick up any of his first 3 books, those are much better and unarguably worth the time they take. If you've read his other works, this is just about worth the effort, although it does feel like watching a world class athlete warming up. I can only hope that's what this book represents, and that we'll see Harris back soon with something better.