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A review by thosewinterreads
A Beautiful Crime by Christopher Bollen
5.0
“This city is sinking and has been for centuries. Enjoy it while you can. The blood is pooling around the body. Screams are blaring from all directions. The killer is making a run for the exit. But none of this has happened yet.”
When a book starts off with a prologue like that and gets you hooked from the very first page you know you’re in for an incredibly immersive ride.
This book had instantly captured my attention when I first came across it in a goodreads article. And after I finished reading it, without a doubt it has taken place as one of my most favourite reads of the year. What’s truly criminally offensive is that this book has less than a thousand ratings on the aforementioned site which I’m pretty sure is the direct pandemic effect. And I haven’t seen posts about it on bookstagram and of course that needed to change.
The story follows Nick who’s flying from NYC to meet his boyfriend Clay in Venice, to assist him in taking revenge on a man who is an old enemy. This man has subotaged Clay’s chances of pursuing his dream life in the floating city. And he is awfully manipulative and has been on the bad side of Clay’s beloved ‘friend’ Freddie.
Nick and Clay are no criminal masterminds. They’re your everyday ordinary young folks who have been dealt with the bitter lemon by life time and again. Former one, for being gay in a conservative family and the latter, the same as well as because of his race. We follow their journey in Venice and New York, through alternating perspectives between the two characters, which also switches between their current and past lives, converging into a intricately beautiful and suspenseful narrative throughout the entire book.
The author painted the picture of both the beautiful and ugly side of modern day Venice remarkably well. Even though, the book has a contemporary setting but to an outsider like myself the idea of an European landscape is always picturesque and a bit distant. And perhaps that is why this book read almost like a historical fiction to me (which it isn’t of course).
I cannot recommend this book enough >>> if you’re a fan of mystery, psychological fiction, like discussions on art and history. Pretty much if you’re a fan of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History and enjoy the dark academia aesthetics make sure to put this book on the top of your priority tbr list.
When a book starts off with a prologue like that and gets you hooked from the very first page you know you’re in for an incredibly immersive ride.
This book had instantly captured my attention when I first came across it in a goodreads article. And after I finished reading it, without a doubt it has taken place as one of my most favourite reads of the year. What’s truly criminally offensive is that this book has less than a thousand ratings on the aforementioned site which I’m pretty sure is the direct pandemic effect. And I haven’t seen posts about it on bookstagram and of course that needed to change.
The story follows Nick who’s flying from NYC to meet his boyfriend Clay in Venice, to assist him in taking revenge on a man who is an old enemy. This man has subotaged Clay’s chances of pursuing his dream life in the floating city. And he is awfully manipulative and has been on the bad side of Clay’s beloved ‘friend’ Freddie.
Nick and Clay are no criminal masterminds. They’re your everyday ordinary young folks who have been dealt with the bitter lemon by life time and again. Former one, for being gay in a conservative family and the latter, the same as well as because of his race. We follow their journey in Venice and New York, through alternating perspectives between the two characters, which also switches between their current and past lives, converging into a intricately beautiful and suspenseful narrative throughout the entire book.
The author painted the picture of both the beautiful and ugly side of modern day Venice remarkably well. Even though, the book has a contemporary setting but to an outsider like myself the idea of an European landscape is always picturesque and a bit distant. And perhaps that is why this book read almost like a historical fiction to me (which it isn’t of course).
I cannot recommend this book enough >>> if you’re a fan of mystery, psychological fiction, like discussions on art and history. Pretty much if you’re a fan of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History and enjoy the dark academia aesthetics make sure to put this book on the top of your priority tbr list.