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klindtvedt 's review for:
Illusions of Grandeur
by Kathryn Ann Kingsley
As Beautiful and Poignant as it is Unsettling and Macabre...
I have been in a huge book slump lately. Nothing I’ve read over the past few months has really grabbed me and pushed my emotional boundaries. Until now that is, because oh my, what a deliciously dark and sinister tale of a man who will not be denied and the woman he covets. “Illusions of Grandeur” the first of Kathryn Ann Kingsley’s “The Impossible Julian Strande” duet is a riveting, spellbinding story that will keep you on the edge of your seat and glued to every single page. You will be captivated by the sadistic tinged playfulness with which the magician snares his beloved little rabbit.
This is the first part of the tale of Alice, Charles, Julian, and the bounty of mysteries that surround them all. Alice being an enormously intelligent yet shy and reclusive woman, who after getting unceremoniously laid off from her job and spying an innocuous “help wanted” ad in her town’s newspaper, finds herself at the door of the Strande Estate. A large and foreboding property once home to the infamous illusionist Julian Strande that, along with its owner Charles, instantly captivates her and sends her down an alarming path of discovery. Discoveries that unnerve her, terrify her, but also make her curious to uncover the puzzle that is Julian Strande and his legacy. A puzzle, that pulls her deeper and deeper toward an unknown abyss as Julian himself lurks in the shadows, an ever present puppet master who has set his eyes on the beautiful and clever Alice. What follows is a hypnotic story that will catch your heart in its clutches from the very start and refuse to let it go.
Julian Strande is the moody, charismatic and over the top villain you never knew you needed in your life. His sharp wit and trickster persona pull you in like a bee to honey. His intensity and sadistic charm hypnotize you and leave you wanting more. His twisted interactions with Alice will leave your senses pulsating and needy. You will lust after every word within this book as you devour the chemistry between Alice, Charles, and Julian, it will leave you craving things you shouldn’t and begging for things you know will be your undoing. Never has being driven mad looked so very good.
Here, Kingsley’s storytelling is fantastical and dark, her literary landscape of a magical fun house gone demonic, hauntingly vibrant and almost ethereal. Her painting of Julian, the long dead but still very much alive soul, ever searching for something seemingly out of his reach for so very long, as beautiful and poignant as it is unsettling and macabre. Her presentation of Alice, similar to her storybook namesake but oh so much more, more fierce, more passionate, and so very brave, you will relate deeply to her even when you know you should warn her away. Here, Kingsley has given us a story filled to bursting with multifaceted, emotionally complex characters and soul touching need. It will become your new literary obsession before the third chapter is even done. It will haunt your imagination. It will invade your dreams. It will leave you craving more of everything housed within it; it is that good.
I have been in a huge book slump lately. Nothing I’ve read over the past few months has really grabbed me and pushed my emotional boundaries. Until now that is, because oh my, what a deliciously dark and sinister tale of a man who will not be denied and the woman he covets. “Illusions of Grandeur” the first of Kathryn Ann Kingsley’s “The Impossible Julian Strande” duet is a riveting, spellbinding story that will keep you on the edge of your seat and glued to every single page. You will be captivated by the sadistic tinged playfulness with which the magician snares his beloved little rabbit.
This is the first part of the tale of Alice, Charles, Julian, and the bounty of mysteries that surround them all. Alice being an enormously intelligent yet shy and reclusive woman, who after getting unceremoniously laid off from her job and spying an innocuous “help wanted” ad in her town’s newspaper, finds herself at the door of the Strande Estate. A large and foreboding property once home to the infamous illusionist Julian Strande that, along with its owner Charles, instantly captivates her and sends her down an alarming path of discovery. Discoveries that unnerve her, terrify her, but also make her curious to uncover the puzzle that is Julian Strande and his legacy. A puzzle, that pulls her deeper and deeper toward an unknown abyss as Julian himself lurks in the shadows, an ever present puppet master who has set his eyes on the beautiful and clever Alice. What follows is a hypnotic story that will catch your heart in its clutches from the very start and refuse to let it go.
Julian Strande is the moody, charismatic and over the top villain you never knew you needed in your life. His sharp wit and trickster persona pull you in like a bee to honey. His intensity and sadistic charm hypnotize you and leave you wanting more. His twisted interactions with Alice will leave your senses pulsating and needy. You will lust after every word within this book as you devour the chemistry between Alice, Charles, and Julian, it will leave you craving things you shouldn’t and begging for things you know will be your undoing. Never has being driven mad looked so very good.
Here, Kingsley’s storytelling is fantastical and dark, her literary landscape of a magical fun house gone demonic, hauntingly vibrant and almost ethereal. Her painting of Julian, the long dead but still very much alive soul, ever searching for something seemingly out of his reach for so very long, as beautiful and poignant as it is unsettling and macabre. Her presentation of Alice, similar to her storybook namesake but oh so much more, more fierce, more passionate, and so very brave, you will relate deeply to her even when you know you should warn her away. Here, Kingsley has given us a story filled to bursting with multifaceted, emotionally complex characters and soul touching need. It will become your new literary obsession before the third chapter is even done. It will haunt your imagination. It will invade your dreams. It will leave you craving more of everything housed within it; it is that good.