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alexcarbonneau's reviews
349 reviews
Nulle part sur la terre by Michael Farris Smith
3.0
I wanted to like this one. I desperately wanted to. It breaks my heart that I didn't liked it that much and the only reason i'm giving 3star is because 4.21 at the moment seems a tad high. This is more of a 3.5 to me.
It IS a great novel. It IS beautifuly written. Farris Smith's prose is delicate and powerful and subtle and strong. But it just didn't work for me. I dunno if it was my state of mind in the last ten days or because i just finished The Last Child by John Hart and rarely felt such a strong connection with the characters, but in Desperation Road, I just couldn't get to be one with Russell and Maben.
I also would have liked for the location to be a bigger part in this novel. Southern Grit-lit is all about bringing the location to life and making it one of the main characters to me.
It just wasn't the right time for this novel and me. Doesn't mean it isn't good. Go ahead and give it a try.
It IS a great novel. It IS beautifuly written. Farris Smith's prose is delicate and powerful and subtle and strong. But it just didn't work for me. I dunno if it was my state of mind in the last ten days or because i just finished The Last Child by John Hart and rarely felt such a strong connection with the characters, but in Desperation Road, I just couldn't get to be one with Russell and Maben.
I also would have liked for the location to be a bigger part in this novel. Southern Grit-lit is all about bringing the location to life and making it one of the main characters to me.
It just wasn't the right time for this novel and me. Doesn't mean it isn't good. Go ahead and give it a try.
This Dark Road to Mercy by Wiley Cash
5.0
What a beautiful, poignant novel.
This novel was supposed to be everything I am NOT attracted to, i.e. a twelve years old narrator (one out of the 3 narrators), not even 300 pages, which most of the time end up being novels where the background isn't properly set up or where the reader is left on his/her appetite when starting to connect with the characters. It was also a lot of the things I like to read, i.e. grit-lit with a southern background, vengeance, bad guy running after a ton load of money and characters seeking redemption.
My god was I wrong about a lot of things.
I ended up looking forward for the parts of the book narrated by Easter Quillbi. A wonderfully crafted 12 year-old girl who plays mother to her younger sister and her biological father that does all the wrong things when trying to do right to his daughters.
With a dangerous blood thirsty killer running after them, out for revenge and the money Wade stole , This Dark Road To Mercy has a Cormac McCarthy / J Todd Scott feeling to it.
I'm starting this one for the beginning right now.
This novel was supposed to be everything I am NOT attracted to, i.e. a twelve years old narrator (one out of the 3 narrators), not even 300 pages, which most of the time end up being novels where the background isn't properly set up or where the reader is left on his/her appetite when starting to connect with the characters. It was also a lot of the things I like to read, i.e. grit-lit with a southern background, vengeance, bad guy running after a ton load of money and characters seeking redemption.
My god was I wrong about a lot of things.
I ended up looking forward for the parts of the book narrated by Easter Quillbi. A wonderfully crafted 12 year-old girl who plays mother to her younger sister and her biological father that does all the wrong things when trying to do right to his daughters.
With a dangerous blood thirsty killer running after them, out for revenge and the money Wade stole , This Dark Road To Mercy has a Cormac McCarthy / J Todd Scott feeling to it.
I'm starting this one for the beginning right now.
The Professor by Robert Bailey
5.0
Please dear Lord, do not let my boss see that review as I called in sick just because I was hooked on that novel and didn't want to put it aside and get back to it after work.
Some of the long time fans of legal thrillers and John Grisham will greatly appreciate this novel which bears ressemblance to A Time To Kill in many, many ways. Nonetheless, it is a fast pace page turner with solid court scenes that seem to lack in today's legal thrillers.
As it is his first novel, I am eager to see how Bailey's writing will evolve in the future. You can see that he will become more and more of an even greater writer and it might possibly be the case with his second book : In Between Black And White, that I will start right this second because you know ...i'm still home sick ;)
In it's genre, The Professor is a solid 4.5 leaning on 5 stars.
Some of the long time fans of legal thrillers and John Grisham will greatly appreciate this novel which bears ressemblance to A Time To Kill in many, many ways. Nonetheless, it is a fast pace page turner with solid court scenes that seem to lack in today's legal thrillers.
As it is his first novel, I am eager to see how Bailey's writing will evolve in the future. You can see that he will become more and more of an even greater writer and it might possibly be the case with his second book : In Between Black And White, that I will start right this second because you know ...i'm still home sick ;)
In it's genre, The Professor is a solid 4.5 leaning on 5 stars.
The Whistler by John Grisham
3.0
I would love to say that The Whistler is as good as the John Grisham I fell in love with in the late 90's. I would love to say that The Whistler isn't the same overdone recipe that Grisham uses since The Brethren but i'm afraid that he caught the Dan Brown syndrome and it feels like every book written by someone who was once an inventive and effective storyteller is now the same story all over again with different names and places.
I was kind of hopeful when I read Sycamore Row. He seemed to be back on track, but now I'm starting to think that the second installement of Jake Brigance was just an outlier, a rogue work of beauty that Grisham will deliver once every 10 years.
The Whistler is basically Grey Mountain and The Racketeer but based in Florida, and with an ending that falls flat.
On the bright side, it is still an enjoyable read with the pace and tone that we love about Grisham. It is just a tad predictable and leaves the reader feeling like he's been reading a 350 page newspaper piece instead of a thriller.
For legal thriller, I would highly recommand Anthony Franze's The Advocate's Daughter, any of the David Sloane series by Robert Dugoni or the first two novels of the new rookie from 'Bama, Robert Bailey.
I was kind of hopeful when I read Sycamore Row. He seemed to be back on track, but now I'm starting to think that the second installement of Jake Brigance was just an outlier, a rogue work of beauty that Grisham will deliver once every 10 years.
The Whistler is basically Grey Mountain and The Racketeer but based in Florida, and with an ending that falls flat.
On the bright side, it is still an enjoyable read with the pace and tone that we love about Grisham. It is just a tad predictable and leaves the reader feeling like he's been reading a 350 page newspaper piece instead of a thriller.
For legal thriller, I would highly recommand Anthony Franze's The Advocate's Daughter, any of the David Sloane series by Robert Dugoni or the first two novels of the new rookie from 'Bama, Robert Bailey.