I was browsing around the internet about a week before I bought this book (May 18) and I was intrigued by the idea of a reworking of Lewis Carroll’s classic, Alice in Wonderland that claimed that the classic was actually a book full of lies and misrepresentations.
I remember watching the Masterpiece Theatre version (2006) of this novel a few years back and at the time I felt a small connection with Jane and her plight.
I picked this book up as I had heard great things about it’s author, Gregory Maguire and his other works specifically Wicked and Son of a Witch.
Okay I bought this book on the recommendation of a few people most notably (because I love her dearly), Lorraine. I was a little bit skeptical mostly because the local bookstore only sold it in hardcover for $25 CDN and I rarely buy hardcover unless I know I will love and adore the book (in this case I do).
The main plot of this book is the age old theme of star crossed lovers, which gets to everyone no matter who they might be. The story starts off with Isabella Swan telling the reader what has happened and reflecting upon her life as she is about to die at the hands of a predator. Flashback to the start of the Isabella’s trip to her father’s home in Forks, WA so that she can live with him during her last half-year (two semesters) of high school rather than move to Florida or somewhere else with her mom and her new minor baseball league boyfriend. She arrives in Forks to a new and free vehicle thanks to her dad, whom behind his back she calls Charlie.
This is the first book of Todd’s that I have read involving his main character Inspector Ian Rutledge and is admitedly one of his more recent releases. While this may be I still was able to fall right into line with the character’s backstory and behaviours quite easily. This story revolves around the town of Urksdale and the murders of a local family, the Elcott’s. While the search for the killer would seem like the most important task the search for the eldest son ten year old, Josh Robinson (who along with his sister kept his father’s name after his mother remarried) who was the only one missing from the home. Rutledge is summoned to Urksdale from another case in the countryside and even before reaching the town he saves a young woman who’’s carriage has gone off the road in a treacherous winter storm.
I picked this book up at Chapters sadly in the bargain bin for $7CDN. Truthfully the cover attracted me along with the title obviously. The book is set in WWI and is about a woman by the name of Francesca Hatton whose parents were killed in a car crash while in Canada when she was a child. She is adopted by her grandfatther, Francis Hatton who also has adopted the five children of his other son who died in an unmentionable situation. Her five cousins are sent off to war and all five are reported as killed in action. First her cousin Simon (the warrior) then Robin (the practical one), Freddy (the musician), Peter (the engineer) and finally Harry (the charmer). Finally her grandfather suffers a stroke and falls into a state of destitution. With his granddaughter by his side, Francis Hatton finally passes on leaving his entire estate to her along with all of his problems and grudges that were held against him.
You know hype really is just that, something people use to make the object sound better and create a stir among people to be interested in it. The Da Vinci Code while well written was just hype to me really. After reading all of Dan Brown’s other works, I found The Da Vinci Code easy to read and it was easy to solve the riddles left behind by the Grand Master iin the story. I was pages ahead of the main characters, Dr. Robert Langdon (from Angels & Demons) and Sophie Neveu. Not to make myself sound all powerful and intelligent, but it was very easy to decipher the codes it was all about reading into the lines more and reading the correct lines. A good book overall, fun to read, but I personally think that Angels & Demons should be the book made into a major motion picture even if just for the controversial concepts inside.
