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UNCRACKABLE MYSTERY, UNUSUAL INVESTIGATORS

Another book that I’m the last person in the world to read. I really should make a feature of it. Anyways, I loved the book, and I really want to read the other two books.

Mikael “Kalle” Blomkvist has just lost a court case against a powerful Swedish magnate and faces 3 months in prison. He is hired by an influential old businessman, Henrik Wagner, to find out what happened to his granddaughter Harriet, who went missing from their home on an island 40 years ago. Blomkvist’s investigation involves detailed research into the Vanger family, with their plethora of relations. During the course of his investigation, he teams up with Lisbeth Salander, an asocial punk hacker working with a security company, who had conducted a more-than-thorough background investigation on him. Blomkvist and Salander uncover hidden information in decades-old evidence, which leads them to believe that the case is far more convoluted than they were originally led to believe.

The book starts off with Blomkvist being charged for printing libelous stories, and through that, we get a really clear look at all the ugly machinations behind a huge corporation. It is really interesting and Larsson uses his journalist background to provide all the juicy details. The mystery is introduced slowly, but grabs your attention with the detailing. You are as hooked as the reluctant Blomkvist, by the sprawling Vanger clan and their deeds over the past century. But where the book gets really interesting is when Blomkvist meets Salander. Initially, both their stories run parallelly, and honestly, I was more interested in Salander’s. She is a very interesting, complicated character with a twisted sense of justice, and there are many hints to her being molested as a kid. Salander’s razor-sharp brain, her disregard for authority and her thoughts and actions are the core of this book. I especially loved what she pulled off at the end, a masterstroke.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a classic “locked room with suspects” mystery. I’ve read so many books and still I’m never tired of this genre. In Larsson’s case, it is not just a mystery, but also a commentary on Swedish society. The rules of guardianship (which struck me as quite bizarre), the underhand dealing, the skeletons in the family cupboards; Larsson brings all this and more into a scintillating story. Read this book, I’m sure you’ll love it as much as I did.

TEXAN TROUBLES

I have been in a reading funk ever since I got back from home. I started several books to leave them unfinished, looking for one book to get me out of the slump. What a surprise when this one turned out to be the one!

Sookie’s normal life (well, as normal as it can get if you are a telepath dating a vampire) is shattered when she finds a body in a car outside the bar where she works. Add to that, she is sent to Dallas on an assignment by Eric to find a missing vampire, and finds herself embroiled in the sinister activities of a vampire hate group, The Fellowship of the Sun.

I enjoy Charlaine Harris’ style of writing- it’s easy to read and entertaining at the same time. There is suspense, there is romance, there is action, all of which keeps the pages turning. The characters are quite well-constructed, and I have a slight crush on Eric, and I get the feeling that he is going to get a bigger role as the series progresses. The mystery isn’t predictable, which is exactly what I want from a suspense novel. I didn’t like the plot thread involving the maenad though. The book was cruising along quite well with the Klan-like Fellowship, but the introduction of the maenad kind of messes the conclusion of the book. It seems to have been put just for some titillation. But on the whole, I’d rate Living Dead in Dallas pretty well.

SHADOWS OF MYSTERY

I read a couple of positive reviews about Zafon’s book Angel Games on many blogs, and when my friend raved about this book to me, I thought I’d give it a try. I’m so glad I did, because this is one hell of a book; I’d definitely count it among my Top 10 reads of the year.

Ten-year old Daniel Sempere’s father takes him to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books in Barcelona, an immense library which probably contains every book published. Daniel is allowed to choose one book to keep, and he chooses Shadow of the Wind, by an obscure author, Julian Carax. Daniel is drawn by the book and its mysterious author, when he learns that some stranger has been seeking out all books of this author and burning them; a faceless fiend who has taken the name of the devil in Carax’s novel. Daniel digs into the past of this author who has gripped his imagination, but each revelation brings more questions than answers.

This is a place of mystery, Daniel, a sanctuary. Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens.

If anybody had told me that this was a book about a book, I might have been more energetic in my efforts to track it down. I read this book in fits and starts because of a hectic schedule, but that gave time for the story to sink in. The translator, Lucia Graves, has done a fantastic job; there was no awkwardness in language I have seen with some translations. The characters are very well-constructed, and I especially loved Fermin, the beggar that Daniel brings home, who becomes his ally in the Carax search. The writing is beautiful and evocative, and conjures up the image of Barcelona as a city of shadows, a city steeped in twilight, so to say. It’s a Gothic novel steeped deeply in history, a tale of Daniel’s obsession with a stranger whose life starts to mirror his own.

I was totally drawn into Daniel’s search and totally entranced by the setting of the story. The book has an eerie mysterious feel to it, and I got goosebumps at quite a few places. There are a lot of threads, stories within stories, some of which are left untied. Others are tangled up, leading to plot twists that kept me to the edge of my seat. Every turn the story takes is a revelation that comes crashing down on you, from Fumero’s origins to Carax’s and Penelope’s relationship. Zafon writes to an intelligent reader, one who doesn’t need the whole story spoon-fed to him, one who is capable of filling in the blanks. This liberty to the reader to give wings to his/her imagination is one characteristic of the book that I loved. To quote Winston Churchill, the story is a riddle wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. The search for the key makes the book a great read. Definitely a book on my reread list.

GHOSTLY SECRETS

I loved this book. Totally and absolutely. The suspense kept me at the edge of my seat and the novel captured my imagination right from the first page.

The famous reclusive author Vida Winter finally wants to tell her life’s story, the whole truth. When she contacts antique bookseller Margaret Lea about it, Margaret is naturally surprised: she has the barest of publishing credits and is more of a hobby writer. But nevertheless, Ms. Winter’s story of twins grips her, because Margaret has lost a twin as well. And of course, there is the mystery of The Thirteenth Tale, the missing story in the Ms. Winter’s most famous book. As Ms. Winter narrates the story of love and loss, of siblings Charlie and Isabelle, and of the twins Adeline and Emmeline, Margaret is drawn in, but nothing in this story is what it seems.

I liked Setterfield’s literate style of writing, it’s like reading the classics. Each scene is constructed artfully, each character described in detail. What I found most intriguing was the attachment between twins, the way in which their lives were intertwined, their pain of separation; I have never read anything like that before. The story has a gothic atmosphere and is openly influenced by Jane Eyre, but I also saw shades of Rebecca in the narrative. The atmosphere is foreboding, the Angelfield home and the characters send a chill up your spine. But this book is as much about books as it is about the mystery: the characters are surrounded by books; a library plays an integral role in the plot. I found some fantastic quotes regarding the art of writing and the experience of reading.

“All my life and all my experience, the events that have befallen me, the people I have known, all my memories, dreams, fantasies, everything I have ever read, all of that has been chucked onto the compost heap, where over time it has rotted down to a dark, rich, organic mulch…Every so often, I take an idea, plant it in the compost and wait. It feeds on that black stuff that used to be a life, takes its energy for its own. It germinates. Takes root. Produces shoots. And so on, and so forth, until one fine day, I have a story, a novel.”

“Do you know the feeling when you start reading a new book before the membrane of the last one has had time to close behind you? You leave the previous book with ideas and themes-characters even- caught in the fibres of your clothes, and when you open the new book they are still with you.”

Most of the characters in the story are slightly unhinged, but their tale is anything but that. There is the clear hint of masochism, of subterfuge and of eerieness. The mystery and secrecy that the tale is steeped in gives it an aura of timelessness. And Margaret’s story is no less interesting, she goes through a sea of emotions when she listens to the twin story of attachment and separation, so mirroring her own. And the climax is like a thunderstorm, it crashes down on the reader, giving a totally new perspective to the story. I really can’t say more about the book without giving away the whole story, and I absolutely don’t want to do that, because digging out the hidden layers is an experience to enjoy.

FANGED UNCERTAINTY

My first Sookie Stackhouse novel. I had fun reading it, with enough suspense to grip my attention.

Dead Until Dark is set in a time when vampires are legally coexisting with humans in society. Sookie Stackhouse is a waitress in Bon Temps, with an uncomfortable secret: she is a telepath. When Bill Compton, a vampire, walks into the bar, she is glad to see him, as she can’t hear his thoughts. After she saves him from a vampire-blood-draining couple, they strike up a friendship despite some disapproval. But their relationship faces several challenges, notably the murders of some women who were known to hang on to vampires.

This book was a welcome change from Twilight, and all the dopey romance that came with it. Sookie is a practical girl; her narration is easy on the mind. She is continually conflicted with how to stay out of the heads of the people around her, and you feel sorry about her lack of privacy. So when Bill comes along, you understand why she wants a relationship with a person whose thoughts don’t invade her, because that’s as close to normal as she’ll get. Sookie’s and Bill’s relationship isn’t a fairytale; she has trouble dealing with Bill’s vampire instincts. In all cases, this is the story of two people who have their own problems to deal with, while dealing with the crisis that arises when they get together.

The mystery is also well-constructed, and the romance weaves in nicely through the suspense. There is more action in this book; Sookie is spunky and level-headed, so her reactions to the problems in her life are interesting to read. She also has a tart tongue that flares up in unexpected situations, such as at the Fangtasia bar with Eric. The ending of the book is well-written, with action and emotion in equal measure. It wasn’t predictable and that’s what made it a good read.

Read another review at: booktumbling

SANDS OF TIME

This is one of my favorite Bengali books, one I read after I had just learnt to read Bengali. It has a special place on my bookshelf- a book I read again and again.

Pradosh Mitter a.k.a. Feluda is a private investigator hired by Mr. Dhar to protect his son, Mukul. Mukul is a young boy who has visions of his past life, and Dr. Hajra, an eminent parapsychologist deciphers the place of his dreams to be Rajasthan, and takes him there, hoping to shed light on such matters. Feluda, along with his cousin Topshe, travel to Rajasthan, and thus begins a adventure in the golden sands.

This is a really enjoyable detective story, simple in its plot yet elegant in its construction. There is a wealth of information and I learned a lot about Rajasthan. The writing is humorous, though many jokes are best rendered in Bengali, and I am not very sure how they can be translated without losing the essence of the joke. Ray's Feluda books are a must-read for lovers of detective fiction and if you can get your hands on a copy, please do read them. A movie has also been made on this book by Ray himself, and captures its essence well on celluloid.