Max Lieberman
Now, I'm not saying the prose in this book lurched awkwardly from clause to clause like an alien wearing human skin, but it did keep pausing in its narrative and saying "Give me sugar water." Hey, alright.
You want to talk characters? Hope you brought some flavor packets, because this cast has all the richness of unsalted oatmeal. I could barely tell their personalities apart.
No, no. I'm just kidding folks. Hey, thanks for coming out tonight.
I actually enjoyed this book. I got very excited when the first chapter featured a group of college students who had nicknamed themselves after famous mystery novelists. To my way of thinking, that's a shot across the bows — "I love the masters, but I'm going to give you something new."
This thing also moves. Premise, structure, deaths, clues, revelation. Why waste time say lot word when few word do trick?
Ultimately, The Decagon House Murders delivers on its core promise, with a solid, plotty twist I've never read before (and didn't predict).
I could wish the pleasure of the book was less invested in that mechanical device, and more in building characters or detectives with some panache. I could suggest that there would be fewer fires on the island if the exposition wasn't so bone-dry. But those are counterfactuals.
There's a fun beach read here. Have at it.
Now, I'm not saying the prose in this book lurched awkwardly from clause to clause like an alien wearing human skin, but it did keep pausing in its narrative and saying "Give me sugar water." Hey, alright.
You want to talk characters? Hope you brought some flavor packets, because this cast has all the richness of unsalted oatmeal. I could barely tell their personalities apart.
No, no. I'm just kidding folks. Hey, thanks for coming out tonight.
I actually enjoyed this book. I got very excited when the first chapter featured a group of college students who had nicknamed themselves after famous mystery novelists. To my way of thinking, that's a shot across the bows — "I love the masters, but I'm going to give you something new."
This thing also moves. Premise, structure, deaths, clues, revelation. Why waste time say lot word when few word do trick?
Ultimately, The Decagon House Murders delivers on its core promise, with a solid, plotty twist I've never read before (and didn't predict).
I could wish the pleasure of the book was less invested in that mechanical device, and more in building characters or detectives with some panache. I could suggest that there would be fewer fires on the island if the exposition wasn't so bone-dry. But those are counterfactuals.
There's a fun beach read here. Have at it.