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Book Review – The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

Name: The Historian

Author: Elizabeth Kostova
Description from Amazon: Breathtakingly suspenseful and beautifully written, The Historian is the story of a young woman plunged into a labyrinth where the secrets of her family’s past connect to an inconceivable evil: the dark fifteenth-century reign of Vlad the Impaler and a time-defying pact that may have kept his awful work alive through the ages. The search for the truth becomes an adventure of monumental proportions, taking us from monasteries and dusty libraries to the capitals of Eastern Europe—in a feat of storytelling so rich, so hypnotic, so exciting that it has enthralled readers around the world.

Pages: 704 pages

REVIEW AS A READER:

I chose this book because Google Bard said it was "the best selling vampire book." When I started reading it, I immediately fell in love with the author's prose. Elizabeth Kostova has one of the best writing styles of anyone I've ever read. I would describe her prose as lyrical. She also has a way of 'anchoring the reader' in the scene by using these descriptive anchors in almost every sentence. I never felt myself hanging in mid air not knowing where we were.

The element of suspense was ever present as the story started and went on. I was enjoying the book immensely until I reached about page 400. By that time, the story got way too long and I lost interest. Even though I liked the characters in the beginning, I didn't love the characters enough to keep going for 704 pages. So I abandoned the book a little more than half way. I also abandoned it because it turned out to be a well-researched Davinci Code journey from pillar to post, which I find mostly exhausting.

I would, however, try another book from this author as I do love her writing style.

REVIEW AS A WRITER:

My review as a writer is a bit more harsh. I still reiterate that Ms. Kostova has a magnificent writing style. As noted above, her prose was lyrical and artistic. I loved it. Her writing style and thoroughness of research are her strong points.

I could tell about fifteen percent into the book that this story was superimposed on the plotline of The Davinci Code. I thought The Davinci Code was a bit overrated, both as a book and the movie, so I could tell at this early point that I was in for this globe-trotting journey with a never-ending list of "surprise interruptions". Because I'm not interested in this plotline, the author in me lost interest before the reader in me.

That being said, I also was expecting an actual vampire story. This expectation didn't come from the author or the book's description, so I don't pin this expectation on the author or even the publishing company. I asked Bard.google.com to give me a list of the best vampire books and The Historian came up as number one. I really wanted an actual vampire book at the time and this was something very different.

As stated above, this was a long booby-trapped journey too similar to The Davinci Code and I just lost interest and decided not to finish at around page 400.

As a new author myself, I have watched writing videos warning authors who do research to avoid the temptation to fill up the book with extra research "just because you can". I believe the story in The Historian could have been told in 300 pages and it would have only needed to have irrelevant research removed.

All in all, even though I chose not to finish it, based on the story itself -- especially if you enjoy the Davinci Code -- it was a great book. I would highly recommend it to people who loved the Davinci Code. I would recommend it to people who like historical fiction. But I would not recommend it to readers who are lo

Writer’s Diary – Book Review – The Picture of Dorian Gray

Book Title: The Picture of Dorian Gray
By: Oscar Wilde
Length: 232 Pages
Genre - Categories: Gothic Fiction | Classic Literary Fiction

We'll start with the actual description from Amazon and then I will give my review as a reader first, and then as an author of some gothic fiction and mystery romance fiction. I h

Summary from Amazon:

Oscar Wilde's only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, is an enduring masterpiece of gothic horror, exploring the corruption of humanity, our desire to sin, and the extremes vanity will lead us to.

Young, handsome, and privileged, Dorian Gray has his portrait painted by the talented Basil Hallward. When Sir Henry Wotton convinces Dorian of the need to indulge in one's own vanity and to take advantage of his good looks, the young man makes a wish that could become his downfall when he exchanges his soul for eternal youth. As Dorian lives out a selfishly decadent lifestyle, he remains the picture of a perfect gentleman to those around him, but his portrait displays the consequences of an ageing and sinful existence.

First published in 1890 and written with Oscar Wilde's alluring wit and breathtaking imagery, The Picture of Dorian Gray is a timeless Gothic tragedy, perfect for those interested in classic fantasy and horror.

READER REVIEW: I liked the book very much. It had the usual classic feel to it. You can tell it was written in another era by the language and the descriptions of the surrounding society. It was a societal commentary about the wealthy and how frivolous their lives can be. It was also a statement about how one person can negatively influence another human being and change the course of one's life. I found this message very strong and Wilde made his point.

The characters were not openly Christian and their lives were filled with sinfulness, so to speak. However, there was reference to the "Christianity in the air" that still existed at that time, in particular about good vs. evil. There was also a strong sense of right vs wrong and how the conscience haunts us, whether a person is religious or not. There is a Christian belief that God writes His laws on everyone's heart and the experience of guilt by the non-religious is always a sign of this truth. This was very strong in this storyline.

AUTHOR REVIEW: As a reader and an author, I couldn't help notice how the language had "aged" and how it would be harder to read for younger people. I also noticed that many of the idioms and references were uniquely British, so as an American, I'm sure many of them went right over my head. As an author, I think it's important to remember that not all readers will be able to understand all idioms and colloquialisms within the story.

Some of the descriptions within The Picture of Dorian Gray made certain parts of the story hard to read. I found myself having to reread certain passages as I began to lose the plotline.

On one hand the idioms and the societal descriptions had a lot to do with setting the stage for the snobbery that Oscar Wilde described so perfectly. But in today's modern world, it could potentially be a point where a modern reader gets bored and moves onto the next book in their kindle.

GREAT LINES FROM THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY

"The terror of society, which is the basis of morals, the terror of God, which is the secret of religion -- these are the two things that govern us. And yet --"
"As he thought of it, a sharp pang of pain struck through him like a knife and made each delicate fibre of his nature quiver. His eyes deepened into amethyst, and across them came a mist of tears. He felt as if a hand of ice had been laid upon his heart."

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Do you have any opinions on The Picture of Dorian Gray? If so, please feel free to my feed on social media. My links are in the sidebar at the top. I would love to hear other readers' or authors' opinions.

Writer’s Diary – Book Review – The Case at Barton Manor

This is not so much a book review of the story written by Emily Queen, but more about what I, as an author, learned from reading it. To me, this fits more into a reader's diary, but I'm calling it a book review more to categorize it for my blog readers. The name of the book is The Case at Barton Manor , a 1920s Murder Mystery by Emily Queen.

This was a historical mystery, which is not my favorite genre, but I was sold by the cover, which pulled me in right away. I love this art form and the book just appealed to me. Although I'm not a historical fiction fan, I do love the fashions of the 1920s and I thought this would be a fun read.

As an author, it's also a confirmation of what every how-to-sell-books video has said: The book sales depend greatly on the covers and the story descriptions.

READABILITY:

I found the book a little harder to read because it was a historical mystery. It was harder than a contemporary mystery romance. I believe it is because the language was a bit more formal, which is an accurate reflection of the historical timeframe. I give the author A+ because the language was a good reflection of how much more formal people spoke back in the 1920s. I just noted, as a reader, that it did make it harder to read and took me longer to finish. I found myself having to reread certain parts to make sure I understood what was going on.

The only criticism I have about the book is that by around the 60% mark, I had to go back and make a written list of who everyone was and what role they played in the story. I'm not certain this was even about how the book was written. This may be just a reflection that my mind was wandering too much as I read this story. But I came away noting that maybe as an author, I need to mention the character's name and reference their job or something relevant about them and refer to this once or twice more, especially if they fall to the background during certain parts of the story.

This is not the first time that somewhere in the middle of the book I've had to go back and make a list of who everyone in the story is. I'm not easily discouraged as a reader, but many readers can be. When I read another author's book, I look for things that would stop a reader from reading and I believe getting mixed up as to who everyone is could be a reason to say 'forget it' and move onto the next book.

What I learned as I went back through the book to make my list is that the characters were mentioned by name and usually something about them that was noteworthy in the overall story. So there was no fault for that. But the characters would fall to the back of the story, so to speak, and then when they were mentioned again, I really had forgotten who they were. That's why by 60% through the story, I had about three characters I had completely forgotten who they were.

So my author's note is: When there are more than 3 or 4 characters, I would find a way to reference not only their names a second and third time, but reference something about them as a refresher to how they fit in the story. This sounds easy, right? But this is a fine line to walk as readers who have no trouble keeping track of multiple characters would find this technique repetitive. As I read other books, I will now notice how the authors handle characters who are introduced early on and then make a re-appearance later in the story. I know for sure that one quick mention of a character's name is not enough to implant it into the reader's mind. I'm sure this lesson will be helpful in my own work.

THE STORY ITSELF:

The Case at Barton Manor is classic who-done-it murder mystery. It made me think of Agatha Christie as I read it. So if you are a fan of that style of who-done-it, you will love this book.

The mystery and suspense of who committed the murder kept me reading all the way to the end when the real culprit is revealed. The story, as well as the prose, held my interest as a reader all the way through. The story never lagged or veered off into too much history or too much commentary. The history was peppered throughout the story perfectly. The story moved from beginning to end.

Historical mysteries always have a bit of history running though them, and Emily Queen doesn't disappoint. So fans of historical mysteries will love this one.

BRITISH ENGLISH TERMS:

Kudos to Ms. Queen for including a list of British-to-English translation on common words and terms that are different between the English dialects. For example, a drugstore is referred to as a Chemist. The word 'daft' means a bit stupid or silly. A yard is referred to as a garden. A jumper is a sweater in American English. This was very helpful and it was listed in the Table of Contents.

MY FAVORITE TURN OF PHRASES:

"We cannot arrive too early, dear," her mother said as if she coined the term 'fashionably late.'
Often accused of callousness, Vera followed her mother's example and let the opinions of most roll off her back like inconsequential raindrops.
. . . let her shrug off some of the mantle of sadness constantly draped over her shoulders.
. . . though there was a tightness around her eyes to attest she still had a lot on her mind.
. . . plus an air of unattainability that many women seemed to want to challenge.
Every eye in the room seemed trained on Mrs. Blackburn; most of the men's wide with appreciation, while many of the women's narrowed to slits of envy.
Mrs. Barton said, her back ramrod straight in her chair, while she wrung her fingers nervously.
. . . there is another side to that simpering excuse for a man.

The above lines of prose are only about 25% of the ones I had saved to read again. Great lines all throughout the book.

There are six books in this series and I have the next one on my "next up" list.

Writer’s Diary – Book Review – Dead for Good

WHAT I LEARNED READING Dead for Good by Stacy Claflin with Nolon King:

I left a five star review as the book was well worth the read. It was well written, the prose was good and easy to read. This book held my interest and the action started on Page 1.

I would classify this book as a psychological thriller. What I found most clever about the book is that all of the suspense was inside the family home, with a little help from some outside neighbors. The plotline was very believable and it worked throughout the story.

The author/authors created characters who had a lot to do during the story but also had a lot of depth to them as well.

The only criticism I have is that the ending was not so much a twist as more of a 'out of nowhere' kind of resolution. There was no real foreshadowing of the dual side to the culprit. I will keep it very vague in case anyone reading this would want to read the book, which I would highly recommend.

I'm no expert on plot twists, but most of the YouTube Teachers suggest that a surprise ending needs to be foreshadowed somewhere in the story, so the reader says, ah, yes, I should have seen that. That is the one thing I didn't really feel in this read. I felt the true culprit kind of just popped up in the end to surprise the reader but wasn't foreshadowed in any way.

That was my only criticism. I still gave this book a 5 star on Amazon because I believe my criticism only came from me being an author and looking for these things. My guess from the reviews on this book is that normal readers didn't even catch the lack of foreshadowing I'm referring to here. The character was written into the beginning of the story, and that was enough for the normal readers.

This was also a great psychological thriller without having a psychiatrist or psychologist in the plot. The whole thing worked well within the one family.

MY FAVORITE TURN OF PHRASES:

~ We're in this together. Always and forever.

~ People tended to only focus on the good in the deceased as if death automatically diluted the truth.

SUMMARY:

I highly recommend Dead for Good. It gets high marks for great plot, great characters and readability. This book's action started literally on Page 1 and kept up until the very end. It didn't sag once.

Writer’s Diary – Book Review – A Perfect Alibi

This is not so much a book review of the story written by Anne Baines, but more about what I, as an author, learned from reading it. To me, that fits more into a Writer's Diary. The name of the book is A Perfect Alibi, and it is Book 1 of the Sam Arbichaut Mysteries.

First of all, I enjoyed the book immensely. Since I began to write mysteries, I no longer just read mysteries for entertainment. My author's mind is always looking for what I can learn and use in my own writing.

I found this book to be easy to read, which I think is crucial in today's world where people are too busy to spend two pages reading a description of the trees in the field. So the action in the book moves at a pace that keeps the reader engaged and trying to think of how the mystery will unfold.

PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR WRITING TIPS:

I also learned a few things in the book about PI techniques. For example, PIs keep the cars running so the sound of an engine catching won't make anyone look up or draw any attention to themselves. Pulling out after someone would make them suspicious, but a car that was already in motion wouldn't strike anyone as a potential tail.

In spite of all the scenes in movies and on TV, the identifying of a body is done today with photos.

MY FAVORITE TURN OF PHRASES:

plasticky smiles
Death was brutal and messy. A small, contained scene like this was outside the natural order of things.
the sort of sleazy people who thought the worst of others because they were so lowbrow themselves
He knew the sorts of things they said behind their hands
Now he was in his late forties, he was terrified of the half-century marker he saw approaching, and he wanted to grasp at the youth that had slipped away.
Clint didn't have the look in his eye of someone savoring gossip.
Fredricks was quiet now, almost introspective.
It sounded like she was the sort of person who was never satisfied because she's never bothered to figure out what she really wanted in life. It was like she was following all the rules because she thought the world owed her happiness if she did.

There were so many more great phrases used by Anne Baines. I would recommend this book to any author focused on improving their own prose as well as any authors who want to learn about private investigator techniques. The prose was fantastic and I have the other books in this series on my "next up" list.

Review – The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett

The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a great book. It was fiction, but it had elements of psychological intrigue and pulls the reader through the story as you can't tell where the story is going -- but in a good way.

The characters were very real and the main character was not easily understood. I love stories that have the church or Catholicism as a backdrop and this one was not necessarily a Catholic story, but for anyone who grew up around nuns, it was one that had a nostalgia to it that was endearing.

The characters were not only real, but they had a bit of tragedy to them and this had a haunting effect throughout the read. It is a book that I won't forget.

Highly recommend.

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Review & Recommendation – The Templar Detective by J. Robert Kennedy

The Templar Detective by J. Robert Kennedy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved Mr. Kennedy’s writing style and the time period this takes place in. I love books that have the church or Christianity as a backdrop, so this was right up my alley. It was a well-worked plot but yet it was very easy reading which is a delicate mix.

Highly recommend.

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