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eveak's review
3.0
I really like this series but while this was a good addition to the series it was much harder for me to engage in and I think I completed it more because I like the series than I was into the mystery.
caitlinxmartin's review
3.0
I like Jane Haddam's Gregor Demarkian series, although it's slightly different than what I typically read in the mystery/thriller genre. I tend more towards cop books & forenisc books with the occasional political or legal thriller thrown in for good measure. Haddam's books are more closely related to Miss Marple - no, they're not British nor are they typically set in a small town, but in their own way they nicely fit the small village murder model. At least in my mind.
These books always make me think of the first couple of years we lived in Atlanta & our first apartment there in Virginia Highlands. There were a number of downsides to living there (too many bars right around the corner lead to drunk people in your yard at all hours of the day & night), but there were a couple of really good thing. One was the gelato place right down the street & around the corner. The other was the used bookstore, Atlanta Book Exchange, that was a bit further past the gelato shop & across the street. Atlanta Book Exchange fits my model for a good used bookstore - there are cats, the folks manning the "counter" are obviously avid readers & have worked there forever, there's a sense of organization that is transparent only to someone who works there, it smells slightly funky, & it's packed to the rafters with books. I first found Haddam's books there when I went in to trade some stuff I'd finished & find something new to read.
Her books frequently deal with some issue, but they are more wonderful in the way they deal with her main character, Gregor Demarkian, the Armenian former FBI guy & his foibles. Mr. Demarkian lives in a wonderfully real & whacky Armenian neighborhood in Philadelphia peopled by completely original & memorable characters who I absolutely fell in love with upon first reading.
& that, I think, is the problem with this particular book - it's taken Mr. Demarkian to small-town Pennsylvania & that's just not as compelling for me. I've read a number of reviews that complain about the two-dimensionality of the religious characters in this book about a fight over teaching Intelligent Design in the schools, but I'm going to have to disagree with them. Yes, many of the pro-Intelligent Design characters are pretty two-dimensional, but no more so than the pro-evolution characters. & that, I think, is another problem with this book. At some point most of these characters became straw figures in an elaborate argument & they stopped being people. Even more frustrating is the fact that there are a number of wonderful & complex characters in this book who get short shrift in favor of the argument.
Despite these shortfalls Haddam does write well & plot well & she manages to keep me wondering who did it so even a less successful book of hers is still entertaining. I'm looking forward to her next book & to getting back to the neighborhood - I want to know how everybody's doing!
These books always make me think of the first couple of years we lived in Atlanta & our first apartment there in Virginia Highlands. There were a number of downsides to living there (too many bars right around the corner lead to drunk people in your yard at all hours of the day & night), but there were a couple of really good thing. One was the gelato place right down the street & around the corner. The other was the used bookstore, Atlanta Book Exchange, that was a bit further past the gelato shop & across the street. Atlanta Book Exchange fits my model for a good used bookstore - there are cats, the folks manning the "counter" are obviously avid readers & have worked there forever, there's a sense of organization that is transparent only to someone who works there, it smells slightly funky, & it's packed to the rafters with books. I first found Haddam's books there when I went in to trade some stuff I'd finished & find something new to read.
Her books frequently deal with some issue, but they are more wonderful in the way they deal with her main character, Gregor Demarkian, the Armenian former FBI guy & his foibles. Mr. Demarkian lives in a wonderfully real & whacky Armenian neighborhood in Philadelphia peopled by completely original & memorable characters who I absolutely fell in love with upon first reading.
& that, I think, is the problem with this particular book - it's taken Mr. Demarkian to small-town Pennsylvania & that's just not as compelling for me. I've read a number of reviews that complain about the two-dimensionality of the religious characters in this book about a fight over teaching Intelligent Design in the schools, but I'm going to have to disagree with them. Yes, many of the pro-Intelligent Design characters are pretty two-dimensional, but no more so than the pro-evolution characters. & that, I think, is another problem with this book. At some point most of these characters became straw figures in an elaborate argument & they stopped being people. Even more frustrating is the fact that there are a number of wonderful & complex characters in this book who get short shrift in favor of the argument.
Despite these shortfalls Haddam does write well & plot well & she manages to keep me wondering who did it so even a less successful book of hers is still entertaining. I'm looking forward to her next book & to getting back to the neighborhood - I want to know how everybody's doing!
lazy0718's review
3.0
This was the fist (and only) book of Jane Haddam's that I've read. I generally don't jump into the middle of a series, but the subject matter (teaching of evolution vs. creationism) interested me so I read it. Unfortunately I didn't get much from the book. The characters seem to trot out the same tired arguments we hear on the subjects, without adding anything new to the equation. The mystery itself was interesting, but felt like it was wrapped up almost as an afterthought. I don't expect to continue reading this series of books.
deborahs's review
3.0
Although the story was good, Haddam needs a new editor. The hardcover edition of this book was full of typos.
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