|
Four hands not the best
|
THE RULE OF FOUR by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason. Random
House, 368pp, $34.95. Reviewed by Andrew Holden.
.
Ah, the ambitions of youth. Why write an intellectual whodunnit,
in the vein of Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose, and solve just one
puzzle, even if it is one of the enduring torments of literature?
There are so many more themes that might be conquered.
The mystery at the heart of this novel is the Hypnerotomachia
Poliphili: The Strife of Love in a Dream, a ...
Related newspaper, magazine, and journal articles from HighBeam Research
|
|
Four hands not the best
The Press
; THE RULE OF FOUR by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason. Random House, 368pp, $34.95. Reviewed by Andrew Holden. . Ah, the ambitions of youth. Why write an intellectual whodunnit, in the vein of Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose, and solve just one puzzle, even if it is one of the enduring torments
|
|
|
Elmore's hot new deputy
The Press
; THE HOT KID by Elmore Leonard. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 312pp, $35. Reviewed by Andrew Holden. "You won't pull unless I turn my back on you" What you did, you called. And what they did next let you know who they were. Ah, Mr Leonard, give me just a moment to top up my glass of Booker Noe's and I'll
|
|
|
Unworkable format
The Press
; CRITIQUE OF CRIMINAL REASON by Michael Gregorio. Faber, 395pp, $37.99. Reviewed by Andrew Holden. I suppose we should blame Conan Doyle or Umberto Eco. If they hadn't written crime novels of such cunning and complexity, we wouldn't have to endure far lesser writers concocting what this book's
|
|
|
Genuine thriller
The Press
; BLACK WATER by Jefferson Parker. HarperCollins, 338pp, $31.99. Reviewed by Andrew Holden. The true pleasure of reading is picking up something you think is going to be complete drivel and discovering a cracking yarn instead. Homicide detective Merci Rayborn is enveloped by the smell of treachery --
|
|
|
Hervey rides again and into trouble
The Press
; RUMOURS OF WAR by Allan Mallinson. Random House, 405pp, $34.95. Reviewed by Andrew Holden. A handy reminder not to judge by the cover: the cheesy historic drawing had me thinking this would be little more than a teens boys' own of another generation (or two). I also suffered from not knowing this
|
|
|
Words and their ways in politics
The Press
; GOING NUCULAR by Geoffrey Nunberg. Public Affairs, 303pp, $29.95. Reviewed by Andrew Holden. Words are the staple of this newspaper, of politics, argument and understanding, and a wonderful source of dispute and amusement. Devotees of Frank Haden's column that runs every Saturday in this Mainlander
|
|
|
Anglophobe on tour in UK
The Press
; QUEENAN COUNTRY by Joe Queenan. Picador, 240pp, $34.99. Reviewed by Andrew Holden. Joe Queenan has written eight books before this, and a Google search identifies him as a columnist for the Guardian, the New York Times and magazines Spy and GQ. This is my first experience of his writing, and it
|
|
|
Parade of golf gems
The Press
; THE GREATEST GAME EVER PLAYED by Mark Frost. Penguin, 470pp, $29.95. Reviewed by Andrew Holden. Mark Twain's dismissive remark about golf -- a good walk spoiled - - pretty much defines the gulf that separates those who love the game and those who find it unimaginably stupid. And yet golf continues
|
|
|
Dips into the Mob
The Press
; THE WAY OF THE WISEGUY by Donnie Brasco (aka Joseph D. Pistone). Running Press, 224pp, $39.95. Reviewed by Andrew Holden. . Our fascination with the Mob is unlikely to weaken any time soon, thanks largely to The Sopranos having brought the Godfather so successfully to the small screen. So it's
|
|
|
Tip-top sleuth fiction
The Press
; WASH THIS BLOOD CLEAN FROM MY HAND by Fred Vargas. Random House, 386pp, $36.99. Reviewed by Andrew Holden. A leading Parisian detective, Jean- Baptiste Adamsberg, has an obsession, and within it his most troubling secret, that in his youth he broke the law by deliberately hiding evidence to save
|