- Mass Market Paperback: 341 pages
- Publisher: St. Martin's Press; Reprint edition (29 July 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0312945485
- ISBN-13: 978-0312945480
- Product Dimensions: 17 x 9.9 x 2.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 164,495 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Review
Praise for ‘The Fields of Grief’:
‘It’s not easy to invent an original way to commit murder but the crime in “The Fields of Grief” is extraordinary… Blunt has turned a conventional whodunit into a fascinating psychological duel between the detective and the murderer’ Sunday Telegraph
‘An emotionally involving and intellectually challenging journey from night into day. A fine and moving novel about bereavement’ Reginald Hill
Praise for Giles Blunt:
‘Intensely vivid characters, terrible crimes and a brutal deep-frozen landscape all prove beyond a reasonable doubt that cold nurtures good and evil as readily as heat…and that Giles Blunt is a really tremendous crime novelist.’ Lee Child
‘One of the finest crime novels I’ve ever read. Giles Blunt writes with uncommon grace, style and compassion and he plots like a demon. This book has it all – unforgettable characters, beautiful language, throat-constricting suspense.’ Jonathan Kellerman
‘A superior Canadian police procedural with an evocative sense of place: the frozen lakes and forests are as integral to the plot as the flawed detective…an impressive achievement.’ Guardian
‘A highly professional tour de force: excellently plotted, with fleshed-out characters and a well-portrayed interesting setting.’ Independent
‘As fine a police procedural as any written in the USA…as fresh as morning dew…never less than fascinating throughout.’ Independent on Sunday
Praise for ‘Forty Words for Sorrow’:
‘A taut and enthralling tale that is as dark as the Canadian winter setting is cold. Humane, intelligent and gripping, ‘‘Forty Words for Sorrow’’ is a haunting journey into the human heart in all its complexities.’ Val McDermid
‘A fine debut that deserves to do well, and promises much from a talented new author.’ Time Out
‘A highly professional tour de force.’ Evening Standard
Praise for ‘The Delicate Storm’:
‘Another well-structured story with sharply-drawn characters.’ Sunday Telegraph
'The most horrifying story since “The Silence of the Lambs.’' Los Angeles Times
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.Review
Praise for Giles Blunt: 'Intensely vivid characters, terrible crimes and a brutal deep-frozen landscape all prove beyond a reasonable doubt that cold nurtures good and evil as readily as heat!and that Giles Blunt is a really tremendous crime novelist.' Lee Child 'One of the finest crime novels I've ever read. Giles Blunt writes with uncommon grace, style and compassion and he plots like a demon. This book has it all -- unforgettable characters, beautiful language, throat-constricting suspense.' Jonathan Kellerman 'A superior Canadian police procedural with an evocative sense of place: the frozen lakes and forests are as integral to the plot as the flawed detective!an impressive achievement.' Guardian 'A highly professional tour de force: excellently plotted, with fleshed-out characters and a well-portrayed interesting setting.' Independent 'As fine a police procedural as any written in the USA...as fresh as morning dew...never less than fascinating throughout.' Independent on Sunday Praise for 'Forty Words for Sorrow': 'A taut and enthralling tale that is as dark as the Canadian winter setting is cold. Humane, intelligent and gripping, "Forty Words for Sorrow" is a haunting journey into the human heart in all its complexities.' Val McDermid 'A fine debut that deserves to do well, and promises much from a talented new author.' Time Out 'A highly professional tour de force.' Evening Standard Praise for 'The Delicate Storm': 'Another well-structured story with sharply-drawn characters.' Sunday Telegraph 'The most horrifying story since "The Silence of the Lambs." Los Angeles Times
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
If there's any justice in the reading world, then "By the Time You Read This" will get Giles Blunt some serious notice. That's because Blunt has topped himself in his fourth mystery novel involving John Cardinal and the fictional town of Algonquin Bay, with his darkly compelling writing, excellent characters, and a brilliantly harrowing finale.
Cop John Cardinal is on a stakeout when he is called in to a suicide, a woman jumping off a building -- and it turns out to be his wife Catherine. Cardinal is devastated by her loss, but he starts to suspect that her death was not suicide when a series of cruel, taunting cards start arriving. His fellow cops (and Catherine's shrink) think he's just in denial, especially since a suicide note in Catherine's handwriting was found beside her body.
Meanwhile detective Lise Delorme is investigating a child pornography case -- a series of photos of a man and a little girl -- and little details reveal that they were taken in Algonquin Bay. Meanwhile, Cardinal continues to find discrepancies in the supposed suicide, and as the clues slowly come together, he finds himself face to face with a killer who uses the most horrific weapon imaginable against his victims...
"By the Time You Read This" is one of those rare books that successfully straddles the line between psychological horror and crime mysteries. Blunt does have a little awkwardness -- the beginning is strainedly poetic, and the end could have used a couple more chapters to wrap everything up -- but the bulk of the book is pure gold.
Basically, Blunt is perfectly suited to mystery writing. His writing casts a dark, noirish light on everything, where everyone is untrustworthy and all sorts of nasty secrets simmer just under the surface. And he gives a gritty feeling to many of the scenes of copwork, but still manages to keep a tasteful, quiet approach to things like child pornography.
His writing excellence shines in scenes like a young man's suicide, or Cardinal picking up the body of his wife. And the mystery itself uncoils gradually through the plot, dropping little hints along the way. The hints build up and up and up, until it becomes crystal clear who the killer is, and the way in which he's (almost) untraceably killing his victims. It's a brilliant idea.
John Cardinal gets the rough treatment this time around, developing some obsessions and trying to deal with grief -- all the stages, from denial to painful acceptance. Delorme has a lot of the copwork in this book, and she's a solid character who really works at finding the little girl in the pictures.
"By the Time You Read This" is a brilliant mystery, with only a bit of awkwardness at the beginning and end, but with a unique murderer and a twisty storyline. Definitely a great read.
Cop John Cardinal is on a stakeout when he is called in to a suicide, a woman jumping off a building -- and it turns out to be his wife Catherine. Cardinal is devastated by her loss, but he starts to suspect that her death was not suicide when a series of cruel, taunting cards start arriving. His fellow cops (and Catherine's shrink) think he's just in denial, especially since a suicide note in Catherine's handwriting was found beside her body.
Meanwhile detective Lise Delorme is investigating a child pornography case -- a series of photos of a man and a little girl -- and little details reveal that they were taken in Algonquin Bay. Meanwhile, Cardinal continues to find discrepancies in the supposed suicide, and as the clues slowly come together, he finds himself face to face with a killer who uses the most horrific weapon imaginable against his victims...
"By the Time You Read This" is one of those rare books that successfully straddles the line between psychological horror and crime mysteries. Blunt does have a little awkwardness -- the beginning is strainedly poetic, and the end could have used a couple more chapters to wrap everything up -- but the bulk of the book is pure gold.
Basically, Blunt is perfectly suited to mystery writing. His writing casts a dark, noirish light on everything, where everyone is untrustworthy and all sorts of nasty secrets simmer just under the surface. And he gives a gritty feeling to many of the scenes of copwork, but still manages to keep a tasteful, quiet approach to things like child pornography.
His writing excellence shines in scenes like a young man's suicide, or Cardinal picking up the body of his wife. And the mystery itself uncoils gradually through the plot, dropping little hints along the way. The hints build up and up and up, until it becomes crystal clear who the killer is, and the way in which he's (almost) untraceably killing his victims. It's a brilliant idea.
John Cardinal gets the rough treatment this time around, developing some obsessions and trying to deal with grief -- all the stages, from denial to painful acceptance. Delorme has a lot of the copwork in this book, and she's a solid character who really works at finding the little girl in the pictures.
"By the Time You Read This" is a brilliant mystery, with only a bit of awkwardness at the beginning and end, but with a unique murderer and a twisty storyline. Definitely a great read.
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
"by the time you read this" is "fields of grief" under another title-fantastic book but this should be made clearer- i was about to order it until i read the review and realised!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I found this novel to be believable and with real-life characters. Delorme and Cardinal make a great duo.Without giving away the plot,I can stress it is indeed a very emotional story and I urge readers to read it.It is not a complex book and the sipmlicity of it makes for a great read.Well done Giles.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Giles Blunt - The Fields of Grief - Great Read
This book 'The Fields of Grief' is the first one I have read by Giles Blunt and really impressed with it! Read more
Published 13 months ago by Alessi Lover
The thriller of the year
Giles Blunt's John Cardinal series are quite outstanding and the latest "By the time you read this" is, for me, the thriller of the year. Read more
Published on 1 Jun 2009 by John Fordyce
By the Time You Read This. Duplicate
The book is good Giles Blunt standard. A bit over-long for its material, and some page-skipping becomes inevitable. Why do so many modern authors go on for so long? Read more
Published on 30 Mar 2009 by H. R. Collier
Naughty or Silly Amazon!!
I have been waiting impatiently for the fifth John C book by Giles Blunt so I was delighted to hear about 'By the time you read this'. Read more
Published on 25 Sep 2008 by Simon X
Won't Disappoint
This novel is satisfying on so many levels. Although it is a who-dunnit, you find out "who" quite early on. However this does not make the book any less riveting. Read more
Published on 18 Mar 2008 by J. Huntington
depressing
I had high hopes for this book. It's not every detective story that starts with a suicide where the victim is the wife of the main police character. Read more
Published on 22 Aug 2007 by Michael Watson
Not Blunt's best, but still classy
While not up to the dizzying standards of Blunt's previous Cardinal novels, this is still a classy entry in the crime fiction genre. Read more
Published on 6 Jun 2007 by Mr. Warren M. Fisher
For fans of Law and Order.
Fields of Grief is so polished I could not believe I had not heard of Giles Blunt before. The back cover tells all; he has written scripts for the highly critically acclaimed Law... Read more
Published on 15 May 2007 by Felicity Wills
By the time you read this review, I think you'll want to get your...
Another tortured soul that took a long walk off a multi-story rooftop. If it had been any other victim, Detective John Cardinal would have most likely accepted the findings of all... Read more
Published on 2 April 2007 by Daniel Jolley
I'm a big fan of this writer
I really like this writer and await anxiously his next books. This story got a little dull in places and I don't think it was quite as gripping as his usual, but it was a nice... Read more
Published on 18 Jan 2007 by Book Worm
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