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Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is the latest book that I have read by Mary Jane Clark. The book focuses on Eliza Blake. If you like a good mystery then you should enjoy this, the biblical undertones reminded me slightly of the Da Vinci Code but it isnt too heavy on this, just a clever part of the puzzle which they must solve to work out why someone commits suicide in such a strange manner in order to expose a long held family secret.
Good book, fans of previous books will enjoy too.
Good book, fans of previous books will enjoy too.
Format:Mass Market Paperback
The interesting cover to this book (a rainbow-reflective gloss over a picture of a spiral staircase) and the blurb on the back about a house which has a puzzle built in all looked promising. However I found this book ultimately disappointing.
Eliza Blake is co-anchor of a television show and at the beginning of this story we discover her daughter was previously kidnapped although is now restored safely to her (I assume this was a previous book). Eliza is getting back to normal life which includes preparing for her new weekend home in Tuxedo Park, a moneyed estate in New York. However, when she attends a party at a newly-refurbished house in Tuxedo Park and the host commits suicide in a very strange manner, a many-years-old mystery begins to be uncovered and Eliza is in the thick of it.
This book was rather strangely written with exceedingly short chapters (many of them were two to three pages long) and with multiple points of view - it felt like we were following the story from a dozen different people. There was a large cast of characters which I found rather offputting; I would have preferred to just focus on one or two. I also felt that the behaviour of many people didn't feel authentic - the journalists seem able to find people who will tell them everything they need to know, for example. I also felt the central premise - that the party host would build a puzzle into his house so that people could solve it after his death - just a bit too far fetched. Parts of the book were OK but overall I didn't feel I got to know any of the characters particularly well and the puzzle/murder mystery didn't interest me that much.
Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2011
Eliza Blake is co-anchor of a television show and at the beginning of this story we discover her daughter was previously kidnapped although is now restored safely to her (I assume this was a previous book). Eliza is getting back to normal life which includes preparing for her new weekend home in Tuxedo Park, a moneyed estate in New York. However, when she attends a party at a newly-refurbished house in Tuxedo Park and the host commits suicide in a very strange manner, a many-years-old mystery begins to be uncovered and Eliza is in the thick of it.
This book was rather strangely written with exceedingly short chapters (many of them were two to three pages long) and with multiple points of view - it felt like we were following the story from a dozen different people. There was a large cast of characters which I found rather offputting; I would have preferred to just focus on one or two. I also felt that the behaviour of many people didn't feel authentic - the journalists seem able to find people who will tell them everything they need to know, for example. I also felt the central premise - that the party host would build a puzzle into his house so that people could solve it after his death - just a bit too far fetched. Parts of the book were OK but overall I didn't feel I got to know any of the characters particularly well and the puzzle/murder mystery didn't interest me that much.
Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2011
Format:Hardcover
I have never been particularly fond of thrillers with strong religious elements, so as much as I am a fan of Mary Jane Clark, this book could never be a favourite of mine.
The mystery TV presentator Eliza Blake and her colleagues are in for this time, is rather macabre - from eccentric millionaire Innis Wheelock's suicide by stigmata to the puzzle he has created to be solved after his death. However, apart from the religious theme, the case/puzzle is cleverly plotted and leaves the reader entertained and in the dark until the very last page.
Fast-paced, as all Clark's books, "Dying for Mercy" is written very much like the puzzle of the book itself, with extremely short chapters which are furthermore divided into even smaller sections. This marks for easy reading but I do miss a bit more "meat" around the skeleton. There is little chance of loosing oneself in any part of this story before being abruptly cut off and served with another key piece of the puzzle. If there is such a thing as "a restless thriller", this must be it. No time to dwell on anything or anyone, apart from Clark's all time heroine Eliza Blake, her nearest colleagues and her daughter Janie.
Clever idea ensuring a few hours fast-paced - no other words for it - entertainment. But I feel the book lacks something, mainly due to the almost staccato writing style. It failed to fully occupy my attention and draw me into the story as Clark's earlier works have always managed to do.
Three and a half, mainly due to clever plotting.
The mystery TV presentator Eliza Blake and her colleagues are in for this time, is rather macabre - from eccentric millionaire Innis Wheelock's suicide by stigmata to the puzzle he has created to be solved after his death. However, apart from the religious theme, the case/puzzle is cleverly plotted and leaves the reader entertained and in the dark until the very last page.
Fast-paced, as all Clark's books, "Dying for Mercy" is written very much like the puzzle of the book itself, with extremely short chapters which are furthermore divided into even smaller sections. This marks for easy reading but I do miss a bit more "meat" around the skeleton. There is little chance of loosing oneself in any part of this story before being abruptly cut off and served with another key piece of the puzzle. If there is such a thing as "a restless thriller", this must be it. No time to dwell on anything or anyone, apart from Clark's all time heroine Eliza Blake, her nearest colleagues and her daughter Janie.
Clever idea ensuring a few hours fast-paced - no other words for it - entertainment. But I feel the book lacks something, mainly due to the almost staccato writing style. It failed to fully occupy my attention and draw me into the story as Clark's earlier works have always managed to do.
Three and a half, mainly due to clever plotting.
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