- Hardcover: 288 pages
- Publisher: Quercus; First Edition edition (2 July 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1847248403
- ISBN-13: 978-1847248404
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.7 x 3.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 749,157 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Fate of Katherine Carr
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Product Description
Review
Thomas H. Cook has long been one of my favourite writers - Harlan Coben.
A good thriller doesn't necessarily require flying fists, bombs and bullets; a sure and measured build-up of tension does just as well, and few are better at the fine art of sure and measured than Cook - Guardian.
The sort of book John Banville might produce if his crime novels were more like his straight novels … ultimately this lovely novel leaves you feeling a wiser person' Daily Telegraph.
A good thriller doesn't necessarily require flying fists, bombs and bullets; a sure and measured build-up of tension does just as well, and few are better at the fine art of sure and measured than Cook - Guardian.
The sort of book John Banville might produce if his crime novels were more like his straight novels … ultimately this lovely novel leaves you feeling a wiser person' Daily Telegraph.
Review
Thomas H. Cook has long been one of my favourite writers - Harlan Coben. A good thriller doesn't necessarily require flying fists, bombs and bullets; a sure and measured build-up of tension does just as well, and few are better at the fine art of sure and measured than Cook - Guardian. 'The sort of book John Banville might produce if his crime novels were more like his straight novels ultimately this lovely novel leaves you feeling a wiser person' Daily Telegraph.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I have read just about every book Thomas H Cook has written. His themes always contain a sense of Conradian darkness, but I feel that now he is beginning to home in on a central premise. A premise which focuses on the nature of murder as a singular force and the balance of judgement/revenge.
His last novel 'The Master of the Delta' brings in much mention of historical atrocities - the Spanish Inquisition, the gulag ships, and so on. Cook touches on this type of material again here - Countess Bathory, war crimes, various famous serial killers. (But not in any sensationalising way. As a crime writer he is one of the most philosophical and morally tenacious in searching through the murk and the sadism.)
This is a truly multilayered book - and one of the strangest I think he has ever written. A previous reviewer states that the reader needs to go back to the first chapter after reaching the end to find out what has happened to George. This is spot on. (References in the story to 'a further turning of the screw' are definately relevant here.) It's not the kind of twist I expected from Cook, but then again he has never dealt in conventional 'twists' anyway. A further reason why he is so original and interesting as a crime author.
'The Fate of Katherine Carr' is an uneasy, perplexing, horrifying and moving novel. I really hope it finds a big audience. It would also make a superb film.
His last novel 'The Master of the Delta' brings in much mention of historical atrocities - the Spanish Inquisition, the gulag ships, and so on. Cook touches on this type of material again here - Countess Bathory, war crimes, various famous serial killers. (But not in any sensationalising way. As a crime writer he is one of the most philosophical and morally tenacious in searching through the murk and the sadism.)
This is a truly multilayered book - and one of the strangest I think he has ever written. A previous reviewer states that the reader needs to go back to the first chapter after reaching the end to find out what has happened to George. This is spot on. (References in the story to 'a further turning of the screw' are definately relevant here.) It's not the kind of twist I expected from Cook, but then again he has never dealt in conventional 'twists' anyway. A further reason why he is so original and interesting as a crime author.
'The Fate of Katherine Carr' is an uneasy, perplexing, horrifying and moving novel. I really hope it finds a big audience. It would also make a superb film.
Format:CD-ROM|Amazon Verified Purchase
I would dearly have loved to have awarded five stars to this story as I am a devoted fan of Thomas H. Cook. However, to say I was totally confused at the end of the book is an understatement. I have taken the advice of a previous reviewer and started reading the first chapters again, but I am now on to the fourth chapter and I'm not any further enlightened. I shall persevere to the end, as it is a hauntingly sad tale, beautifully written as usual by TH Cook, but I don't think I will be any the wiser second time around and still feel confused when I reach the final page.
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Stories within stories within stories. On finishing this book, I had to think hard, revisit the beginning and it was then that I think I got the levels of invention clear, and what the intention of the narrator was.
And then the story became even more powerful.
As with many of Thomas H Cook's novels, there is much darkness here and exploration of the nature of evil.
Cook writes elegantly. His best books are soaked through with secrets - often traumatic and murderous ones from childhood or the past that come pushing through into the present.And there is almost always a sense of dark revelation to come and much suspense.And often an unexpected and chilling twist as well.
"The Fate of Katherine Carr," like the marvellous "Breakheart Hill" and "Instruments of Night" and "Red Leaves" and others, is not a conventional "page-turning" mystery or thriller. It is deeper, more thoughtful and lasts longer in the mind.
Thomas H. Cook is an under-rated or under-known writer I think - and one of those whose images and explorations into the dark heart stay with you (or stay with me, at least) long after the book is finished, unlike many ephemeral mysteries, which are very soon forgotten.
For me this wasn't quite as satisfying as the other books I've mentioned, but it is still a very rich and rewarding story. And I've a feeling that its threads and echoes and haunting conclusion - which makes you reconsider the facts of the case - will not easily fade.
And then the story became even more powerful.
As with many of Thomas H Cook's novels, there is much darkness here and exploration of the nature of evil.
Cook writes elegantly. His best books are soaked through with secrets - often traumatic and murderous ones from childhood or the past that come pushing through into the present.And there is almost always a sense of dark revelation to come and much suspense.And often an unexpected and chilling twist as well.
"The Fate of Katherine Carr," like the marvellous "Breakheart Hill" and "Instruments of Night" and "Red Leaves" and others, is not a conventional "page-turning" mystery or thriller. It is deeper, more thoughtful and lasts longer in the mind.
Thomas H. Cook is an under-rated or under-known writer I think - and one of those whose images and explorations into the dark heart stay with you (or stay with me, at least) long after the book is finished, unlike many ephemeral mysteries, which are very soon forgotten.
For me this wasn't quite as satisfying as the other books I've mentioned, but it is still a very rich and rewarding story. And I've a feeling that its threads and echoes and haunting conclusion - which makes you reconsider the facts of the case - will not easily fade.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
What a twist!
I really need to read this book again to fully get to grips with the various threads. Not a book to be read little by little. Read more
Published on 17 Dec 2009 by Mrs. Audrey Williams
Disappointing
I've loved Thomas H. Cook's novels for years. This one just didn't do it for me.
Published on 26 Aug 2009 by L. Muhlen-Hubai
"Katherine Carr's name was as lovely as her fate was grim"
Three different stories fold over one another in this gothic mystery which revolves around the self-obsessive voice of a highly self-conscious, introspective former travel writer... Read more
Published on 24 Jun 2009 by Michael Leonard
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