4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Intelligent, complex and thrilling occult page-turner, 17 Sep 2009
First of all, can I make something clear to the negative reviewers (and others): this is NOT a Da Vinci Code clone. What Martin Langfield has written is a fast-paced, intelligent, supernatural thriller, predominantly set in New York with flashbacks to Cambridge and London. It weaves occult philosophy and esoteric religious practices into the narrative of a tightly written novel that will keep you in suspense, forever guessing what will happen next.
The so-called "puzzles" which people have called into question are not meant to be on the same level as the Times cryptic crossword, and they work best when you just accept them for what they are and read on to see them revealed. In any case, the climax of the novel explains why the puzzles themselves are not painfully difficult to unravel; they aren't meant to be.
Langfield successfully blends occultism, history, religion, mythology and a commendable grasp of Manhattan's architecture and geography to produce something very different from the average "race against time to stop the serial killer" plot. Indeed, the ambiguities and continual upsets that run throughout the novel often make it difficult to know whose side you, the reader, are meant to be on from one moment to the next. This all adds up to what makes it so compelling. I read the book over four evenings, but agree with other (positive) reviewers that it would work best if read in one sitting.
For those who claim to have found it "difficult" or even "boring", I can only wonder if they approached the novel with the wrong expectations. Forget how the book may have been marketed, this is not the Da Vinci Code. And it's all the better for it.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hidden truths..., 28 May 2008
A great book, i cant understand the 1 and 2 star ratings, obviously the reviewers are very 'asleep' and failed to spot the thread of human awakening which the plot carefully brings into play.
Quotes such as 'He opened his eyes. He saw that he was both free and predestined: that he had wanted and chosen everything that had happened to him, that his task was to learn why he had created this life, these events, for himself.' resonate with a great deal of truth for everyone to think about.. The book doesnt aim to preach where we came from or where we may go, but it does help open the eyes of the more alert reader to answers/possibilities beyond religion..
Buy this book you wont be disappointed...
Quotes such as '
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What a ride!, 17 Feb 2007
After having experienced a rather long dry spell trying to find intelligent AND entertaining suspense-fiction, I stumbled across The Malice Box. I had a hard time putting it down at night, which I paid for with two extremely groggy days at work. And I found myself preoccupied trying to figure out how the story was going to end. Congratulations to M. Langfield. I finished the book yesterday and it is still resonating! Here's hoping for a follow up!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No