Red Leaves (Hardcover)

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Review
"Thomas Cook writes like a wounded angel and Red Leaves is one of his masterworks. Sorrow, suspicion, fear and forgiveness hang suspended over an almost unbearably increasing tension. In Cook's hands, the crime novel, if that's what this is, moves firmly into literature." Peter Straub "Red Leaves is one of the best novels you'll read this year - gripping, beautifully written, surprising and devastating. Thomas H. Cook has long been one of my favourite writers. Red Leaves will show you why." Harlan Coben Quercus is a brand new imprint with a lot of fine crime titles to be published this year, and if this, the first I've seen, is anything to go by, it will be a big success. Something ugly rears its head in smalltown America as a little girl goes missing while being baby-sat by a teenage boy. Slowly but surely the boy's father, Eric Moore, who narrates the story, begins to suspect everything his son does and says, and realises that his whole life is based on falsehood. As his wife who is cuckolding him says: "Everybody lies", which mirrors the comment by his alcoholic brother: "Everybody's a fake." Red Leaves is a brilliant description of how a seemingly perfect life can fall apart all because of one phone call. Outstanding, and so very melancholic. Independent on Sunday Thomas H Cook is a crime writer's crime writer; he's been around for several decades now, praised by his peers but never totally embraced by the reading public. His latest novel, currently shortlisted for the US Edgar Award, should surely help to put a stop to this neglect. Set in small-town America, it traces the steady and agonising destruction of a seemingly normal family, following the disappearance of a local teenager. Narrated by a local businessman blissfully unaware of how tenuous the ground is under his feet, this is a splendid if painful destruction of the American dream by everyday evil. It makes for a most bitter but powerful tale, guaranteed to leave a bad taste in the mouth; you won't be able to put it down. Guardian '...a cracking book ... deserves to put Cook up in the top bracket among readers as well as fellow writers.' Manchester Evening News 'A terrific piece of work' Guardian 'Red Leaves is a brilliant description of how a seemingly perfect life can fall apart all because of one phone call. Outstanding.' Independent on Sunday

Harlan Coben
Red Leaves is one of the best novels you’ll read this year – gripping, beautifully written, surprising and devastating

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15 Reviews 5 star:  (10) 4 star:  (3) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:  (1) 1 star:  (1)           Average Customer Review 4.3 out of 5 stars (15 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   17 of 17 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant, poignant novel from a brilliant writer., 25 May 2006 By  C. J. Simmons "Crimesquad.com" (UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    What can I say! I loved this book. It is a suspenseful novel which centres on the disappearance of a little girl. The novel is seen through the eyes of the main protagonist, Eric. Amy Giordano has vanished, presumed taken whilst being looked after by Eric's son, Keith. As the days stretch by without Amy being found, suspicion grows within what had been a harmonious family unit. Were they ever such a harmonious family or was it all just a big lie? I have loved previous novels by Thomas H. Cook and feel he isn't given the crdit like other American novelists in Britain. This novel drip feeds you the suspense as past and present begin to overlap. This is not a book with high drama and car chases. This is a little sample of reality, of what can and does happen to a normal family when lies and suspicion threaten to explode all your ideals. This is a very humane and poignant book. I couldn't put it down. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   6 of 6 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars Super read, 2 Mar 2007 By  Mr. Simon Clarke "simbadiow" (Isle of Wight) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    This review is from: Red Leaves (Paperback) I disagree with the other reviewer who said that the writer is trying to do a "We need to talk about Kevin". Thomas H Cook is a writer who I usually think of as writing out of his element. His subject matter tends to be of the common or garden slash/murder/depths of evil type of genre beloved of the supermarket shelves. However his writing style is far too good for this type of book. I found myself reading this book far too fast purely because I was pulled along by the great storyline and I had to keep slowing down to admire his writing. I still finished it the same day that I started. Thomas H Cook could undoubtedly write a book of the depth of "We need to talk about Kevin" as he clearly has the literary skills to do so, but whilst he does such a good job of elevating the genre he is in, I'm not complaining. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   10 of 11 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Thomas H. Cook - Red Leaves, 18 May 2007 By  RachelWalker "RachelW" (England) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    This review is from: Red Leaves (Paperback) This book was truly a revelation to me. I've never read - or even particularly heard - of Cook before, and am a little surprised after reading the book. He seems to be an unsung hero of the crime genre (rather like The Fall in the world of music) critically lauded but not that popularly known. After reading this, though, you can know the crime genre is in safe hands. Yes, there is a lot of complete rubbish in the genre (and in any sphere of writing) but crime fiction, when it is written the best it can be, is as much literature as anything that might cart off the Booker. And this is it written as best it can be; this is literature - the case is proven. Red Leaves is a beautifully written, poigniant, powerful, moving book. America loves book in which their American dream comes crumbling down around the heads of noble, hard-working men (Mystic River), and this is one of those (it was shortlisted for the Edgar and the new Duncan lawrie Dagger; appallingly, it won neither and probably deserved both). An elegiac examination of a disappearance, a disintegrating family life, of dangerous, corrosive suspicion among families. It's written with an intensity and gloomy beauty that are rare, but that sets it out as among the best of fiction. The end is shocking, wrenching, and emotionally shattering. This book leaves you the way few books are able to. I'll be reading Thomas H. Cook again. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review › See all 15 customer reviews...		Most Recent Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars Really Cooking This is a suspense filled thriller and also not one but two "whodunnit" crime mysteries. It contains clues, red herrings, surprise revelations and , in the best tradition of such... Read more Published 5 months ago by J. J. O'neill 5.0 out of 5 stars Marvellous What an excellent story. I've found a new author and will be buying lots more of his books. Can't believe anybody could not appreciate this book Published 9 months ago by Crime Buff 4.0 out of 5 stars Insightful psychological novel Red Leaves is the story of a family's response when suspicion falls on their awkward, loner, teenage son, following the disappearance of an eight year girl that he was babysitting... Read more Published 11 months ago by Jaybird 1.0 out of 5 stars Desperately mediocre I have to agree with the review who said this book tries too hard to be a psychological crime novel that raises questions, and ends up just being an OK whodunnit. Read more Published 17 months ago by Ms. R. M. Keys 5.0 out of 5 stars loved it! I have read many great books and a lot of thomas h cook's but this one stands above the rest for me-its a long time since I have read a book that made me cry ( I wont say why as... Read more Published 17 months ago by Lynne M. Robertson 2.0 out of 5 stars Trying to be another 'We Need To Talk About Kevin' - but failing My overwhelming impression was that this book was very self-conscious, by which I mean that I felt the author was going out of his way to write a book that provoked discussion and... Read more Published on 8 Feb 2007 by Mungus 5.0 out of 5 stars Review of Red Leaves A novel that asks as many questions as it answers; do we really know our families,our neighbours,ourselves? An old man,embittered and full of hate. Read more Published on 28 Jan 2007 by Raptreader 5.0 out of 5 stars What a rollercoaster Oh my. I'd never read any Thomas H Cook before but I will be after this. I asked for it for Christmas after it came up in my Amazon recommendations. Read more Published on 17 Jan 2007 by Lady K 4.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended Like the other contributors I really enjoyed this book and also like some of the others it was my first Cook novel. Read more Published on 14 Jan 2007 by Too Many Books 5.0 out of 5 stars A Really Gripping Tale This was the first time I'd heard of Thomas J Cook. But as a diverse reader I thought I'd give it a try. It gripped me from the start, a very poignant and dramatic read. Read more Published on 2 Dec 2006 by Debra Smith Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews › See all 15 customer reviews...

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