The Sudden Appearance of Hope by Claire North

by Carol2 Comments
I discovered Claire North earlier this year with her Gameshouse trilogy and loved her style, so I had to pick up The Sudden Appearance of Hope. I was not disappointed. I like how North writes, her ways of describing things, of conveying her characters' thoughts. She takes an idea, bases her story around it, and makes them amazing. Hope can't be remembered - that's the idea in this one, the bit that the rest of the story revolves around. You could meet her, have dinner with her, and once she's left your sight, your hearing for a minute or two, you forget and your mind fills in that blank with whatever's most reasonable - you dined alone. Hope is many things - chief among them a thief. An interesting point - since she can't have relationships, she isn't a lover, a friend, an employee, she is free (cursed?) to define herself. Her ethnic backyard, dark skin and hair, have helped form her...
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Murder al Dente by Jennifer L. Hart

by Carol2 Comments
I am amazed at how well Murder al Dente combined two of my favorite things - pasta and mystery. The romance was nice too, kind of like cheesecake for dessert after spaghetti and sauce. And parts are laugh out loud funny - no wonder I liked it. Looking at Murder al Dente solely as a mystery, it doesn't fare that well. There aren't really enough clues and not that much actual sleuthing goes on. The whodunnit was a bit of a surprise, mostly because we don't have enough background to have even come close to guessing. Thankfully, the killer gives the requisite speech so we know why things happened like they did, while our female amateur sleuth's life is in danger because she went out on her own without making sure someone knew where she was going and who she was meeting. Why do they all do that? But, overall I really enjoyed it. The characters are great. Andy is fun and...
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The Master by Claire North

by Carol1 Comment
Ah - the last of the trilogy. I'm sad to see it end. Honestly - read it. If you enjoy fantasy or games or just thrillers for that matter, this is a great set of novellas. In this last one, we even have a love story of sorts. This time around the game is chess and our narrator has become one of the players, a player in the Great Game - the game for control of the Gameshouse. His name is Silver and he's been working toward this moment for ages. He's a King in the game, of course, and has gathered forces that he can deploy. His opponent has her own resources, possibly more powerful than his. This one had even more action than the last two. Chess is a dangerous game, but it also has more meaning - for the world as a whole and for Silver personally. My one complaint had to do with a part near the end. Silver...
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The Thief by Claire North

by Carol2 Comments
I'm not a fan of playing hide-and-seek. When I was a kid, I was always afraid everyone else would go inside or to another kid's house and just leave me hiding. I don't think it ever actually happened, but that doesn't mean I didn't worry about it. And it was even worse if it was dark. The hide-and-seek game in The Thief is awesome though. The "board" is Thailand in the 1930s and the stakes are huge, but the game might be unfairly weighted. This is the second in the trilogy and I think they should definitely be read, or listened to, in order. Thene's game in The Serpent was not exactly fair either, but that was nothing in comparison to the disadvantages our player is dealing with here. It's a thread thoughout - the Gameshouse may not be as fair as it (she) would like you to believe. Once again, North does  wonderful job building her world. Thailand in the 30s...
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The Serpent by Claire North

by Carol3 Comments
We play a lot of games at our house- for me it's mostly board games. I just don't feel the draw of video games that Amber and David do, but I love board games. We play a variety, from old standards to newer ones, board games, card games, dice. That's what drew me to the Gameshouse trilogy. I love that North took playing games and made into a world transforming power. The Serpent is the first of the novellas. The story is told to us by the narrator, an unseen watcher who takes us with him as he observes the gamers. He's sly and smart and his outlook rubs off on us. I listened to the audio and this narration style worked really well that way. The narrator was the narrator, if that makes sense. It's short, but rich and full. I love the way North uses language and world she creates, both of historic Venice and the Gameshouse itself. Thene is an...
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In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

by Carol2 Comments
Did you read the blurb above? It sounds really good, doesn't it? First off, i like house party murder mysteries, so the glass house in the middle of the woods with a small cast of characters appealed to me. Add an unreliable narrator and secrets of the past and it should have been a winner. Unfortunately, all the characters were annoying and juvenile and the big surprise wasn't that surprising. I didn't care about Nora and found her agreement to go to the party unlikely. Add in her obsession with a high school boyfriend character and she was just a pretty sad character who I didn't relate to or sympathize. Actually, I was hoping for a final twist that took into account her knowledge from crime writing, but no, she just puts herself in a dangerous position alone with the killer like so many amateur female detectives. Really, when will they learn to at least tell someone where they're going? I...
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