A Field of Darkness by Cornelia Read
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Book Reviews of A Field of Darkness
Book Review: Fast paced, funny and smart
Summary: 4 Stars
This debut novel is really very good. THe story is set in both Syracuse New York and Oyster Bay New York. The narrator is Madeline Dare, a young woman apparently "stranded" in upstate New York because of her new marriage to a native son. She's mainly a spoiled rich kid, without the rich but with a zany collection of relatives and friends. All of the characters are very well drawn, there's alot of nice insights into character, and despite a few plot red herrings, a well crafted and interesting mystery. I found myself reading it very quickly but wanting it to go on longer. Her character will likely be around for some time. She's worth following.Book Review: Smart Stylish Mystery
Summary: 3 Stars
Cornelia Read is a talented author with a knack for a clever turn of phrase. Her metaphors are dead on right. She shapes her heroine around her own background as a member of the social set has run out of money. Her history includes fashionable though untenable marriages, beautiful people, divorce, and a lack of genuine emotion in relationships. Married to a blue collor worker, she trades life in the moneyed fast lane for a warm loving relationship and life in Syracuse New York. Her husband, Dean is a muscular hunk but is not a style setter. She stumbles upon evidence of a 20 year old double murder case that appears to involve a beloved charming and deliciously attractive older cousin who has always fascinated her and who still has loads of money. With that set of facts as her jumping off place, Read gives insight into the lives of the rich and famous as she weaves her tale. Some of her metaphors like"The Long Dark Cocktail Party of the Soul" and "the Trust Bowl" are really edgy. I could not identify with this beautiful and stylish heroine because her mileiu was so foreign to me. However, I think this author is very talented and we can expect more from her in the future. I prefer to watch my mysteries so for me this was only a 3 star book. However, for mystery lovers it may garner 5 stars. Field of Darkness is good literature and worth reading.Book Review: Cornelia Read's A Field of Darkness
Summary: 2 Stars
Madeline Dare, the first-person narrator in Cornelia Read's A Field of Darkness, experiences terror and entrapment in her attempt to solve the murder of two young women, nineteen years after the fact. A journalist, Madeline, whose last name reminds me of the ill-fated Virginia Dare of Roanoke Island, Lost Colony fame, is hung up on denying her traditional Long Island family heritage while constantly reminding readers of it. Set in 1988 in Syracuse, New York, the novel has many references to that period, which limit the universality of the story and its attractiveness to readers not familiar with the year or location.
Madeline delights in being sarcastic, demeaning, and judgmental, vulgar in speech, conversant with the drug scene, and obsessed with sex, not a particularly likable heroine. Her tale has its moments of intrigue, fascination, and insanity. It can be read fairly quickly. Its climactic fire scene is very reminiscent of other stories, with the ending somewhat predictable, but its final dialogue from the unpleasant character Briney, is very chilling, the most memorable remark in the book. Rosalie L'Ecuyer, Fairbanks, Alaska
Book Review: A Different Sort of Mystery
Summary: 5 Stars
I can't add a lot to the other positive comments here. I loved this book for a lot of reasons. I stayed up way too late reading it in two sittings. It's not a stereotypical mystery - it has a lot more going on in regard to character, and it doesn't get into all the technical science so many hard-boiled mysteries tend to cover these days. (Which some people LOVE, and I respect that, but I have trouble with it.) This was a great account of one woman who wanted to solve a hometown mystery. I was completely gripped and I loved it.Book Review: "Unique voice" or self-indulgent metaphor hound?
Summary: 2 Stars
I've seen all the glowing reviews for this book, and to be honest I'm pretty baffled. The "unique voice" I keep hearing about seemed to me to be forced and stilted and overrun with juvenile cliches and contrived metaphors. I have to admit, to a point it was amusing, but I don't think it was amusing in quite the "look how clever I am" way it was intended. It was self-indulgent, and vaguely offensive in parts - especially knowing the "heroine" was based so closely on the author. The homophobic slurs on the part of her characters were received without reproach or offense from the main character. Some say it's a rookie mistake for a reviewer to confuse the author with the character, but in this case I think it was the author's mistake to blur the lines so severely between mystery and self-serving autobiography.
The fact that the plot was so predictable was secondary to the frustrating prose and poor character development. I get the whole fallen rich kid thing, but it was hard to muster up any sympathy for a character I just couldn't bring myself to like. And I can only help but wonder - why am I the only person who was disturbed by the fact that she wanted so badly to sleep with her cousin?