rakg7's review against another edition
2.0
Do you know what was more interesting than this book? Everything. I stopped reading this book part way through to read another book. Also, I had to tear myself away from the internet many times to force myself to read this book because more interesting things include: FB, pinterest, blogs, gifs, online shopping, online TV, buzzfeed, the list goes on.
There was way too much attempt at character development in this book. Which would have been okay if it wasn’t all completely pointless. As a mystery book this was awful. As a novel it was okay. It’s like the author couldn’t decide what he was trying to write though and seeing as how I was hoping for a mystery this did not meet my standards. I'm being harsh but I'm just annoyed at how much time I spent reading this blah of a book.
There was way too much attempt at character development in this book. Which would have been okay if it wasn’t all completely pointless. As a mystery book this was awful. As a novel it was okay. It’s like the author couldn’t decide what he was trying to write though and seeing as how I was hoping for a mystery this did not meet my standards. I'm being harsh but I'm just annoyed at how much time I spent reading this blah of a book.
laurelwingcaston's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
jefecarpenter's review against another edition
lots of Irish insider character stuff; a bit too much for me.
caroparr's review against another edition
5.0
So well written, and it's always good to recognize a street the character is walking down as one you've just walked down yourself. Quirke may sound like a stereotype, but read this and you'll find him a real and changeable character.
janefc's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.0
alcyon_alcyon's review against another edition
3.0
Loved the setting and the characters, but the simple-minded and suspense-less mystery was eventually irritating. This may be a fault of Black's particular take on mysteries (he is well-known as novelist John Banville). This sort of mystery is a corrective for the type where there is far too little said about the investigator and his or her life--in this case, there is far too much, yet it doesn't really tie in to the mystery itself. (Read Banville's "The Infinities" for better entertainment value.)
viveknshah's review against another edition
3.0
John's third in this series but my first thanks to a friend, a racy psychological crime thriller with a potpourri of characters vying for varying shades of grey. I kept on imagining this as a Turner Classic movie - black and white in my head as the protagonist tugs at each open thread jumping from place to place.
Hooter: His daughter's missing friend from a family full of dark secrets has Quirke in the midst of another psychological crime thriller and he literally stumbles through it.
Hooter: His daughter's missing friend from a family full of dark secrets has Quirke in the midst of another psychological crime thriller and he literally stumbles through it.
ptaradactyl's review against another edition
2.0
I get cranky with characters determined to be unhappy, and this book seemed full of them. It was very well written, enough so that I kept wanting more and more of the back-story. But then...a whole lot of nothing happened. And everyone ended up somehow worse than they were before.
greenblack's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0