joshgauthier's review against another edition
5.0
2020 reread.
Pitch dark with flashes of hope, gritty and uncomfortable with glimpses of beauty--harsh and lyrical in a single breath--Liz Hand is an incredible talent and the Cass Neary books are truly remarkable.
-----------------------------------------------
This was a true successor to the first two books of the series.
If I'm being honest, there's a part of me that didn't like it quite as much as the others. But then there's another part of me that thinks the first part doesn't know what it's talking about.
Basically, this book takes the story in some slightly new tones and directions. They aren't so much changes as they are the growth of the character and series.
Ultimately, it works. The story is still dark and beautiful and twisted and unsettling and everything that makes the series so gripping.
And that ending just works.
"I'm the ghost of punk, haunting the twenty-first century in disintegrating black-and-white.
Pitch dark with flashes of hope, gritty and uncomfortable with glimpses of beauty--harsh and lyrical in a single breath--Liz Hand is an incredible talent and the Cass Neary books are truly remarkable.
-----------------------------------------------
This was a true successor to the first two books of the series.
If I'm being honest, there's a part of me that didn't like it quite as much as the others. But then there's another part of me that thinks the first part doesn't know what it's talking about.
Basically, this book takes the story in some slightly new tones and directions. They aren't so much changes as they are the growth of the character and series.
Ultimately, it works. The story is still dark and beautiful and twisted and unsettling and everything that makes the series so gripping.
And that ending just works.
unboxedjack's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Toxic relationship, and Murder
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, and Cancer
faustian_bargain's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
4.0
carolynf's review against another edition
4.0
The trilogy ends with Cass in England on a stolen passport, once again stumbling upon dead bodies. She continues to make poor life choices regarding sex and drugs while trying to track down her long lost boyfriend from the previous book. Her ability to get into ever deeper trouble is amazingly entertaining, and enhanced by her insights into photography and punk roots. Most of this book takes place in London, with a side trip to moors of Cornwall.
muddypuddle's review against another edition
5.0
I read the second book in this series because Ms. Hand is a Maine author, one of my go-to choices. Then I read the first, which is set in Maine (yay!). When I saw this , the third in the series, on the shelf at the library, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it.
I really enjoyed this book. A lot. Couldn't wait to finish it. Maybe I'm not quite as shocked about Cass Neary's failings and downfalls (klepto, druggie, alkie), a bit enamored with her deep-down humanity and amount of knowledge of the world and its history, and in agreement with some of her "who cares" attitude about people and situations.
This was a great story - half taking place in a cold, wintery contemporary London and the other half taking place out on the stormy English moors. Good mystery, great characterization, a really interesting delve into the underground music and film-making life of the 60s and how poorly it's all aged. More Cass Neary will be appreciated. She's really grown on me.
I really enjoyed this book. A lot. Couldn't wait to finish it. Maybe I'm not quite as shocked about Cass Neary's failings and downfalls (klepto, druggie, alkie), a bit enamored with her deep-down humanity and amount of knowledge of the world and its history, and in agreement with some of her "who cares" attitude about people and situations.
This was a great story - half taking place in a cold, wintery contemporary London and the other half taking place out on the stormy English moors. Good mystery, great characterization, a really interesting delve into the underground music and film-making life of the 60s and how poorly it's all aged. More Cass Neary will be appreciated. She's really grown on me.
singlikeamother's review against another edition
4.0
This third book in Elizabeth Hand's series of dark thrillers with protagonist Cass Neary is perhaps the best to date. It's tense and exciting, and, unlike the second book, Available Dark, it's set in a milieu -- London and Cornwall -- with which many readers will be familiar, from other books if not from personal experience. Hand is inventive and imaginative, conjuring up (and then skewering) the damaged utopias of the recent past and superimposing them upon each other: the misguided freedom of the 1970s, the drug-fueled self-destruction of the punk generation, and the apocalyptic, technology-numbed nihilism of the present day. Cass Neary is an amoral anti-heroine with a heart of gold, who traverses these realms and brings light to their darkness almost entirely in spite of herself; she becomes more sympathetic in each successive novel, perhaps not least because she is surrounded by far less sympathetic characters. The book, like its two predecessors, is quite dark, but it has a satisfying, tightly constructed plot with some surprises (though others can be spotted from a distance). Reading Elizabeth Hand is always refreshing; she is a fine writer across genres, and I'm already looking forward to the 4th Cass Neary novel, which I hope won't be too long in coming.
elizafiedler's review against another edition
4.0
Impressively disturbing.
I really love the idea of a photographer-detective -- Cass Neary uses the camera partly as a way to view the world through a non-human eye, which means she has a very unusual way of observing and bearing witness to crime and violence.
I really love the idea of a photographer-detective -- Cass Neary uses the camera partly as a way to view the world through a non-human eye, which means she has a very unusual way of observing and bearing witness to crime and violence.
litteraturkvalster's review against another edition
3.0
Elizabeth Hand har själv beskrivit Cassandra ”Cass” Neary som: ”Amoral speedfreak crankhead kleptomaniac murderous rage filled alcoholic bisexual heavily tattooed American female photographer”. Och ja, den beskrivningen är ”spot on”.
Handlingen skenar inte riktigt lika mycket som i de föregående böckerna och miljön och vad som händer är inte helt främmande för läsaren. Eller har jag vant mig?
Läs hela recensionen här: https://litteraturkvalster.wordpress.com/2020/11/08/skarpt-ljus-av-elizabeth-hand/
Handlingen skenar inte riktigt lika mycket som i de föregående böckerna och miljön och vad som händer är inte helt främmande för läsaren. Eller har jag vant mig?
Läs hela recensionen här: https://litteraturkvalster.wordpress.com/2020/11/08/skarpt-ljus-av-elizabeth-hand/
terese_utan_h's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jakewritesbooks's review against another edition
4.0
With a new Cass Neary novel out, I realized that I put book three off for so long. That was a mistake.
I’ve never enjoyed a misanthropic character more and I think in large part that’s because Elizabeth Hand is such a fantastic writer. She doesn’t make Neary more than it is, she’s an anti-hero plain and simple. But she knows how to write a hell of an atmospheric tale, with touches and nods to photography and the punk scene. I know little about either but the way she uses inside baseball details on both really enhances the story and makes Neary feel like a fully realized person.
I didn’t like book two as much as book one, though I liked both. This one is closer to book one. It follows a similar structure and while that might bother some folks due to repetition, it works here. Cass and her band of misfit characters make for a compelling mystery, where drug-induced existential dread follows on every page. At times, they read like a hardboiled tale, other times it’s like a horror novel. But Elizabeth Hand is able to pull beauty out of the horror. There are some scenes that she describes in a way that stimulates the imagination of the reader.
The conclusion was somewhat predictable, though I was genuinely surprised at who the killer was. Some of the motives didn’t make complete sense to me but I’m willing to live with that. This is another great addition in a great series.
I’ve never enjoyed a misanthropic character more and I think in large part that’s because Elizabeth Hand is such a fantastic writer. She doesn’t make Neary more than it is, she’s an anti-hero plain and simple. But she knows how to write a hell of an atmospheric tale, with touches and nods to photography and the punk scene. I know little about either but the way she uses inside baseball details on both really enhances the story and makes Neary feel like a fully realized person.
I didn’t like book two as much as book one, though I liked both. This one is closer to book one. It follows a similar structure and while that might bother some folks due to repetition, it works here. Cass and her band of misfit characters make for a compelling mystery, where drug-induced existential dread follows on every page. At times, they read like a hardboiled tale, other times it’s like a horror novel. But Elizabeth Hand is able to pull beauty out of the horror. There are some scenes that she describes in a way that stimulates the imagination of the reader.
The conclusion was somewhat predictable, though I was genuinely surprised at who the killer was. Some of the motives didn’t make complete sense to me but I’m willing to live with that. This is another great addition in a great series.