nglofile's review
2.0
I feel as if I am saying this often of late, but this is another with an interesting premise but a disappointing execution. The writing seemed plodding and disjointed, and there were several repeated phrases and sentences. The best thing I can say is that it inspired me to see the movie Zodiac, a better film than I had expected.
audiobook note: Stefan Rudnicki's voice carries the tones of what I imagine a beat cop would have. Effective narration for the material.
audiobook note: Stefan Rudnicki's voice carries the tones of what I imagine a beat cop would have. Effective narration for the material.
anneaustex's review
3.0
Dark, creepy, deftly conceived, richly detailed. and well-written, this police procedural will keep you guessing right up to the end. Ellory is one of my favorite mystery writers and he never disappoints. As much as I would like to say more about this one it would spoil the reading experience so you’ll just have to step into The Anniversary Man and go where it takes you.
caterinaanna's review
3.0
I read this just before the sock-puppet scandal which led to an awful lot of people falling out with this author. I think some other former fans have been a little over-the-top in their condemnation, almost as if they have taken his actions as a personal betrayal, and others have used it as an opportunity to admit they'd never liked him. However, I'm trying not to let any of that cloud my judgement.
It's difficult to say much abut this book without giving things away. It is very gory, with many of the brutal murders and near murders being based on the actions of real serial killers which you can go away and look up if you are so inclined. The degree to which the main cop is personally involved makes for a lot of tension, but there were some red herrings that I didn't feel were quite fair and I got a bit confused with the timeline at one point. Overall OK, but not his best.
It's difficult to say much abut this book without giving things away. It is very gory, with many of the brutal murders and near murders being based on the actions of real serial killers which you can go away and look up if you are so inclined. The degree to which the main cop is personally involved makes for a lot of tension, but there were some red herrings that I didn't feel were quite fair and I got a bit confused with the timeline at one point. Overall OK, but not his best.
ibeforem's review
4.0
For a long time John Costello tried to forget what happened.
Perhaps pretended that it had not.
The devil came in the form of a man, around him the smell of dogs.
I didn’t find this to be as lyrically beautiful as A Quiet Belief in Angels was, but it was still quite good. Ellory doesn’t write crime novels like you expect them to be written. The book is really more about the people involved than it is about the crime. In this case, you have a triumverate of main characters: Detective Ray Irving, journalist Karen Langley, and John Costello, a researcher who works for Karen who also happens to be the survivor of a serial killer.
John has spent his adult life reading about and researching serial crimes, so when there’s a series of seemingly unrelated murders in NYC that happen to mimic earlier serial murders, he is the only one who recognizes what is going on. It’s brought to Ray’s attention via an article that Karen plans to publish, and Ray slowly comes to realize that he can’t solve this crime without their help.
With the exception of John, whom Ray refers to as "the fucking Rainman" at one point, our main characters are refreshingly normal. Ray is a bit lonely (his girlfriend suddenly passed away a few months before), but he doesn’t have any of the gigantic flaws you would expect from our down and out detective. The one thing about the novel that did bug me was that every time Ray thinks of his deceased girlfriend, she is referred to by her full name: Deborah Wiltshire. We only need her last name once. It’s not like there was another Deborah in the book.
I think Ellory does a great job of capturing the feel of New York. I’m always impressed when a foreign author is is able to portray the U.S. so well. I think it shows their dedication to the story they write. I was a little surprised by the ending of the book, but it wasn’t completely unexpected. And I thought it was fitting.
Overall, this was a book I really enjoyed. Ellory is a master of the character-driven crime novel.
Perhaps pretended that it had not.
The devil came in the form of a man, around him the smell of dogs.
I didn’t find this to be as lyrically beautiful as A Quiet Belief in Angels was, but it was still quite good. Ellory doesn’t write crime novels like you expect them to be written. The book is really more about the people involved than it is about the crime. In this case, you have a triumverate of main characters: Detective Ray Irving, journalist Karen Langley, and John Costello, a researcher who works for Karen who also happens to be the survivor of a serial killer.
John has spent his adult life reading about and researching serial crimes, so when there’s a series of seemingly unrelated murders in NYC that happen to mimic earlier serial murders, he is the only one who recognizes what is going on. It’s brought to Ray’s attention via an article that Karen plans to publish, and Ray slowly comes to realize that he can’t solve this crime without their help.
With the exception of John, whom Ray refers to as "the fucking Rainman" at one point, our main characters are refreshingly normal. Ray is a bit lonely (his girlfriend suddenly passed away a few months before), but he doesn’t have any of the gigantic flaws you would expect from our down and out detective. The one thing about the novel that did bug me was that every time Ray thinks of his deceased girlfriend, she is referred to by her full name: Deborah Wiltshire. We only need her last name once. It’s not like there was another Deborah in the book.
I think Ellory does a great job of capturing the feel of New York. I’m always impressed when a foreign author is is able to portray the U.S. so well. I think it shows their dedication to the story they write. I was a little surprised by the ending of the book, but it wasn’t completely unexpected. And I thought it was fitting.
Overall, this was a book I really enjoyed. Ellory is a master of the character-driven crime novel.
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