Scan barcode
patricijatilv's review against another edition
3.0
2.5/5
Jei nebūčiau sužinojusi, kad Steve Mosby iš tiesų yra mano po Šnabždėtojo spėtas pamilti Alex North, tikrai nebūčiau į šią knygą atkreipusi dėmesio – tiek dėl mano skoniui nepatrauklaus viršelio, tiek dėl siužeto, kuris kėlė čiut šypseną. Visgi, tiek geri aplinkos atsiliepimai, tiek pseudonimo faktas privertė apsigalvoti, net nuojautai sakant, kad kita pavarde prisidengiama dažniausiai ne be priežasties. Ir tikrai – North ir Mosby kūryba skiriasi dramatiškai, o ar patiks abu – jau tik sėkmės ir skonio reikalas. O man prireiks laiko, kad Mosby dar kada duočiau šansą. Detektyvas pasirodė klišakojis ir nelabai įtraukiantis, o nors žudiko ir neatspėjau jau pirmuose skyriuose, kas visada džiugina, per daug dėl jo asmenybės ir nesirūpinau, nes nė akimirkai neparūpo pačios aukos. Tai – tik veikėjų (ne)plėtojimo, banalumo ir plokštumo bėda.
Šiuo atveju Mosby bando keletą kelių: beveik nei vieno veikėjo, apart senyvo detektyvo, linijų nebando brėžti ne paviršiumi, bet ir pastarajai skiria nedaug laiko. Bando kalbėti trumpai, bet dažnai kartojasi. Turi gerą pagrindinę idėją, bet nesugeba manęs įtikinti, kodėl žudikas ja dega. Vertimas, nors ir ne blogiausias, erzino pasirinkta žodžių tvarka – dažnai ji buvo angliška, ne lietuviška. Bet tebūnie, ne didžiausia šitos knygos bėda. Daugelis veikėjų sprendimų atrodė banalūs ir nereikalingi (pavyzdžiui isterikė žmona, liepianti vyrui detektyvui jai skambinti kas dvi valandas, lyg jis tiesiog ofisiuky dokumentus vartytų), o arčiausiai tiesos autorius priartėjo intarpais iš vyriausiojo detektyvo knygos – jie iš tiesų nebuvo toli nuo dabartinio kriminologinio diskurso, o tai įrodo, kad Mosby šioje srityje ne visai iš medžio iškritęs, o taip retai kada detektyvuose nutinka – respectas. Nepasakyčiau, kad ir kažkokia neįtikėtinai šlykšti man knyga pasirodė – čia mažai smulkmeniškumo ir dėmesio detalėms. Galbūt jei būtų kitaip, bent jau būčiau šitai knygai ką nors pajutusi – pasišlykštėjimas būtų nebloga pradžia. 2*, bet tebūnie 2.5 už tą kriminologinį pagūglinimą.
Jei nebūčiau sužinojusi, kad Steve Mosby iš tiesų yra mano po Šnabždėtojo spėtas pamilti Alex North, tikrai nebūčiau į šią knygą atkreipusi dėmesio – tiek dėl mano skoniui nepatrauklaus viršelio, tiek dėl siužeto, kuris kėlė čiut šypseną. Visgi, tiek geri aplinkos atsiliepimai, tiek pseudonimo faktas privertė apsigalvoti, net nuojautai sakant, kad kita pavarde prisidengiama dažniausiai ne be priežasties. Ir tikrai – North ir Mosby kūryba skiriasi dramatiškai, o ar patiks abu – jau tik sėkmės ir skonio reikalas. O man prireiks laiko, kad Mosby dar kada duočiau šansą. Detektyvas pasirodė klišakojis ir nelabai įtraukiantis, o nors žudiko ir neatspėjau jau pirmuose skyriuose, kas visada džiugina, per daug dėl jo asmenybės ir nesirūpinau, nes nė akimirkai neparūpo pačios aukos. Tai – tik veikėjų (ne)plėtojimo, banalumo ir plokštumo bėda.
Šiuo atveju Mosby bando keletą kelių: beveik nei vieno veikėjo, apart senyvo detektyvo, linijų nebando brėžti ne paviršiumi, bet ir pastarajai skiria nedaug laiko. Bando kalbėti trumpai, bet dažnai kartojasi. Turi gerą pagrindinę idėją, bet nesugeba manęs įtikinti, kodėl žudikas ja dega. Vertimas, nors ir ne blogiausias, erzino pasirinkta žodžių tvarka – dažnai ji buvo angliška, ne lietuviška. Bet tebūnie, ne didžiausia šitos knygos bėda. Daugelis veikėjų sprendimų atrodė banalūs ir nereikalingi (pavyzdžiui isterikė žmona, liepianti vyrui detektyvui jai skambinti kas dvi valandas, lyg jis tiesiog ofisiuky dokumentus vartytų), o arčiausiai tiesos autorius priartėjo intarpais iš vyriausiojo detektyvo knygos – jie iš tiesų nebuvo toli nuo dabartinio kriminologinio diskurso, o tai įrodo, kad Mosby šioje srityje ne visai iš medžio iškritęs, o taip retai kada detektyvuose nutinka – respectas. Nepasakyčiau, kad ir kažkokia neįtikėtinai šlykšti man knyga pasirodė – čia mažai smulkmeniškumo ir dėmesio detalėms. Galbūt jei būtų kitaip, bent jau būčiau šitai knygai ką nors pajutusi – pasišlykštėjimas būtų nebloga pradžia. 2*, bet tebūnie 2.5 už tą kriminologinį pagūglinimą.
drbitchcraft's review against another edition
4.0
I read this book years ago and I still reccomend it to people. This is one of the few books that made me feel like I was part of it. Steve has such a dynamic, lively way of writing that I felt like I was watching a story, not reading it. It was exciting, the plot twists weren't predictable. The subject is really interesting and I sometimes still think about what I would've done. That's what a book is supposed to do. Make you think. Mission accomplished.
csheppard9's review against another edition
2.0
Interesting structure, good character depth and insight. The 50/50 Killer had a intriguing psychological factor to the crime and perpetrator, which highlighted aspects of the police team dynamics through the investigation. However, I found it was hard to read since it was too wordy and you needed to concentrate. Overall, I rate it 2.5⭐.
madeleinefranz's review against another edition
1.0
It always pains me to give a book a bad review but this one just wasn't for me. Since I hate leaving a book unfinished however I read it till the end, hoping it would get exciting at some point. But it didn't happened.
It was a very long lasting, boring plot. Hardly anything happened? I was not able to built any sort of connection to any of these characters, as there simply was no one whom I felt sympathy for. John and Eileen's relationship was written sloppy which is why the developments it took during the investigation were not really 'troubling' to me. I simply did not care about them. There were side plots that did not contribute to the main story and the time spent on them could have been easily used to add some more depth to the main characters instead (rather than making them clichés). The end was a surprise yet failed to get me excited as it seemed like a such big stretch? It felt as if all the action the book has been lacking up till now, was then shoved into the last few pages, which did not help it at all.
Again; I am really sad it turned out to be such a disappointment because I was really excited to finally read the book, as both the synopsis and the reviews were so promising.
It was a very long lasting, boring plot. Hardly anything happened? I was not able to built any sort of connection to any of these characters, as there simply was no one whom I felt sympathy for. John and Eileen's relationship was written sloppy which is why the developments it took during the investigation were not really 'troubling' to me. I simply did not care about them. There were side plots that did not contribute to the main story and the time spent on them could have been easily used to add some more depth to the main characters instead (rather than making them clichés). The end was a surprise yet failed to get me excited as it seemed like a such big stretch? It felt as if all the action the book has been lacking up till now, was then shoved into the last few pages, which did not help it at all.
Again; I am really sad it turned out to be such a disappointment because I was really excited to finally read the book, as both the synopsis and the reviews were so promising.
bookish_skies's review against another edition
4.0
I found the idea of the book very brutal, but also very intriguing. I was excited to see how the author was going to put the idea to work in a plot. I was not disappointed.
It was very gruesome in some parts. This was mostly because of the amount of detail that went into the description of the scenes.
The way the characters were portrayed was also done very nicely. Every character had their own voice and that was motivated while reading.
The foreshadowing was done amazing. I did not see the plottwist coming, but looking back at all the evidence, I should have. I felt myself trying to solve the case and tie knots togethers as I was reading. The story was writing very well, but it was a bit messy in some places. This made it a bit unclear in some places.
Because of the vert gruesome and shocking elements and the amount of detail that went into these scenes, I would definitely not recommend this book to younger readers.
It was very gruesome in some parts. This was mostly because of the amount of detail that went into the description of the scenes.
The way the characters were portrayed was also done very nicely. Every character had their own voice and that was motivated while reading.
The foreshadowing was done amazing. I did not see the plottwist coming, but looking back at all the evidence, I should have. I felt myself trying to solve the case and tie knots togethers as I was reading. The story was writing very well, but it was a bit messy in some places. This made it a bit unclear in some places.
Because of the vert gruesome and shocking elements and the amount of detail that went into these scenes, I would definitely not recommend this book to younger readers.
gazakas's review against another edition
4.0
Πρόκειται σαφώς για θρίλερ, από αυτά τα page-turners που λένε, αλλά η ιδέα πάνω στην οποία χτίζεται του δίνει απροσδόκητο βάθος· ο δολοφόνος παρακολουθεί ζευγάρια και όταν έχει μάθει αρκετά για τη σχέση τους, τα βασανίζει θέτοντάς τους κυριολεκτικά το ερώτημα "Τον/την αγαπάς τόσο που θα πέθαινες γι' αυτήν/όν;" (η αρνητική απάντηση σημαίνει ζωή για αυτόν/ήν που απαντά και θάνατο για το έτερον ήμισυ). Έτσι, το βιβλίο κατορθώνει να λειτουργήσει ως θρίλερ και σε ένα δεύτερο επίπεδο, πέρα από το καθαρά αστυνομικό, σε αυτό δηλαδή των ερωτικών σχέσεων, της αντοχής και της ειλικρίνειάς τους, παίζοντας με τις βεβαιότητες όχι μόνο των ηρώων του, αλλά και του ίδιου του αναγνώστη.
Αν έλειπαν και κάποια φλύαρα σημεία (ξέρετε, αυτά που ο αφηγητής λέει υπερβολικά πολλά από το φόβο μήπως δεν καταλάβουν κάτι οι αναγνώστες), καθώς και ένα κάπως ναΐφ ύφος (που μπορεί βέβαια να οφείλεται και στη μετάφραση), θα μιλούσαμε για ένα αριστούργημα και πέρα από τα όρια του είδους του.
Αν έλειπαν και κάποια φλύαρα σημεία (ξέρετε, αυτά που ο αφηγητής λέει υπερβολικά πολλά από το φόβο μήπως δεν καταλάβουν κάτι οι αναγνώστες), καθώς και ένα κάπως ναΐφ ύφος (που μπορεί βέβαια να οφείλεται και στη μετάφραση), θα μιλούσαμε για ένα αριστούργημα και πέρα από τα όρια του είδους του.
babette's review against another edition
4.0
my first thriller.... it was very exciting, I'm easily scared so I was afraid that the story would haunt me but it didn't! it's just a GREAT story, it's a whodunit but it's very hard to know who did it! the plot very unexpected. just great!
bitterindigo's review against another edition
4.0
First read in January 2013
Superb mystery. Mosby reminds me of Belinda Bauer, another great British mystery-writer. This is dark and twisted and bittersweet. It asks uncomfortable questions about the limits of love and loyalty, and features nuanced characters. I reread it after reading another mystery by Mosby, loving it, and then realizing he had also written this one.
Superb mystery. Mosby reminds me of Belinda Bauer, another great British mystery-writer. This is dark and twisted and bittersweet. It asks uncomfortable questions about the limits of love and loyalty, and features nuanced characters. I reread it after reading another mystery by Mosby, loving it, and then realizing he had also written this one.