turrean's review against another edition
3.0
Everyone the hero encounters is hiding secrets; the artists, especially the American ones, are self-absorbed, pseudo-sophisticated, bleating, drunken brawlers; the villains are sadistic perverts; everyone is maimed, psychologically or physically. I loathed the setting; can you tell? Fortunately, I now never want to visit Paris, so that's money in the bank. Or look at any photos by Man Ray. (There was a fair bit of name dropping; thank goodness for the Wikipedia search feature of my Kindle.)
The characters are so beautifully drawn--that's what makes the horror of their plight so involving. And much harder to read. Having grown to like some of these characters in the first Stuyvesant / Grey book, I was not really looking forward to reading about their possible demise at the hands of a sadistic monster.
Serial killers are the fictional "bad guy" I least like to read about. They are completely without pity in their destruction of innocent lives; a reader cannot understand their impulses. It's like time travel SF novels that feature Nazis. They're bad guys, okay? What more do you need to know? It's a serial killer, right? And he's obsessed with tangerine peels and Moroccan hats because of a terrible incident when he was 12. What more do you need to know?
Also: fictional women, a warning:
The characters are so beautifully drawn--that's what makes the horror of their plight so involving. And much harder to read. Having grown to like some of these characters in the first Stuyvesant / Grey book, I was not really looking forward to reading about their possible demise at the hands of a sadistic monster.
Serial killers are the fictional "bad guy" I least like to read about. They are completely without pity in their destruction of innocent lives; a reader cannot understand their impulses. It's like time travel SF novels that feature Nazis. They're bad guys, okay? What more do you need to know? It's a serial killer, right? And he's obsessed with tangerine peels and Moroccan hats because of a terrible incident when he was 12. What more do you need to know?
Also: fictional women, a warning:
Spoiler
do not get close to Stuyvesant. You will regret it. You might be bombed--that did for two women. Shot in an alley--another. Murdered by a serial killer--another. Nancy! Run while you can!!!vireogirl's review against another edition
4.0
Gritty, fast-paced, and convoluted. A bit of language and romance.
froydis's review against another edition
4.0
I actually enjoyed this one better than the first one! While "fun" is not a term that really applies to this book, I did enjoy seeing familiar characters again. I really liked the setting, and the way the author wove famous people into her plot. Some of the characterizations were pretty amusing. The mystery was quite well done, and the end had be hanging off the edge of my seat. I hope the author writes a few more of these, as Harris Stuyvesant is a great character, and I love Bennet and Sarah as well. A great read for mystery fans!
aurorabulgaris's review against another edition
4.0
A pleasant historical fiction to pass the time with.
And when I say pleasant, I don't meant it's fun, romantic or cosy, but you probably got that from the title anyways.
It's macabre, a dollop of it. And that works great with the period it's set in. The overly sterotipical characters (based on nationality) is over the top and can be a bit eyerolling, and the outcome is pretty predictable, but the justification and ways you get to it makes it all worth it.
And when I say pleasant, I don't meant it's fun, romantic or cosy, but you probably got that from the title anyways.
It's macabre, a dollop of it. And that works great with the period it's set in. The overly sterotipical characters (based on nationality) is over the top and can be a bit eyerolling, and the outcome is pretty predictable, but the justification and ways you get to it makes it all worth it.
lynnmarie78's review against another edition
4.0
I read an advance reader copy. Very good mystery. Very scary and creepy in parts.
margardenlady's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Stuyvesant is hired to find a young American girl missing from Paris in the 1920s. He falls into a much bigger plot than he expected along the way. He is a slight misanthrope, but a rather competent detective and fluent enough in French to make his was among the Paris police. We get to learn about Sarah Gray and her brother Bennett along the way. I really enjoy having detectives be competent, creative and fallible. Stuyvesant has some significant skills, but he also has some significant blind spots. It makes him so much more approachable.
halfcentreader's review against another edition
4.0
One had the sense of who the murderer was before the action picks up and the reader finally becomes certain... but the motive remained unclear to me until the end. I enjoyed the American detective in 1929 Paris. I wanted more about Bennet Grey... but perhaps I should read the previous novel. Biggest complaint: Sometimes Stuyvesant's continued trips to the same nightclubs became tedious as did his occassional rampages sparked by excessive drinking while on the job.
fictionfan's review against another edition
5.0
Decadence and darkness...
It’s 1929 and Paris is filled with avant-garde artists leading the bohemian life. So when Harris Stuyvesant, ex-FBI agent turned private investigator, is hired to find a missing young American woman he fully expects to find her so immersed in this exciting world that she’s simply forgotten the folks back home. That is, until he meets Inspector Doucet, a man worried about unsolved disappearances stretching back for years. As Harris plunges into the strange and twisted world of surrealist art, Grand Guinol theatre, decadence and drugs, he begins to realise that the glittering artistic society hides a dark secret…
This is a fairly slow-burn thriller, with the author taking time to build character and give a vivid depiction of bohemian Paris between the wars. The second in a series, it works well as a standalone, although more and more I wished I’d read the first book first. King fills in enough background on the three recurring characters as the book progresses but I found I really wanted to know what had happened in the past to bring them to where they were in this book.
Stuyvesant is an engaging hero, hard-boiled on the surface but with a soft heart that he sometimes can’t keep hidden. As he becomes attracted to the missing girl’s roommate, his life is complicated when he meets up with the lost love of his life. Sarah is now working as assistant to the Comte de Charmentier, one of the men Stuyvesant suspects knows more about Pip’s disappearance than he’s telling. And as Stuyvesant gradually gets nearer the truth, he realises that Sarah herself may be in danger…
King takes us into the world of experimental art and theatre; a world both sensual and disturbing, led by men shaped in part by their experiences of the horrors of war and now stretching the bounds of morality in their lives and their art. King mixes real and fictional characters together so skilfully that this reader was never sure where the dividing line was, and I found her picture of this selfish and self-absorbed society completely convincing. The story is often macabre, sometimes gruesome, but always compelling. Highly recommended, though I would suggest it’s probably better to read them in order – I have added the first book, Touchstone, to my own TBR list and will be intrigued to see where King takes her characters in future books.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Random House.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
It’s 1929 and Paris is filled with avant-garde artists leading the bohemian life. So when Harris Stuyvesant, ex-FBI agent turned private investigator, is hired to find a missing young American woman he fully expects to find her so immersed in this exciting world that she’s simply forgotten the folks back home. That is, until he meets Inspector Doucet, a man worried about unsolved disappearances stretching back for years. As Harris plunges into the strange and twisted world of surrealist art, Grand Guinol theatre, decadence and drugs, he begins to realise that the glittering artistic society hides a dark secret…
This is a fairly slow-burn thriller, with the author taking time to build character and give a vivid depiction of bohemian Paris between the wars. The second in a series, it works well as a standalone, although more and more I wished I’d read the first book first. King fills in enough background on the three recurring characters as the book progresses but I found I really wanted to know what had happened in the past to bring them to where they were in this book.
Stuyvesant is an engaging hero, hard-boiled on the surface but with a soft heart that he sometimes can’t keep hidden. As he becomes attracted to the missing girl’s roommate, his life is complicated when he meets up with the lost love of his life. Sarah is now working as assistant to the Comte de Charmentier, one of the men Stuyvesant suspects knows more about Pip’s disappearance than he’s telling. And as Stuyvesant gradually gets nearer the truth, he realises that Sarah herself may be in danger…
King takes us into the world of experimental art and theatre; a world both sensual and disturbing, led by men shaped in part by their experiences of the horrors of war and now stretching the bounds of morality in their lives and their art. King mixes real and fictional characters together so skilfully that this reader was never sure where the dividing line was, and I found her picture of this selfish and self-absorbed society completely convincing. The story is often macabre, sometimes gruesome, but always compelling. Highly recommended, though I would suggest it’s probably better to read them in order – I have added the first book, Touchstone, to my own TBR list and will be intrigued to see where King takes her characters in future books.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Random House.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
eclectictales's review against another edition
4.0
The Bones of Paris is my first novel by Laurie R. King and it pretty much grabbed me from the first page. The author does a wonderful job in bringing out the darker, more elusive side of Paris to life. At the same time, the story gives a glimpse of what everyday life is like in the 1920s with the way that Harris goes about his investigation, looking into Pip’s life prior to her disappearance.
The case itself was interesting; it’s perhaps one of those cases where, if the main character had just walked away when things got really weird, you wouldn’t have blamed him for it. Elements from Harris’ past also spring up over the course of the novel but you don’t have to have read the first novel in the Harris Stuyvesant series to know what his backstory is all about as the narrative brings you up to speed quite nicely.
There’s perhaps one small aspect of the novel that’s a little out there regarding one of the characters (though rather in keeping with the atmosphere of the story given its perchance for the darker aspects of human nature) but otherwise The Bones of Paris is a very riveting read. I highly recommend it to readers of mystery novels, historical fiction and stories set in Paris.
You can read this review in its entirety over at caffeinatedlife.net: http://www.caffeinatedlife.net/blog/2013/09/03/review-the-bones-of-paris-giveaway/
The case itself was interesting; it’s perhaps one of those cases where, if the main character had just walked away when things got really weird, you wouldn’t have blamed him for it. Elements from Harris’ past also spring up over the course of the novel but you don’t have to have read the first novel in the Harris Stuyvesant series to know what his backstory is all about as the narrative brings you up to speed quite nicely.
There’s perhaps one small aspect of the novel that’s a little out there regarding one of the characters (though rather in keeping with the atmosphere of the story given its perchance for the darker aspects of human nature) but otherwise The Bones of Paris is a very riveting read. I highly recommend it to readers of mystery novels, historical fiction and stories set in Paris.
You can read this review in its entirety over at caffeinatedlife.net: http://www.caffeinatedlife.net/blog/2013/09/03/review-the-bones-of-paris-giveaway/
blbstorey's review against another edition
3.0
I love Laurie R. King's Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes novels, but I had never read any of her other novels. I was not totally impressed by this - the mood and atmosphere of Paris in the 1920s was well executed, but the plot wandered, specifically when she got to the explanation of the villain's actions - I didn't really get what the point of it all was. So, not a bad book, but not as good as I'd hoped, either.