A review by alisonannk
House of the Hanged by Mark Mills
3.0
Having enjoyed The Information Officer I was looking forward to this novel but I must admit I was really disappointed. I even contemplated giving it a 2 star 'it was ok' but I think I may have enjoyed it more and genuinely liked it if I wasn't second guessing how things would turn out. I think the best strategy to enjoy this book is to just sit back and absorb it as it happens.
I was really put off at the start with a lengthy description of sailing, complete with sailing terminology that I wasn't familiar with, that just seemed excessive and out of place. I know that books are meant to expand your horizons but I don't expect to have to have a sailing manual to hand to read a novel. This happened another few times throughout and felt like the author was trying to prove some sailing knowledge or something. It just felt superfluous.
With regards to the entire book and the overall plot, I was left feeling let down. In the novel the information officer, by the same author, there were some amazing twists and turns of the plot. I suppose I was expecting the same, but the single main twist (and some smaller ones) in this novel was really quite predictable (perhaps I read too many books like this and have grown adept at guessing outcomes!) and it didn't even feel like a twist because I could just see it coming. The rest of the plot just felt like a chase to an inevitable end that the author outlines really early on (in my opinion) and leaves little to be left uncovered.
The relationships don't have time to develop before they are being altered and the reader just has to believe the strength of the friendships to begin with in order to share in the main characters' distrust of suspicions. Further relationship development at the start might have made some of the plot more unexpected (instead of just throwing in some flash backs from time to time to support how the relationships are supposed to be but making the plot more obvious in the process). I expected more from some of the characters due to hints and developments they are given but then this comes to nothing; particularly Venetia, Barnaby, Benoit, Ilse and Klaus - I was waiting for some greater sinister motive from each of these characters. Plus some storylines between secondary characters seemed to serve no purpose.
It was an entertaining enough read but could have been so much better and was just too obvious for my liking; with many characters and plots left undeveloped or under-developed when they weren't at the blatantly obvious end of the spectrum.
I was really put off at the start with a lengthy description of sailing, complete with sailing terminology that I wasn't familiar with, that just seemed excessive and out of place. I know that books are meant to expand your horizons but I don't expect to have to have a sailing manual to hand to read a novel. This happened another few times throughout and felt like the author was trying to prove some sailing knowledge or something. It just felt superfluous.
With regards to the entire book and the overall plot, I was left feeling let down. In the novel the information officer, by the same author, there were some amazing twists and turns of the plot. I suppose I was expecting the same, but the single main twist (and some smaller ones) in this novel was really quite predictable (perhaps I read too many books like this and have grown adept at guessing outcomes!) and it didn't even feel like a twist because I could just see it coming. The rest of the plot just felt like a chase to an inevitable end that the author outlines really early on (in my opinion) and leaves little to be left uncovered.
The relationships don't have time to develop before they are being altered and the reader just has to believe the strength of the friendships to begin with in order to share in the main characters' distrust of suspicions. Further relationship development at the start might have made some of the plot more unexpected (instead of just throwing in some flash backs from time to time to support how the relationships are supposed to be but making the plot more obvious in the process). I expected more from some of the characters due to hints and developments they are given but then this comes to nothing; particularly Venetia, Barnaby, Benoit, Ilse and Klaus - I was waiting for some greater sinister motive from each of these characters. Plus some storylines between secondary characters seemed to serve no purpose.
It was an entertaining enough read but could have been so much better and was just too obvious for my liking; with many characters and plots left undeveloped or under-developed when they weren't at the blatantly obvious end of the spectrum.