A review by joehartman
Before the Poison by Peter Robinson
2.0
This is a difficult book to review, as I can see that the author has a great deal of talent, however, this book is easily a hundred pages too long. Around page fifty the ponderous details started to derail my interest, and I considered putting it down. What the protagonist ate, the friends he chatted with, his favorite musical pieces, the movies he watched... it's all in here, day by day by day. It really slows the story and brings any suspense to a halt.
The reason I kept with it? Im trying to turn over a new leaf and not desert books half way through, as I think it's becoming a bad habit of mine, but this was a slog. That said, there are some lovely passages especially regarding Grace, the object of our hero's obsession, and there are some really intriguing observations of human behavior, which lead me to believe some of his other works might be worth a try. At the moment, I'm a little too daunted by "Before The Poison" to try.
The reason I kept with it? Im trying to turn over a new leaf and not desert books half way through, as I think it's becoming a bad habit of mine, but this was a slog. That said, there are some lovely passages especially regarding Grace, the object of our hero's obsession, and there are some really intriguing observations of human behavior, which lead me to believe some of his other works might be worth a try. At the moment, I'm a little too daunted by "Before The Poison" to try.