A review by timlucier
The Fury by Alex Michaelides

funny mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I have to give the Fury a few marks:
  • EXCELLENT cover art. Really drew me in.
  • I really appreciated Michaelides' humorous writing style and his prose- particularly at the beginning when speaking of the wind on the Greek isles.
  • Certainly an interesting twist on an Agatha Christie-like tale... Reminiscent of the Glass Onion in a few ways.  As a theatre person I appreciate that actors and writers dominated the story and spoke of their situations like a play.. Originally, I loved that Elliott "imagined" the other's scenes, truly my first time seeing an unreliable omniscient narrator.

Now then: I have to say for a book that I was sucked into from the first page, I really felt let down by the end.  I enjoyed none of the characters, (especially not the protagonist, but maybe that was the point.) I found the story heavy on the British characters and storyline from home and light on the Greek influence, which I expected more of from the cover art, description, and author's name.

Halfway through the book, I was ready for it to end.  Certainly, there are some fun twists but altogether I just found them a bit depressing to read rather than witty.  I was glad it was relatively short.  All in all, a good set up but I can't help but feel it was not for me by the end- definite nosedive.

I listened to the audiobook and found Alex Jennings to be a good reader - though I will contradict other reviewers and say I did not find his "Greek accented" characters to sound particularly Greek.  Not a big deal, but saw other reviewers praise it and.... Have to disagree.
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