Quote:
Originally Posted by Loosheesh
My next-ups are Jacob's Descent by Sandra Brannan (this latest book will take me to current status in the Liv Bergen series), The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Pötzsch, and Saturday the Rabbi Went Hungry by Harry Kemelman.
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The Hangman's Daughter was simply alright, not awesome (I wanted it to be, darn it!). It's an eventful story, and the pacing is good (at 130,000+ words, it's longer than most of the fiction I've been reading lately but I felt it moved at a steady clip). However, it was also too repetitive sometimes, and I felt the writing was obvious, almost clinical; I felt no emotional connection to any of the characters. By obvious, I don't mean that it's easy to figure out who did what, but that there's a lack of subtlety or nuance (or something!); I'm wondering if that had anything to do with it being a translated work?
I wasn't bored but I wasn't invested either. If I'd bought this book on its own, I wouldn't have bought the other books in the series on the strength of reading it. As it is I won't be continuing on with the series just yet.
Jacob's Descent was a good entry in the series; the main character is an FBI agent and, once again, I feel the portrayal is all wrong (OK, not
all wrong but ...) but I do like Liv Bergen (main character) a lot, so I forgive a lot
Saturday the Rabbi Went Hungry was my favorite of the lot - Rabbi Small is a delightful character, and I really enjoy his wisdom and insights on life and faith (some of which I don't agree with but even that is fun arguing out in my DayOne journal
)
And next up are ...
Doubt by C E Tobisman (first in a series [
Caroline Auden]; not sure but I think I picked this up from the Kindle First selections for July),
Closed Circles by Viveca Sten (book two in the Sandhamn Murders; the first book [Still Waters] was another Kindle First selection a while back; it was a great mystery) and, yes (!),
Sunday the Rabbi Stayed Home 