Brendan James James itibaren Štitnjak, Hırvatistan
I have to start out by saying I love this series. I read it way back when and they will always have a place in my heart. That being said, this book was a little confusing for me. I wasn't quite sure why exactly the were fox were in Fell's Church and why exactly they wanted to destroy the town. There were also some times I was like, "huh?", and some parts that I thought were kinda lame. But at the same time, there were some parts that were really good. I know that there are two more books after this one, so maybe once I read those, this book will make more sense.
I think what struck me most about this book was that reading it was like looking at a painting. Chevalier has this beautiful, ornate style that creates layers of description on the page, echoing the work of Vermeer. Told through the eyes of Griet, one of Vermeer's maids, the novel unfolds in an intricacy that had me envisioning the way he crushes the minerals to make the paints or imagining the smell of the meat market with utter clarity. I was impressed, too, by Griet's firecracker personality and her presence of mind. She made for an interesting character to see her world through. The apparent amount of research Chevalier put into this piece was also astonishing: every detail of every aspect of Griet's life was told with the confidence of someone who lived it themself. In short, this book is totally worth all the hype it received.
I read John Hart's second novel, Down River, first and was thrilled to find a new author with a phenomenal gift for storytelling, character development and an understanding of human relationships. John Hart writing Now that I've read his debut novel, The King of Lies, I'm even more convinced of my initial impression. This book is great in all those apects; great mystery, great characters that span the height and depth of human relationships. I guessed on the "whodunit" about 3/4 the way through the book and was right. But that wasn't a disappointment at all. I enjoyed The King of Lies from first page to last and I highly recommend it and John Hart as an author.