REVIEW: Mister Slaughter by Robert McCammon

Mister Slaughter by Robert McCammon
Publication Year: 2010
Genre: Mystery, Historical (Colonial America)
Series: Matthew Corbett #3
Awards: NA
Format: Audio (from Audible.com)
Narrator: Eduardo Ballerini

I'm going to start this review with a plea.  A plea to pick up this really fantastic historical mystery series by Robert McCammon.  It's one of my favorites and it most certainly does not get enough love.  If you don't trust me (I mean, why would you:), trust the good people of goodreads that have collectively given this book a 4.24 rating.  I can hear you arguing that ratings for books 3 deep in a series don't count - by then you've got an audience that is invested and more disposed towards enjoying the book - BUT I counter book one, Speaks the Nightbird, has an average rating of 4.10 out of 5.   The point is this series is incredibly good so if you like historical fiction and/or mysteries, I urge you to check it out.  And no I am not in any way related to Robert McCammon; I just really like the series and wish it got more love.  My one warning would be that they are quite visceral and gruesome - McCammon has also written horror and it shows. 

Now with the shameless begging over with, I can move on to gushing about the third book in the series, Mister Slaughter.  It is 1702, in the fast growing city of New York, and the young protagonist, Matthew Corbett is settling into his new(ish) position as an agent with a Pinkerton type agency, Colonial America style.  He and his partner Greathouse can be hired to do almost anything from solving a problem through detective work to escorting violent prisoners from one jail to the next.  In this instance they have been hired to transfer Mister Tyranthus Slaughter (best name ever?  possibly so) from a madhouse in the country outside of New York to the city where he will be placed upon a ship for England to be tried for murder.   Things don't go according to plan.

At the start of the book, Matthew has become a bit of a local celebrity.  His landlord, a printer, has published accounts of Matthew's adventure in book two (The Queen of Bedlam) and all the attention has gone to his head a bit.  He is in debt because he has become a bit of dandy and he is resentful that Greathouse, older, more experienced but less intellectual, feels like he can order Matthew around.  This attitude leads Matthew into making some very poor decisions which have disastrous consequences. 

Matthew's journey and growth in this book is one of the more important parts of the story and it enriches what is otherwise a plain old man hunt.  I have to admit that I was initially very peeved at how Matthew 's character was portrayed in the early parts of the book - I felt it was inconsistent with the Matthew from books one and two.  I still think his foolishness and self-involvement was a bit overdone but the payoff in the end was worth it, in my opinion, and McCammon does his best to explain why Matthew would be acting the way he does.

While I'm going on about characters, let's talk about Tyranthus Slaughter.  He is a brilliant character that is evil in a way that borders on the supernatural but human enough to remain disturbing.  He is mesmerizing  - the type of villain that can charm and bluff his way into anyone's trust, a master actor who can outsmart anyone he chooses.  The author's descriptions of him are incredibly vivid, almost tactile and the character is provided more depth by the narration in the audiobook - I loved how the narrator voiced him.  I actually was a little disappointed in how he voiced Matthew (he sounded a little too prissy) but his Slaughter made up for it one hundred fold. 

One of the strengths of all the books in this series is the depiction of Colonial America and this book is no exception.  McCammon has a way of bringing that time and place to life in a very matter fact kind of way.  There is little to no evidence of glaring "look at all this research I did about this historic artifact or custom."  The Colonial America being presented is a very lived in one that feels real and gives me a sense of what it might have been like to actually live at that time. It is very skillfully done.  In this book in particular, the wilderness of New York state is explored and Native Americans are encountered for the first time in the series (I think). 

The book wasn't perfect of course.  Besides the above mentioned too deviant behavior of Matthew, McCammon uses a couple of literary devices or tricks a little too frequently.  He ends a couple chapters with big fake out cliff hangers which came across as a little pulpy and out of the tone of the book as a whole.  Also he really likes to start chapters, having skipped a big chunk of time since the previous chapter and then back tracks explaining all that leads up to the current state of events.  This is a fine way of storytelling of course but it happens a little too often and is a little jarring - making me notice it when things should just flow. 

FINAL VERDICT:  I think this may be my favorite book yet in this atmospheric and realistic historical mystery/adventure series.  I was riveted the whole way through and a particularly interesting villain as well as the journey the protagonist goes on make this installment particularly worthwhile.  4 out of 5 Stars.

REVIEW: The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

Original Publication Year: 1860

Genre(s): Fiction, Gothic Mystery

Series: NA

Awards: None

Format: Audio

Narrated by: Ian Holm

There are two sisters (half-sisters really), one is beautiful, sweet and rich and the other is ugly, smart and poor.  They are devoted to each other and they are mostly on their own in the world since their uncle/guardian is quite useless and self-absorbed.  Enter a handsome young drawing master, hired to instruct the young ladies.  Inevitably, the young drawing master (Walter Hartwright) falls in love with the pretty, sweet sister (Laura Fairlie) and she with him but alas, they are of different social classes and she is already engaged to the dashing older Sir Perceval Glyde.  Unfortunately, while Sir Glyde is doting and charming, a strange letter arrives that hints at hidden and unpleasant depths to his character which produces foreboding amongst all who care for Miss Fairlie.  Oh, the foreboding. 

Throw in a mysterious and somewhat mentally unstable doppelganger for Miss Fairlie who always wears white and you have the beginnings of a dramatic and rollicking tale.  I was not expecting this book to be such a page turner but it had pretty constant drama and action.  There are several mysteries that drive the plot forward at a cracking pace.  It definitely doesn’t feel like a 672 page book except when I reflect on all that happens it is not surprising it is on the longer side.  The narrative moves around through several different perspectives with Walter Hartwright’s being the primary one but also contributing are Marian, the Fairlie’s solicitor, and the young ladies’ invalid uncle.

Collins’ characters are also pretty amazing. The invalid uncle is a indulgent, narcissistic hypochondriac to beat all others.  My favorite characters were undoubtedly Marian Holcombe (the ugly, smart sister) and I somewhat more controversially love Count Fosco (not least of which because he is the only man in the story to have the good sense to fall head over heels in love with Marian). More on Marian later but Fosco is a larger than life character; an intelligent and charismatic villain.  He is much more menacing then Percival Glyde and some of his monologues are epic.  

Another thing I wasn’t expecting to see strongly messaged throughout the book was some pretty serious mid-nineteenth century feminism.  There seem to be a lot of messages here about the inequality between men and women in society and marriage.  Count Fosco even states in his ultimate letter confessing his dastardly deeds…

“What is the secret of Madame Fosco’s unhesitating devotion of herself to the fulfillment of my boldest wishes, to the furtherance of my deepest plans? I might answer this by simply referring to my own character, and by asking, in my turn, Where, in the history of the world, has a man of my order ever been found without a woman in the background self-immolated on the altar of his life? But I remember that I am writing in England, I remember that I was married in England, and I ask if a woman’s marriage obligations in this country provide for her private opinion of her husband’s principles? No! They charge her unreservedly to love, honour, and obey him. That is exactly what my wife has done. I stand here on a supreme moral elevation, and I loftily assert her accurate performance of her conjugal duties. Silence, Calumny! Your sympathy, Wives of England, for Madame Fosco!”

And then there is Marian who continually says things implying the weakness of women but then proving in her actions and her intellect that she is the equal if not the superior of most men.  And she also has some things to say about marriage:

“No man under heaven deserves these sacrifices from us women. Men! They are the enemies of our innocence and our peace - they drag us away from our parents' love and our sisters' friendship - they take us body and soul to themselves, and fasten our helpless lives to theirs as they chain up a dog to his kennel. And what does the best of them give us in return?”

I vividly felt, as Marian and Laura’s position in Sir Glyde’s household became clear, the fear and helplessness they must experience as women of that era.  Powerless and at the mercy of the men in their lives. 

As a cherry on top, Ian Holm’s narration of the book was perfect in every way.  He expertly captured the different voices as well as the exaggerated drama and foreboding that I think firmly makes this a Gothic novel. 

It missed getting five stars because sometimes the manipulation of the reader was a little too blatant.  I’m not sure this was a fault of the author but is probably just a characteristic of Gothic literature but I sometimes was imagining a tiny orchestra in my head going “Dun, dun DUN!”  Also, I have to say I was a little put out that Marian’s prescribed life and path is as her sister’s companion and doting Aunty to Laura and Walter’s children.  She says this is what she wants and we must take her at her word but I don’t quite believe it.  For all the feminism run rampant in the novel, of COURSE Walter chooses the pretty, sweet one over the super duper awesome smart but ugly one.  She has to settle for Fosco’s admiration.

And finally the BIG question!! Collins or Dickens? I feel like I’ve heard a few people of late claim that Dickens has wrongly been exalted as grand English literature while Collins has wallowed in the background.  They claim that Collins is in fact the better writer.  I have to say The Woman in White was a pretty serious page turner of a book and while I love many of Dickens’ books, I wouldn’t say they are always page turners.  However, they do feel a bit more substantive, perhaps.  I see why the two writers would be compared – writing at the same time and they each employ satire, especially in the form of some of their characters, to poke fun at institutions and certain types of people they despise.  However, I don’t know that it’s fair to compare them.  Dickens to me has more of a distinctive style but maybe that’s just because I have read way more of his books?  Regardless, the jury is still out as far as I am concerned and may forever be out.  Where do you come down on the matter?

Final Verdict:  A page turner of a mystery with an interesting cast of characters and suitably Gothic storytelling.  4 out of 5 Stars!   ✪✪✪✪

P.S. Another mystery.  I thought that Laura Fairlie is described over and over as blonde?  Did I imagine that?   Every cover shows the woman in white as having dark hair...

                  

Gothic Novel Category

REVIEW: Rats Saw God by Rob Thomas

Rats Saw God by Rob Thomas
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Original Publication Year: 1996

Genre(s): YA, Contemporary(ish)

Series: NA

Awards: None

Format: Honest to god paperback

Narrated By: NA

**On my 100 books reading challenge list**

I picked this book up several years ago based on the force of my love for Veronica Mars. The book was written way back in 1996, when Rob Thomas was coming off 6 years as a high school journalism teacher and Veronica was just a gleam in his eye.

The story is told by Steve, pothead and National Merit Scholar, as he hazes through his senior year until the school’s guidance counselor takes him in hand and asks him to write a story. A story about how he became a pothead and so disengaged with life. If he does this, the guidance counselor will ensure he graduates. So Steve begins to write the story of his Sophomore year spent living with his cold, disapproving astronaut father in Texas. His parents are divorced and he’s taken his mom’s side but is forced to live with super successful dad. His response is to try and be as non-conformist and as weird as possible. He falls in with other like-minded souls and even falls in love for the first time but it all ends in heartbreak. Which is why he is a pothead, now living with his mother in CA. His intelligence gives him a chance to do good in the world but can he get over his first love and get out from under his father’s shadow in order to take that chance?

Rob Thomas definitely knows a little something about being a teenager in the early 1990s. He definitely captures accurately and painfully the awkward, fearful wanting-to-be-unique-but-also-be-the-same-as-everybody-else sort of brain damage that most teenagers have. Thankfully he does this liberally infused with the same snarky, clever wit that was/is a hallmark of Veronica Mars. I laughed out loud on a regular basis; from the quippy banter and from the ridiculous behavior and situations that litter teenage-hood.

Unfortunately for me this just isn’t my sort of thing anymore. Maybe even 10 years ago I might have embraced and loved this but somewhere along the line I turned into the curmudgeonly get of my lawn sort of lady. I don’t feel nostalgic anymore for my high school years. I had held onto it for a good long embarrassing time but reading this book made me realize it is really gone so I found Steve’s “struggles” and subsequent bad behavior amusing but not really engaging. It’s solidified my feelings that while I have been reading a good bit of YA in the fantasy genre, straight forward contemporary YA holds no allure.

I guess the real question is: will teenagers like it? I think so. It’s a bit dated but the core themes, if not original, are definitely universal. Thomas’ way with the clever dialogue and humor is also a huge selling point. It’s also pretty short so can be consumed pretty quickly.

Final Verdict: Not entirely my thing anymore, but it is still quite good. Certainly worth reading if you enjoy Rob Thomas’ way with a script.


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