We have a new columnist for our website, nicknamed "The Critic". Our critic will be reviewing books and will be posting personal opinions about the book. So watch out in this section, before you want to buy a book or get a book from your local library. Interested in posting your reviews of the books you read.. Mail me your review.. I will post it here. (you must be knowing my email id, if not check in your mailbox)
The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason
After the Da Vinci bug bit me, I devoured all the other Dan Brown's books and was thirsting for more, when I landed upon "The Rule of Four". The Rule of Four I found was interesting and full of intriguing puzzles. Like our Robert Langdon who is an academic Researcher, we find the Protaganists of The Rule of Four are also hardcore researchers. The books is completely based in an academic setup and all those in an academic settlement could easily identify with it. The politics and plagiarism in an academic setup are issues that one could easily relate to. The book has all the elements of a thriller murder, mystery, and treasure hunt.
The book is about a renaissance book Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, which is an "encyclopedia masquerading as a novel". Four Princeton college students are involved in this mystery. While one is a hardcore researcher trying to solve the code in Hypernotomachia, the narrator has a long distressing affair with the book right from his childhood. The others pitch in to do their bit to solve the code.
Interesting book worth reading. Well it tempts you to look for Hyperotomachia itself. Check out the crossword at
http://www.randomhouse.com/bantamdell/theruleoffour/r04puzzle.pdf
Ruth Rendell's "Shake Hands forever "
Our critic a die hard crime fan reviews the book Ruth Rendell's "Shake Hands Forever". Continue reading to know what our Critic has to say.
Hi! So what have I been reading lately. Ruth Rendell's Shake Hands forever. It's a Inspector Wexford book. I discovered Ruth Rendell just three years back. I have chanced upon Inspector Wexford book From Doon with Death. I liked it very much and started reading her other books.
For a die hard crime fan like me, Agatha Christie is the Queen. She is the Queen of Perfect Plots for perfect crimes. Whereas Ruth Rendell is the Queen of Character. The way she builds her character is great. So what do I think of Shake Hands Forever. I don't think its one of her best. But if you're a crime buff its great reading.
The first thing that occurred to me while reading the first few pages. Well, a man brings his mother home to see his wife. The mother has met the daughter-in-law only once. There is nobody at home. The man goes searching for his wife asks his mom to go upstairs and unpack. And she finds the corpse. She is a great character, a woman of girth and determination, who wouldn't easily get flustered. She walks calmly down and announces it to her son. The police comes, it's a murder no doubt. The husband identifies the body and after the usual police procedure, postmortem and usual procedures, she is buried.
In a crime novel, the first suspect is always the spouse. So why ask him to identify the body. Shouldn't somebody else also identify it. You see, the mom-in-law hardly knows the daughter-in-law. Want to know more? Read "Shake hands Forever".
Anyway, this is something that just occurred to me and realized its importance only at the end. Well written. That's about this book. About Rendell's other books I liked these the best: "Adam and Eve and Pinch Me", "Wickedness of Raven" and of course "From Doon with Death"
Like to buy the book. It is available in Amazon for $8.25. It is reprint of 184-page novel copyrighted 1975.
Just wanted to mention, this book was made as a movie "Shake hands forever" in 1988, Starring George Baker (Chief Inspector Wexford), Christopher Ravenscroft (Dep. Insp. Mike Burden, Tom Wilkinson, Margery Mason etc.) Director: Don Leaver.
I personally thank "The Critic" for agreeing to write for my website.
