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Title: A Small Death in Lisbon by Robert Wilson ISBN: 0-425-18423-4 Publisher: Berkley Pub Group Pub. Date: March, 2002 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.08 (60 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Small Death Comes Alive - Stick With It
Comment: Nazi gold is at the heart of this thrilling adventure which crosses not only the heart of Europe but also the timespan of 50 years. Powerful writing and memorable characters make "A Small Death in Lisbon" a major triumph for previously little known author Robert Wilson, but he has taken on quite a challenge. Anyone writing a thriller will tell you to simplify matters by constricting the timespan as much as possible (there is even a thriller in real-time - the plot takes as long as it takes you to read it). Robert Wilson has ignored this advice and stretched his narrative over half a century - the result is ultimately successful but he asks a lot of the reader to stay with events in Nazi Germany and modern day Portugal at the same time. The characters are well drawn in the earlier chapters - important for the present day events to make sense - and the messages about good and evil are clearly presented. This not your regular read on the beach thriller, it challenges the reader to choose sides and confront issues. It also helps to have a little knowledge of European history. Don't worry if you don't understand the Portugese political history - few Europeans know anything about the country beyond its golf courses.
If you stick with "A Small Death" you will be rewarded with a memorable read. This is a genre novel which expands its genre and the fact that it has been awarded with a thriller writers award in Great Britain should be further recommendation.
Rating: 4
Summary: A Deserving Gold Dagger Winner
Comment: "A Small Death in Lisbon" has all of my favorite elements -- interesting and believeable characters, a complex mystery plot, a fascinating setting, and two narratives, one in the past, World War II, and one in the present. One reviewer said that the characters were too unlikeable, but I completely disagree. On the first page, the reader meets the murder victim from the 1998 storyline, who turns out to be a promiscuous 15-year-old Portuguese girl named Caterina. As the mother of a teenage daughter, Caterina broke my heart. She lived in a wealthy but twisted household, the victim of psychological abuse and then murder. I immediately cared about her and wanted to know her story. The detective who pursues her killer, Ze Coelho, has a sad recent past and also a teenage daughter. The focus of the historical plot is Klaus Felsen, a Berlin factory-owner turned SS officer, sent to neutral Portugal to acquire wolfram for the Nazi war machine. Despite his often-despicable actions, I found him to be strangely sympathetic. The novel demonstrates how brutal treatment spawns brutality. There are truly evil characters in the book as well, but many of them receive their just desserts.
Usually in books that alternate narratives, I find myself intersted in one plotline more than the other. Some reviewers enjoyed the historical plot more, but I found them both to be compelling. Only once or twice was I tempted to skip ahead to continue following one plot or the other. I could not wait to learn how the two narratives would converge. Wilson placed tantalizing clues along the way. As Wilson brought the two narrative threads together, I could hardly put the book down!
Many reviewers have also commented upon the setting. I visited Portugal many years ago and this book made me want to go back. The author lives in Portugal and he vividly depicts the landscape and the culture.
Rating: 2
Summary: Do yourself a favor and read something else.
Comment: Although this book has many favorable reviews and is fairly readable, it is not for everyone. The plot instrument of following two converging stories separated by decades is interesting to a point, but finally exhausting and frustrating as often the stories switch just when you become interested in the current vignette. While at times it was captivating and kept me up late, the ending was predictable with a "gotcha" twist and I had to force myself to finish the book. All of the characters are flawed and some are quite disturbed. The women characters in particular are unbelievable or deviants. I buy many books. The best I keep and the rest I donate to the library. This one I added to the recycling.
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Title: The Company of Strangers by Robert Wilson ISBN: 0156027100 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: 01 November, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: The Blind Man of Seville by Robert Wilson ISBN: 0151008353 Publisher: Harcourt Pub. Date: 03 February, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: The Big Killing by Robert Wilson ISBN: 0156011190 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: 03 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Berlin Noir: March Violets/the Pale Criminal/a German Requiem/3 Novels in 1 Volume by Philip Kerr ISBN: 0140231706 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: May, 1994 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: Instruments of Darkness by Robert Wilson ISBN: 0156011131 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: 01 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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