I usually avoid mystery/thriller fiction. It's probably because I grew up reading a lot of it, Christopher Pike, then Stephen King, and well...good ol Dan Brown.
Am I ashamed to be caught reading the genre? In some way, I am. Mystery/thrillers (I'm not sure what's the exact term) seem to me to be a little too mass market, too accessible, too formulaic and hence, too popular. Then again, cheem books like Ulysses seem rather daunting.
Oh well, leaving that to be resolved another day, the last novel I finished was Company of Liars by Karen Maitland. There isn't a wiki on the novel so here's the Amazon page. The cover caught my eye some time ago, but I've been hesitant to pick it up cos I thought it might be a funky iteration of the Da Vinci code or something (the book is classified under 'Historical Fiction').
I'm glad I eventually bought it though cos I was hooked after the first few pages. Set in England during the spread of the plague in 1348, a ragtag bunch of misfits band together to escape the plague. Maitland tells the story very well, she manages to transport me to the raw and grim setting of 14th century England, and follow her characters in their search for food, shelter, and escape. This is one mystery/thriller I will proudly read in public. 8 stars.
2 comments:
What a coincidence! I saw this book in MPH the other day and was telling myself that it might be a good read.
Then time passed and I forgot the title; was struggling to remember it in fact.
Then voila! I surf to the BWS blog and I am reminded. LOL.
I pass to you tomorrow ba :)
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