Friday, December 09, 2011

Friday's Forgotten Book: Thomas H. Cook: The Interrogation

I don't really think Thomas H. Cook is a forgotten writer by any means, but it just so happens I read this and was ready to blog about it on Friday, so here goes.

The Interrogation (published in Finnish as Kuulustelu, which is the literal translation) was my first Cook and I liked it quite a bit to keep reading his works. There was something, though, that bothered me - let's call it "over-written". The characters are also a bit over-developed - Cook makes it too sure that the reader gets the idea: "these people are doomed by their fates and their histories." I could do with less.

But the plot is so strong I'm willing to forgive Cook this. This is so intricately plotted  I was mesmerized by the last 40 or 50 pages, when Cook reveals all the layers - and why he's carrying some characters along even though they don't seem to have a place in the story at first! Something you can't help but admire. And the ending is a serious kick in the guts.

More forgotten books at Patti Abbott's blog.

2 comments:

J F Norris said...

That layering sounds a lot like what Robert GOddard does. I liked many of Cook's novels but then I read INSTRUMENTS OF THE NIGHT with an ending so violent, warped, and jsut plain wrong it turned me off his work for a long time. Though this review may tempt me to try him agian.

Juri said...

I can see then you wouldn't necessarily like the ending of THE INTERROGATION.