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