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14th out of 63 books
—
11 voters
Cloudland
A stunning literary thriller set in rural Vermont from the much praised author of Nightswimmer and Clara's Heart
Catherine Winslow, taking a walk during an early spring thaw, discovers the body of a woman leaning against an apple tree near her house in the Upper Valley of Vermont. From the corpse’s pink parka, Winslow recognizes it as the latest victim of a serial kill
Hardcover, 294 pages
Published
April 10th 2012
by Minotaur Books
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"Cloudland" is both the evocative title of Joseph Olshan's new novel and the remote, sparsely populated area of rural Vermont where it is set. Against the backdrop of a Vermont spring, with roads "clotted" with mud and ponds that "caved in with a bellow,"<6> a missing nurse turns up sitting under an apple tree in a pink parka in the late March sun and looking for all the world as if she's "tanning in a crater of melting snow." <3> It turns out she was "stabbed and dumped" there befor...more
I chose this book to add to my reviews for my blog. In our blog (www.thewhodunitpundits.blogspot.com) we are reviewing mysteries where the setting or place is crucial to the telling of the story. Set in Vermont, one of my favorite places in the world, I was thrilled to find a new author. Olshan is a skilled writer and his lead character Catherine Winslow is a former noted reporter who is now reporting in a small town area in southern Vermont and writing about household tips. Catherine finds the...more
May 28, 2012
Kathleen Hagen
added it
Cloudland, by Joseph Olsham, b-plus, Narrated by Eliza Foss, Produced by Audible Inc., downloaded from audible.com.
Catherine Winslow lives in rural Vermont and writes a household hints column. She takes her dogs out for a walk one morning and finds the body of a woman leaning against a tree with Seventh Day Adventist literature in her coat. It has been a cold snowy winter, and the woman, who went missing a few weeks earlier, is very well preserved. Catherine’s neighbor, a forensic psychiatrist,...more
Catherine Winslow lives in rural Vermont and writes a household hints column. She takes her dogs out for a walk one morning and finds the body of a woman leaning against a tree with Seventh Day Adventist literature in her coat. It has been a cold snowy winter, and the woman, who went missing a few weeks earlier, is very well preserved. Catherine’s neighbor, a forensic psychiatrist,...more
Cloudland, a dazzling debut in crime fiction, is set in Vermont’s rural upper Connecticut River valley, a place that is normally safe for its residents. But then the peace is disturbed by a serial killer who murders young women, leaves them by a tree and is very careful to hide all traces of his identity.
Enter Catherine Winslow, CLOUDLAND’S narrator, a divorced woman, former journalist and teacher whose life is falling apart. She has lost her teaching job for having had an affair with a student...more
Enter Catherine Winslow, CLOUDLAND’S narrator, a divorced woman, former journalist and teacher whose life is falling apart. She has lost her teaching job for having had an affair with a student...more
Cloudland
by
Joseph Olshan
My Speedy Summary...
Women are found stabbed and strangled and left dead in various spots. They all have religious literature stuffed in their pockets. No one has a clue who the killer might be.
My Thoughts After Reading...
Whew...this book is complicated but in a very good and intense way. There are lots of characters and lots of reasons to suspect quite a few of them. This novel is beautifully written...takes place in a lovely part of the country and the main character i...more
by
Joseph Olshan
My Speedy Summary...
Women are found stabbed and strangled and left dead in various spots. They all have religious literature stuffed in their pockets. No one has a clue who the killer might be.
My Thoughts After Reading...
Whew...this book is complicated but in a very good and intense way. There are lots of characters and lots of reasons to suspect quite a few of them. This novel is beautifully written...takes place in a lovely part of the country and the main character i...more
Cloudland by Joseph Olshan is a murder mystery with strong psychological twists and turns. The setting of Vermont (with wee bits of New Hampshire) highlights the rural landscape. The story opens quickly as the main character, Catherine Winslow finds a body while walking up her road. For most people this would have been the end of the story, but not for Catherine. Her neighbor, a forensic psychiatrist as well as other characters in the rural area slowly ramp up her involvement. She begins to reco...more
Oct 02, 2012
Reed Raab
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommended to Reed by:
Goodreads Giveaways
Shelves:
giveaways
Catherine Winslow goes out for a stroll by her house one morning only to stumble across the body of a strangled and stabbed woman frozen in the snow. It’s one of many of a serial killer still at large but something feels off about it. Catherine and her fellow neighbors start piecing this investigation together while wondering if one of their own is somehow involved in the case.
The story keeps me engaged throughout with wonderful imagery of Vermont’s changing seasons and a literary vocabulary not...more
The story keeps me engaged throughout with wonderful imagery of Vermont’s changing seasons and a literary vocabulary not...more
I barely made it through this book. The writing was absolutely terrible. The prose was clumsy, wooden, and inefficient. The dialogue served very little purpose in about 60 percent of the conversations other than as information dumps or as needless small talk. I cringed at least once a page.
As to the story itself, it reads almost like a YA novel--the first person narrator spends a good amount of time thinking about her ex-boyfriend and a whole lot of tension is built up about what he did to her o...more
As to the story itself, it reads almost like a YA novel--the first person narrator spends a good amount of time thinking about her ex-boyfriend and a whole lot of tension is built up about what he did to her o...more
Catherine Winslow is retired. She used to work for a major newspaper as a reporter. Catherine lives on a quiet street on Cloudland. Nothing is supposed to happen there. Well nothing like a dead body of a woman.
Catherine recognizes the woman, once she gets a good look at her. Her name is Angela Parker. She is the latest murder victim. Poor Angela, her body was dumped and not found until the snow started thawing.
Catherine didn’t plan on getting involved in the murder case but she can’t help it....more
Catherine recognizes the woman, once she gets a good look at her. Her name is Angela Parker. She is the latest murder victim. Poor Angela, her body was dumped and not found until the snow started thawing.
Catherine didn’t plan on getting involved in the murder case but she can’t help it....more
This is a free book from goodreads-first-reads.
"A stunning literary thriller set in rural Vermont from the much praised author of Nightswimmer and Clara's Heart
Once a major reporter for a national newspaper, Catherine Winslow has retreated to the Upper Valley of Vermont to write a household hints column. While out walking during an early spring thaw, Catherine discovers the body of a woman leaning against an apple tree near her house. From the corpse’s pink parka, Winslow recognizes her as the l...more
"A stunning literary thriller set in rural Vermont from the much praised author of Nightswimmer and Clara's Heart
Once a major reporter for a national newspaper, Catherine Winslow has retreated to the Upper Valley of Vermont to write a household hints column. While out walking during an early spring thaw, Catherine discovers the body of a woman leaning against an apple tree near her house. From the corpse’s pink parka, Winslow recognizes her as the l...more
I got this book from a Goodreads giveaway.
As a general rule, I don't like when an author writes from the perspective of a character of the opposite sex. Though Joseph Olshan gave it a really respectable attempt, this book was no exception.
That being said, I enjoyed Cloudland. I am not a huge reader of crime novels, so though I don't have a lot to compare this to, it was well-written and kept me guessing. There were times when I felt like I was reading an episode of Criminal Minds, and I of cours...more
As a general rule, I don't like when an author writes from the perspective of a character of the opposite sex. Though Joseph Olshan gave it a really respectable attempt, this book was no exception.
That being said, I enjoyed Cloudland. I am not a huge reader of crime novels, so though I don't have a lot to compare this to, it was well-written and kept me guessing. There were times when I felt like I was reading an episode of Criminal Minds, and I of cours...more
So I'm still not quite sure what to make of this book. The language used in it's writing was very poetic & descriptive. I enjoyed that aspect of it a great deal. My real issue with it was the plot. For being a murder/suspense/crime novel, it sure didn't move very quickly. I wasn't kept on the edge of my seat as I usually expect from novels that fall into this category. The "edge of my seat-ness" didn't happen for me until about the last 40 pages or so. :(
This book tells the story of a former...more
This book tells the story of a former...more
I'm not sure where the recommendation came from to read this book, but it had a long waiting list at the library, so I expected it to be much better than it was. It all seemed flat to me--characters that didn't really gel, conversations that led nowhere, investigators improbably revealing all aspects of the case to the first person narrator, a pot-bellied pig that lived with the narrator indoors in her house in Vermont (for no particular reason except that a friend of the author apparently had o...more
5 likes · like · see review
When I read this book was described as a psychological thriller I was drawn to the story. However, I found it to be more of a traditional who-dun-it. The reader follows the investigation through the narration of Catherine Winslow who writes a household hints column and who, in the book's opening sentence, has discovered a woman's body near her home. The body is only one of a series of women who are believed to be victims of a serial killer. There were quite a few things about this novel that jus...more
I have always loved thriller/mystery novels but for some reason I have been shying away from them in recent years. When I saw this book listed as a Goodreads giveaway I decided to take a chance on a thriller. I was disappointed in the story, but also enjoyed the suspense so it wasn’t a total loss.
What bothered me most is what I perceive as a lack of reality. The main character, Catherine, was previously a reporter for a major newspaper but hasn’t been in that field for some years. However, her n...more
What bothered me most is what I perceive as a lack of reality. The main character, Catherine, was previously a reporter for a major newspaper but hasn’t been in that field for some years. However, her n...more
1 like · like · see review
We enter the life of former investigative reporter Catherine Winslow when she makes the gruesome discovery of a very dead body in a bright pink parka sitting in the orchard, under an apple tree, just a short walk up road from her old farmhouse on Cloudland Road.
The latest in a string of murders committed in and around the northern Vermont area, this one raises some very serious questions about the possibility of there being more than one killer.
Still reeling from a failed love affair, loss of...more
The latest in a string of murders committed in and around the northern Vermont area, this one raises some very serious questions about the possibility of there being more than one killer.
Still reeling from a failed love affair, loss of...more
First Read's winner.
Catherine Winslow, a former national reporter and teacher, is returning to her house in Vermont to write a column. After discovering a dead body while walking, Catherine is pulled into the case of a serial killer. Most of the book centers around psychological thought traps, as she rushes to find the killer.
Although the main character was flawed and showed serious reality, the novel didn't strike home to me - at many parts it seemed slow, and maybe for the most part I've just...more
Catherine Winslow, a former national reporter and teacher, is returning to her house in Vermont to write a column. After discovering a dead body while walking, Catherine is pulled into the case of a serial killer. Most of the book centers around psychological thought traps, as she rushes to find the killer.
Although the main character was flawed and showed serious reality, the novel didn't strike home to me - at many parts it seemed slow, and maybe for the most part I've just...more
This is a book won from Goodreads giveaway.
I loved the descriptions of rural Vermont and surrounding area. It really felt like you were there with the character as the went about their lives.
I agree with another reader that I did find it took a long time for the story to progress and the killer’s identity to be revealed. I had no clue who the murderer was until the last few pages and it was quite a surprise, which isn't a bad thing but I didn't have any strong feelings towards any of the charact...more
I loved the descriptions of rural Vermont and surrounding area. It really felt like you were there with the character as the went about their lives.
I agree with another reader that I did find it took a long time for the story to progress and the killer’s identity to be revealed. I had no clue who the murderer was until the last few pages and it was quite a surprise, which isn't a bad thing but I didn't have any strong feelings towards any of the charact...more
I'm not normally a huge fan of mysteries or thrillers. Occasionally one will come along that I really enjoy so I give them a try every now and then. This one sounded interesting on Goodreads, I entered to win it and......I did! When it arrived I settled down to read it.
Within the first few pages I began to wonder if this was going to be a book I had to force myself to read. There was something about the writing style which was putting me off. Luckily whatever it was either resolved itself soon a...more
Within the first few pages I began to wonder if this was going to be a book I had to force myself to read. There was something about the writing style which was putting me off. Luckily whatever it was either resolved itself soon a...more
This was a First-Reads giveaway book. I thought this was a very good murder mystery. However, due to language (frequent but not excessive use of the F word) and one scene dealing with sex I would not recommend this book for Young Adults. I thought I had the murderer pegged early on but was pleasantly surprised to be wrong.
Olshan did an excellent job setting the story and allowing the reader to feel the emotions along with the narrating character Catherine. She discovers the body of the victim of...more
Olshan did an excellent job setting the story and allowing the reader to feel the emotions along with the narrating character Catherine. She discovers the body of the victim of...more
I received this book in an Advanced Read Copy giveaway at Goodreads.
There seems to be a trend in book descriptions. The word thriller is frequently used, especially in conjunction with mysteries. This book is beautiful and elegant, but definitely not what I consider a thriller. In my opinion, it's more about relationships than it is about murder and mystery. There are more words devoted to relationships than actual murders and solving of murders. The inclusion of a character who is a psychiatris...more
There seems to be a trend in book descriptions. The word thriller is frequently used, especially in conjunction with mysteries. This book is beautiful and elegant, but definitely not what I consider a thriller. In my opinion, it's more about relationships than it is about murder and mystery. There are more words devoted to relationships than actual murders and solving of murders. The inclusion of a character who is a psychiatris...more
This was a good mystery novel set in rural Vermont. Although the novel starts with a murder, the general tone throughout is low-key. A lot of time is spent giving the reader a sense of the community, the people there, and how they all relate to one another. In this, Olshan helps the reader develop theories as to who the murderer is, and certainly lays some red herrings in the process. This is not a high-adrenaline read, but neither is it sleepy and laid-back. I gave it three stars, not because t...more
My Rating: 3.5 stars
Cloudland is a good psychological suspense novel. Olshan does a wonderful job setting up the story. I could feel the cold and snow, and sense the isolation of Cloudland, the remote village in Vermont where some of the crimes take place. The pacing of the book is slow and deliberate. I felt myself gradually making a path to towards the denouement and going back and forth with who I thought was the killer. The author did an excellent job of building suspense and pulling the rea...more
Cloudland is a good psychological suspense novel. Olshan does a wonderful job setting up the story. I could feel the cold and snow, and sense the isolation of Cloudland, the remote village in Vermont where some of the crimes take place. The pacing of the book is slow and deliberate. I felt myself gradually making a path to towards the denouement and going back and forth with who I thought was the killer. The author did an excellent job of building suspense and pulling the rea...more
I am having some difficulty in reconciling the end of this book. I liked the story. A great mystery. Several of the characters had interesting pasts. I struggle with not only whether I really liked any of the characters but whether I need to. Does a book have to have a strong feminine lead? Is it ok for all of the characters to have similar flaws and faults? Isn't that the point that people in books are supposed to be "just like us" and have messy, complicated, fucked up relationships with other...more
From: http://erinmjustice.com/2013/03/05/bo...
I’d Recommend to: The fella’s sister (a current Vermont resident), my freshman year American lit professors
My Review:
In 2012, I discovered I love mysteries/thrillers – anything that’s designed to build suspense. As part of that love, sometimes I find a few bad apples in the mix. Cloudland was, unfortunately, one of those bad apples.
I guess that’s not completely fair – it’s not bad in the sense that it’s terrible. In fact, it was an okay book. I doubt...more
I’d Recommend to: The fella’s sister (a current Vermont resident), my freshman year American lit professors
My Review:
In 2012, I discovered I love mysteries/thrillers – anything that’s designed to build suspense. As part of that love, sometimes I find a few bad apples in the mix. Cloudland was, unfortunately, one of those bad apples.
I guess that’s not completely fair – it’s not bad in the sense that it’s terrible. In fact, it was an okay book. I doubt...more
I struggled with Cloudland. The plot described something that would be right up my alley. The cover is beautiful. Unfortunately, I was left feeling quit disappointed. The main problem was my inability to connect with any of the characters including the main character retired reporter, Catherine Winslow.
I would normally give up on a book that didn’t interest me after one-hundred or so pages, but I stuck with this one because I was at work and didn’t have a back-up book (I know how shameful of me...more
I would normally give up on a book that didn’t interest me after one-hundred or so pages, but I stuck with this one because I was at work and didn’t have a back-up book (I know how shameful of me...more
I liked this book for a number of reasons: It is a mystery that let me think I had the answers to who and why--but, then again, maybe not; it sparked my interest to read more by Wilkie Collins (I love it when one author turns me on to other writers!); the characters are engaging and well-written, especially Henrietta the pot-bellied pet pig; and the prose is much more literary than the run-of-the-mill crime novel--although, as is often my complaint when reading contemporary fiction, I don't see...more
I would normally shun a book about a serial killer, but I was in a hurry at the library and the cover was attractive. Now that I look at it, the cover was a clue as to the 'serial killer' genre. Good writing, and I like the characters, the complex relationships. The author gets into the head of the protagonist, an older woman in relationship with a younger man, in a small town. The ending was satisfying without being too "woman alone in a remote wooded area" creepy. I will look for more by this...more
My first exposure to Joseph Olshan was his novel, The Conversion. I heard about that book through a review on NPR in 2008 that used adjectives like “spark” and “glisten.” The review concluded by noting that Olshan in The Conversion created a “world that’s quite fascinating to inhabit.” I read the book and was disappointed in neither the plotting nor the writing.
In 2012, when I saw Olshan’s name on Cloudland I didn’t hesitate to add this work to my reading list. This second work, however, didn’t...more
In 2012, when I saw Olshan’s name on Cloudland I didn’t hesitate to add this work to my reading list. This second work, however, didn’t...more
I received this as a First Readers giveaway from Goodreads, and was very jazzed about it because I never win anything! I do wish that I could give this a better review though, but quite honestly, I didn't enjoy it at all, though I did manage to finish it.
The main problem with this novel is the narrator, Catherine. I don't know if the author intended for her to be so... thoroughly unlikable, snippy, narcissistic and cold? - but that's how she came across to me from the first few pages on, and I...more
The main problem with this novel is the narrator, Catherine. I don't know if the author intended for her to be so... thoroughly unlikable, snippy, narcissistic and cold? - but that's how she came across to me from the first few pages on, and I...more
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Joseph Olshan is an award-winning American novelist. His first novel, Clara's Heart, won the Times/Jonathan Cape Young Writers' Competition and went on to be made into a feature film starring Whoopi Goldberg. He is the author of eight novels, the most recent of which, The Conversion, will be published in 2008.
In addition to his novels, he has written extensively for newspapers and magazines, incl...more
More about Joseph Olshan...
In addition to his novels, he has written extensively for newspapers and magazines, incl...more
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02 juin 12:57