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175th out of 475 books
—
539 voters
13½
by
Nevada Barr
In 1971, the state of Minnesota was rocked by the "Butcher Boy" incident, as coverage of a family brutally murdered by one of their own swept across newspapers and television screens nationwide.
Now, in present-day New Orleans, Polly Deschamps finds herself at yet another lonely crossroads in her life. No stranger to tragedy, Polly was a runaway at the age of fifteen, escap...more
Now, in present-day New Orleans, Polly Deschamps finds herself at yet another lonely crossroads in her life. No stranger to tragedy, Polly was a runaway at the age of fifteen, escap...more
Hardcover, 320 pages
Published
September 29th 2009
by Vanguard Press
(first published 2009)
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Jul 15, 2010
Jordan Price
added it
My friend has been raving about Nevada Barr, so I chose this book randomly and was happy to see it was a standalone title rather than part of an ongoing series. The prose blew me away. It was clean and direct and fresh. The multiple points of view were woven in a perfect balance. Just as I was dying to find out what happened to a character, we'd pick up a thread with a new character, and within a page I'd be riveted by their story and eager to know what happened to them.
I particularly loved the...more
I particularly loved the...more
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Creepy, confusing, terrifying! Yes, I really enjoyed it! In the 1970s, "Butcher Boy" Dylan is sent to prison at the age of 11 for murdering his parents and baby sister with an ax while maiming his older brother Rich. Dylan has no recollection of the murders and is subjected to many unsavory practices by an unethical psychiatrist who is hoping to make the Butcher Boy case his big payday by publishing a book on the subject. An LSD-induced hallucination at the psychiatrist's hand is the closest Dyl...more
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It is exciting to think that 13 1/2 is written by Nevada Barr known for her Anna Pigeon detective mystery series set in national parks. This psychological suspense novel set primarily in the city of New Orleans reminded me little of Barr's other well written works. Barr does once again however introduce readers to a strong female protagonist with a dark past. Polly leaves her abusive childhood home and in time builds a healthy and peaceful life for herself in New Orleans. She is intuitive, logic...more
3.5 stars. When I think about it, there really isn't much to this novel. There is a woman with a troubled past who marries a man, and a kid convicted of murder. As the jacket says, these two stories become intertwined. There aren't too many scenarios that could mix those people together, so there isn't too much mystery here after a certain point. Up until everything begins to become clear, we get a riveting story of a boy who can't remember killing his family and what prison does to him. For tha...more
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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I borrowed this book from the library. All I saw was Nevada Barr and an unfamiliar title so I grabbed it. To my surprise it wasn't another story about Anna Pigeon set in a National Park. This is entirely different, a psychological thriller mostly set in post-Katrina New Orleans.
As befitting the setting, it is dark, moody, mysterious, intriguing, and full of odd characters. It begins in Minnesota, though, where an 11-year-old boy is tried and convicted of killing his parents and baby sister and i...more
As befitting the setting, it is dark, moody, mysterious, intriguing, and full of odd characters. It begins in Minnesota, though, where an 11-year-old boy is tried and convicted of killing his parents and baby sister and i...more
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Nevada Barr's writing seems to be getting a lot darker as time goes on! This is a shadowy and creepy stand-alone thriller that's not like the Anna Pigeon series at all. (although the last 3 books in that series have been getting darker as well). The book interweaves the lives of a Minnesota boy who is suspected of murdering his entire family, with the life of a woman who escapes a neglected childhood to start a new life in New Orleans.
I enjoyed the lightning-fast pacing of this book and read it...more
I enjoyed the lightning-fast pacing of this book and read it...more
If you're expecting Anna Pigeon, put the book down! I had to ask myself where did this one come from? Left field doesn't quite explain it, but 13 1/2 is so far removed from what I've read of Nevada Barr., it's almost like an evil, gleeful twin has taken over her writing hand. I liked it, in fact, I loved it. Many fans get angry when their favorite authors stray from the garden path. I embrace it. Bring it on, show me what you've got. And show me Ms. Barr did.
Spanning forty years, we're taken on...more
Spanning forty years, we're taken on...more
Oct 26, 2009
Kathleen Hagen
added it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2009-audio-books,
2009-mysteries
13-1/2, by Nevada Barr, A, Narrated by Dan John Miller, produced by Brilliance Audio, downloaded from audible.com
This is a stand-alone and, for my money, the best book Barr has written. I like the Anna Pigeon series, but this book presents some psychologically compelling and terrifying characters. The book begins with its main characters in parallel lives in the 1970’s. Rich and Dillon are two boys in an upper middle class family in Rochester, Minnesota, with what would be called everything to l...more
This is a stand-alone and, for my money, the best book Barr has written. I like the Anna Pigeon series, but this book presents some psychologically compelling and terrifying characters. The book begins with its main characters in parallel lives in the 1970’s. Rich and Dillon are two boys in an upper middle class family in Rochester, Minnesota, with what would be called everything to l...more
Jan 08, 2012
Deb
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
audio-books,
2012-books-read
This was one of the most chilling books I've encountered in a very long time. Experiencing it as an audio book was also an interesting experience. I think in some ways, it added to the creepiness. Eleven-year old Dillon Raines, also known as Butcher Boy, is sentenced to the Drummond Youth Center after his conviction for murdering his parents and baby sister with an ax. He has no recollection of the the night other than terror, and he battles to keep his sanity as he comes to grip with the horrif...more
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First I've read by Barr; selected based on review in last issue of Bookmarks magazine. Well-written even though I figured there was a trick in the plot early on and guessed what was going on by mid-book. If you pay attention there are sufficient clues throughout to see where the story is going.
The psychology is everything in this book. The male characters seemed to be more fleshed out. Even though the book begins with Polly, her life is not as important to the story. She is the catalyst for the
...more
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If it was not from the library I would throw it in the goats pen and let them go to town. I'm sad to see trees were destroyed to publish this garbage. Although murder mystery/psychological thrillers are not my usual forte, I do from time to time get a hankering to read one. There are so many out there that trying to find something that has not "been there and done that before" is quite difficult. I chose this because the first 10-15 pages I read sounded really good. Around page 75 it started to...more
Nevada Barr took a respite from her acclaimed Anna Pigeon mystery series to delve into the heart and mind of a mass murderer. Dylan Raines, age 11, awakes one horrifying night to find that he's being blamed for the axe murders of his parents and baby sister. He can't remember a thing about the killings, no matter what the psychiatrists try. Dubbed "Butcher Boy", he manages to survive the juvenile justice system, sustained by weekly visits from his older brother, Richard. When he's finally releas...more
If it was possible to give 3 1/2 stars, that's what I'd rate. I had never read anything by Nevada Barr prior to this book, but I enjoyed it. Sure, about halfway through, I predicted where it was going - I would imagine it'd be hard NOT to know where it's going. However, it was still a good read, and the twist at the end was great. I wish that they had delved into Polly's storyline a little more - after all, the book started out with her and then switched over to the story of the two brothers, wh...more
Cacophonous, anathema, fecund and effluvia (used three times) are just a sampling of some of what my mother would have called 50 cent words that are scattered unnecessarily through this novel written on an 8th/9th grade level of reading. If this sounds cruel to the author's expertise of big words, I apologize. There is nothing wrong with writing on the 8th/9th grade level because it is the level that appeals to most of the masses of people and there is definitely nothing wrong with this type of...more
I am holding Nevada Barr responsible: since picking up her newest novel, 13 ½, I have been losing sleep. Until the very last page had been read, sleep continued to evade me.
In all my lifelong voracious reading habits, I continue to find that writers can generally be classified in one of two groups: fine literary writers or terrific storytellers. Because the skill set and high level of artistry required is quite different for each group, rarely do the two groups meet and mesh. But Nevada Barr st...more
In all my lifelong voracious reading habits, I continue to find that writers can generally be classified in one of two groups: fine literary writers or terrific storytellers. Because the skill set and high level of artistry required is quite different for each group, rarely do the two groups meet and mesh. But Nevada Barr st...more
I read this book because I love Anna Pigeon, but I was disappointed. I didn't find the writing here up was up to Nevada Barr's usual standards. Maybe that's partly because I know Anna Pigeon so well, her main character is already fleshed out before I've even begun a new story. This book had a good story idea -- although I had figured out the twist long before the end -- and I thought the technique of setting it in New Orleans just a few years after Katrina could have given her even more opportun...more
Having never read Nevada Barr before, I thought I give this one a try since it was a standalone. However, if this is any indication of what reading her series would be like, I think I'll pass. I had the story figured out pretty early in and kept hoping that she wouldn't go down the expected path. No luck. Could have been much better but read like a gorier version of James Patterson. Very simplistic when it could have been so much more involved.
The story involves an 11 year old boy who is convict...more
The story involves an 11 year old boy who is convict...more
My first Nevada Barr book. I gave it 3 stars even though I had some problems with it. The book takes place in post Katrina New Orleans where 2 brothers come to start their lives over, after one of the brothers is released from juvenile detention for murdering his Mother, Father and Sister. In modern day America murders are not treated in the manner this child was treated. There might be one cop who would like to but there would be others around that would stop him. The murder was described at le...more
Take her name off this novel, and Nevada Barr just might be our last guess at who wrote it !! This very dark mystery/thriller is not part of the Anna Pigeon series, has nothing to do with National Parks, and has many unpleasant plot elements (murdering children, and child and spousal abuse among others...). Perhaps one of the more (perversely) entertaining parts of this story was when the kid that killed off all his own family (except his brother) was put into an "insane asylum," we soon realize...more
This is a psychological thriller, a very different Nevada Barr! It begins with a young girl, Polly, in a trailer park in Mississippi living with her drunkard mother and her mother's boyfriends. She leaves home at 15. The next chapter describes the murder spree of an 11 year old boy who has just killed his parents and young sister with an axe, nicknamed Butcher Boy by the press. The only problem is that Dylan can't remember the killing at all; his last memory is of how much he loves his family an...more
This is the first novel I've read by her that wasn't part of her Anna Pigeon series, and while that series has lots of violence, this one was darker than those.
The novel follows three characters for the most part. One is a boy (who becomes a man) who was convicted, at the age of eleven, of killing his father, mother and younger sister. The second is his older brother, who was injured in the attack. The third is a woman who ran away from home at the age of fifteen, discouraged by her future prosp...more
The novel follows three characters for the most part. One is a boy (who becomes a man) who was convicted, at the age of eleven, of killing his father, mother and younger sister. The second is his older brother, who was injured in the attack. The third is a woman who ran away from home at the age of fifteen, discouraged by her future prosp...more
In a departure from her Anna Pigeon adventure novels, Barr has penned a thriller that delves deep into her characters' dark psychologies and traumas. As in her popular series, this dual narrative features a gripping plot, polished writing, and an element of suspense. At its center, however, 13 1/2 focuses on the power of love; the reconciliation of shaky relationships—and truths—between husbands and wives, brothers, and friends; and the shaking out of past demons. Critics were also pleased to re...more
Definitely not one of her best. Barr has really gotten off track lately with all the torturous detail about relentlessly gruesome, cruel, or gory aspects of her stories.
This is by far the worst case of it yet, with detailed recountings of murders, torture, animal cruelty, etc. and a painfully long, drawn-own, microscopically detailed discussion of every ounce of content in a hoarder's apartment.
In terms of plot, it's a bit gimmicky, too, though you see the gimmick coming from quite a ways away....more
This is by far the worst case of it yet, with detailed recountings of murders, torture, animal cruelty, etc. and a painfully long, drawn-own, microscopically detailed discussion of every ounce of content in a hoarder's apartment.
In terms of plot, it's a bit gimmicky, too, though you see the gimmick coming from quite a ways away....more
A totally different book by Neavada Barr, who has a mystery series that take place in National Parks. Anna Pidgeon, the Park Ranger from the other series is nowhere to be seen in this book. The female lead in this book has many of her characteristics, though--she's strong and determined and smart, and is prone to making globally good decisions and small bad decisions that give the plot traction.
I liked the book, which is a deeply subjective decision. I read some books simply because I want to be...more
I liked the book, which is a deeply subjective decision. I read some books simply because I want to be...more
A stand-alone...and a terrific one! This was a psychological suspense about a remorseless murderer and his victims (including those who remained living). The actual murderer goes free, while manipulating his brother and everyone else into believing his brother did it. Barr deals mainly with the innocent (but apparently guilty) brother, and her segments about the actual murder don't quite identify him. For me, the question about who actually committed the murders was open from the beginning, but...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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| Great mystery novel | 1 | 8 | Oct 20, 2012 01:58pm |
Nevada Barr is a mystery fiction author, known for her "Anna Pigeon" series of mysteries, set in National Parks in the United States. Barr has won an Agatha Award for best first novel for Track of the Cat.
Barr was named after the state of her birth. She grew up in Johnstonville, California. She finished college at the University of California, Irvine. Originally, Barr started to pursue a career in...more
More about Nevada Barr...
Barr was named after the state of her birth. She grew up in Johnstonville, California. She finished college at the University of California, Irvine. Originally, Barr started to pursue a career in...more
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“perhaps love was like the mumps. If a woman came down with it after forty, it could kill her”
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