Socialite Madeline Dare is shocked when she discovers the skeleton of a three-year-old boy in her family cemetery outside Manhattan. Determined to ...
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Jul 29, 2010
Sarah
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I was excited to see this new adult novel at my public library because I enjoyed her previous book The Crazy School. (Although after reading my mediocre review of it, I thought I had enjoyed it more!) I remembered the snarky main character though and was thrilled to have her back in this new book. Madeline is living in NYC with her husband and employment is an issue. She is working for horrible pay taking catalog calls. Her husband ends up taking a job for her old friend Astrid's new husband, ra
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May 29, 2010
Nancy
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Maddie Dare is back in the best novel yet for Cornelia Read. While helping her newly-found cousin clean up the weed infested family cemetary in Jamiaca, Queens; she comes across the skull of a child. Further investigation finds the body - with the ribs crushed in. This sends everyone into a tizzy with Maddie and cousin Cate the lead witnesses in a murder trial. Maddie and Pete are living in a loft with her sister Pagan and Pague's friend Sue. They sift the clues and come to conclusions but are
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Mar 07, 2010
Gaby
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Invisible Boy is the third of Cornelia Read's stories involving the quirky, struggling socialite Madeline Dare. Unlike The Crazy School which is part amateur mystery, Invisible Boy is largely focused on Madeline Dare, her family and her life which I found to be a more interesting read.
From the earlier novels, we know that Madeline Dare's family ranks high in the Social Register and that her Mayflower legacy largely trumps her current poor financial situation. Though Madeline shares a More...
From the earlier novels, we know that Madeline Dare's family ranks high in the Social Register and that her Mayflower legacy largely trumps her current poor financial situation. Though Madeline shares a More...
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Apr 18, 2010
Deborah
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Perhaps is due to all the teen fantasy books I have read lately, but reading the prose of Cornelia Read has been not only refreshing but has brought back into my life a bit of adult conversation. Even if it's only vicariously through Madeline Dare's exploits in not only A Field of Darkness, but now too in Invisible Boy. No teen fantasy stuff here. This is pure danger, mystery solving excitement as Madeline once again finds herself in a position of murder and crime solving. But this is no adu
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Feb 28, 2010
Cheryl
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Synopsis: The year 1990, Madeline Dare, returns to New York City. Boarding school educated, self proclaimed liberal, liberated and very much opinionated. She accepts an invitation to help in the clean up and restoration of a historical family cemetery that is generations old and has been vandalized for years and not been tended to professionally. She comes upon skeletal remains in the tall grass and weeds and determines that the bones are of a child and freshly placed. Who is this child, who pu
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Sep 21, 2010
Lee
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wow! What a switch from my usual read. No complicated plots, rich historical probabilties, no real mystery, just raw, real New York City life written from the perspective of an upperclass, moneyed socialite who is determined to shock. Her language is shocking, her lifestyle and her friends. Add her lack of real ambition, sharp wit and keen intellect and you've got a character you can't decide if you like or not.
While on a do-good mission, cleaning out an old neglected cemetary, More...
While on a do-good mission, cleaning out an old neglected cemetary, More...
Apr 18, 2010
Caitlin
rated it:
How did I miss this author before now?
I picked this up because I liked the cover and the plot sounded like it had potential. It wasn't quite what I expected, but that's okay because it was really enjoyable. Our intrepid heroine, Madeline Dare (what a great name) is a kind of Nora Charles sort of character - very classy and sassy. I enjoyed her and her friends enormously.
The mystery at the center, the death of a small boy, isn't really a whodunit or a whydunit - it's mo More...
I picked this up because I liked the cover and the plot sounded like it had potential. It wasn't quite what I expected, but that's okay because it was really enjoyable. Our intrepid heroine, Madeline Dare (what a great name) is a kind of Nora Charles sort of character - very classy and sassy. I enjoyed her and her friends enormously.
The mystery at the center, the death of a small boy, isn't really a whodunit or a whydunit - it's mo More...
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Apr 16, 2010
Hannah Jo
rated it:
Even if I hadn't enjoyed the first two books in this series, I would have been hooked on this book simply after reading the first two paragraphs:
"So here's what I love about New York City: If someone acts like a dumb asshole and you call them on acting like a dumb asshole, the bystanders are happy about it.
Anywhere else I've ever lived they just think I'm a bitch."
Sassy, sassy, sassy! That's the voice of Madeline Dare, a former debutante who happens More...
"So here's what I love about New York City: If someone acts like a dumb asshole and you call them on acting like a dumb asshole, the bystanders are happy about it.
Anywhere else I've ever lived they just think I'm a bitch."
Sassy, sassy, sassy! That's the voice of Madeline Dare, a former debutante who happens More...
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May 26, 2010
Shauna
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Nov 23, 2010
Maya
rated it: 
If I were a normal person I would have stopped reading about ten pages in, but I find it impossible to quit on even the worst book. I googled the author and learned she did mostly young adult books, which made me want to cut her some slack, I guess, but the writing is just horrible. Too many adjectives, too many failed attempts at being clever. In fact, the writing was so bad that it did a good job distracting me from the utterly mediocre plot. The parts that try to deal with race relations wer
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Aug 10, 2010
Terry
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Madeline Dare mysteries are complex, multi-pronged social commentaries. This 3rd outing, set in NYC circa 1990, paints a vivid picture, and it's not pretty. While volunteering in a small family cemetery in Queens, Madeline literally stumbles upon a child's set of bones--and yes, it's a homicide. The drama surrounding that case is ample, but add to it a strong sub-plot involving her old prep school friend Astrid and angry ruminations about her own troubled background and you've almost got too mu
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Aug 02, 2011
While the main character is sympathetic and funny, the book as a whole is predictable, preachy, and uneven. Sort of a whodunit, murder mystery with some very heavy-handed and condescending lessons about child abuse, white liberal guilt, and social class. However, there's some lovely lyrical description and lots of funny, snappy dialogue. Read seems to have lots of potential, but the style and much of the substance is still quite immature. Surprised me that this was her 3rd book. I hope she ou
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Jun 13, 2010
E
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Though it sometimes seems like Read/Dare wants to play it on both sides of the fence -- she's a socially deprived poor girl with a socialite family past, so she can ride any wave you have -- I still love to read Read's snappy descriptions, biting social commentary, and innovative full-of-hyphens style. Not really much of a mystery per se, but still an interesting jaunt into the legal system, the sadness of children lost to the child welfare system, and the bowels of New York's neighborhoods.
May 29, 2010
Mary
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Aside from a political rant halfway through which didn't really add anything to the story, an attempted assassination of Our Heroine to keep her from testifying in court when her testimony wasn't particularly important, a pretty unrealistic portrayal of a trial by ury, and the recitation, word-for-word of not one but three lawyers' closing arguments (which I skimmed), this book was satisfactory. Madeline Dare is an engaging and witty, if somewhat immature, character, and I look forward to her fu
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Aug 04, 2011
Invisible Boy is the first book that I have read by Cornelia Read. I found Read’s writing highly entertaining and edgy. Madeline Dare discovers the body of a small boy while helping to clean out an old cemetary where many of her family are buried. Madeline pursues the case with the police to make sure that this child-abuser, murderer is caught. I found the book to be an excellent commentary on social injustice as well as a great read.
May 01, 2011
Crystal
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I'm not sure this was categorized as a mystery. The police figure out "who done it" very early on in the book, and then I kept reading expecting a twist, or another murderer to surface, but no.... The dialogue is witty, but perhaps a bit too much dialogue and not enough action. Example of humor (I gave one in my review of her last book): When dicussing the crime in New York, her sister says, "It was a year before I found out 'Bodega' didn't mean 'crime scene." The character
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Oct 29, 2010
Elisabeth
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I just randomly plucked this book off the shelf, and then read it at a gulp, recognizing sentences even before I read them, so exactly did this author reflect my thought patterns and ideas. I then raced back to the library and pulled her first two books off the shelf, and read them after work the next two days. Now that I have collapsed in completion, I have to feebly croak that Cornelia Read is FABULOUS, AMAZING, and a great, great author.
Sep 22, 2010
John
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I gave up on this book at about page 80. The story centers on the discovery of a 3-year-old boy's skeleton, the condition of which suggests murder. However, the narrative lacks coherence, as the descriptions of the investigation are interspersed with nonsensical chapters of supposedly witty repartee between the narrator and her friends. These details have little to do with the story except to demonstrate the empty-headedness of these people.
Jun 18, 2010
Lisamarie
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So far the mystery part doesn't really make sense at all but I don't mind because I just like the protagonist so damn much. That is refreshing!
Ok now that I have finished it. The part where it was explained why the person who was being harassed, was being harassed? Still makes no sense. And yet, it was terrifically ballsy that the author just went ahead with it. And I am going to read the hell out of this series, and anything else she writes!
Ok now that I have finished it. The part where it was explained why the person who was being harassed, was being harassed? Still makes no sense. And yet, it was terrifically ballsy that the author just went ahead with it. And I am going to read the hell out of this series, and anything else she writes!
Oct 23, 2011
Tamiya
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this book had a lot of sad moments. i think the worse part of all was when they found out who did the crime and then the trial. i dont want to say to much but it was not at all right i think. the out come was just not what it hink would have been fair. but i guess sometimes it just seems things dont go thr right way when it comes to court.
but this was a good book though i am very glad that i read it and i hope that the writter keeps writing about maddie i will hope for another book.
but this was a good book though i am very glad that i read it and i hope that the writter keeps writing about maddie i will hope for another book.
Dec 04, 2010
Jo Anne
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After her first two books, I was looking forward to Read's latest -- disappointing. In comparison to her previous works, the main plot was lacking. And, the subplots were grossly underdeveloped and questionable as to why she bothered to include them. At times, Read even managed to push her protagonist, Madeline, beyond edgy into unlikeable – sad to see. Hope this book is an anomaly and not the start of a trend.
Jul 06, 2010
Candace
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The main character, Madeline, is a funky, wise, passionate woman who knows all sorts of amazing folks. The story is told with layer upon layer of sub-plots of her life as it intersects the gritty reality of city life sometimes coming to close for comfort. This is one of the few books I have read lately that I have said after finishing, "Whew!Great read."
Nov 27, 2011
Peggy
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This is about a 3+. Cornelia Read is a new author for me and I liked this book and want to read more of her. Apparently, this is her third book about Madeline Dare, a former debutante, who solves crimes. This is more than a crime novel, however. There are thought provoking social issues involved and the sassy Ms. Dare strikes a chord with me!
Jun 11, 2011
Kristina
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The only problem I find with a Cornelia Read book is coming to the last page always feels like I'm losing a dear friend. Invisible Boy, the third Madeline Dare book, is a wonderful read. I devoured it in three days and cannot wait for the next book to come out. If you have not read Cornelia Read then don't walk but run to the bookstore for you are in for a delightful treat!!
Jul 26, 2011
Kyle W.
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This book didn't know what it wanted to be. It started as New York bitchy, then shifted to sad and sappy, and finished off as a courtroom drama. I liked the main character (I had no idea this was a series character), but found some of her motivation lacking. Interesting read but could've used some better storyline editing.
Apr 12, 2010
Anna
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Still not sure what to make of this one--the cover misled me into thinking it had the makings for a nice moody mystery. Umm...nope...and actually kind of cheesy. That said, I still finished the dang thing. Think it was the oddly charming crop of characters & snappy / snotty dialogue that kept me plodding on. Would've been better w/ last pages axed--the ending sucked.
Jul 16, 2010
Mary
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Her best so far. When I first began the book, I was a little
turned off by the excessive profanity. I'm glad I hung in there because her characters are well developed and she writes from the unusual perspective of a "has been" debutante; familiar with society but on the outside.
turned off by the excessive profanity. I'm glad I hung in there because her characters are well developed and she writes from the unusual perspective of a "has been" debutante; familiar with society but on the outside.
Apr 20, 2011
Karen
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While I thought THE CRAZY SCHOOL was extraordinarily good, a favorite of last year, this one didn't do it for me. The protagonist uses so much bad language that it was hard for me to read it, and I'm far from prudish. It simply distracted me too much from the action.
May 21, 2011
Nichole
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This book was such a let down. Besides the author's distracting use of an overabundance of profanities, it becomes difficult to follow by the overabundance of adjectives. The reader is taken in so many different directions in the plot with no real reason for including them. I can not even believe I wasted my time reading the uneventful ending.
Jul 07, 2010
Rachel
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Cornelia Read is one of those authors whose new books I swoop down on in the library. This one was a great read (again). I wouldn't really call this a mystery, but an exploration of the dynamics of abuse - esp. the role of the non-protective mother.
