Ghostwalk
by Rebecca Stott
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 454)
Read in July, 2008
After reading this book, I am sorry to say that I was severely disappointed. The synopsis for it sounded great, and I normally love books that involve a historical mystery to solve, but there really wasn't much about this book that I liked. A historian and writer of screenplays, Lydia Brooke, is hired by her former married lover, Cameron Brown, to ghostwrite a book, after the author - his mother- Elizabeth Volgelsang, is murdered. The unfinished manuscript involves Isaac Newton and a group of...more
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I really like the genre of "dig in old books for keys to old mysteries while solving modern ones" but I'm getting tired of overly-pretentious writing. In this case, it was written in the first person so the writing prevented me from connecting to the main character. She's got her flaws anyway--is hung up on her married boyfriend, can't let go, etc--but there still wasn't much that let me sympathize. I completely detested the boyfriend himself, who was too slimy to be likeable but no...more
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Read in June, 2008
I bought this book - set in Cambridge - in Cambridge one afternoon hoping for a good ghost story, a better feel for the town (I was there only one day), and a twist on the life of Sir Isaac Newton. The book gave me very little feel for the Cambridge. It was, at best, only a passable ghost story. Some of the material on Newton was interesting, though.
The narrator, Lydia Brooke, is an intriguing character. A writer, she is hired by her former lover and prominent Cambridge neuroscientist, Camer...more
The narrator, Lydia Brooke, is an intriguing character. A writer, she is hired by her former lover and prominent Cambridge neuroscientist, Camer...more
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Read in March, 2008
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
ghost story admirers
I've seen some reviews of Rebecca Stott's Ghostwalk compare it to The DaVinci Code, but it's an extremely superficial comparison. Books about modern-day people who investigate mysteries from the past existed long before Dan Brown hammered out his infamous novel; he did not create a new genre.
In Ghostwalk, Lydia Brooke is asked by her ex-lover to ghostwrite the final chapters of an Isaac Newton biography that his late mother was writing. As she completes the work, Lydia finds the seventeenth ...more
In Ghostwalk, Lydia Brooke is asked by her ex-lover to ghostwrite the final chapters of an Isaac Newton biography that his late mother was writing. As she completes the work, Lydia finds the seventeenth ...more
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This book was a huge disappointment. I had read a synopsis of the UK edition and I was looking forward to its USA release. There is good material here - clearly well-researched - but the method of using it is flat, wooden, and at times plain risible. The characters are mean, self-centered and unlikeable. The first person narration, which slips into the second person as the narrator addresses her lover, is pretentious and overblown for what it carries. There is no sense of proportion in the writi...more
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Read in June, 2007
A historical fiction mystery in the style of Da Vinci Code. A murder begins an investigation into a famous historical figure and their supposed involvement with the occult (in this case Newton). Although it seemed a blatant jump on the bandwagon of Dan Brown, I read a good review of the book and decided what the heck. Save yourself the bother. Although the author's semi-poetic narrative style is a sharp derivation from Brown's no-nonsense sensational journalist writing, the story suffers from to...more
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Read in June, 2008
Hard to rate this one, because even though I enjoyed the plot line and ideas put forth by the author, I really dislike the characters and writing style. So, I guess I'll put it right in the middle...
Let's start with the good: the plot. The idea of being able to "rub through" to the 17th century, which conjures images of those gas station lotto tickets where you take a nickel to rub off the outer layer and see if you've won $7, was exciting and unique. I like imagining layers of tim...more
Let's start with the good: the plot. The idea of being able to "rub through" to the 17th century, which conjures images of those gas station lotto tickets where you take a nickel to rub off the outer layer and see if you've won $7, was exciting and unique. I like imagining layers of tim...more
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Read in July, 2008
recommends it for:
Want-to-be historians
Although at times the narrative ran dry (and certainly much longer than necessary). The characters were slightly flat and the most compelling (and pivotal) characters were left out except for brief cameos (Dilys Kite and Will Burroughs). However, Ghostwatch was redeemed by its excellent, well-researched historical asides. Without question, the several pages devoted to the history of European glassmaking and the techniques necessary for glassware were the strongest and most interesting in the ...more
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Read in May, 2008
Great idea of elder scholar writing biography of Issac Newton dies mysteriously and the youger writer hired by scholar's son runs into ghostly learnings and speculation from deaths in the past which are proposed to tie to current cruel happenings by an animals rights group. Better yet, it ties to the scholar's son's current neurological experiments and possibly that they are the real perpertrators of the cruel acts. The historical information and tale of speculation about Issac Newton, the myste...more
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Read in January, 2008
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Read in February, 2008
a thoroughly fine read. the interposition of elements was ambitious: pseudo-modern researchers, spiritualists a la madame sosostris, 17th century ghosts, and historical (non-)fiction on the life and works of isaac newton. in the end, it's all handled quite well...the kind of book you don't want to put down but know that you should in order to make the enjoyment last longer. the conclusion, though not typically "what the reader expects" or even remotely satisfying, is most appropriat...more
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Read in June, 2008
I never finished this book. I only made it to Chapter 5. Why did I stop? Because I was already a little bothered by the main character having been the former mistress of this guy's mother and always dwelling on it. The author's use of language seemed a bit haughty as well. However, it wasn't until the middle of chapter 5, when her former lover used the "f" word that I decided it wasn't worth finishing. Unfortunately, I had only just reached the part where they were going to be getting ...more
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I picked up Ghostwalk in the airport, looking for something to keep myself occupied on my travels. I must have been looking quickly, because I read the sentence that said "A carefully researched vision of Cambridge circa 1665." When I sat down, I expected the book to be about Massachusetts, not England (duh-- the novel is about Isaac Newton). Anyway, this is a ghost story for those who profess not to believe in ghost stories. The characters, alive, newly-dead and long dead, all become ...more
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Read in September, 2007
The author tries way too hard; it's her first book, I believe. Result is an obtuse and disjointed story. Most of it is too slow and weird to allow one to get into the story in an enjoyable way. Also, seems to need to fit into the present-day (2007) popularity of merging historical and modern events and people into an odd mixture of mystery and history, leading to the reader wondering "why?" instead of exclaiming "wow". It's the stuff of bandwagons. Cf "Mistress of t...more
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Read in October, 2007
This book just kind of appeared in my pile one day. No idea how it got there, which as I read the book seemed kind of creepy (read it to find out why). It was a bit hard to follow at first, but drew me in with its strange deaths and suggestion of a link between the modern world and 17th century Cambridge. The ending was a bit of a letdown, but the genuine creepiness and mystery of the first 250 pages make the last 50 worthwhile, even if they are not quite up to the promise of those earlier chapt...more
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Read in January, 2008
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Read in July, 2008
recommends it for:
Academic English Travelers
This book is OK, the Isaac Newton historical alchemy stuff is pretty interesting. The animal right stuff not so much. I don't like the fact that so much of the novel deals with the main character Lydia and her married lover Cameron. I wish she'd given him up, but there would go half the novel. The ghost part is not too scary, I never felt to worried for any of the characters. Or maybe I should say I didn't care enought about them to worry.
There are many vivid descriptions of Cambridge, ...more
There are many vivid descriptions of Cambridge, ...more
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This book sounded quite intriguing from the cover description ("highly intelligent and original novel" or "highly intelligent thriller that combines the supernatural with modern quantum theory.") It is supposedly a mystery that combines a love story, mystery, with historical fact to come up with a story that intrigues with alchemy and Sir Isaac Newton. Unfortunately, I found it rather unremarkable. Although it served as "something to do" in those instances where y...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in June, 2007
recommends it for:
nerdy people
Good story to why I read this book...because I knew that I was going to meet the author in the city where it takes place and she was going to take us on a walk through the city pointing out inspirations and scenes. I ended up really enjoying the book though because it is a cross between a nonfiction and a fiction. It deals with the true life of Issac Newton and tries to explain in an extreme way how he became one of the best scientists/discoverers in history. The only drawback was the ending....more
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