The Shadow Catcher vs. An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England

[Stacy]

Post your picks!

[Stacy]

Before reading these, I picked An Arsonist's Guide to make it to my final four. I read so many raves about this book that I was sure I was going to love it, but I was left without a character to root for, without enough about New England authors, and without a plot that left me at the edge of my seat. I'm half-way through The Shadow Catcher and I am getting completely sucked in. Every time the narrator changes, I am actually disappointed because I had just been entranced by the previous narrator. Plus, the writing is better. So I'm actually voting against my final four pick and crossing my fingers for The Shadow Catcher.

[Johanna]

I've got The Shadow Catcher at home right now, next after Patchett's Run. I hope it fares better than Patchett did. My vote is nothing but faith because I've not read either: Shadow Catcher.

[Scott]

I've also read An Arsonist's Guide and thought it was going to be better than I found it. At times I thought it would turn itself around. It has a great premise. It can be very humorous and has a cast of quirky characters. However, on the whole it didn't work for me. Largely because the protagonist didn't work for me as a character. His actions never made sense.

So I'm going with The Shadow Catcher which I have not read. If the writing is better than I think it will win.

[Maggie]

Between the two I've only read An Arsonist's Guide... and thought it was totally overrated - flat characters, off-putting tone, and a throughly annoying protagonist. So, even though I haven't read it, The Shadow Catcher gets my vote.