In the Shadow of Gotham - Edgar Nominee

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Here's the book that won our group poll to be chosen as an Edgar Nominee Group Read for Fall(October-December). We'll be reading & discussing October through December. Feel free to join in the discussion anytime.

[Christine]

Wow, this looks really interesting. I look forward to reading it.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

I'll have to look for it at the library. If I'm lucky, I'll find it on audiobook :-)

[Janice]

I'll be checking my library today for this one, I remember it sounds interesting when we had it as one of our choices before.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

I should probably start reading this :-)

[Christine]

I started reading this tonight. Its good. I hope more of you start to read it. The main character is really interesting and I like the fact that its set in the early 1900s. A nice change of pace for me.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Christine wrote: "I started reading this tonight. Its good. I hope more of you start to read it. The main character is really interesting and I like the fact that its set in the early 1900s. A nice change of pac..."

I wish my library had it available on audiobook. It would be so much easier for me :-)

[Christine]

It would be a perfect world if the libraries had all that we wanted.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Christine wrote: "It would be a perfect world if the libraries had all that we wanted."

Well, the world is nearly perfect then :-) because inter-library loan is always an option. I'll keep looking into this - I'm just not reading any printed books of any considerable length right now :-)

[Janice]

Dustin, if it helps any, this book reads pretty fast. I am not a fast reader, but am already about 200 pages into it, and am enjoying the read. My favorite quote so far was on the first couple of pages: "I know all too well that memory sometimes refuses to let die what we most want to forget. But now, I also know that memory can create something that never really existed".
Jan, as much history and historical fiction as you read, I think you would enjoy this one. It takes place in 1905, with interesting information about the state of crime scene investigations, and collection of evidence, during those years. Also embedded in the story are the emerging theories about criminal profiling. The author has both a law degree, and a doctorate in literature, and has written a good first book.

[Jan C]

Oh, I am enjoying it.

But it is getting lost in the growing forest that is on my kindle.

[Christine]

I really like the quote at the beginning of the book:

"While nothing is easier than to denounce the evildoer; nothing is more difficult than to understand him." - attributed to Fyodor Dostoevsky

Makes you wonder what is to come!

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Janice wrote: "My favorite quote so far was on the first couple of pages: "I know all too well that memory sometimes refuses to let die what we most want to forget. But now, I also know that memory can create something that never really existed". "

I do have a copy from the library and I did try to start it last week. I remember that quote stood out to me also. It's good to know that it moves quickly - I will try to give it another go when I get the chance :-)

[Christine]

I am finding I cannot read this book fast enough. Its very good and trying to figure out whodunit is driving me crazy!

[Janice]

I finished this book last week, and really enjoyed it! I gave it four stars, really 3 and 1/2, here is my review.
How interesting--even though I guessed the culprit very early on, and even though the writing is sometimes stilted and simplistic, I couldn't put this book down! I was drawn in by the time period setting, 1905, and by the way the early history of crime solving--crime scene investigations, forensic evidence, and criminal profiling--are interwoven into the story. There is not strong character development here, but the hint that maybe more will come. I hope the author' skills at both character development, and a more flowing prose, will continue to grow; I will read more of her work.

[Jan C]

I finally finished this book. I enjoyed it. Only took me about a year - I tend to read in fits. Mostly on public transportation during the commute - that's about 90 minutes a day.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Jan C wrote: "I finally finished this book. I enjoyed it. Only took me about a year - I tend to read in fits. Mostly on public transportation during the commute - that's about 90 minutes a day."

Congrats on sticking with it - that's better than I did. started it a couple of times - never finished :-(

[Jan C]

If you liked Caleb Carr's The Alienist you would probably like this one.

I just downloaded the second book to my kindle this afternoon. Haven't started it yet. Also haven't really noticed any other comments on it.

[Christine]

I am curious about what you think about the second book. I really liked the first book.

I have not read The Alienist and will add it to my TBR list. Thanks.

[Gatorman]

I found this book to be a major disappointment. Poorly written and I figured out the ending long before the reveal, which is not a good thing. The Alienist is a far superior book to Gotham, IMO.

[Jan C]

Well, it was okay. I think I figured it out but then I thought that was too simple so I switched to another candidate, totally forgetting about my original determination.

I just started A Curtain Falls. So far, it is okay. It takes about 4 months after the end of the previous book.

While I did like The Alienist I hAve had a lot more trouble with the second book, The Angel of Darkness. It just didn't click for me like the first one.

Another book using this same period was The Waterworks by E.L. Doctorow, which I really enjoyed.

[Gatorman]

I liked Angel of Darkness a lot. Both Alienist and Angel are two of my favorite historical thrillers.

[Jan C]

I just finished A Curtain Falls this morning - actually almost missed my stop on public transport.

I liked it better than the first one. And I read it much faster. Partly because the characters who were in the first book were already known. Obviously, new characters were introduced in the second book.

I did have one problem though. I was reading two books at the same time which both involved murders in the theater. Reading two books at once isn't usually a problem for me. But I would be a little confused when I picked one of them up for a moment or two (other one was Full Dark House).

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

:-) Thanks Jan - you are clearly getting very involved with your books.

[Janice]

I really liked the first one, and have had this one on my "to read" list since it came out; thanks for reminding me of it, I think I will move it up the list a bit!

[Jan C]

There is also a third book out. Can't recall the title though.