Amazon.com
Following in the substantial footsteps of filmmaker Akiro Kurosawa and Shogun author James Clavell is Takashi Matsuoka, whose action-packed debut novel, Cloud of Sparrows, unfolds as the age of the samurai warrior starts to wane. The year is 1861, and Lord Genji of Akaoka, last in line of the Okamichi clan, welcomes missionaries Emily, Matthew, and Zephaniah to Japan. Cut off from the West for more than 2,000 years, Japan is as completely unprepared for these outsiders as the missionaries are for geishas and honor killings. Genji, his geisha love Heiko, and the missionaries suddenly find themselves in the middle of several nefarious plots to overthrow the Okamichi leader from as far away as the shogun's palace and as close as Genji's own henchmen. Genji and his visitors journey together across treacherous terrain to seek refuge at the faraway Cloud of Sparrows palace. Although it's a rip-roaring yarn full of ambushes, swordfights, cross-cultural friction, love, and prophetic visions, the book does read a bit like a screenplay, cutting quickly from one scene to another. But the frequent shifts in the story's tempo succeed in making the novel all the more vivid, allowing simultaneous action and contemplation to deepen the story and its inhabitants. --Emily Russin
Book Description
Once in a great while a new novelist comes along who dazzles us with rare eloquence and humanity, with flawless storytelling and a unique understanding of another place and time. Takashi Matsuoka is just such a writer.
His magnificent new novel, set amid the violence and beauty of nineteenth-century Japan, takes us beyond the epic tradition of James Clavell’s
Shogun and into a majestic realm of samurai and geishas, ninjas and Zen masters. Brilliantly imagined, gloriously written,
Cloud of Sparrows is at once a sweeping historical adventure and a love story of almost unbearable poignancy. It is storytelling on the grand scale from a novelist of astounding depth and grace.
Cloud of Sparrows
It is the dawn of the New Year, 1861. After two centuries of isolation, Japan has been forced to open its doors to the West, igniting a clash of cultures and generations. And as foreign ships threaten to rain destruction on the Shogun’s castle in Edo, a small group of American missionaries has chosen this time to spread the word of their God. Among them, Emily Gibson, a woman seeking redemption from a tormented past, and Matthew Stark, a cold-eyed killer with one more death on his mind.
Neither realizes that their future in Japan has already been foreseen. For a young nobleman, Lord Genji, has dreamt that his life will be saved by an outsider in the New Year. Widely reviled as a dilettante, Lord Genji has one weapon with which to inspire awe. In his family, one in every generation is said to have the gift of prophecy. And what Lord Genji sees has struck fear in many around him. As the Shogun’s secret police chief plots Genji’s death--and the utter destruction of his entire clan--the young and untried lord must prove that he is more than the handsome womanizer of legend, famed lover of Edo’s most celebrated geisha, Lady Heiko, and that his prophetic powers are no mere fairy tale.
Forced to escape from Edo and flee to his ancestral stronghold, the spectacular Cloud of Sparrows Castle, Genji joins his fate with Emily and Stark, unaware of the dark forces that drive them. Together with Genji’s uncle, Lord Shigeru, a legendary swordsman knee-deep in the blood of his own kin, and the enigmatic Lady Heiko, the unlikely band embarks on a harrowing journey through a landscape bristling with danger--to prepare for a final battle.
Here, on a snowscape stained with blood, horror will mix with wonder, secrets will unravel, and love will duel with vengeance--as East and West, flesh and spirit, past and future, collide in ways no one--least of all Genji--could have imagined.
Download Description
Once in a great while a new novelist comes along who dazzles us with rare eloquence and humanity, with flawless storytelling and a unique understanding of another place and time. Takashi Matsuoka is just such a writer.His magnificent new novel, set amid the violence and beauty of nineteenth-century Japan, takes us beyond the epic tradition of James Clavell's Shogun and into a majestic realm of samurai and geishas, ninjas and Zen masters. Brilliantly imagined, gloriously written, Cloud of Sparrows is at once a sweeping historical adventure and a love story of almost unbearable poignancy. It is storytelling on the grand scale from a novelist of astounding depth and grace.
It is the dawn of the New Year, 1861. After two centuries of isolation, Japan has been forced to open its doors to the West, igniting a clash of cultures and generations. And as foreign ships threaten to rain destruction on the Shogun's castle in Edo, a small group of American missionaries has chosen this time to spread the word of their God. Among them, Emily Gibson, a woman seeking redemption from a tormented past, and Matthew Stark, a cold-eyed killer with one more death on his mind.
Neither realizes that their future in Japan has already been foreseen. For a young nobleman, Lord Genji, has dreamt that his life will be saved by an outsider in the New Year. Widely reviled as a dilettante, Lord Genji has one weapon with which to inspire awe. In his family, one in every generation is said to have the gift of prophecy. And what Lord Genji sees has struck fear in many around him. As the Shogun's secret police chief plots Genji's death -- and the utter destruction of his entire clan -- the young and untried lord must prove that he is more than the handsome womanizer of legend, famed lover of Edo's most celebrated geisha, Lady Heiko, and that his prophetic powers are no mere fairy tale.
Forced to escape from Edo and flee to his ancestral stronghold, the spectacular Cloud of Sparrows Castle, Genji joins his fate with Emily and Stark, unaware of the dark forces that drive them. Together with Genji's uncle, Lord Shigeru, a legendary swordsman knee-deep in the blood of his own kin, and the enigmatic Lady Heiko, the unlikely band embarks on a harrowing journey through a landscape bristling with danger -- to prepare for a final battle.
Here, on a snowscape stained with blood, horror will mix with wonder, secrets will unravel, and love will duel with vengeance -- as East and West, flesh and spirit, past and future, collide in ways no one -- least of all Genji -- could have imagined.
Customer Reviews:
A captivating quasi-epic that takes you to another time........2007-05-09
No spoilers
This was no only my first Takashi Matsuoka book, but it was also my first full-length experience with a novel involving Japan. I picked it up wanting something a little different from anything I have previously read (historical fiction and pysychological thrillers) and because I have interest in feadal societies, I thought I'd give Cloud of Sparrows a try, and I'm so glad I did.
This book does an amazing job at transporting the reader from the present complexities of our world today to the differet, yet just as complex world of the samurai era in feudal Japan in the 1860s. This book probably can't be considererd an epic, but its numerous complex stories that intertwine to make up the larger picture work so well together that it is so easy to find yourelf no longer in the realm of the present. One of the author's greatest achievements in writing this book is how he perfectly divulges or withholds just enough of the stories to keep you thoroughly invested in their outcomes.
When you read this book, you care about the charactes and are invested in what they think, do, say, and feel. Pick this book up to become a benevolent spectator to the ways of the samurai in nineteenth century Japan.
Another masterpiece.......2007-03-24
I read "Autumn Bridge" back in January, and I just had to read this book. I wanted to know how everything started, and I also wanted to read more of Matsuoka.
In this book Matsuoka was testing his own abilities. It lacks the superb refinement of "Autumn Bridge," but is still, by far, an exceptional book to read: well imagined, well crafted and well developed.
Matsuoka style is unique, elegant, elaborated and refined. I cannot ask anymore from any writer.
The characters are interesting and complex. Lord Genji, the dilettante leader of the Okoshumi Clan, has the gift of prophecy. Emilly, the troubled American missionary,tries to escape her own beauty, Heiko the Geisha/Ninja who falls in love in the midst of her mission, and Shigeru, the mercurial lord who is a murderer and feared throughout the land. Their interactions go beyond regular, casual encounters, which describes the subtle, refined culture of the times.
(Everybody cries, I noticed, like a kabuki play)
The battles are well described and here is when Eiji Yoskikawa comes to mind. His books "Musashi" and "Taiko" are so rich in details that I have no doubt Matsuoka must have read them before starting his own book, which by the way is very original. (Or maybe Yoshikawa amd Matsuoka shared same sources)
I can tell by reading these two books that Matsuoka is not a violent man. Witnessing violence is not the same as describing it, and it's evident that Matsuoka has never been around violence. Violence is described with such gruesome detail, as if Matsuoka wanted to illulstrate the volatile environment of the era. Shigueru massacres his own family as he goes mad with prophetic visions, and in "Autumn Bridge" is Lord Yorimasa who is the sexual sadistic psychopath. These violent scenes stand out in this story like blood smearing a sheet of chiyogami paper.
Mr. Matsuoka is not only a talented writer. He has a gift and I am glad he's sharing his gift with all of us, enlightening the way for us, aspiring writers, to follow the path of our creativity and allow it to take us where Matsuoka is now in his "literary nirvana."
I cannot give this book less than 5 stars.
NOT a Clavell clone!.......2007-01-29
I found this book mind-blowingly good. It rings very true with the culture of the period, most particularly in the parts other reviewers found so troubling, like Genji's slaughter of the "eta" village. Remember, Edo-period Japanese, even in fiction, were/are under no obligation whatsoever to adjust their activities to suit 21st-century Western mores--to do so would be "pablum," nothing but pandering to a market. Bravo to Matsuoka's editors for NOT compromising on this--they gave him free rein to disturb you--and maybe stimulate some thought about the lessons of history, East and West.
It may interest some of you to know that while Clavell's "Shogun" is the most widely read novel of feudal Japan in America, it is by NO MEANS as true to the culture as many far better novels written by Japanese such as Eiji Yoshikawa. For example, "Shogun's" central romance could patently never have happened. Matsuoka did a far better job with a similar premise. And by the way, "gentle readers," if you don't have a strong "hara" you may want to stick to "The Tale of Genji" because most of the better samurai novels are pretty strong stuff.
Beautifully Written, Perfectly Plotted.......2006-10-12
After an isolation of 200 years, the doors of Japan have been forced open by foreigners. It is the year 1861. Genji no kami Okumichi, Lord of Akaoka Domain, has agreed to harbor American missionaries (of the True Word of the Prophets of Christ Our Lord church) within his Edo home, Quiet Crane, despite the anti-foreigner sentiment of his fellow countrymen, thus making himself a target for assassins.
One of the American missionaries, the young and beautiful Emily Gibson, has come to Japan to escape her past. Because she has felt the curse of her own beauty in her homeland, she seeks a land where her beauty is considered anything but.
As cursed as Emily is with beauty so too is Lord Genji cursed with the prophetic vision long famed to run within the Okumichi bloodline. He has foreseen much of Japan's future in glimpses while his uncle, Lord Shigeru, has been cursed with seeing far into the future, cursed to the point of intermittent insanity.
Not long after the missionaries arrive, foreigners attack the forts and civilians of Edo with shipboard weapons. One of the castles hit in this rampage is Quiet Crane. The walls of his castle in wreckage, Lord Genji feels the threat of foreign and domestic enemies alike. Thus he and his samurai flee to the Okumichi ancestral castle in Akaoka Domain, Cloud of Sparrows (Suzume-no-kumo). Flight without the Shogun's permission is deemed illegal. Thus Lord Genji and his sworn samurai, and anyone else who follows him, have become outlaws.
Sticky Eye, head of the Shogun's secret police, sees Lord Genji's flight as the perfect opportunity to end a battle that began two-hundred-sixty years beforehand in Sekigahara, a battle in which Sticky Eye's ancestors chose to fight on the losing side due to the prophetic visions of the Okumichi. Resentment drives Sticky Eye--to the point of obsession--in getting back at the Okumichi clan, but the Shogun makes Lord Genji's flight legal, denying Sticky Eye his quarry.
Heiko (Genji's geisha lover), Matthew Stark (a cowbody on a quest for vengeance), and Emily Gibson have been taken along on the journey to Cloud of Sparrows. On this journey, one of the Okumichi prophecies comes to life, furthering the legend of the Okumichi prophets. Yet, after arrival at Cloud of Sparrows, Lord Genji has another prophetic vision, both bitter and sweet: he will have an heir, but the child's mother, the woman he loves, shall die in the birthing. But who is this mysterious woman?
Don't think Sticky Eye is out of the picture yet. He and Genji's traitorous enemies still plot against the young lord. Another showdown will determine the outcome of the Battle of Sekigahara, once and for all.
By now you are probably thinking I have given away most of the storyline to Cloud of Sparrows, but I have not. There are many stories within the story, each character having flashbacks into his or her own past. Each sub-story is just as captivating as the next; some even walked me right out of historical Japan and into the Wild West, in the blink of an eye. The story is also told from many viewpoints, with much back and forth for each scene, yet one would never notice it due to the riveting acts and actions spurring on the characters and their plights.
One of my favorite things about Cloud of Sparrows is that Takashi Matsuoka scattered it with a fastidious detailing of old Japanese customs, making me feel like I received a cultural history lesson without the tedium (or drool) produced by a classroom setting. This story aroused a spectrum of hard-hitting emotions within me as well; an attack of the weepy-eyes was to be found around the corners of many a-page, as Cloud of Sparrows yielded a compassionate journey through the hearts and minds of its characters.
The words "exceptional first novel" have been inscribed on this book's front cover. This is an exceptional novel, period.
Grade: A+
reviewed by Sherryl King-Wilds for[...]
Good first novel, marred by unnecessary extremity.......2006-07-16
Matsuoka is capable of subtlety, rare in a beginning novelist, and I hope he develops that talent in the future and no longer feels he needs to rely on exaggerated characters motivated by exaggeratedly violent and abusive pasts. The plot is decent enough and although I don't know enough about the history or about Japanese culture to comment on the accuracy of the either characterization, both seemed handled well. I appreciated the Zen touches.
Product Description
11 tapes. Read by Grover Gardner. 16.5 hours.
Download Description
Takashi Matsuoka grew up in Hawaii. He lives in Honolulu, where he was employed at a Zen Buddhist temple before becoming a full-time writer. He is the author of the acclaimed novel Cloud of Sparrows, which is available in paperback from Dell.
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
As much as I wanted to like it as much as Cloud of Sparrows, I just couldn't........2007-08-09
No spoilers
I tried hard to like this book as much as I did Cloud of Sparrows, but it was just too hard. I easily gave Cloud of Sparrows four stars because it was such a delightful read that was as much an easy read as it was a complex story, which is a rarity. Unfortunately, Autumn Bridge doesn't live up to its predecessor.
I didn't like this novel not because of its story, but because of the style in which it is written. The plot is just as good as Cloud of Sparrows and is the only reason I was able to give it three stars. As one of the critic reviews on Amazon alludes to, the entire story is told from multi-generational perspectives, and these perspectives switch, on average, every several pages. Many times in the beginning of the story I had to go back a few pages to see if I was reading in the early 1300s, lat 1700, mid 1800s, or late 1800s. As the story went on, I started to pick up on this writing style, but because it's always switching (every paragraph in a few parts), there is little to no flow. When I was finished the novel I sort of felt like I had read several fragments of a book instead of one whole book.
My advice is that you read Cloud of Sparrows and stop there. I enjoyed just about everything in that book and was sad to see it come to an end, but with Autumn Bridge, I almost shed a tear of joy.
Superb.......2007-07-25
Having read clouds of sparrows first I had high expectations from this book and was afraid to be not a little disappointed. Although I have enjoyed Clouds of sparrows I couldn't help but feeling that something was missing. Both the story and the quality of writing were delightful and yet it seemed to be lacking that final touch that would've put it on par with Clavell; From Autumn Bridge I could expect nothing less and I was not disappointed to say the least. The story is magnificent, the way Matsuoka chose to unravel it, jumping between different time points across several centuries is captivating and adds a thriller's quality to it. I was expecting a Clavell, but got something different altogether.
Now I just can't wait for the author's next book.
Having said all that I do share some of the sentiment raised by other reviewers regarding the apparent [over] zealousness with which western culture's `superiority' (over pretty much any other cultures) is heralded in the book. I really doubt that's what the author had in mind and perchance a second read shall dispel that notion.
What a gem of a book!.......2007-01-29
Most of the reviewers here have covered the beauty, passion, tragedy and romance that transcend time in Autumn Bridge. I liked it even better than Cloud of Sparrows. It's literarily and spriritually more expansive. Matsuoka takes literary risks with the mysticism. But it works. I first purchased the audio version. Listening to it prompted my purchase of the hardcover. Reading it in print is a little different experience. Even deeper. Recommend both experiences to get the richness out of it.
Frankly, I'm surprised that this book didn't launch Matsuoka into superstar status. It's that good.
Sublime.......2007-01-21
This is what I call "Adventure Reading," when I pick a book by an author unknown to me. This time, my literary curiosity was well rewarded by a story written by a very gifted writer, Takashi Matsuoka.
The story takes place in the 1860's, when the Tokugawa shogunate is about to be overthrown and creating chaos all over the former empire. While some lords support the Tokugawa rule in the name of tradition, the truth is clearer to other lords who see Japan as a backward empire where tradition have obstructed progress for far too long.
Lord Genji is one of these lords, who admires the "barbarian" foreigners, but because he has the gift of prophesy which runs in his family, he cherishes the future instead of the past. He values the living instead of the dead.
In the midst of it all, Emily, an American missionary translates some ancient scrolls which are, in fact, the story of the Okumichi clan. That's how we know Lady Shizuka, a ghost from the past who appears to Lord Kiyori and guides the former Okumichi leader trough these difficult times, until he's poisoned by his son Shigueru, as an act of piety, to end Lord Kiyori's "madness" for once and for all.
This book goes far beyond a simple narrative. This book has to be the product of several careful revisions. The characters dynamics are so complex, that far than just simple dialogues, we explore the characters motivations, their inner feelings, and perceptions. We see the way they act, based in the options allowed to them according to the norms of their times.
The scholarly tone of this book especially that of the clan leaders reflects a deep knowledge of Japanese culture and history. To me, this book was so well written it was painful to read, because I know I will never be able to write anything like it, and would find very few people who would appreciate such sophistication in terms of style and narrative flair.
5 stars, only. I wish I could rate it higher.
A Passionate Story of Japan.......2006-12-04
Regardless of all the chaos she experienced in Autumn Bridge's predecessor, Cloud of Sparrows, American missionary Emily Gibson has remained in Japan for another six years. It is now the year 1867. During the six year interval, Emily has been working on translating the Cloud of Sparrows scrolls, which contain the history of the Okumichi clan as written by the male ancestors of this bloodline.
However, the discovery of a set of very old scrolls written in an informal manner and so obviously voiced by a woman sets Emily's mind awhirl; the scrolls address Emily directly, or seem to do so. But Emily's devout loyalty to Christianity forbid her from believing anyone other than Jesus could have prophesied the future; thus, she denies what is right before her eyes.
Yet it is these Aki-no-hashi (Autumn Bridge) scrolls that guide us back into the past, to the very beginnings of the Okumichi clan's rise and its association with Cloud of Sparrows Castle. Here, Lady Shizuka--a long-dead ancestress of the Okumichi clan--portrays with haunting beauty the arc of her life, from her preternatural conception to her betrayal and murder, an atrocity committed by her own father. It is from Shizuka's blood that the Okumichi inherited their ability for prophetic visions, or insanity at this particular talent's worst.
Lord Genji Okumichi, a man farsighted even without his prophetic ability, has seen that Japan must change, must modernize or be lost to its own people. The long isolation Japan put upon itself has only served to place it behind much of the world's military advancement, a most frightening predicament as the way of the samurai and feudalism have long dominated Japan. Yet swords can't stop bullets, or cannons.
Unrest grows as foreigners pour through Japan, changing so swiftly what has been for many centuries. Anti-foreigner sentiment, thus, endangers Emily and anyone who befriends her. Hanako, Emily's best friend, eventually becomes the victim of this sentiment, dying a death comprised of valor in Emily's defense.
It is Lord Genji's utmost hope that Emily will leave Japan, as two American men vie for her hand in marriage. Without Hanako, it seems inevitable Emily will choose a husband and depart for America. If Emily does not leave Japan, one of Genji's prophetic visions will unravel with finality: Emily will soon die.
But Emily will not leave. She has convinced herself she must stay to save Lord Genji's pagan soul. Yet this excuse is shallow at best. Truth be told, Emily loves Genji with her entire being. One sign of reciprocal affection from him is all Emily needs to make the decision to stay in Japan.
As with Cloud of Sparrows, Autumn Bridge kept me bleary-eyed and teary-eyed, especially Lady Shizuka's part of the story; this part was told with a delicate grace, much befitting this lady's character. As a whole, Autumn Bridge is told with a haunting beauty, which will keep it on my favorites list for many years to come, or perhaps for my forever.
Autumn Bridge is, however, more than the story of the Okumichi clan, or the love story between Genji and Emily; it is also an adept and passionate story of Japan and its many peoples, of all the changes these people endured during the 19th century.
A stirring triumph that bridges all barriers.
Customer Reviews:
Great Book..........2003-06-07
I thought this book was great because the mystery was very interesting in which you didn't find out who the killer was until the very end and it was the one person that no one suspected. You should buy this book or check it out from the library, it is awesome.
Chris.......2001-06-01
I think the worm tunnel is the best book becouse I like dinsaur and gold crocdle that the boy dad berns it.That late kills that one guy gets stabt in the back.
The Worm Tunnel: A Finnegan Zwake Mystery.......2001-05-30
It was very interesting. You did not find out the solution to the mystery till the very end!! You did not suspect the actual murderer at all!! You have to read this book! It is by far the best book in the Finnegan Zwake Mystery series!!
Better than book one!.......2001-02-18
Finnegan Zwake, Uncle Stoppard, and Jared Lemon-Olsen are off to Agualar--but not for sight-seeing. They're going to the former campsite of Finnegan's legally-dead parents to dig up a golden crocodile which his father had buried under their tent. Unfortunately, a annoying and rude man, Tuscan Freaze, has planted his own tent there. Finn and his uncle create a map of the campsite as it had been seven years earlier, where Finn himself had been with his parents at age six, using pictures which Mr. and Mrs. Zwake had taken during their time there. They mark Tuscan Freaze's tent with a big red X (which they could not know would cause more trouble than they ever imagined) and tried to figure out how to dig up the precious golden croc, which they would sell to the Ackerburg Institute for heaps of money. Their plan is soon forgotten when someone is murdered...then someone else...and someone else.... Finn, Stoppard, and Jared must solve this baffling mystery before it's too late. A must read for all fans of A Series of Unfortunate Events, because these wonderful mysteries are hilarious.
An intense ,action thiller.......2000-12-05
When I picked up this book and the review said it was an action thiller I started to read. At first it was boring but it got better . I like this book because it made me think and it had so much mystery and action, I couldn't put down until I found out what had happened. My favorite part was when Zack Finnegan, his uncle tried to figure out how the person was killed and how the killer got out of a locked area. That part made me think hard. In the end I was so surprised. I didn't even expect that to happen but to know what I read was the best book ever.
Average customer rating:
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The Worm in the Bud
Chris Collett
Manufacturer: Piatkus Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books | Authors, A-Z | Books on CD | Books on Cassette | General | Large Print | Mystery | Police Procedurals | Thrillers | Writing
General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | Classics | Comic | Contemporary | Literary
ASIN: 0749935340 |
Customer Reviews:
Four Volumes - Twelve Nigel Strangeways Mysteries.......2005-03-29
The Nicholas Blake Treasury, includes twelve of the sixteen Nigel Strangeways mysteries. Only The Dreadful Hollow (1953), The Whisper in the Gloom (1954), The Sad Variety (1964), and The Morning After Death (1966) are missing.
The first two volumes (burgundy and green covers, respectively) were published by Nelson Doubleday, Inc and the third and fourth editions (orange and blue covers) by the Mystery Guild.
Volume 1: Thou Shell of Death (1936), The Beast Must Die (1938), and The Corpse in the Snowman (1941)
Volume 2: A Question of Proof (1935), There's Trouble Brewing (1937), and The Smiler with the Knife (1939)
Volume 3: Murder with Malice (1940), Minute for Murder (1947), and Head of a Traveler (1949)
Volume 4: End of Chapter (1957), The Widow's Cruise (1959), and The Worm of Death (1961).
End of Chapter (1957): Nigel Strangeways is investigating who might have altered a proof copy of General Thoresby's memoirs, resulting in a libel case against the prestigious publishing firm, Wenham and Geraldine. Matters worsen when the flamboyant romance novelist, Millicent Miles, is murdered one evening in the publisher's office.
The Widow's Cruise (1959): The poet Nigel Strangeways and the well-respected sculptress Claire Massinger are vacationing on a Greek cruise ship. As so often is the case, Strangeways becomes entangled in affairs that lead to murder. Seemingly every passenger has some secret, and much of the fun is sorting out which secrets are red herrings and which are indeed relevant to the mystery itself.
The Worm of Death (1961): Now living with the sculptress Clare Massinger in the small community of Greenwich along the Thames River, Strangeways is asked to investigate the disappearance of a neighbor, the prestigious doctor, Piers Loudron. Not long afterwards Dr. Loudron's body surfaces on the Thames and the case is declared a homicide.
The poet Cecil Day-Lewis (1904-72) gained fame under the pseudonym Nicholas Blake for his stories involving Nigel Strangeways, a fictional poet with a penchant for solving murder mysteries. These well-constructed mysteries are noted as much for their witty dialogue, character development, and psychological complexity as for the puzzle itself. One reviewer observed: Blake will always be a writer for the connoisseur of detective fiction. Cecil Day-Lewis was professor of poetry at Oxford in 1951-56, and a lecturer in the 1960s at several universities. He was Poet Laureate from 1968 until his death in 1972. The actor Daniel Day-Lewis is his son.
Unable to find these book club editions? Try looking for the Nigel Strangeways mysteries reissued as Perennial Library paperbacks by Harper and Row Publishers in the late 1970s.
Average customer rating:
- Great Novel
- Solid genre mystery.
- An enthralling, suspenseful read cover to cover
- Good Read
- Only the WORM know?
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Worm
Cindy Glander
Manufacturer: iUniverse, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Police Procedurals | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Suspense | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Action & Adventure | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0595315429 |
Book Description
A killer walks the streets of New Milford. He kills discriminately. He kills with purpose. He kills so cleverly that no one in the sleepy little town knows he exists. He masks his murders under the guise of suicides and accidents. His victims share a common thread: each has been abusive to animals, and each has crossed the path of Maggie McCarthy.
All Maggie McCarthy ever wanted was to live quietly and anonymously in her home town, running the small pet shop she inherited from her father. Instead, she unwittingly finds herself at the epicenter of a string of serial murders.
At the center of the investigations is Detective Jake Allen, a small-town cop with a disturbing past. To piece together the puzzle, Jake - or "Worm," as he was known as a boy - must first unravel the mysteries of his own tortured past.
Worm combines the twists and turns of a murder mystery with the spine-tingling undertones of a horror novel. It is a story of abuse and retaliation, of love unrequited and fulfilled, of each person's search for his true identity. From the heart-grabbing opening to the shocking conclusion, Worm will keep you guessing until the very end.
Download Description
A killer walks the streets of New Milford. He kills discriminately. He kills with purpose. He kills so cleverly that no one in the sleepy little town knows he exists. He masks his murders under the guise of suicides and accidents. His victims share a common thread: each has been abusive to animals, and each has crossed the path of Maggie McCarthy.
All Maggie McCarthy ever wanted was to live quietly and anonymously in her home town, running the small pet shop she inherited from her father. Instead, she unwittingly finds herself at the epicenter of a string of serial murders.
At the center of the investigations is Detective Jake Allen, a small-town cop with a disturbing past. To piece together the puzzle, Jake
Customer Reviews:
Great Novel.......2005-03-12
I picked up this book because my New Milford Book club was reading this as our March pick. We picked it because it took place in our hometown. I was pleasantly surprised by this suspense filled book! The story is about a serial killer in a small New England Town and there are twists and turns that keep the reader intrigued. Once I hit the middle of the book I couldn't put the book down. While predictable, I found the story to be very well thought out and a great story.
Solid genre mystery........2005-02-05
Cindy Glander, Worm (iUniverse, 2004)
While plagued with the usual typos one expects from an iUniverse release, and something of an overenthusiastic back-cover blurb writer (also typical of iUniverse), there's a lot to be liked in this little tale of a New England serial killer. The young Worm, a typical social outcast (there are a few at every school), grows up transformed by a stint in the army into a devoted police officer, befriended by his partner, Hank. Hank's best friend Sam had died as the victim of a random crime, and Hank promised to keep watch over Sam's son Maggie as the man died. Maggie took over Sam's pet store after Sam's death, and now Maggie is torn between an attraction for Jake and one for Frank, part-timer at the pet store who also works at the hardware store down the street. Amidst all this, Hank and Jake are tracking a serial killer in New Milford, Connecticut.
Yep, a serial killer in Connecticut, and one whose motives are (to say the least) deeply odd, seeming almost random at the beginning of the story. This adds to the confusion at the beginning, of which there is a great deal. Once you've gotten to the point where you know the characters, however, things progress more smoothly. The mystery angle here is pretty stock stuff, as is the romance angle, and both get relatively predictable about halfway through the book. The pleasure in Worm, however, is seeing how the late Glander gets from the point where you realize who the killer is and who Maggie will end up in love with to getting to the actual scenes, and what sorts of obstacles will get thrown in everyone's way while getting from point A to point B.
Worm isn't likely to grab you by the throat and proclaim itself the best mystery you've ever come across, but it's certainly good reading for those times when you're in need of a good, predictable genre piece that'll keep you turning the pages. ***
An enthralling, suspenseful read cover to cover.......2004-12-06
Worm is a gripping murder mystery. A serial killer stalks the streets of a sleepy little town, ruthlessly murdering individuals who are cruel to animals. Each victim has some connection to Maggie McCarthy, who only wanted to live in peace; now she is absorbed into a maelstrom of vicious conflict and the mind of a tortured killer. An enthralling, suspenseful read cover to cover.
Good Read.......2004-09-29
Cindy Glander uses the art of profiling (as in FBI serial killer profiling) to create a monstrous character that will have you cringing. Each death is cleverly disguised as an accident or suicide, which leaves you thinking, "How will they ever catch this guy if they don't even know to look for him?"
This is an excellent novel which I found intriguing and well worth reading. It is a mystery and a psycho-thriller combined. I have been reading a lot of James Patterson and Dan Brown lately, so it's good to find another writer of mystery and suspense on the horizon.
Only the WORM know?.......2004-09-12
The Worm, not the creepy type found in the dirt by the use of a shovel but a man known in his younger days as the Worm. People are dying, but are they being killed or just dying by accidents, or could they be taking their own lives? Only the Worm knows for sure. In the town of New Milford strange things seem to be happening, abusive type people are dying, they are not abusive to people, well maybe they are in some ways but they have hurt animals and now they must die.
Maggie McCarthy a pet store owner seems to have something in common with some of the people in New Milford the nice little town she lives in. It's up to a town Detective Jake Allen to find her connection to the past and present or does he already know? What does his past have to do with what is now happening in this small town and the people that are turning up dead? Just where does the name Worm fit in?
Are you up to the ride through the small town as you make your turns at the corners, seems to be a lot of turns in this town. You will be turning the pages of the book faster and faster to keep up, you only thought a worm moves slowly. A must read-Larry Hobson- Author- "The Day Of The Rose"
Average customer rating:
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A Can of Worms
Gretta Mulrooney
Manufacturer: Poolbeg Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Mysteries, Espionage, & Detectives | Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books | Anthologies | British Detectives | Canadian Detectives | Cat Sleuths | General | Hard-Boiled | Historical | Reference | Series | Sherlock Holmes | Women Sleuths
ASIN: 1853713120 |
Average customer rating:
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Flies in the Buttermilk 2: Tread on a Worm
Kemma Lynn
Manufacturer: PublishAmerica
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Suspense | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Action & Adventure | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1424139090
Release Date: 2007-04-02 |
Book Description
The struggle between thirteen-year-old Oddie Mae and her biracial grandmother Bessie Tanner continues as her delusions pull her further away from reality, pushing her into a gruesome whirlwind of violence. When Bessie discovers that Oddie Mae is missing from the Godfrey General Hospital after giving birth to twin girls, she becomes outraged. In a matter of minutes, panic strikes the streets of Godfrey County and Bessie's ally Sheriff Potts is in full pursuit of the thirteen-year-old girl and her infants. As Bessie desperately tries to keep her legacy from falling apart, Oddie Mae races through the woods against the fall of darkness to destroy the chains that held together a society saturated with immorality.
Average customer rating:
- Shocking Plots Twists
- Graves, Worms and Epitaphs
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Graves, Worms and Epitaphs
J. W. Kerr
Manufacturer: Holmes & Watson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Series | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1891668161 |
Book Description
Leiutenant Hilderbrand is again confronted with evil in this sequel to bestselling novel, "The Devil and Leiutenant Hilderbrand"
Customer Reviews:
Shocking Plots Twists.......2001-12-28
In the 12/16/01 Lansing State Journal, by Ray Walsh
"The Devil and Lieutenant Hilderbrand" and "Graves, Worms and Epitaphs," by J. W. Kerr, are the initial entries in a new series showcasing Houston police officer Anson Hilderbrand.
The first book, dealing with an obsessive contract killer, has just been released as a paperback; the second focuses on a cop-killer who's involved in a scheme where runaway teens are paid to appear in dirty movies.
The novels are full of fast-paced dialogue reminiscent of Robert Parker, moving smoothly through well-scripted plots. Kerr shows real promise with a few shocking plot twists that raise his mysteries above those that are simply average.
Graves, Worms and Epitaphs.......2001-12-03
I loved this book. J.W. Kerr devises another riveting adventure
for Lieutenant Anson Hilderbrand in his new novel, Graves, Worms,
and Epitaphs. Kerr presents Hilderbrand with a chilling mystery to solve and Hilderbrand does not disappoint the readers. It's
a tale of murder, and solving it takes this hard hitting Lieutenant on a road of surprising twists and turns. Kerr gives
the readers a fast, hard ride as he takes them from beginning to end with his unmatchable style. It's hard to put the book down
once you start to read. Each sentence moves the story along.
It's a great read. I'm looking forward to more books by this author.
Average customer rating:
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The Invisible Worm (Atlantic Large Print)
Margaret Millar
Manufacturer: Chivers Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | 18th Century | 19th Century | 20th Century | African American | Asian American | Classics | Collections & Readers | Drama | General | Hispanic | History & Criticism | Humor | Jewish American | Letters & Correspondence | Native American | Poetry | Short Stories | Women Writers
General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Millar, Margaret | ( M ) | Authors, A-Z | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Literature & Fiction | Large Print | Formats | Books
Mystery & Thrillers | Large Print | Formats | Books
ASIN: 0792700236 |
Average customer rating:
- Worth reading in conjunction with Hadrian VII
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Let's Talk of Graves, of Worms and Epitaphs (Black Dagger Crimes)
Robert Player
Manufacturer: Chivers North America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General | Words & Language | Reference | Subjects | Books
Mystery | Fiction | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
General | Fiction | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0745186904 |
Customer Reviews:
Worth reading in conjunction with Hadrian VII.......2001-07-10
In the mid-nineteenth century, Barnabas Barbellion wants to be Pope. But he is not a Catholic. He's an Anglican rector, with a wife, three children (one illegitimate) and a mistress. This peculiar book is partly a murder mystery story, but most interesting for its similarities to the extraordinary 'Hadrian the VII' by the so-called Baron Corvo. Both feature clerics of overweening ambition who achieve the papacy under bizarre and unlikely circumstances. In both cases the central character is unloveable to the point of repellence: cold, hard and slightly mad men. In 'Graves' the prose is distant and the action hard to engage with. There is an Edwardian feel to the writing, although its author, a noted architecture academic, penned the book in 1975. I thought the basic murder mystery plot was a distraction to the book's description of how the devious Barbellion eventually achieves the pontificate, and disappointed that there is virtually nothing about his reign as Paschal IV. However, the sheer audacity of Barbellion's machinations holds your attention.
Books:
- Companero: The Life and Death of Che Guevara
- Confessions of an English Opium Eater (Penguin Classics)
- Consent to Kill: A Thriller (Mitch Rapp Novels)
- Creative Techniques For Stained Glass
- Customer Data Integration: Reaching a Single Version of the Truth (SAS Institute Inc.)
- Dem Bones
- Dona Perfecta (El Libro De Bolsillo)
- Double Tap (Paul Madriani Novels)
- Edges of Empire: Orientalism and Visual Culture (New Interventions in Art History)
- Flint the King (Dragonlance: Preludes)
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