My first exposure to this author and what a nice surprise it was. The parallels to Rear Window have been well-blurbed, and obviously that classic is the reference point here. Thomas, a schizophrenic thirtysomething, has just lost his father, a tragedy that scarcely affects his routine of sitting in front of the computer all day along. The Whirl360 site he goes to allows him to traverse - and memorize - the streets of the world's cities. Traveling down an NYC side street one day, he sees what appears to be a woman being strangled in a window.
His brother, Ray, an illustrator, is forced to be Thomas's caretaker now, and he generally indulges Thomas. When he views the image on the site, he is convinced something's fishy too. Soon enough, he is in New York, visiting the building where the image was captured.
I won't tell you what happens next, but I will say it involves the following characters: an New York gubernatorial candidate, his philandering wife, a hitwoman who once took silver in gymnastics at the Sydney Olympic Games (!), a reporter who snuggles up to Ray, and a pedophile.
Barclay paces the novel well enough and keeps things tight and interesting. This is the definition of a a page-turner. He, naturally, saves some twists for the final act - and, in this case, the final page.
My only complaint with the book, really, is that it's too long. No thriller need be almost 500 pages.
Grade: B+
*
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SON GABRIEL!
He turns four today. We're going to give him the best day possible.
We're going to give him the best year possible. He's going to Italy in May - for over a month.
On today's agenda. though: speech therapy, a milkshake, the park, presents, pizza...
I can't believe he's four, just can't believe it.
Images courtesy of:
http://www.welovethisbook.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/node_view_photo/Trust%20Your%20Eyes%20hb.jpg
No comments:
Post a Comment