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In Malice, Quite Close
A haunting and sophisticated debut in which priceless art and unspeakable desires converge.
French ex-pat Tristan Mourault is the wealthy, urbane heir to a world- renowned collection of art-and an insatiable voyeur enamored with Karen Miller, a fifteen-year-old girl from a working-class family in San Francisco. Deciding he must "rescue" Karen from her unhappy circumstances, Tristan kidnaps her and stages her death to mask his true crime.
Years later, Karen is now "Gisele" and the pair lead an opulent life in idyllic and rarefied Devon, Washington. But when Nicola, Gisele's young daughter, stumbles upon a secret cache of paintings-all nudes of Gisele-Tristan's carefully constructed world begins to crumble. As Nicola grapples with the tragedy that follows, she crosses paths with Amanda Miller, who comes to Devon to investigate the portraits' uncanny resemblance to her long-lost sister.
Set against a byzantine backdrop of greed, artifice, and dangerous manipulations, In Malice, Quite Close is an intoxicating debut that keeps its darkest secrets until the very last page.
French ex-pat Tristan Mourault is the wealthy, urbane heir to a world- renowned collection of art-and an insatiable voyeur enamored with Karen Miller, a fifteen-year-old girl from a working-class family in San Francisco. Deciding he must "rescue" Karen from her unhappy circumstances, Tristan kidnaps her and stages her death to mask his true crime.
Years later, Karen is now "Gisele" and the pair lead an opulent life in idyllic and rarefied Devon, Washington. But when Nicola, Gisele's young daughter, stumbles upon a secret cache of paintings-all nudes of Gisele-Tristan's carefully constructed world begins to crumble. As Nicola grapples with the tragedy that follows, she crosses paths with Amanda Miller, who comes to Devon to investigate the portraits' uncanny resemblance to her long-lost sister.
Set against a byzantine backdrop of greed, artifice, and dangerous manipulations, In Malice, Quite Close is an intoxicating debut that keeps its darkest secrets until the very last page.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published August 4, 2011
13 people are currently reading
661 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 90 reviews
November 29, 2022
I am afraid to pick up another book too soon after this one, for fear that it might be much like chasing a fine wine with a pasty toothbrush- letting it linger a bit seems far more attractive. I will say, admittedly, that I was contemplating moving on to another book a bit after the initial excitement had faded- what a mistake that would have been. The story here is great, and full of savory characters and exciting twists, but the language here is the real winner. I praise Brandi Lynn Ryder for her absolute command of the English language and consequently, my full and floral imagination. If I could write like this I would exhaust myself to death by pen. I sometimes underline passages from books that I find particularly impressive or poetic, but with this book, ordering a copy entirely in "underline" might be more appropriate. Brava! Bien fait!
December 23, 2019
Audio 5++ Stars
Story...2.5 Anticlimactic Stars
The story felt unnecessarily long, and the details about Art were mind numbing. 😵 If not for the amazing narrator performance and my need to know who done it, this would have been a DNF. 😖
Story...2.5 Anticlimactic Stars
The story felt unnecessarily long, and the details about Art were mind numbing. 😵 If not for the amazing narrator performance and my need to know who done it, this would have been a DNF. 😖
December 23, 2019
5 stars audio
2 drawn out stars story.
2 drawn out stars story.
September 5, 2011
This novel left me entirely in awe. The complexity of the plot, the depths of the characters, and the beautiful use of language, themes, and imagery absolutely captivated me. The story itself was a gorgeously crafted labyrinth that sprawled through obsession, jealousy, self-examination, self-denial, beauty, and art. Each path of the different plot elements flowed seamlessly into one another yet still retained enough of their own uniqueness that none of them felt over used or repetitive. I loathe to go into too much detail of the plot itself because this is a story that retains an eerie beauty in it's dark secrets.
Ryder is obviously a master when it comes to words. This is an ambitious novel and to write with less than exceptional prose would have marred it to a mediocre standard. Instead, she managed to elevate it and add much more depth and intrigue with just her style alone.
I really feel at a loss right now to properly express how much I love this novel. It's so rich with the exploration of the meaning of art, of objectification, of beauty, of obsession. So closely woven together with the meaning of truth and lies, of psychology, of human relationships, of mistakes and consequences. I could see myself happily writing a paper exploring any one of these topics and more based off of this novel.
Ryder is obviously a master when it comes to words. This is an ambitious novel and to write with less than exceptional prose would have marred it to a mediocre standard. Instead, she managed to elevate it and add much more depth and intrigue with just her style alone.
I really feel at a loss right now to properly express how much I love this novel. It's so rich with the exploration of the meaning of art, of objectification, of beauty, of obsession. So closely woven together with the meaning of truth and lies, of psychology, of human relationships, of mistakes and consequences. I could see myself happily writing a paper exploring any one of these topics and more based off of this novel.
August 9, 2011
I don't even know how to review this book! It is multi-layered and not straight-forward in any way. Ultimately, I believe the author is using the complex characters in the book to dispel the idea of truth being the only reality when "truth" does not necessarily exist except in the mind of the interpreter.
It is a disturbing story that is artfully told. I honestly could not put the book down. In fact, like art, interpretation is very personal and represents a culmination of a person's experiences. Kind of like a Rorschach test only using more than ink blots. The twists and turns the book takes was intriguing and the at last dizzying when coming so fast.
As one character points out, humans love riddles and will obsess over them. Life is full of unsolved mysteries that plague me years later. The author created an enigmatic character, Giselle, that nobody really knew except in bits and pieces. Even when combined in one room, those bits and pieces did not quite make up the entire woman. She was a riddle that became and obsession for many.
The content and the story is very well planned and executed, leaving the more disturbing aspects eclipsed by the novel itself. The mysteries kept me turning the pages because I wanted to know the answers to the riddles which kept revealing more riddles. This one I would encourage to a book group, although not to the ladies in my congregation. Not that I don't think they should read it because I enjoyed it in a twisted sort of way. I simply don't want their version of the truth of me to be interpreted by the books I recommend. For them, I recommend Pollyanna.
Sexual content: High amount and part of Giselle's feelings of worth
Dialogue: Moderate swearing. "F" word used.
Violence: Moderate
Content: Taboo subjects are addressed although not necessarily acted out in the way the reader might have expected. Predatory sexual acts, rape, incest, exhibitionism, voyeurism, among other subjects are broached. Remembering that I am a prude in my inner core, I did not find the approach to be inappropriate. If I am more specific, I will spoil the book.
It is a disturbing story that is artfully told. I honestly could not put the book down. In fact, like art, interpretation is very personal and represents a culmination of a person's experiences. Kind of like a Rorschach test only using more than ink blots. The twists and turns the book takes was intriguing and the at last dizzying when coming so fast.
As one character points out, humans love riddles and will obsess over them. Life is full of unsolved mysteries that plague me years later. The author created an enigmatic character, Giselle, that nobody really knew except in bits and pieces. Even when combined in one room, those bits and pieces did not quite make up the entire woman. She was a riddle that became and obsession for many.
The content and the story is very well planned and executed, leaving the more disturbing aspects eclipsed by the novel itself. The mysteries kept me turning the pages because I wanted to know the answers to the riddles which kept revealing more riddles. This one I would encourage to a book group, although not to the ladies in my congregation. Not that I don't think they should read it because I enjoyed it in a twisted sort of way. I simply don't want their version of the truth of me to be interpreted by the books I recommend. For them, I recommend Pollyanna.
Sexual content: High amount and part of Giselle's feelings of worth
Dialogue: Moderate swearing. "F" word used.
Violence: Moderate
Content: Taboo subjects are addressed although not necessarily acted out in the way the reader might have expected. Predatory sexual acts, rape, incest, exhibitionism, voyeurism, among other subjects are broached. Remembering that I am a prude in my inner core, I did not find the approach to be inappropriate. If I am more specific, I will spoil the book.
October 10, 2012
Book moved from repulsive sections to fascinating sections. I would just decide to stop reading when a more engaging section would start. In general though could not recommend and didn't even retain for the annual book sale. My copy was left in a pensione in Florence.
November 5, 2014
If you loved this book then boy do I have the book for you! ;O
This is a (bad) retelling of the book Lolita. It's very similar to that classic and, as such, it just can't hold a candle. It's actually so similar and tight a retelling that I'm amazed it wasn't put in the book blurb. The author flips things around or delays them, and the murder is different, but still. It's quite similar, from the journal start to most everything.
Thug Notes summery of Lolita:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kMTS...
And the Ryder just can't compare. The changes she makes are odd and don't really help the book either.
For example, she tries to make Tristan to be likeable. And she fails. One of the uncomfortable things about Lolita is how the author is able to make you feel bad for Humbert and Ryder doesn't have an inkling on how he did that.
Basically, this book is in multiple VPs and Lolita isn't. That's the crux of why Tristan would never be considered likeable. No one truly like Humbert but the author controls your POV so well in Lolita that he doesn't give you the chance to see from others perspectives nor does he hid what the pervert does -- he has Humbert rationalize it all.
One uggy scene in Lolita has them (Humbert and Lolita) having sex (not in detail, mind you) in a cottage one the first time he has her. He tries to 'put her to sleep' with sleeping pills and he explains how this was for her own good. Then he says that they didn't work but it's okay because she wasn't a virgin.
The reader knows that's a load of croak but we also know Humbert believes it and having only one POV, a highly unreliable one at that, makes it hard not to kinda-sorta understand. That's the strength of Lolita and this book totally misses the mark.
The other thing was that most of his choices simply don't make sense. Karen was far older that Delores (who was 12 at the time) so it made sense to keep the father-daughter thing going on. Karen was almost 16. Why keep up the pretense?
If he was so rich, why not just fake an ID for her? If she wouldn't be working then why does she need a SSI? I can think of absolutely no reason what-so-ever that she'd need to assume the life of his dead daughter.
Why did she marry Luke? I don't understand that. I know it was probably for the daughter but that still doesn't make any sense. It was the 1980s, not the 1920s. Unwed mothers weren't all that rare back then. Why would he not move them away from suspicious people and why move to Washington?
None of it made any sense...
This is a (bad) retelling of the book Lolita. It's very similar to that classic and, as such, it just can't hold a candle. It's actually so similar and tight a retelling that I'm amazed it wasn't put in the book blurb. The author flips things around or delays them, and the murder is different, but still. It's quite similar, from the journal start to most everything.
Thug Notes summery of Lolita:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kMTS...
And the Ryder just can't compare. The changes she makes are odd and don't really help the book either.
For example, she tries to make Tristan to be likeable. And she fails. One of the uncomfortable things about Lolita is how the author is able to make you feel bad for Humbert and Ryder doesn't have an inkling on how he did that.
Basically, this book is in multiple VPs and Lolita isn't. That's the crux of why Tristan would never be considered likeable. No one truly like Humbert but the author controls your POV so well in Lolita that he doesn't give you the chance to see from others perspectives nor does he hid what the pervert does -- he has Humbert rationalize it all.
One uggy scene in Lolita has them (Humbert and Lolita) having sex (not in detail, mind you) in a cottage one the first time he has her. He tries to 'put her to sleep' with sleeping pills and he explains how this was for her own good. Then he says that they didn't work but it's okay because she wasn't a virgin.
The reader knows that's a load of croak but we also know Humbert believes it and having only one POV, a highly unreliable one at that, makes it hard not to kinda-sorta understand. That's the strength of Lolita and this book totally misses the mark.
The other thing was that most of his choices simply don't make sense. Karen was far older that Delores (who was 12 at the time) so it made sense to keep the father-daughter thing going on. Karen was almost 16. Why keep up the pretense?
If he was so rich, why not just fake an ID for her? If she wouldn't be working then why does she need a SSI? I can think of absolutely no reason what-so-ever that she'd need to assume the life of his dead daughter.
Why did she marry Luke? I don't understand that. I know it was probably for the daughter but that still doesn't make any sense. It was the 1980s, not the 1920s. Unwed mothers weren't all that rare back then. Why would he not move them away from suspicious people and why move to Washington?
None of it made any sense...
May 29, 2015
'In Malice, Quite Close' is Brandi Lynn Ryder's debut novel. And as blown away as I am by the book itself, I am even more blown away by this fact. The writing is spectacular and the story itself is just as magnificent. Put these facts together and there is no denying Ms. Ryder's core talent as an author.
I expect that this book will stay with me for a long time to come. It's disturbing and heart wrenching subject matter has a genuine honesty that I didn't expect to find between the lines. And while the plot is troubling at times, there are beautifully sharp edges to it that have left me moved.
"We've created our perception of the truth. That's all reality ever is."
'In Malice, Quite Close' is a lot like looking at an old painting that you know you could never paint or understand, but you intrinsically love as though it is your very own.
Do not let the amount of time it took me to finish this book lead you to believe I found it difficult to get through. In fact, it took me longer to read than most books simply because I took my time drinking in every single word, making it last as long as possible. As much as I wanted to know how it would end, I never once wanted to be finished with this great story.
I expect that this book will stay with me for a long time to come. It's disturbing and heart wrenching subject matter has a genuine honesty that I didn't expect to find between the lines. And while the plot is troubling at times, there are beautifully sharp edges to it that have left me moved.
"We've created our perception of the truth. That's all reality ever is."
'In Malice, Quite Close' is a lot like looking at an old painting that you know you could never paint or understand, but you intrinsically love as though it is your very own.
Do not let the amount of time it took me to finish this book lead you to believe I found it difficult to get through. In fact, it took me longer to read than most books simply because I took my time drinking in every single word, making it last as long as possible. As much as I wanted to know how it would end, I never once wanted to be finished with this great story.
August 11, 2011
This is one for those who like a little thinking with their suspense. It is a "literary-commercial" crossover book - which just means that it's a page turned filled with characters that have been fleshed out to the point where you get to know them, and they stay with you long after you finish the book.
Filled with interesting characters, plots twists, and even out-loud moments where you go, "OMG!". (I love it when a book can do that to me)
There are tons of great reviews out there for In Malice, Quite Close. I won't rehash the obvious. I'll just give this one two thumbs way up. And I'll keep an eye on the Bestsellers lists, because I'm sure we'll see it there soon enough.
Filled with interesting characters, plots twists, and even out-loud moments where you go, "OMG!". (I love it when a book can do that to me)
There are tons of great reviews out there for In Malice, Quite Close. I won't rehash the obvious. I'll just give this one two thumbs way up. And I'll keep an eye on the Bestsellers lists, because I'm sure we'll see it there soon enough.
August 19, 2011
I won this book on goodreads from Viking and I am very thankful.
The first chapter will get you hooked.
I would highly suggest this book. All of the lies and betrayls are mixed with what the characters think love is. A great book that kept me guessing until the very end.
The first chapter will get you hooked.
I would highly suggest this book. All of the lies and betrayls are mixed with what the characters think love is. A great book that kept me guessing until the very end.
Want to read
March 1, 2012The cover of this book is great! I can't wait to get and to read it...
January 19, 2015
I knew from the moment I read the jacket blurb that this was going to be one of those books with which I'd either instantly connect or from which I'd find myself unquestionably repulsed. It turns out it was a fascinating mixture of both, though more of the former, and I'm still thinking about it and everyone involved and wondering how exactly to write a fair review.
To start, I would LOVE to give this book five stars. I really thought, once I got about 20 pages in and had been enraptured by Ryder's prose, that this would unquestionably be one of those stellar outcast heart-stabbing novels that fall by the wayside simply because they are too good to be accessible. This was not quite the case here, though if one does not have at least a passing familiarity with the major artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, most of the allusions and renderings will pass overhead unheeded.
To begin with, I would rather cite the novel's striking accomplishments and attributes – they begin with the lengthy first-person introduction from Tristan, with whom one is meant to identify as a seer, an artist, and, though he would never coin the term himself nor stoop to something so manual and crass, a MAKER. From the moment he identifies himself and his purpose, we are made to feel a sympathy and sympathetic need. For all his rich prose (which, though sometimes blue or black, never crosses the line into purple), Tristan has a vast need he is seeking to fill. He begins his journey, his courtship, at the same time Karen (who is ultimately to become Gisele) begins hers. It is the ultimate origin story, for creatures far more frail and fractious than superheroes.
The narrative alternates between Tristan's first-person past revelations and the current linear progress of the narrative itself. I want to like him. WE want to like him. For all he does, he is never violent, ugly, or uncharitable. This is where the lines might blur for a lot of people who find the very idea of this story and its suggestion of "incest" repugnant: the ways in which he cares for her are ultimately proprietary and protective, and that shares an uncomfortable resonance with both lover and father. What father has not felt protective of his daughter? What lover has not felt suspicious seeing his partner with someone else, even someone older, to whom there seems to be an undefinable attraction?
To me, ultimately, this book spelled L-O-V-E as C-O-N-F-L-I-C-T. Amongst all the entanglements, it hardly felt that anyone had been given a fair chance at simply receiving "love" for all its virtue and with none of its consequence – the one exception being Nicola, Gisele's (and, purportedly, either Luke or Tristan's daughter, though she is raised as Tristan's GRANDdaughter, to give you an example of said entanglements) young daughter, who is coming close to an age where she is beginning to question everything about life, including her own origins. It is both good plotting and bad luck for her that her curiosity coincides with irrevocable and destructive events.
Once the pivotal event takes place about a third of the way into the novel, we receive more of the past via Tristan and yet more from letters written by characters and old photographs and new, provided by some to others hired by yet some within to spy upon the "extended family."
Any review would be remiss if it did not mention Robin Dresden. From the moment he was introduced I was drawn to him as much as I was to Tristan and his aesthetic "perversion" – more so, even, and this was brilliantly done. As things evolve and are slowly revealed it becomes evident that Robin is Tristan's mirror, and what can be said about one can be reflected or distorted in the other. To that end I shall say no more and let it be part of the delicious puzzle that kept me reading.
By now, if you are reading the book and are more than a third of the way in or halfway through, you'll notice I've left out Luke. As Gisele's husband, he ought to seem quite important; however, he is immediately and quickly sketched in such detail, and never to any degree enriched beyond the most base human needs and wants, that one tends to forget about him until by an unlucky stroke of chance he becomes known as the artist of a massive series of paintings – mostly nudes, and very intimate – of what are to become known as the Gisele Paintings.
The true artist is, of course, a mystery – could it be Tristan, supposed father-figure and Grand-pere to Nicola? Luke is disgusted and horrified by what this implies. Could it be someone else – while Luke was having his own affair with Amanda Miller (a young psychology student who knows someone who knows someone who brings her into contact with Luke, and, after an astonishing series of events and revelations, her own thought-long-dead sister, Karen Miller, aka Gisele)?
Even as the web of suspicion expands it contracts, turning everything into a terrible series of coincidences that ultimately tear apart the character (or creation, if you will) at its heart; after this event, everyone must piece together what they know of the narrative, which is slowly and painstakingly (and, if I may say, brilliantly) stitched together from Tristan's past reminiscences and what the characters remember together once they meet in the here and now in Devon, Washington.
Again, "love" is a subjective term. It is spelled also as "longing" and "need" and "jealousy" in this narrative, all knotted together in a loose hunk of tangled mischance better known as "obsession."
Diving into it won't damage you. At worst, it will make you re-examine your own objects of desire. At best, it will make you set them free in a new and unexpected way, as Gisele herself does in an ultimate disclusure which I shall not spoil for anyone who feels the need to read this book.
Again, I WANT to say five stars. I really held on and clung to it, thinking "just give me that gut-wrenching finality, just give me the tears or absolution or despair!" and I was never quite rewarded for my sympathy or investment in any of the characters. Even the dark horses were saddled and bridled by the end. Even Nicola's plight, ending as it does in an unusual rescue, moves me less than knowing it occurred amidst and against this backdrop of a larger tragedy.
With a little more art, I think this novel could have stood to expand several chapters and perhaps 50 pages – perhaps the emotional payoff and anguish I felt I deserved was edited out. It could also be possible that I simply wasn't moved by what others might consider a less-than-happy ending to an already unhappy tale; I suppose we'll never know.
In conclusion, I'd suggest this as worth the read for writing craft (Tristan's prose in particular, while sometimes caustic and condescending, is nonetheless intimate and lovely and occasionally borders on sacred). If you are worried about the themes of "incest," rest assured, nobody who's actually getting together in that way is actually related, though it does loom as a threat and motive for a couple characters for a while. Rest assured, insofar as THAT taboo is concerned, propriety is preserved.
For the rest, I can make no promises. I think there is a secret voyeur in all of us to whom Tristan speaks, viewing the world through lens or as a canvas, and later through indescribable secret passages that offer singular and private glimpses into the most unguarded moments of one's (Gisele's) existence. You will never know how much you want to see until you begin to look... and beginning to look is the first part of discovering something beautiful.
To start, I would LOVE to give this book five stars. I really thought, once I got about 20 pages in and had been enraptured by Ryder's prose, that this would unquestionably be one of those stellar outcast heart-stabbing novels that fall by the wayside simply because they are too good to be accessible. This was not quite the case here, though if one does not have at least a passing familiarity with the major artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, most of the allusions and renderings will pass overhead unheeded.
To begin with, I would rather cite the novel's striking accomplishments and attributes – they begin with the lengthy first-person introduction from Tristan, with whom one is meant to identify as a seer, an artist, and, though he would never coin the term himself nor stoop to something so manual and crass, a MAKER. From the moment he identifies himself and his purpose, we are made to feel a sympathy and sympathetic need. For all his rich prose (which, though sometimes blue or black, never crosses the line into purple), Tristan has a vast need he is seeking to fill. He begins his journey, his courtship, at the same time Karen (who is ultimately to become Gisele) begins hers. It is the ultimate origin story, for creatures far more frail and fractious than superheroes.
The narrative alternates between Tristan's first-person past revelations and the current linear progress of the narrative itself. I want to like him. WE want to like him. For all he does, he is never violent, ugly, or uncharitable. This is where the lines might blur for a lot of people who find the very idea of this story and its suggestion of "incest" repugnant: the ways in which he cares for her are ultimately proprietary and protective, and that shares an uncomfortable resonance with both lover and father. What father has not felt protective of his daughter? What lover has not felt suspicious seeing his partner with someone else, even someone older, to whom there seems to be an undefinable attraction?
To me, ultimately, this book spelled L-O-V-E as C-O-N-F-L-I-C-T. Amongst all the entanglements, it hardly felt that anyone had been given a fair chance at simply receiving "love" for all its virtue and with none of its consequence – the one exception being Nicola, Gisele's (and, purportedly, either Luke or Tristan's daughter, though she is raised as Tristan's GRANDdaughter, to give you an example of said entanglements) young daughter, who is coming close to an age where she is beginning to question everything about life, including her own origins. It is both good plotting and bad luck for her that her curiosity coincides with irrevocable and destructive events.
Once the pivotal event takes place about a third of the way into the novel, we receive more of the past via Tristan and yet more from letters written by characters and old photographs and new, provided by some to others hired by yet some within to spy upon the "extended family."
Any review would be remiss if it did not mention Robin Dresden. From the moment he was introduced I was drawn to him as much as I was to Tristan and his aesthetic "perversion" – more so, even, and this was brilliantly done. As things evolve and are slowly revealed it becomes evident that Robin is Tristan's mirror, and what can be said about one can be reflected or distorted in the other. To that end I shall say no more and let it be part of the delicious puzzle that kept me reading.
By now, if you are reading the book and are more than a third of the way in or halfway through, you'll notice I've left out Luke. As Gisele's husband, he ought to seem quite important; however, he is immediately and quickly sketched in such detail, and never to any degree enriched beyond the most base human needs and wants, that one tends to forget about him until by an unlucky stroke of chance he becomes known as the artist of a massive series of paintings – mostly nudes, and very intimate – of what are to become known as the Gisele Paintings.
The true artist is, of course, a mystery – could it be Tristan, supposed father-figure and Grand-pere to Nicola? Luke is disgusted and horrified by what this implies. Could it be someone else – while Luke was having his own affair with Amanda Miller (a young psychology student who knows someone who knows someone who brings her into contact with Luke, and, after an astonishing series of events and revelations, her own thought-long-dead sister, Karen Miller, aka Gisele)?
Even as the web of suspicion expands it contracts, turning everything into a terrible series of coincidences that ultimately tear apart the character (or creation, if you will) at its heart; after this event, everyone must piece together what they know of the narrative, which is slowly and painstakingly (and, if I may say, brilliantly) stitched together from Tristan's past reminiscences and what the characters remember together once they meet in the here and now in Devon, Washington.
Again, "love" is a subjective term. It is spelled also as "longing" and "need" and "jealousy" in this narrative, all knotted together in a loose hunk of tangled mischance better known as "obsession."
Diving into it won't damage you. At worst, it will make you re-examine your own objects of desire. At best, it will make you set them free in a new and unexpected way, as Gisele herself does in an ultimate disclusure which I shall not spoil for anyone who feels the need to read this book.
Again, I WANT to say five stars. I really held on and clung to it, thinking "just give me that gut-wrenching finality, just give me the tears or absolution or despair!" and I was never quite rewarded for my sympathy or investment in any of the characters. Even the dark horses were saddled and bridled by the end. Even Nicola's plight, ending as it does in an unusual rescue, moves me less than knowing it occurred amidst and against this backdrop of a larger tragedy.
With a little more art, I think this novel could have stood to expand several chapters and perhaps 50 pages – perhaps the emotional payoff and anguish I felt I deserved was edited out. It could also be possible that I simply wasn't moved by what others might consider a less-than-happy ending to an already unhappy tale; I suppose we'll never know.
In conclusion, I'd suggest this as worth the read for writing craft (Tristan's prose in particular, while sometimes caustic and condescending, is nonetheless intimate and lovely and occasionally borders on sacred). If you are worried about the themes of "incest," rest assured, nobody who's actually getting together in that way is actually related, though it does loom as a threat and motive for a couple characters for a while. Rest assured, insofar as THAT taboo is concerned, propriety is preserved.
For the rest, I can make no promises. I think there is a secret voyeur in all of us to whom Tristan speaks, viewing the world through lens or as a canvas, and later through indescribable secret passages that offer singular and private glimpses into the most unguarded moments of one's (Gisele's) existence. You will never know how much you want to see until you begin to look... and beginning to look is the first part of discovering something beautiful.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 7, 2020
3.5/5 stars! This was a page turner, but I felt like it was missing something? Also, it felt drawn out? I think this was still pretty good for a debut though. I would definitely read the next book this author comes out with.
August 10, 2011
I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this rather large novel. The title itself was intriguing enough that I had to at least scan the first page. Once I had, as the cliche would go, I hardly put it down.
I really mean no offense when I say that in all of the books I've won through giveaways I never really expected to find one so profound. Perhaps it is my absolute adoration for the artistic world, such was awakened in me during my Honors Art Appreciation class, or even my vague knowledge of the French language that so engaged me, at least in the beginning for there was so much more that would prove equally entangling if not more.
The language that Brandi Lynn Ryder uses is so refreshing for someone who often finds one too many young adult books, as they truly are of an easier variety on the reading palette. In Malice, Quite Close was a book that uprooted my senses from their hiding place. It made me, in a strange sense, feel alive. Though the main portions of the book can be quite disturbing and a few of the more adult, for a lack of a better word, sections made me want to overlook them I knew that they were in the story for a reason, that Ryder was simply conveying the truth that if the book lacked it we'd all be demanding how Ryder thought she could get away with its exclusion.
No, it was a necessity just as the wonderfully and brilliantly written philosophies. This book will forever be endearing to me as it raised such curious questions and a desire to find the answers that I once searched for long ago. This is a book you will devour, but will leave you hungering for exquisite things that you never knew you had such a gumption for. I must give some credit, however, to my philosophy professor for first instilling such a quest in me, but these hunts too often grow cold with the passing seasons.
It seems that I have gone in quite a circle with my review that does not seem to meet at any point. So to that very point I seem to be avoiding I will simply say, as if anything can be said simply about such a book, the characters were developed and I so grew to love a great many and to hate a few others, surely the effect they were written to produce. The writing was of such intellect that I felt enlightened and, sorry to repeat myself, hungry for more philosophy and art, things we humans overlook too much in a logically ran society, though whose logic it is I'm not quite sure. Again I am off subject, I seem quite distracted, but the book is too blame, my thoughts are so much livelier. The style, too, was refreshing and written in such disarray that I was longing to consume the words more and more, rather I was never bored.
As a side note directly to Brandi Lynn Ryder I'd like to add this: Your writing has such an effect upon your readers. You have such a way with creation and thinking that is both inspiring and slightly frightening and if this book proves anything it's this, you are capable of such brilliant and motivation and I only hope that you continue to keep us living rather than counting down the days we have left. Awaken in us the desire to push limits and to search our libraries, something that people rarely do these days and I must confess I too am much the same, for answers that will continue to keep that little flame of life lit if only for a while longer.
**I won this book in a First-Reads Giveaway. My review is a reflection of my honest opinion and is not influenced by the fact that I got the book for free.
I really mean no offense when I say that in all of the books I've won through giveaways I never really expected to find one so profound. Perhaps it is my absolute adoration for the artistic world, such was awakened in me during my Honors Art Appreciation class, or even my vague knowledge of the French language that so engaged me, at least in the beginning for there was so much more that would prove equally entangling if not more.
The language that Brandi Lynn Ryder uses is so refreshing for someone who often finds one too many young adult books, as they truly are of an easier variety on the reading palette. In Malice, Quite Close was a book that uprooted my senses from their hiding place. It made me, in a strange sense, feel alive. Though the main portions of the book can be quite disturbing and a few of the more adult, for a lack of a better word, sections made me want to overlook them I knew that they were in the story for a reason, that Ryder was simply conveying the truth that if the book lacked it we'd all be demanding how Ryder thought she could get away with its exclusion.
No, it was a necessity just as the wonderfully and brilliantly written philosophies. This book will forever be endearing to me as it raised such curious questions and a desire to find the answers that I once searched for long ago. This is a book you will devour, but will leave you hungering for exquisite things that you never knew you had such a gumption for. I must give some credit, however, to my philosophy professor for first instilling such a quest in me, but these hunts too often grow cold with the passing seasons.
It seems that I have gone in quite a circle with my review that does not seem to meet at any point. So to that very point I seem to be avoiding I will simply say, as if anything can be said simply about such a book, the characters were developed and I so grew to love a great many and to hate a few others, surely the effect they were written to produce. The writing was of such intellect that I felt enlightened and, sorry to repeat myself, hungry for more philosophy and art, things we humans overlook too much in a logically ran society, though whose logic it is I'm not quite sure. Again I am off subject, I seem quite distracted, but the book is too blame, my thoughts are so much livelier. The style, too, was refreshing and written in such disarray that I was longing to consume the words more and more, rather I was never bored.
As a side note directly to Brandi Lynn Ryder I'd like to add this: Your writing has such an effect upon your readers. You have such a way with creation and thinking that is both inspiring and slightly frightening and if this book proves anything it's this, you are capable of such brilliant and motivation and I only hope that you continue to keep us living rather than counting down the days we have left. Awaken in us the desire to push limits and to search our libraries, something that people rarely do these days and I must confess I too am much the same, for answers that will continue to keep that little flame of life lit if only for a while longer.
**I won this book in a First-Reads Giveaway. My review is a reflection of my honest opinion and is not influenced by the fact that I got the book for free.
July 11, 2015
Hmm, what did I think? I have very mixed feeling about this book. It took me a long time to read it-not because it was challenging, and not because it was boring, exactly, but because I didn't feel a sense of urgency to see what happens next. The characters were somewhat empty, underdeveloped, especially the female characters. And there seemed to be too many characters, of similar types, for me to get too close to any one.
But I didn't stop reading it. As I progressed further into the book I did really want to see the story resolved. And the resolution was somewhat unsatisfying.
This book is quite similar to "Lolita," but without the dark humour or subtlety of Nabokov's classic. In some ways it is close enough to be an homage to "Lolita," but who in their right mind would try to improve upon a masterpiece? And it certainly falls short of that.
I think I wanted to like this book, but in the end I was disappointed. Too many silly plot twists and surprises at the end, and no sense of closure.
But I didn't stop reading it. As I progressed further into the book I did really want to see the story resolved. And the resolution was somewhat unsatisfying.
This book is quite similar to "Lolita," but without the dark humour or subtlety of Nabokov's classic. In some ways it is close enough to be an homage to "Lolita," but who in their right mind would try to improve upon a masterpiece? And it certainly falls short of that.
I think I wanted to like this book, but in the end I was disappointed. Too many silly plot twists and surprises at the end, and no sense of closure.
March 3, 2013
Wow!!!! This is her first book and I can't imagine how she'll be able to top it, (but I bet she will). Where did this woman come from? I think she'll be an author that quickly joins the ranks of Anita Shreve, Elizabeth Berg, Anne Tyler, and Alice Hoffman and then completely blow them away.
I'm really picky, I usually bale on a book if it doesn't really hook me with its writing style within the first chapter, (so anything I review, I'm going to give at least four stars.
I fear I may have to adjust my expectations for future reads after having just finished this one. I milked the last couple of chapters because I just didn't want it to end. Ever.
Unlike most thrillers, where you just want to race to the end of the author's twists and turns to see how it ends, this one was so addicting in its fascinating characters, flawless dialogues (reminiscent of Oscar Wilde) and unrelenting mood, both voyeuristic and ominous, that I was in a sort of trance the entire time.
I'm really picky, I usually bale on a book if it doesn't really hook me with its writing style within the first chapter, (so anything I review, I'm going to give at least four stars.
I fear I may have to adjust my expectations for future reads after having just finished this one. I milked the last couple of chapters because I just didn't want it to end. Ever.
Unlike most thrillers, where you just want to race to the end of the author's twists and turns to see how it ends, this one was so addicting in its fascinating characters, flawless dialogues (reminiscent of Oscar Wilde) and unrelenting mood, both voyeuristic and ominous, that I was in a sort of trance the entire time.
August 11, 2011
Absolutely magnificent.
Ryder's debut novel is simply outstanding. The premise is intriguing and disturbing, the writing lush and sensual. In the end, this story is about obsession... just not in the ways in which we are lead to believe at the outset.
To discuss it too much is to give too much away. This is a novel to be savored, if you possibly can. It's a serious page-turner, a fantastic mystery. The characters are fully developed, and lovely to behold. Gisele, in particular, is a mirror.
My only complaint, if it can be called that, is that the ending was a little too neat for my taste. It might have packed more punch had the reader really been left wondering. That said, there is a part of me which was glad to know what really happened.
Many thumbs up. I hope this is the start to a long career for this very talented author.
Ryder's debut novel is simply outstanding. The premise is intriguing and disturbing, the writing lush and sensual. In the end, this story is about obsession... just not in the ways in which we are lead to believe at the outset.
To discuss it too much is to give too much away. This is a novel to be savored, if you possibly can. It's a serious page-turner, a fantastic mystery. The characters are fully developed, and lovely to behold. Gisele, in particular, is a mirror.
My only complaint, if it can be called that, is that the ending was a little too neat for my taste. It might have packed more punch had the reader really been left wondering. That said, there is a part of me which was glad to know what really happened.
Many thumbs up. I hope this is the start to a long career for this very talented author.
December 27, 2012
An ex-pat Frenchman living in San Francisco becomes obsessed with a 15-year-old girl and “rescues” her from what he thinks is an abusive family. Years later they are living the good life in the idyllic tourist town of Devon, Washington but secrets and twists abound. Yes, it was odd and rather creepy but there were revelations around every corner that kept me glued.
March 25, 2017
"This is my apology," the book began, and my heart twisted in my chest.
I started this book one morning and was two-thirds of the way through by lunch. All through lunch, my head was caught up in the book and I could hardly drag my thoughts away. I brought it up as a subject again and again over the meal, much to the exasperation of most of my companions. After lunch, I went straight back for the book and planted myself on the couch with it for another hour until I was done.
Then I sat contemplating what a masterpiece I had just read.
This sounds utterly cliche, I know, but I can't remember the last time that a book made me this invested, or made me want to sing its praises as much as this one.
From the start, the writing pulled me in. I despised the point of view character by page 2, yet I couldn't help feeling for him. I use words like "despise" because I can't find another word for it. The truth is, I found him compelling despite the alarm bells that were going off before I'd even turned the first page. I wanted to despise him. On an intellectual level, I do. But the writing drew me into his head, into his mindset; at points, I found myself riding along with his delusions, being drawn into the idea that maybe Karen is better off with him, after all.
This is a story of seven people: Gisele (formerly Karen), her long-lost sister Amanda, her abductor-turned-father Tristan, her husband Luke, her daughter Nicola, and her friends Robin and Marc. Amazingly, the book isn't written in such a way as to give the reader a sense that any one or two of these seven is more central or instrumental than the others. This is a book of seven tragedies, all wrapped into series of events. Each of the seven has a compelling story, but none of them are happy stories. Each of these seven is well-developed and written so extremely well that they each feel like a distinct person with unique desires, wishes, personalities and motivations.
The book was initially described to me as a mystery. I would describe it more as suspense or a thriller, but there certainly are four mysteries that propel the plot forward: Tristan's blackmailer, Nicola's paternity, the identity of the artist who painted Gisele, and the culprit of a murder that occurs about half way through the book. Some character is always searching for answers, even if that answer is known to us readers: Amanda trying to work out if Gisele is truly her presumed-dead sister, Luke trying to work out why Amanda is in town... Every character is in possession of different information, and so frequently wrong assumptions are made and acted upon. Of particular note is the way that Ryder even plays with the assumptions a reader might make. For instance, letting one assume initially that Tristan must be Nicola's father, only later revealing that this is not the case. This means that initially, when Luke begins to suspect the circumstances around his family, I went from believing I knew the answers to realizing that I was just as clueless as Luke. It is a brilliant style.
The story flows utterly naturally and fluidly, and the characters are compelling and sympathetic, no matter how deplorable I found their actions. Apart from a brief monologue by Tristan on page 2 about his family history, I never felt like the author was merely trying to convey information to me. Masterfully, Ryder uses not only words and details, but also unspoken assumptions of her readers to create a story that never stops being suspenseful and compelling from cover to cover. Information is revealed gradually and naturally, in vivid language that encapsulates mastery of the craft of storytelling.
I can only say that I recommend this book as highly as I have ever recommended a book.
I started this book one morning and was two-thirds of the way through by lunch. All through lunch, my head was caught up in the book and I could hardly drag my thoughts away. I brought it up as a subject again and again over the meal, much to the exasperation of most of my companions. After lunch, I went straight back for the book and planted myself on the couch with it for another hour until I was done.
Then I sat contemplating what a masterpiece I had just read.
This sounds utterly cliche, I know, but I can't remember the last time that a book made me this invested, or made me want to sing its praises as much as this one.
From the start, the writing pulled me in. I despised the point of view character by page 2, yet I couldn't help feeling for him. I use words like "despise" because I can't find another word for it. The truth is, I found him compelling despite the alarm bells that were going off before I'd even turned the first page. I wanted to despise him. On an intellectual level, I do. But the writing drew me into his head, into his mindset; at points, I found myself riding along with his delusions, being drawn into the idea that maybe Karen is better off with him, after all.
This is a story of seven people: Gisele (formerly Karen), her long-lost sister Amanda, her abductor-turned-father Tristan, her husband Luke, her daughter Nicola, and her friends Robin and Marc. Amazingly, the book isn't written in such a way as to give the reader a sense that any one or two of these seven is more central or instrumental than the others. This is a book of seven tragedies, all wrapped into series of events. Each of the seven has a compelling story, but none of them are happy stories. Each of these seven is well-developed and written so extremely well that they each feel like a distinct person with unique desires, wishes, personalities and motivations.
The book was initially described to me as a mystery. I would describe it more as suspense or a thriller, but there certainly are four mysteries that propel the plot forward: Tristan's blackmailer, Nicola's paternity, the identity of the artist who painted Gisele, and the culprit of a murder that occurs about half way through the book. Some character is always searching for answers, even if that answer is known to us readers: Amanda trying to work out if Gisele is truly her presumed-dead sister, Luke trying to work out why Amanda is in town... Every character is in possession of different information, and so frequently wrong assumptions are made and acted upon. Of particular note is the way that Ryder even plays with the assumptions a reader might make. For instance, letting one assume initially that Tristan must be Nicola's father, only later revealing that this is not the case. This means that initially, when Luke begins to suspect the circumstances around his family, I went from believing I knew the answers to realizing that I was just as clueless as Luke. It is a brilliant style.
The story flows utterly naturally and fluidly, and the characters are compelling and sympathetic, no matter how deplorable I found their actions. Apart from a brief monologue by Tristan on page 2 about his family history, I never felt like the author was merely trying to convey information to me. Masterfully, Ryder uses not only words and details, but also unspoken assumptions of her readers to create a story that never stops being suspenseful and compelling from cover to cover. Information is revealed gradually and naturally, in vivid language that encapsulates mastery of the craft of storytelling.
I can only say that I recommend this book as highly as I have ever recommended a book.
September 21, 2011
Life Imitates Art
On the same day Brandi Lynn Ryder’s In Malice Quite Close found its way to me, I read a news article about a missing fifteen-year-old girl. Something led the authorities to believe she’d left home willingly in the company of a sex offender who is in his 30s. This item erased my questions concerning how a young girl could just disappear without being taken against her will.
This is somewhat a disturbing story told in a superbly written way that keeps you turning the pages.
Karen Miller was a waif, a shabbily dressed child living in not the best of circumstances.
A young man of European descent noticed her and was enamored. He spent days stalking her and planning how to make her his own. One night as he hid in her yard, observing her through her lighted bedroom window, he saw Karen’s drunken father enter her room and begin to molest her. This gave our stalker the excuse he needed to “rescue” her.
He began to run into her at various sites until she noticed him and questioned why he was following her. He denied that fact and befriended her, drawing her in as sexual predators so expertly do. He convinced her to run away with him. After he medicated her into unconsciousness, he drew enough blood from her veins to set up a scene that would convince the authorities that Karen had been killed and thrown into the bay.
They drove from California to New York where he gave her a new name, Gisele, and introduced her to the art world as his daughter.
Fifteen years pass in which Gisele married and seven months later had a daughter. Her little family continued to live with her “father”, Tristan. Her husband, Luke, an ineffective painter, discovered a secret room full of nude paintings of Gisele. He suspected the artist to be his “father-in-law”, but Tristan denied having painted the nudes. Everyone else thought Luke painted them himself. The paintings were brought forth to be featured in a special showing.
Meanwhile, Karen’s younger sister, Mandy, who was only nine at the time of Karen’s abduction, and whom Karen thought died years ago in a car accident with her parents, saw an advertisement for the showing and recognized her long lost sister.
This should be enough to whet your appetite. When did Gisele cease being Tristan’s daughter and become his lover? Was Tristan the actual creator of the paintings? Doesn’t Karen herself know who did the paintings?
Add in forged masterpieces, secret passageways, paternity issues, a questionable death and you’re in for a wild ride.
This is a wonderful book of intrigue and mystery. I give it five stars.
On the same day Brandi Lynn Ryder’s In Malice Quite Close found its way to me, I read a news article about a missing fifteen-year-old girl. Something led the authorities to believe she’d left home willingly in the company of a sex offender who is in his 30s. This item erased my questions concerning how a young girl could just disappear without being taken against her will.
This is somewhat a disturbing story told in a superbly written way that keeps you turning the pages.
Karen Miller was a waif, a shabbily dressed child living in not the best of circumstances.
A young man of European descent noticed her and was enamored. He spent days stalking her and planning how to make her his own. One night as he hid in her yard, observing her through her lighted bedroom window, he saw Karen’s drunken father enter her room and begin to molest her. This gave our stalker the excuse he needed to “rescue” her.
He began to run into her at various sites until she noticed him and questioned why he was following her. He denied that fact and befriended her, drawing her in as sexual predators so expertly do. He convinced her to run away with him. After he medicated her into unconsciousness, he drew enough blood from her veins to set up a scene that would convince the authorities that Karen had been killed and thrown into the bay.
They drove from California to New York where he gave her a new name, Gisele, and introduced her to the art world as his daughter.
Fifteen years pass in which Gisele married and seven months later had a daughter. Her little family continued to live with her “father”, Tristan. Her husband, Luke, an ineffective painter, discovered a secret room full of nude paintings of Gisele. He suspected the artist to be his “father-in-law”, but Tristan denied having painted the nudes. Everyone else thought Luke painted them himself. The paintings were brought forth to be featured in a special showing.
Meanwhile, Karen’s younger sister, Mandy, who was only nine at the time of Karen’s abduction, and whom Karen thought died years ago in a car accident with her parents, saw an advertisement for the showing and recognized her long lost sister.
This should be enough to whet your appetite. When did Gisele cease being Tristan’s daughter and become his lover? Was Tristan the actual creator of the paintings? Doesn’t Karen herself know who did the paintings?
Add in forged masterpieces, secret passageways, paternity issues, a questionable death and you’re in for a wild ride.
This is a wonderful book of intrigue and mystery. I give it five stars.
June 1, 2012
There is craft, the ability to take the tools of one's trade and make a skillful, technically accurate rendition. And then there is art. Art is that cinematic moment when not a specific image stands out on its own but yet has awakened your senses to an overwhelming experience. It is the soundtrack that draws not singular attention but in blending itself to the visual moment ignites and explodes your emotions. It is the canvas that with indeterminate color mixture and indistinguishable brush stroke has captured your imagination and transferred you from the tangible minute to the infinitely eternal. And in a written work, it is not the choice and position of words that one notices but the lingering impact on mind, heart and spirit. It is a sedation of reality, a phantasmal transportation that allows you to go from point A to point B without being aware of the mileage or the vehicle which has gotten you there. That is art. And in Brandi Lynn Ryder's work, In Malice, Quite Close, art is what this author has crafted.
Since reading a short excerpt of this novel presented during the 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards writing competition,I awaited this book's publication, wondering if the aroma wafting from the few words offered would make it worthy of a meal. It was, a satiating meal, and not just that of a single plate, but one of a four fork, two knife, three spoon feast. It is an empirical seduction of all senses, emotions and intellect. With herculean David Copperfield slight of hand, Ms. Ryder transforms a volatile subject matter into a sensitive psychological thriller in which the characters are victims only to their own passions and obsessions, and each must traverse the twisted labyrinth of their collective machinations to arrive at the center of their own truth.
This is not a book, however, for those who prefer a piece of one dimensional entertainment, who are not accustomed to noticing the intricate interplay of forces that surround everyone and everything, and who are not willing to explore the introspective evaluation of deeper motive and drive. For those who might be allergic to the subtle intoxication of cacao, I say step away from the three-tier chocolate cake.
There are many books I wish I had written. This is not one of them. In this case, my joy, my greatest exhilaration and gratification, comes from being the humbled reader.
Since reading a short excerpt of this novel presented during the 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards writing competition,I awaited this book's publication, wondering if the aroma wafting from the few words offered would make it worthy of a meal. It was, a satiating meal, and not just that of a single plate, but one of a four fork, two knife, three spoon feast. It is an empirical seduction of all senses, emotions and intellect. With herculean David Copperfield slight of hand, Ms. Ryder transforms a volatile subject matter into a sensitive psychological thriller in which the characters are victims only to their own passions and obsessions, and each must traverse the twisted labyrinth of their collective machinations to arrive at the center of their own truth.
This is not a book, however, for those who prefer a piece of one dimensional entertainment, who are not accustomed to noticing the intricate interplay of forces that surround everyone and everything, and who are not willing to explore the introspective evaluation of deeper motive and drive. For those who might be allergic to the subtle intoxication of cacao, I say step away from the three-tier chocolate cake.
There are many books I wish I had written. This is not one of them. In this case, my joy, my greatest exhilaration and gratification, comes from being the humbled reader.
October 10, 2011
Rimbaud was one of the heroes of my late adolescence - Rimbaud, Baudelaire, Oscar Wilde, Aubrey Beardsley - what bookish teenager wouldn't love their decadent romanticism. I mention this because the title of In Malice, Quite Close is taken from a poem by Rimbaud and the book itself absolutely delivers on the promise of its title in elegance, perversity, and decadent suspense.
Ms. Ryder has a talent for writing characters that you believe in and root for, even when somewhere a tiny voice in your head is shouting denials. The utter logical simplicity of Karen's capture (or escape, depending on your point of view) is relentless and terrifying. It all seems so predictable and so right - what other choice might there have been? Fortunately for the reader, this is only the beginning of a novel rich with detail and suspense.
Fast forward to "now" and the reality of Karen/Gisele's life with her captor - her child, her masks, her inability to connect - and things start to get really ugly. Layered throughout with intelligent musing on art and the artist and the place of both in society and you get a surprisingly intelligent and vivid thriller.
Filled with believable, complex characters and a plot that will keep you guessing, this is one of the best new thrillers I've read this year. I couldn't put it down (even when I wanted to). I'll never read a newspaper article about a missing teenager in the same way again.
Ms. Ryder has a talent for writing characters that you believe in and root for, even when somewhere a tiny voice in your head is shouting denials. The utter logical simplicity of Karen's capture (or escape, depending on your point of view) is relentless and terrifying. It all seems so predictable and so right - what other choice might there have been? Fortunately for the reader, this is only the beginning of a novel rich with detail and suspense.
Fast forward to "now" and the reality of Karen/Gisele's life with her captor - her child, her masks, her inability to connect - and things start to get really ugly. Layered throughout with intelligent musing on art and the artist and the place of both in society and you get a surprisingly intelligent and vivid thriller.
Filled with believable, complex characters and a plot that will keep you guessing, this is one of the best new thrillers I've read this year. I couldn't put it down (even when I wanted to). I'll never read a newspaper article about a missing teenager in the same way again.
August 24, 2011
In Malice, Quite Close
by Brandi Lynn Ryder is one of the tensest books I've ever read. Not only did Ms. Ryder manage to keep me guessing about who-done-it, she kept me guessing about what they'd done. This intricate novel covered decades of time and at every twist there was a turn and where you thought there would be a turn you found a brick wall, except that brick wall turned out to to be a trick wall, except, wait, is that even brick? And who's that guy over there with the shovel?
In the hands of a less gifted writer this book would have been confusing or felt contrived. Instead it was simply breathtaking and heartbreaking and oh so delicious. Highly recommended.
By the way, I'm certainly not a person who judges a book by its cover but this one is exceptional. The picture is haunting but the cover has this weird rubbery / velvety texture that just felt sexy in my hands. Well, and a little creepy too. But mostly sexy.
Also, it is my duty to inform you that I received this book through the Goodreads First Reads Program.
In the hands of a less gifted writer this book would have been confusing or felt contrived. Instead it was simply breathtaking and heartbreaking and oh so delicious. Highly recommended.
By the way, I'm certainly not a person who judges a book by its cover but this one is exceptional. The picture is haunting but the cover has this weird rubbery / velvety texture that just felt sexy in my hands. Well, and a little creepy too. But mostly sexy.
Also, it is my duty to inform you that I received this book through the Goodreads First Reads Program.
September 12, 2011
This book could only be described as eerie. It’s outright spine-chilling, with its sinister and disturbing theme. Not for the weak at heart, this book is very vivid as it takes the reader in a different kind of world where the rich are capable of getting exactly what they desire, regardless of the consequences to others. Absolutely fascinating, the story delves into the minds of the mentally disturbed, as well as the frightening effects of sexual perversions.
The story revolves around adult Tristan Mourault, who has a serious attraction for teen Karen Miller, who is sexually abused by her father. Tristan is attracted to Karen and begins stalking her, learning about her family life and her desperate need to escape. He then works his way into her heart, earning her trust and convincing her to come with him to the other side of the country. He stages her death so the authorities won’t look for her.
However, her younger sister is never convinced that she died and works with the local police force to continue investigating her disappearance.
If you enjoy thrillers, In Malice, Quite Close is definitely a book for you. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The story revolves around adult Tristan Mourault, who has a serious attraction for teen Karen Miller, who is sexually abused by her father. Tristan is attracted to Karen and begins stalking her, learning about her family life and her desperate need to escape. He then works his way into her heart, earning her trust and convincing her to come with him to the other side of the country. He stages her death so the authorities won’t look for her.
However, her younger sister is never convinced that she died and works with the local police force to continue investigating her disappearance.
If you enjoy thrillers, In Malice, Quite Close is definitely a book for you. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
August 11, 2011
In Malice, Quite Close: Book Review & Book Giveaway
“I have come to see I’m incapable of drawing clear moral distinctions. For me the question of what can and cannot be done has never been an ethical one. There is no line I cannot smudge with my thumb…I have always been undone by beautiful things, and it might be said that beauty itself was my quarry.” Tristan Mourault
Tristan Mourault is a wealthy French ex-pat living in New York, who is heir to a world renowned art collection he can never really possess. Maybe that’s one reason he has become obsessed with beauty and perfection. While on a trip to San Francisco, he spots 15-year-old Karen Miller and become instantly obsessed with her. He begins to follow her and plot how he will gain her trust and entice her away from her family because he must make her his. Read the rest of my review and enter to win a copy of In Malice, Quite Close at http://popcornreads.com/?p=1465
“I have come to see I’m incapable of drawing clear moral distinctions. For me the question of what can and cannot be done has never been an ethical one. There is no line I cannot smudge with my thumb…I have always been undone by beautiful things, and it might be said that beauty itself was my quarry.” Tristan Mourault
Tristan Mourault is a wealthy French ex-pat living in New York, who is heir to a world renowned art collection he can never really possess. Maybe that’s one reason he has become obsessed with beauty and perfection. While on a trip to San Francisco, he spots 15-year-old Karen Miller and become instantly obsessed with her. He begins to follow her and plot how he will gain her trust and entice her away from her family because he must make her his. Read the rest of my review and enter to win a copy of In Malice, Quite Close at http://popcornreads.com/?p=1465
August 16, 2011
Read as a First Reads book!
I quite liked this! I was a bit worried when it started that it'd be a twin of Anne Rice's Belinda, but it was definitely it's own book. Be prepared to be a little uncomfortable with the pedophilic overtones, but other than one short scene, there's nothing too graphic/overt. Though even if Karen/Gisele were older than 15-ish, the whole relationship would still be pretty creepy, so Tristan's leanings toward the young are not really the focus of the book.
Anyway, to get away from that - the book was more of a mystery than I expected, which was a nice surprise. And the author is very good at keeping you guessing - the ending was definitely not what I expected either, which was another pleasant surprise.
Overall, a very intriguing book.
I quite liked this! I was a bit worried when it started that it'd be a twin of Anne Rice's Belinda, but it was definitely it's own book. Be prepared to be a little uncomfortable with the pedophilic overtones, but other than one short scene, there's nothing too graphic/overt. Though even if Karen/Gisele were older than 15-ish, the whole relationship would still be pretty creepy, so Tristan's leanings toward the young are not really the focus of the book.
Anyway, to get away from that - the book was more of a mystery than I expected, which was a nice surprise. And the author is very good at keeping you guessing - the ending was definitely not what I expected either, which was another pleasant surprise.
Overall, a very intriguing book.
February 20, 2015
Wow this book is disturbingly amazing.
What started off as a pedophilia's dream spiraled down into a clusterfuck. This book is like a mixture of Lolita with a hint of The Picture of Dorian Gray. (both of my favourite books btw)
The language and flow of words from the author is just stunning. Captivated me from the first sentence. It is a tale about obsession, secrecy, adultery, lying, manipulating and whole lot of other fuckery.
Please read this book. It is so good you won't regret it. Kept me at the edge of my seat the entire time. Had me thinking and speculating about the outcome and when the ending came... BAM mindfucked, totally didn't see it coming. The only flaw about this book is that I wanted to keep reading but I didn't want it to end.
What started off as a pedophilia's dream spiraled down into a clusterfuck. This book is like a mixture of Lolita with a hint of The Picture of Dorian Gray. (both of my favourite books btw)
The language and flow of words from the author is just stunning. Captivated me from the first sentence. It is a tale about obsession, secrecy, adultery, lying, manipulating and whole lot of other fuckery.
Please read this book. It is so good you won't regret it. Kept me at the edge of my seat the entire time. Had me thinking and speculating about the outcome and when the ending came... BAM mindfucked, totally didn't see it coming. The only flaw about this book is that I wanted to keep reading but I didn't want it to end.
August 1, 2012
While browsing the new book rack at the public library, I stumbled across this gem. The title was very intriguing to me because I had no idea of the book's content based on the title. After reading the jacket flap, i knew this was right up my alley. This book kept me up all night AND kept me guessing right until the very end! It was refreshing to not be able to immediately solve the mystery. With such complex characters and relationships,I found myself rereading to ensure I didn't miss something. Rereading is not usually necessary for me. If you like a thriller, you won't be disappointed!
September 15, 2011
This is absolutely the best psychological mystery I have ever read. I listened to it rather than read it, and I think for once this enhanced the story, as the narrator had a talent for using the accents appropriate to each character. I won't say a thing to give this away, but I can't get the story or the characters out of my head.
July 7, 2012
I'd have a hard time describing the story accurately: mystery, psychological study, pathological obsession, child abuse, art. I would recommend it, and am considering suggesting it to my book group.
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