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Henri Poincaré Mystery #1
All Cry Chaos
All Cry Chaos, a debut thriller by the immensely gifted Leonard Rosen, is a masterful and gripping tale that literally reaches for the heavens.
The action begins when mathematician James Fenster is assassinated on the eve of a long-scheduled speech at a World Trade Organization meeting. The hit is as elegant as it is bizarre. Fenster's Amsterdam hotel room is incinerated, yet the rest of the building remains intact. The murder trail leads veteran Interpol agent Henri Poincaré on a high-stakes, world-crossing quest for answers.
Together with his chain-smoking, bon vivant colleague Serge Laurent, Poincaré pursues a long list of suspects: the Peruvian leader of the Indigenous Liberation Front, Rapture-crazed militants, a hedge fund director, Fenster's elusive ex-fiancée, and a graduate student in mathematics. Poincaré begins to make progress in America, but there is a prodigious hatred trained on him—some unfinished business from a terrifying former genocide case—and he is called back to Europe to face the unfathomable. Stripped down and in despair, tested like Job, he realizes the two cases might be connected—and he might be the link.
This first installment in the Henri Poincaré series marries a sharp, smart mystery to deep religious themes that will keep both agnostics and believers turning pages until the shattering, revelatory end. Anyone who enjoys the work of John Le Carré, Scott Turow, Dan Brown, and Steig Larsson will relish Rosen's story telling and his resourceful, haunted protagonist. Others will appreciate his dazzling prose. Still others, the way he bends the thriller form in unconventional ways toward a higher cause, in the vein of Henning Mankell in The Man From Beijing . In short, All Cry Chaos promises to become a critical success that garners a broad readership throughout the nation and across the globe.
The action begins when mathematician James Fenster is assassinated on the eve of a long-scheduled speech at a World Trade Organization meeting. The hit is as elegant as it is bizarre. Fenster's Amsterdam hotel room is incinerated, yet the rest of the building remains intact. The murder trail leads veteran Interpol agent Henri Poincaré on a high-stakes, world-crossing quest for answers.
Together with his chain-smoking, bon vivant colleague Serge Laurent, Poincaré pursues a long list of suspects: the Peruvian leader of the Indigenous Liberation Front, Rapture-crazed militants, a hedge fund director, Fenster's elusive ex-fiancée, and a graduate student in mathematics. Poincaré begins to make progress in America, but there is a prodigious hatred trained on him—some unfinished business from a terrifying former genocide case—and he is called back to Europe to face the unfathomable. Stripped down and in despair, tested like Job, he realizes the two cases might be connected—and he might be the link.
This first installment in the Henri Poincaré series marries a sharp, smart mystery to deep religious themes that will keep both agnostics and believers turning pages until the shattering, revelatory end. Anyone who enjoys the work of John Le Carré, Scott Turow, Dan Brown, and Steig Larsson will relish Rosen's story telling and his resourceful, haunted protagonist. Others will appreciate his dazzling prose. Still others, the way he bends the thriller form in unconventional ways toward a higher cause, in the vein of Henning Mankell in The Man From Beijing . In short, All Cry Chaos promises to become a critical success that garners a broad readership throughout the nation and across the globe.
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First published October 28, 2010
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About the author
Leonard Rosen
8 books37 followersAka Leonard J. Rosen
Leonard Rosen lives and works in the Boston area. He has contributed radio commentaries to Boston’s NPR station, written best-selling textbooks on writing, and taught writing at Harvard University and Bentley University. The Kortelisy Escape is his third novel--a suspenseful stand-alone concerning the lives of an aging stage magician and his 14-year-old granddaughter apprentice. Publishers Weekly calls it a "gem of a crime novel."
His award-winning, multiply translated debut, All Cry Chaos, and the follow-on The Tenth Witness, introduce Interpol agent Henri Poincaré.
Len enjoys corresponding with readers and meeting with book groups online. Contact him through his website: lenrosenonline.com.
Leonard Rosen lives and works in the Boston area. He has contributed radio commentaries to Boston’s NPR station, written best-selling textbooks on writing, and taught writing at Harvard University and Bentley University. The Kortelisy Escape is his third novel--a suspenseful stand-alone concerning the lives of an aging stage magician and his 14-year-old granddaughter apprentice. Publishers Weekly calls it a "gem of a crime novel."
His award-winning, multiply translated debut, All Cry Chaos, and the follow-on The Tenth Witness, introduce Interpol agent Henri Poincaré.
Len enjoys corresponding with readers and meeting with book groups online. Contact him through his website: lenrosenonline.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 198 reviews
June 6, 2015
A fractal is a never-ending pattern. Fractals are infinitely complex patterns that are self-similar across different scales. They are created by repeating a simple process over and over in an ongoing feedback loop. Driven by recursion, fractals are images of dynamic systems – the pictures of Chaos.
Jules Henri Poincaré 29 April 1854 – 17 July 1912) was a French mathematician, theoretical physicist, engineer, and a philosopher of science who made many original fundamental contributions to pure and applied mathematics, mathematical physics, and celestial mechanics.
Fractals and Jules Henri Poincaré are two underlying elements of a fascinating detective story imagined and beautifully presented by Leonard Rosen. I always like to learn something and to be challenged to think in new directions, even as horrible murders and very complicated investigations occupy the forefront of the story.
Rosen does something else which is unusual. ALL CRY CHAOS shows an episode towards the end of an investigator's career. Volume 2 in this series titled "The Tenth Witness" (which I have not yet read) takes us back thirty years to the beginning of that career. This leaves lots to fill in if Rosen chooses to do so, which I hope he does.
ALL CRY CHAOS also gives readers who are so inclined the opportunity to ridicule the end-of-days phenomena which seems to infect a surprising number of people from time to time. There is just enough of this thinking presented to suggest the deep despair and hopelessness that induces what most of find to be totally irrational illusions.
Overall, an excellent and compelling read.
Jules Henri Poincaré 29 April 1854 – 17 July 1912) was a French mathematician, theoretical physicist, engineer, and a philosopher of science who made many original fundamental contributions to pure and applied mathematics, mathematical physics, and celestial mechanics.
Fractals and Jules Henri Poincaré are two underlying elements of a fascinating detective story imagined and beautifully presented by Leonard Rosen. I always like to learn something and to be challenged to think in new directions, even as horrible murders and very complicated investigations occupy the forefront of the story.
Rosen does something else which is unusual. ALL CRY CHAOS shows an episode towards the end of an investigator's career. Volume 2 in this series titled "The Tenth Witness" (which I have not yet read) takes us back thirty years to the beginning of that career. This leaves lots to fill in if Rosen chooses to do so, which I hope he does.
ALL CRY CHAOS also gives readers who are so inclined the opportunity to ridicule the end-of-days phenomena which seems to infect a surprising number of people from time to time. There is just enough of this thinking presented to suggest the deep despair and hopelessness that induces what most of find to be totally irrational illusions.
Overall, an excellent and compelling read.
April 3, 2013
From the previous reviews, plenty of people love this so maybe you will too, but I didn't.
A detective descendant of the physicist Poincaré investigates a math-based crime with so many people asking him if he's related to the other Poincaré that even he gets tired of answering the question. Is this supposed to be funny or profound? It just seems contrived.
Without giving away the plot, a major part of the book is about a threat to his family; the whole interaction there that sets up the maudlin personal backstory was frustratingly unbelievable. The protagonist's actions are so irresponsible that I found him unlikeable. This poor Poincaré is unhappy in his skin and stumbles about sometimes acting more like Clouseau than Maigret. I guess that makes him "complex", but Harry Bosch, for example, is a complex, tortured detective character, and yet he knows who he is and acts accordingly.
The main plot revolves around unnecessary drivel about religion and math. I appreciate the ambition of trying to pull all that together in a mystery. I like the exploration of Big Themes in novels, but for me, it just didn't work. Fractals are cool but they're not the secret of life, the universe and everything. Something much less cosmic could have driven the plot equally well. I don't get the comparisons to thrillers by Stieg Larsson, Dan Brown, etc. Those universes, while in some ways even more far-fetched, are much more internally coherent.
A detective descendant of the physicist Poincaré investigates a math-based crime with so many people asking him if he's related to the other Poincaré that even he gets tired of answering the question. Is this supposed to be funny or profound? It just seems contrived.
Without giving away the plot, a major part of the book is about a threat to his family; the whole interaction there that sets up the maudlin personal backstory was frustratingly unbelievable. The protagonist's actions are so irresponsible that I found him unlikeable. This poor Poincaré is unhappy in his skin and stumbles about sometimes acting more like Clouseau than Maigret. I guess that makes him "complex", but Harry Bosch, for example, is a complex, tortured detective character, and yet he knows who he is and acts accordingly.
The main plot revolves around unnecessary drivel about religion and math. I appreciate the ambition of trying to pull all that together in a mystery. I like the exploration of Big Themes in novels, but for me, it just didn't work. Fractals are cool but they're not the secret of life, the universe and everything. Something much less cosmic could have driven the plot equally well. I don't get the comparisons to thrillers by Stieg Larsson, Dan Brown, etc. Those universes, while in some ways even more far-fetched, are much more internally coherent.
August 6, 2011
First off it is important to note that I'm neither a mathematician nor am I terribly adept in math. I am however a biologist and so this book and its study of patterns, including pictures, totally engrossed me. The mystery is very satisfying and one is immediately drawn to Inspector Poincare of Interpol and his various cohorts, including the young shoot from the hip Paolo Ludovici. The characters are well drawn, the travels to solve a very convoluted case very real and the mystery itself multi-layered. The descriptions of Quebec City and of Amsterdam are spot on. In particular, having just experienced the Doomsday event that didn't happen, the whole descriptive chapter at the end of the book, when all the threads come together in Amsterdam's Dam is particularly well written. A world-wide computer generated enlistment program has culminated in a countdown to the Rapture on August 15--the circus atmosphere is repulsive, amusing, astounding and sad. It is interesting that the date chosen by the author is the Catholic feast day of the Assumption of Mary ( the Blessed Virgin ) into Heaven. Coincidence? Or that the discussion in the high Alps between Poincare and a math prof who taught in the science center at Harvard should sound so much like Stephen Jay Gould's Punctuated Equilibrium theory of evolution. Another coincidence? Don't know but it was a very interesting book and I really liked it and will read it again--it is one of those.
December 26, 2015
A new author to me and what a writer. After reading Lewis Weinstein's review, (see below) I wondered if I could keep up with the story. It is a bit challenging, but a terrific plot and characters. I'm looking forward to reading Rosens next book in the series and any that he writes.
June 25, 2014
"All Cry Chaos" is one of those novels that helps to reshape the mystery genre. While it is ostensibly a straightforward mystery, it is also a novel augmented by ideas and concepts not used everyday by mystery writers.
Henri Poincare is a French Interpol agent on a path to find who murdered an American mathematician in Amsterdam. The goal is to find the person responsible, but primarily it is to also stop further violence conducted in the same precise way — small, highly targeted bombs designed to detonate in a very small area. Poincare’s investigation takes him to France, Switzerland, Boston, Los Angeles and St. Paul/ Minneapolis.
It involves terrifying personal circumstances, the reflections of an admired agent near the end of his career and some fascinating mathematics. The math is never too difficult - it mostly concerns fractal patterns found in nature and how things are similar to each other and how they are different from each other. It is this exposition of mathematics in the natural world that makes this book so different from other mysteries. It is a wonderfully written book, never dumbing itself down for the reader and a fascinating story with some twisty plot turns along the way.
Henri Poincare is a French Interpol agent on a path to find who murdered an American mathematician in Amsterdam. The goal is to find the person responsible, but primarily it is to also stop further violence conducted in the same precise way — small, highly targeted bombs designed to detonate in a very small area. Poincare’s investigation takes him to France, Switzerland, Boston, Los Angeles and St. Paul/ Minneapolis.
It involves terrifying personal circumstances, the reflections of an admired agent near the end of his career and some fascinating mathematics. The math is never too difficult - it mostly concerns fractal patterns found in nature and how things are similar to each other and how they are different from each other. It is this exposition of mathematics in the natural world that makes this book so different from other mysteries. It is a wonderfully written book, never dumbing itself down for the reader and a fascinating story with some twisty plot turns along the way.
April 5, 2014
This was a book I listened to on a road trip. At first I thought it was much too slow. The hero, Henri Poincare, is French; an inspector for Interpol. I had trouble with the foreign names and keeping the characters sorted out. However, once I found my stride with the narrative voice, I was hooked.
The plot features the murder of a mathematician, and the author did a phenomenal job of teaching me a bit about higher mathematics (fractals, anyone?) while he kept his story moving along. I love fiction that teaches me something, and leaves me thinking about theoretic ideas when I'm not reading the book. This one did that beautifully.
Also, the author created a myriad of characters I cared about. Today, two days after I finished, I'm still wondering how they are doing. A great percentage of the characters were revealed to be motivated by good hearted intention, which I think is lacking in much of today's fiction.
I am definitely going to read on in this series.
The plot features the murder of a mathematician, and the author did a phenomenal job of teaching me a bit about higher mathematics (fractals, anyone?) while he kept his story moving along. I love fiction that teaches me something, and leaves me thinking about theoretic ideas when I'm not reading the book. This one did that beautifully.
Also, the author created a myriad of characters I cared about. Today, two days after I finished, I'm still wondering how they are doing. A great percentage of the characters were revealed to be motivated by good hearted intention, which I think is lacking in much of today's fiction.
I am definitely going to read on in this series.
October 20, 2019
A mathematician turned investigator traces down war criminals.
This one tried too hard to seem smart, and came off as pedantic.
This one tried too hard to seem smart, and came off as pedantic.
June 8, 2014
Leonnard Rosen has put together a decent crime novel and the first chapters are pretty exemplary in how he's setting up his characters and their place in the world and the crime to be solved. However neither the characters nor the story has the necessary depth to sustain a whole novel and after a while I began to wonder why everyone kept repeating how good an investigator Poincaré is and how he has 'aged with dignity' (of all things) when he seems to almost deliberately avoid the final conclusion which the reader might guess from the first chapter.
Of course it makes some sense since the real story of the crime is fittingly absurd and naturally Poincaré shouldn't reach it in a sane and real world but Leonnard Rosens world is not sane. It is already insane with christian suicide bombers, an end-of-days cult, overly simplistic international conflicts, and war criminals plotting revenge.
It is a personal preference but to me tragedy and crime loses its impact when it is placed on the pile of a hundred other crimes and death is instead more powerful when it strips away the veneer of a just and normal world. Here this isn't the case, the veneer is never there, and especially the subplot involving Poincaré's family and his behavior following it is so unnatural that I could almost do a one eighty and recommend the book for that story alone because you have to read it to believe how awkwardly written it is.
As to the general math theme that runs through the book I have to commend Rosens attempt at working it into a mainstream novel but it doesn't quite work. For example when Poincaré enters a mathematicians apartment and attempts to describe how pictures on the wall are organized to display the unity of disparate (if not all) concepts in the world I could't help muttering to myself: Isn't this is what an insane person does?
Of course it makes some sense since the real story of the crime is fittingly absurd and naturally Poincaré shouldn't reach it in a sane and real world but Leonnard Rosens world is not sane. It is already insane with christian suicide bombers, an end-of-days cult, overly simplistic international conflicts, and war criminals plotting revenge.
It is a personal preference but to me tragedy and crime loses its impact when it is placed on the pile of a hundred other crimes and death is instead more powerful when it strips away the veneer of a just and normal world. Here this isn't the case, the veneer is never there, and especially the subplot involving Poincaré's family and his behavior following it is so unnatural that I could almost do a one eighty and recommend the book for that story alone because you have to read it to believe how awkwardly written it is.
As to the general math theme that runs through the book I have to commend Rosens attempt at working it into a mainstream novel but it doesn't quite work. For example when Poincaré enters a mathematicians apartment and attempts to describe how pictures on the wall are organized to display the unity of disparate (if not all) concepts in the world I could't help muttering to myself: Isn't this is what an insane person does?
September 5, 2011
I am not familiar with Leonard Rosen nor his main character in this book. The main character is Henri Poincare. He is an Interpol agent. All Cry Chaos is centered around Henri, his family and his cases.
Poincare is given a case after a mathematician, James Fenster, is murdered on the eve that he is supposed to give a speech at the World Trade Organization meeting. I am no math wiz and found this story interesting and confusing at the same time. When math was being discussed I sometimes found myself reading it again just to make sense of it and other times remembering my times in school and just wanting to get the answer quickly.
Poincare has a long list of suspects. You follow Poincare through all the interviews. Sometimes you were left hanging and felt there was something missing after the interview. There are a few sub-plots in this book. Poincare had caught a high profile murderer and he has threatened his family. Interpol is there to protect him but that is not enough. This is one plot that I found very interesting because of how it affected Henri and his ability to perform his job.
Another sub-plot was the story of 3 orphans. The 3 children became orphans when their parents were killed in a car accident many years before. As the story progressed I found myself trying to figure out who the orphans were. When the end of the book is reached all my questions were answered and some I had figured out before.
If you want a book with intricate story/plot lines, interesting characters with depth then I suggested trying All Cry Chaos.
Poincare is given a case after a mathematician, James Fenster, is murdered on the eve that he is supposed to give a speech at the World Trade Organization meeting. I am no math wiz and found this story interesting and confusing at the same time. When math was being discussed I sometimes found myself reading it again just to make sense of it and other times remembering my times in school and just wanting to get the answer quickly.
Poincare has a long list of suspects. You follow Poincare through all the interviews. Sometimes you were left hanging and felt there was something missing after the interview. There are a few sub-plots in this book. Poincare had caught a high profile murderer and he has threatened his family. Interpol is there to protect him but that is not enough. This is one plot that I found very interesting because of how it affected Henri and his ability to perform his job.
Another sub-plot was the story of 3 orphans. The 3 children became orphans when their parents were killed in a car accident many years before. As the story progressed I found myself trying to figure out who the orphans were. When the end of the book is reached all my questions were answered and some I had figured out before.
If you want a book with intricate story/plot lines, interesting characters with depth then I suggested trying All Cry Chaos.
November 17, 2011
Henri Poincare is a high-ranking field investigator for Interpol in his late 50s who has spent several years tracking down the worst of the Serb war criminals. Now he faces dreadful retaliation against his family for that success just as he begins an investigation into the causes of the murder of a Harvard mathematician in Holland by means of a bomb. The dead professor worked at the highest level of fractal analysis (the part is the whole, patterns in all objects or constructs seem to be similar, to grossly oversimplify), and that mathematical work, together with the efforts of a messianic doomsday cult whose members are engaged in terrorism on behalf of their vision, come together to present a case of great danger and complexity. Rosen sketches characters deftly. All come alive, even the most minor ones, but Poincare is a real find as a novelistic character. This novel appears to be the first of several more to come, and I hope so, both for the exquisite reading experience and because Poincare deserves to regain some of what he lost in this truly excellent book.
January 29, 2012
This book came to me on a recommendation from my local mystery bookstore, Once Upon a Crime. Apparently the author is local.
But I never would have guessed. The incredible detail on international locations and the many customs and languages gave this book a flavor that was far from home. From Paris to Quebec to Amsterdam to Boston, with a short foray to Minneapolis and St. Paul, this was page-turning. I could not figure out how all these disparate narrative threads were going to come together.
I cried in spots and that, to me, is a bit unexpected in a mystery. But Poincare is a very flawed, yet sympathetic hero. However improbable the events here, they all seemed to fall into place in the end.
And with very technical details, which I became incredibly engrossed in, we went from the world of mathematics to cardiac care - and somehow, it's all related.
I won't give a synopsis because there would be no way to do that, while still making it understandable, without giving something away.
Suffice it to say I read this in three sittings, and would have read it in one if I could have.
But I never would have guessed. The incredible detail on international locations and the many customs and languages gave this book a flavor that was far from home. From Paris to Quebec to Amsterdam to Boston, with a short foray to Minneapolis and St. Paul, this was page-turning. I could not figure out how all these disparate narrative threads were going to come together.
I cried in spots and that, to me, is a bit unexpected in a mystery. But Poincare is a very flawed, yet sympathetic hero. However improbable the events here, they all seemed to fall into place in the end.
And with very technical details, which I became incredibly engrossed in, we went from the world of mathematics to cardiac care - and somehow, it's all related.
I won't give a synopsis because there would be no way to do that, while still making it understandable, without giving something away.
Suffice it to say I read this in three sittings, and would have read it in one if I could have.
September 7, 2012
This is a thinking persons mystery. The plot is centered around an aging detective whose family is attacked for revenge for his putting a war criminal in jail. Or, so it seems. There are many satisfying twists and turns in the plot during the books course. It would be an advantage to the reader to be interested in math and science as both are drawn on heavily to support the plot. This book was an Edgar Award finalist for a first time writer as I recall and the book is written in a way that you would believe the author had a long prestigious career. Its definitely not a Phillip Marlowe book - It is very, very smart.
March 17, 2013
PROTAGONIST: Henri Poincare, Interpol agent
RATING: 3.5
Henri Poincare is an Interpol agent who is investigating the death of Harvard professor James Fenster. Using chaos theory and the study of fractals, Fenster had uncovered an amazing theory. At the same time, Poincare's family is under threat from a Bosnian terrorist, with terrible results for his family. Poincare does an excellent job of making fractals understandable, and it helps to read a version with illustrations. But even with that the science was a bit over my head and I couldn't put it all together.
RATING: 3.5
Henri Poincare is an Interpol agent who is investigating the death of Harvard professor James Fenster. Using chaos theory and the study of fractals, Fenster had uncovered an amazing theory. At the same time, Poincare's family is under threat from a Bosnian terrorist, with terrible results for his family. Poincare does an excellent job of making fractals understandable, and it helps to read a version with illustrations. But even with that the science was a bit over my head and I couldn't put it all together.
September 12, 2011
Lovely mystery with strong theological reflections connected to chaos, the question of why God allows terrible suffering, and fractals. Henri Poincare, the great-grandson of mathematician Jules Henri Poincare, begins this tale an Interpol Inspector. Like all good stories, there's big trouble to wrestle and a fine wrestling it is. Along the way we the readers can join that wrestle and also consider the impact of cruelty and pain across generations and the abuse of power.
February 16, 2015
I really liked this book and found it very moving. A part that I won't go into I found to be truly heartrending and depicted in such a way that it felt very real so that one could feel the real consequences of the evil inflicted on innocent people. I hope Mr. Rosen is going to continue this series. The two books I read seem to be bookends - one (written after the other) a prequel and the other the end of the main character's career.
January 26, 2012
Starts off poor, gets worse and ends stupidly
September 13, 2012
a good mystery and interesting character but the second plot, with the hero's family was distracting and did not read true.
August 2, 2012
Loved it! Smart thriller that kept me guessing! Can't wait to meet the author tomorrow!!!!
March 16, 2014
やっぱり！ポアンカレ予想のポアンカレのひ孫だ。
すぐわかったぜ。
すぐわかったぜ。
July 4, 2018
This book is a thriller set in France (Paris, Lyon, Fonroque in the Dordogne), Germany (Garmisch-Partenkirchen), Austria (Starnitz), Holland (Amsterdam), Canada (Quebec City) and the US (Cambridge, Minneapolis, Pasadena, Los Angeles, Las Vegas). Henri Poincare, great-grandson of the mathematician of the same name, is an inspector at Interpol. Poincare has served at Interpol for thirty years and is a senior and highly regarded field agent.
Poincare has a wife (Claire), and a son and daughter-in-law (Etienne, Lucille), and three grand-children (Emile, Georges, and Chloe). In the recent past he has pursued and caught a Serbian war criminal (Stipo Banovic) who has been brought to The Hague to face trial at the International Criminal Court.
The initial action in the book is an odd explosion in a small hotel in Amsterdam where only one room in the hotel was destroyed but completely destroyed, and the resident incinerated. It is assumed that the remains are those of the man who had checked in (James Fenster), a brilliant young American who was in Amsterdam to attend a conference, but there are odd aspects of the explosion, not least that it was produced using a very exotic form of rocket fuel.
The book brings in three of Poincare’s close associates (Gisele De Vries, Serge Laurent, and Paolo Ludovici). The action begins in the initial phases of the investigation by Interpol into the Amsterdam explosion, which involves gleaning details of Fenster’s life and work, and tracking down likely sources of the rocket fuel and the person who had the detailed knowledge and expertise to detonate it in order to get just the desired effect. The plot becomes more complex when Banovic arranges, from his cell in The Hague, to put contracts on the lives of Poincare’s wife and his son and family, but not on Poincare himself. The attacks are partially successful in that all members of his son’s family are badly injured, and his wife is traumatised but saved from any major physical damage when her assailant is killed just in time. The partial success of these attacks occurs because of a failure in the very tight protection provided by Interpol for Poincare and his family, an event that leads to a rupture of the friendship between Poincare and his Interpol boss (Albert Monforte). Monforte is eventually dismissed from Interpol because of this failure.
The plot also involves a fanatical religious group (the Soldiers of Rapture) who believe that Christ’s Second Coming will take place at noon on August 15. Also involved is an organization, the Indigenous Liberation Front, focusing on historical wrongs to Third World peoples and the charismatic leader of this groups, one Eduardo Quito. Both these organization have mounted very successful public relations campaigns and have captured wide support across the world. Finally, there is Charles Bell, a Cambridge (US) investment manager who has been wildly successful, is very rich, and has provided very generous financial sponsorship for Fenster’s work at Harvard. There are many secondary plot elements that become obvious as the book unfolds.
Underlying everything is the notion and the impacts of chaos (in the mathematical sense) and the effort to model the fluctuations in complex dynamical systems, something that the genius Fenster appears to have cracked.
This book is well-written. It moves easily across the world without the narrowness that too often can afflict ambitious novels. The plot is intricate and sophisticated, and brings quite a few surprises that are hard to see in advance. The intensity and success of the campaigns mounted by the Soldiers of Rapture and the ILF are perhaps not quite credible, but this can be overlooked without the whole story falling apart.
The characters are well-formed, and the dialogue is good, especially between Poincare and his colleagues Ludovici, De Vries, and Laurent. The aspects of human tragedy, and the responses of the main characters to this tragedy, are done very well.
The book is a good example of a small thread from the past (Henri Poincare) being woven into a competent and sophisticated story set in present times.
Poincare has a wife (Claire), and a son and daughter-in-law (Etienne, Lucille), and three grand-children (Emile, Georges, and Chloe). In the recent past he has pursued and caught a Serbian war criminal (Stipo Banovic) who has been brought to The Hague to face trial at the International Criminal Court.
The initial action in the book is an odd explosion in a small hotel in Amsterdam where only one room in the hotel was destroyed but completely destroyed, and the resident incinerated. It is assumed that the remains are those of the man who had checked in (James Fenster), a brilliant young American who was in Amsterdam to attend a conference, but there are odd aspects of the explosion, not least that it was produced using a very exotic form of rocket fuel.
The book brings in three of Poincare’s close associates (Gisele De Vries, Serge Laurent, and Paolo Ludovici). The action begins in the initial phases of the investigation by Interpol into the Amsterdam explosion, which involves gleaning details of Fenster’s life and work, and tracking down likely sources of the rocket fuel and the person who had the detailed knowledge and expertise to detonate it in order to get just the desired effect. The plot becomes more complex when Banovic arranges, from his cell in The Hague, to put contracts on the lives of Poincare’s wife and his son and family, but not on Poincare himself. The attacks are partially successful in that all members of his son’s family are badly injured, and his wife is traumatised but saved from any major physical damage when her assailant is killed just in time. The partial success of these attacks occurs because of a failure in the very tight protection provided by Interpol for Poincare and his family, an event that leads to a rupture of the friendship between Poincare and his Interpol boss (Albert Monforte). Monforte is eventually dismissed from Interpol because of this failure.
The plot also involves a fanatical religious group (the Soldiers of Rapture) who believe that Christ’s Second Coming will take place at noon on August 15. Also involved is an organization, the Indigenous Liberation Front, focusing on historical wrongs to Third World peoples and the charismatic leader of this groups, one Eduardo Quito. Both these organization have mounted very successful public relations campaigns and have captured wide support across the world. Finally, there is Charles Bell, a Cambridge (US) investment manager who has been wildly successful, is very rich, and has provided very generous financial sponsorship for Fenster’s work at Harvard. There are many secondary plot elements that become obvious as the book unfolds.
Underlying everything is the notion and the impacts of chaos (in the mathematical sense) and the effort to model the fluctuations in complex dynamical systems, something that the genius Fenster appears to have cracked.
This book is well-written. It moves easily across the world without the narrowness that too often can afflict ambitious novels. The plot is intricate and sophisticated, and brings quite a few surprises that are hard to see in advance. The intensity and success of the campaigns mounted by the Soldiers of Rapture and the ILF are perhaps not quite credible, but this can be overlooked without the whole story falling apart.
The characters are well-formed, and the dialogue is good, especially between Poincare and his colleagues Ludovici, De Vries, and Laurent. The aspects of human tragedy, and the responses of the main characters to this tragedy, are done very well.
The book is a good example of a small thread from the past (Henri Poincare) being woven into a competent and sophisticated story set in present times.
August 21, 2019
Uneven but solid. Good audiobook narration. Full review coming.
This book is the nominal first book in the Henri Poincaré series, but despite having been written 6 years ago, there's never been a proper book 2, so I doubt there will be any more. The book 2 listed here is actually a prequel, before he got started in Interpol, while this one is already his swan song (probably) at Interpol, so I am not sure where Rosen would go from here in any case.
It tells the story of Poincaré, a veteran Interpol investigator, who sets about trying to find out who blew up a famous mathematician. A kind of running joke in the book is the Poincaré great-great-grandfather was Henrie Poincaré, a real life famous mathematician, but the math gene seems to have escaped this Poincaré. Of course, in his trail investigating a fictional mathematician, he runs across plenty of people who knew of his ancestor and are always asking him about it. In fact, he suffers a heart attack and I guess a heart rhythm plot is actually also named after Poincaré.
While investigating, his family comes under attack from a different criminal he earlier put in jail, a convicted war crimes mass murderer. So he has to worry about them, figure out the strange case of the blowed up mathematician and save his job (they want to put him out to pasture).
So this book was all over the map for me. Started slow, got interesting, got really slow, got even slower, picked up quite a bit and, while the ending was exciting, the resolution of the mathematician's murder was a little hard to swallow. While I think someone might kill for an algorithm that predicts the stock market, all the math mumbo jumbo in the world won't make me believe he actually came up with one. And I haven't even talked about the Christian doomsday cult that sprang up, predicting the end of the world. I am not even sure what that whole sideshow had to do with the book.
But in the end I think it was worth it. If there were a real second book, I'd probably give it a try. But as the only other book in the series is a prequel, I will just give it a pass. The audiobook narration by Grover Gardner was outstanding. He was even able to do a real passable job at a Boston cops accent, without cracking me up. He did the voices well and kept the storytelling moving along. I recommend the audiobook version to everyone.
This book is the nominal first book in the Henri Poincaré series, but despite having been written 6 years ago, there's never been a proper book 2, so I doubt there will be any more. The book 2 listed here is actually a prequel, before he got started in Interpol, while this one is already his swan song (probably) at Interpol, so I am not sure where Rosen would go from here in any case.
It tells the story of Poincaré, a veteran Interpol investigator, who sets about trying to find out who blew up a famous mathematician. A kind of running joke in the book is the Poincaré great-great-grandfather was Henrie Poincaré, a real life famous mathematician, but the math gene seems to have escaped this Poincaré. Of course, in his trail investigating a fictional mathematician, he runs across plenty of people who knew of his ancestor and are always asking him about it. In fact, he suffers a heart attack and I guess a heart rhythm plot is actually also named after Poincaré.
While investigating, his family comes under attack from a different criminal he earlier put in jail, a convicted war crimes mass murderer. So he has to worry about them, figure out the strange case of the blowed up mathematician and save his job (they want to put him out to pasture).
So this book was all over the map for me. Started slow, got interesting, got really slow, got even slower, picked up quite a bit and, while the ending was exciting, the resolution of the mathematician's murder was a little hard to swallow. While I think someone might kill for an algorithm that predicts the stock market, all the math mumbo jumbo in the world won't make me believe he actually came up with one. And I haven't even talked about the Christian doomsday cult that sprang up, predicting the end of the world. I am not even sure what that whole sideshow had to do with the book.
But in the end I think it was worth it. If there were a real second book, I'd probably give it a try. But as the only other book in the series is a prequel, I will just give it a pass. The audiobook narration by Grover Gardner was outstanding. He was even able to do a real passable job at a Boston cops accent, without cracking me up. He did the voices well and kept the storytelling moving along. I recommend the audiobook version to everyone.
February 15, 2018
This is well-written debut by Rosen; he's a very good writer. I enjoyed the intricate characters and the personality of Henri Poincaré, purportedly the great-grandson of his famous namesake. The story is intricate, with many twists and turns. I sort of guessed where things were headed, but the ending is quite preposterous. The mathematician Fenster resembles Benoît Mandelbrot in several respects, both in terms of his topical focus and in terms of his attempts to extend fractals to a comprehensive world view. A scientific world view is not the same as religion, and the conflict between science and religion are not well-drawn.
Grover Gardner does a good job with the voices of the different characters, and I enjoyed his reading.
The denouement was rather disappointing to me, quite unbelievable in its details and philosophically unsatisfactory (and philosophy plays a large role in understanding the motives of the some of the principal actors.)
The relation between science, mathematics, and religion is not well-drawn, yet it plays a big role in undertanding the motivation and behavior of a number of the central characters, although rather incidental to Poincaré himself.
An aside on the science and math described: The reader will get a good sense of the meaning of the notion of fractals and self-similar systems. The notion that the world is fundamentally fractal is not unprecedented; again, see the writings of Mandelbrot and, more generally, the approach called cellular automata, such as by Wolfram. Scientifically, this has not met with much success.
As an aside, to the extent that the book touches on the work of the famous mathematician whose name the protagonist bears, it is not quite right. Although Poincaré talked about "relativity," (for example, in his 1904 lecture at the St. Louis World's Fare, he clung to Newton's absolute time and the ether concepts and even rejected the implications drawn by Einstein in his famous 1905 paper about "special relativity." Indeed, Poincaré disbelieved E=mc^2. Rosen states that Einstein owed a debt to Poincaré for general relativity (published in its final form in 1916). That is simply not true. In fact, Poincaré did not accept this as the correct theory of gravity. Although incidental to the plot, I was disappointed that the author did not do his homework on these matters.
Grover Gardner does a good job with the voices of the different characters, and I enjoyed his reading.
The denouement was rather disappointing to me, quite unbelievable in its details and philosophically unsatisfactory (and philosophy plays a large role in understanding the motives of the some of the principal actors.)
The relation between science, mathematics, and religion is not well-drawn, yet it plays a big role in undertanding the motivation and behavior of a number of the central characters, although rather incidental to Poincaré himself.
An aside on the science and math described: The reader will get a good sense of the meaning of the notion of fractals and self-similar systems. The notion that the world is fundamentally fractal is not unprecedented; again, see the writings of Mandelbrot and, more generally, the approach called cellular automata, such as by Wolfram. Scientifically, this has not met with much success.
As an aside, to the extent that the book touches on the work of the famous mathematician whose name the protagonist bears, it is not quite right. Although Poincaré talked about "relativity," (for example, in his 1904 lecture at the St. Louis World's Fare, he clung to Newton's absolute time and the ether concepts and even rejected the implications drawn by Einstein in his famous 1905 paper about "special relativity." Indeed, Poincaré disbelieved E=mc^2. Rosen states that Einstein owed a debt to Poincaré for general relativity (published in its final form in 1916). That is simply not true. In fact, Poincaré did not accept this as the correct theory of gravity. Although incidental to the plot, I was disappointed that the author did not do his homework on these matters.
September 3, 2019
This book is a well written thriller that even though was over my head a few times with the talk of mathematics and chaos theory I enjoyed immensely. Henri Poincare is an Interpole agent with the task of finding out why a famous and likable mathematician has been murdered just before he is to deliver a speech at the World Trade Organizations meeting in Amsterdam. Henri has had a successful career as an agent who has traveled the globe hunting down the worlds most prolific and evil serial killers. When he takes on this case he finds is an ever deepening mystery he must unravel. Things are not as they appear. People disappear, people lie and he must discover the truth all the while trying to protect his family from the retribution of a mass murderer he recently put away.
I especially enjoyed the writers descriptions of his characters. They all have such detail to them that I could picture them exactly in my head. If these were real people I bet I could name them if I saw them on the street. Well done. The travel that Henri must do to solve this mystery is quite interesting as well. I have not been to Europe in many years and it made me want to back as soon as possible. Mr. Rosen is a master of description.
Even though I am not much of a mystery fan Leonard Rosen has probably turned me into one! Highly recommended.
I especially enjoyed the writers descriptions of his characters. They all have such detail to them that I could picture them exactly in my head. If these were real people I bet I could name them if I saw them on the street. Well done. The travel that Henri must do to solve this mystery is quite interesting as well. I have not been to Europe in many years and it made me want to back as soon as possible. Mr. Rosen is a master of description.
Even though I am not much of a mystery fan Leonard Rosen has probably turned me into one! Highly recommended.
February 23, 2021
Tuhle knihu jsem si jednoduše dohodila k nákupu kvůli poštovnému. Stála 19 korun a já nevěděla oč jde. Dala jsem jí šanci.
Mno...
Je to detektivka.. takže u mě problém, protože nejsem fanda detektivek. Paradox, seriály detektivky miluji.
Problém dvě, napsal to Američan... ano, opět můj osobní problém se stylem, který poznám na kilometry.
A byl i tu.
Mno...
Takhle... nepatřím do skupiny, která by tuhle knihu odsoudila a nejsem ani nadšencem.
Musím říct, že začátek mě chytl, ale postupně to nějak začalo upadat. Upadat začala i má pozornost a já se nudila i tam, kde bych se nudit neměla. A myslím si, že někdo by se tam nudit nemusel.
Mno...
Příliš inteligentní detektivka.
Nebo spíše špionážní thriller s detektivní zápletkou?
Interaktivní detektivka.
Líbí se mi, jak je zpracovaná. Autor si rozhodně dal práci. Hodně ji propracoval, promyslel a je dotvořená do malých detailů. Líbí se mi tam, jak se snaží čtenáře zapojit s ukázkami fotek a tak dále. To je zajámavé a ty části mě i bavily. Člověka to probralo.
Nicméně, v žádném případě to není jednoduchá detektivka, jakých vychází během roku stovky.
Pokud máte rádi detektivky, zkuste ji. Je pomalejší, chce více přemýšlení, ale může vás zaujmout.
Mno...
Je to detektivka.. takže u mě problém, protože nejsem fanda detektivek. Paradox, seriály detektivky miluji.
Problém dvě, napsal to Američan... ano, opět můj osobní problém se stylem, který poznám na kilometry.
A byl i tu.
Mno...
Takhle... nepatřím do skupiny, která by tuhle knihu odsoudila a nejsem ani nadšencem.
Musím říct, že začátek mě chytl, ale postupně to nějak začalo upadat. Upadat začala i má pozornost a já se nudila i tam, kde bych se nudit neměla. A myslím si, že někdo by se tam nudit nemusel.
Mno...
Příliš inteligentní detektivka.
Nebo spíše špionážní thriller s detektivní zápletkou?
Interaktivní detektivka.
Líbí se mi, jak je zpracovaná. Autor si rozhodně dal práci. Hodně ji propracoval, promyslel a je dotvořená do malých detailů. Líbí se mi tam, jak se snaží čtenáře zapojit s ukázkami fotek a tak dále. To je zajámavé a ty části mě i bavily. Člověka to probralo.
Nicméně, v žádném případě to není jednoduchá detektivka, jakých vychází během roku stovky.
Pokud máte rádi detektivky, zkuste ji. Je pomalejší, chce více přemýšlení, ale může vás zaujmout.
September 9, 2018
Some good character work here, but the plot is diffuse and nebulous which doesn't really work for a thriller. I'm also not the biggest fan of these debut thrillers with older protagonists with a lot of relevant history to bring to bear on the current situation and family ties and grandchildren and decades of failed relationships. It can work, but quite often we're either left with half-baked relationships littered across the narrative or momentum sapping relationship establishing scenes or asides.
There's a reason older mystery protagonists often have their lives interrupted by a new partner or drastically new circumstances or an atypical final assignment. That disruption provides freshness, which is lacking here. As the situation gets more drastic, and the strain on Poincare increases, I craved a whole series of connection with him rather than exposition and memory on the page.
There's a reason older mystery protagonists often have their lives interrupted by a new partner or drastically new circumstances or an atypical final assignment. That disruption provides freshness, which is lacking here. As the situation gets more drastic, and the strain on Poincare increases, I craved a whole series of connection with him rather than exposition and memory on the page.
September 22, 2022
This author has not done his research while writing the book. To give a Serbian character a Croatian name, Stipo, and to give another Serbian character name Aleksandr (Russian name), tells you about how badly the book is written. I guess it's all the same to the author, Serbs are the same as Croats, and the same as Russians. Who cares, right? However, even the cursory Wikipedia search would have told him that in Serbia we name our sons Aleksandar, while in Russia the equivalent name would most likely be Aleksandr. Stipo is typical Croatian name. There are no Serbs called Stipo, Stipe or Stipan. The equivalent Serbian variant is Stepo or Stepa. And yet he ventures into the former Jugoslavija's recent history, the Bosnian war as if he knows what he is writing about. Sorry, this lack of detail is a deal breaker for me, therefore I am not finishing All Cry Chaos. Cheers!
October 6, 2017
This is one of the few mysteries I've read that almost needs to be read multiple times. Not because the plot is hard to understand but in order to think about everything else Rosen is saying. His constant theme about the structures of everything being the same (all those pictures of fractals), the destructiveness of the human species and our simultaneous desire for redemption, the significance of a family being scattered and then reunited, in fact the significance of family altogether. Our guide, Henri Poincare, is a likable and humane person, someone you want to spend time with. But even he didn't quite clarify it all for me, and it certainly left me feeling sad. Hats off to Rosen -- the thinking person's mystery writer.
March 28, 2025
3.5 stars. Unusual mystery about a interpol detective at the end of his career. The initial crime is the murder of a famous mathematician what did ground breaking work on fractals. At the same time, the main character’s family becomes the hunted for his work on war crimes in Bosnia, and the imprisoned prisoner charged with war crimes has also put a contract out of the detectives family. It is well written, interesting twists and the tie to fractals is interesting. There are some farcical elements that I don’t if they were intentional, but the Christian terrorists who are trying to hasten the second coming by making the world worse and That added some comedic elements. There are many elements to think about in this book. Not just a run of the mill crime story. Great writing.
October 10, 2024
Audiobook, read by Grover Gardner (my favourite!)
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the only reason I chose it was because it was read by Grover.
What a surprise for me, I just couldn't stop listening.
I found the book riveting. The descriptions were astute and I was completely captured by the unique mystery set up.
Henri is a Interpol detective extraordinaire. We learn of his family, his lineage, and a very bizarre murder scene. The beginning of the book had me somewhat confused, however as things progressed, it was all tied in.
I am definitely going to read more of Rosen's books.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the only reason I chose it was because it was read by Grover.
What a surprise for me, I just couldn't stop listening.
I found the book riveting. The descriptions were astute and I was completely captured by the unique mystery set up.
Henri is a Interpol detective extraordinaire. We learn of his family, his lineage, and a very bizarre murder scene. The beginning of the book had me somewhat confused, however as things progressed, it was all tied in.
I am definitely going to read more of Rosen's books.
August 28, 2018
Two intertwined stories, one that struggles to surprise, the other that certainly does. Very well written. I was happy to be led through the plots and be introduced to mostly interesting people. Its character filled style, made me go to Stephen King for my next read. Oh and America should certainly pay what it promised to keep Interpol going...
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