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The Hesitation Cut
Master crime novelist Giles Blunt is back with a standalone novel of penetrating psychological suspense. Turning the screw tighter on every page, he delivers an intricately plotted story of jealousy and obsession that rivals the best of Patricia Highsmith and Gillian Flynn.
Nothing could be more serene than the life of Brother William, a young Benedictine monk who had turned his back on the world ten years earlier to retreat to a monastery in upstate New York. But then Lauren Wolfe, a troubled young poet, comes to use the library to research a book on Heloise and Abelard; one sight of the faint scars from a failed suicide attempt on Lauren's wrist is enough to turn the monk's life upside down. Every suppressed romantic impulse rises to the surface: his desire to rescue and soothe her trumps his vows of obedience, poverty and chastity. Soon he is simply Peter, a gentle young man who has followed his beloved to New York City because he needs to look out for her, as sincerely as he once pursued his calling.
Of course, just because you love doesn't mean your love will be returned. Just because your intentions are good doesn't mean you'll achieve what you intend. No one illuminates the extreme psychological states this tale of obsession explores better than Giles Blunt. And no reader will ever see the end coming...
Nothing could be more serene than the life of Brother William, a young Benedictine monk who had turned his back on the world ten years earlier to retreat to a monastery in upstate New York. But then Lauren Wolfe, a troubled young poet, comes to use the library to research a book on Heloise and Abelard; one sight of the faint scars from a failed suicide attempt on Lauren's wrist is enough to turn the monk's life upside down. Every suppressed romantic impulse rises to the surface: his desire to rescue and soothe her trumps his vows of obedience, poverty and chastity. Soon he is simply Peter, a gentle young man who has followed his beloved to New York City because he needs to look out for her, as sincerely as he once pursued his calling.
Of course, just because you love doesn't mean your love will be returned. Just because your intentions are good doesn't mean you'll achieve what you intend. No one illuminates the extreme psychological states this tale of obsession explores better than Giles Blunt. And no reader will ever see the end coming...
320 pages, Paperback
First published August 18, 2015
6 people are currently reading
477 people want to read
About the author
Giles Blunt
17 books410 followersGiles Blunt (born 1952 in Windsor, Ontario) is a Canadian novelist and screenwriter. His first novel, Cold Eye, was a psychological thriller set in the New York art world, which was made into the French movie Les Couleurs du diable (Allain Jessua, 1997).
He is also the author of the John Cardinal novels, set in the small town of Algonquin Bay, in Northern Ontario. Blunt grew up in North Bay, and Algonquin Bay is North Bay very thinly disguised — for example, Blunt retains the names of major streets and the two lakes (Trout Lake and Lake Nipissing) that the town sits between, the physical layout of the two places is the same, and he describes Algonquin Bay as being in the same geographical location as North Bay.
The first Cardinal story, Forty Words for Sorrow, won the British Crime Writers' Silver Dagger, and the second, The Delicate Storm, won the Crime Writers of Canada's Arthur Ellis Award for best novel.
More recently he has written No Such Creature, a "road novel" set in the American southwest, and Breaking Lorca, which is set in a clandestine jail in El Salvador in the 1980s. His novels have been compared to the work of Ian Rankin and Cormac McCarthy.
Series:
* John Cardinal and Lise Delorme Mystery
Awards:
Arthur Ellis Award
◊ Best Novel (2004): The Delicate Storm
Crime Writers' Association Silver Dagger
◊ 2001: Forty Words for Sorrow
He is also the author of the John Cardinal novels, set in the small town of Algonquin Bay, in Northern Ontario. Blunt grew up in North Bay, and Algonquin Bay is North Bay very thinly disguised — for example, Blunt retains the names of major streets and the two lakes (Trout Lake and Lake Nipissing) that the town sits between, the physical layout of the two places is the same, and he describes Algonquin Bay as being in the same geographical location as North Bay.
The first Cardinal story, Forty Words for Sorrow, won the British Crime Writers' Silver Dagger, and the second, The Delicate Storm, won the Crime Writers of Canada's Arthur Ellis Award for best novel.
More recently he has written No Such Creature, a "road novel" set in the American southwest, and Breaking Lorca, which is set in a clandestine jail in El Salvador in the 1980s. His novels have been compared to the work of Ian Rankin and Cormac McCarthy.
Series:
* John Cardinal and Lise Delorme Mystery
Awards:
Arthur Ellis Award
◊ Best Novel (2004): The Delicate Storm
Crime Writers' Association Silver Dagger
◊ 2001: Forty Words for Sorrow
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews
August 18, 2015
My Review: Giles Blunt is an award winning author of the Algonquin Bay mystery series. He is touted as a Canadian 'master crime novelist' so I went into this book expecting a suspenseful read. The Hesitation Cut was a good read and deals with some serious issues. It kept my interest but instead of a suspenseful read it was more of a character analysis of Peter, a character whom I struggled to connect with.
I think a lot of my feelings stem from the fact that I didn't love either of the main characters, Peter or Lauren. They were both quite wounded and on self-destructive downward spirals with no end in sight. That's a dark place to be. From a psychological perspective, the description of Peter's life was interesting but I couldn't fully get behind some of his motivations or his decisions which felt haphazard and unrealistic.
Overall this was a well written dark read about two troubled people with some rather extreme sexual and violent scenes. It's a story about obsession and a subjective view of love and jealousy. While it isn't perhaps for the faint of heart it is an interesting read.
My Rating: 3/5 stars
Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to Random House Canada for providing me with a complimentary paperback copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
**This book review can also be found on my blog, The Baking Bookworm (www.thebakingbookworm.blogspot.ca) where I share hundreds of book reviews and my favourite recipes. **
I think a lot of my feelings stem from the fact that I didn't love either of the main characters, Peter or Lauren. They were both quite wounded and on self-destructive downward spirals with no end in sight. That's a dark place to be. From a psychological perspective, the description of Peter's life was interesting but I couldn't fully get behind some of his motivations or his decisions which felt haphazard and unrealistic.
Overall this was a well written dark read about two troubled people with some rather extreme sexual and violent scenes. It's a story about obsession and a subjective view of love and jealousy. While it isn't perhaps for the faint of heart it is an interesting read.
My Rating: 3/5 stars
Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to Random House Canada for providing me with a complimentary paperback copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
**This book review can also be found on my blog, The Baking Bookworm (www.thebakingbookworm.blogspot.ca) where I share hundreds of book reviews and my favourite recipes. **
July 17, 2016
In this psychological thriller, a standalone novel , Mr. Blunt has shifted his attention to New York, stepped away from his compelling police procedure and has given us a unique perspective on the world of obsessed stalker.
From serene atmosphere of a monastery to the frantic pace of the Big Apple the plot is built around two brilliantly developed characters: Brother William, a Benedictine monk and Lauren Wolfe, a novelist doing research. As the story gets under way brother William (30 years old) meets Lauren at the abbey’s library and becomes so smitten that he abandons the monastery and moves to Manhattan where Lauren lives…and as we turned the pages this beautifully written novel builds tension with layer after layer, incident after incident, with more misdirection and plot twists in order to satisfy mystery lovers. The book is a challenging one and provides a suspenseful treatment of a difficult thought-provoking subject. We have some scenes of violence and some of sex although we know that a collision between two obsessed lovers is inevitable and rarely ends well, Mr. Blunt brilliant revelation is withhold until the final pages. The novel is superbly-drawn to portray human frailty…
If you are looking for the usual “Whodunit” mystery you will be highly disappointed and missing out on a most interesting and captivating story…..Put John Cardinal out of your mind and enjoy this psychological thriller…..
From serene atmosphere of a monastery to the frantic pace of the Big Apple the plot is built around two brilliantly developed characters: Brother William, a Benedictine monk and Lauren Wolfe, a novelist doing research. As the story gets under way brother William (30 years old) meets Lauren at the abbey’s library and becomes so smitten that he abandons the monastery and moves to Manhattan where Lauren lives…and as we turned the pages this beautifully written novel builds tension with layer after layer, incident after incident, with more misdirection and plot twists in order to satisfy mystery lovers. The book is a challenging one and provides a suspenseful treatment of a difficult thought-provoking subject. We have some scenes of violence and some of sex although we know that a collision between two obsessed lovers is inevitable and rarely ends well, Mr. Blunt brilliant revelation is withhold until the final pages. The novel is superbly-drawn to portray human frailty…
If you are looking for the usual “Whodunit” mystery you will be highly disappointed and missing out on a most interesting and captivating story…..Put John Cardinal out of your mind and enjoy this psychological thriller…..
April 15, 2016
Two, or three stars? I really don't know. I rather enjoyed reading this, but at the same time, it wasn't very satisfying.
First off, the blurb over there is a bit dishonest if you ask me. All that stuff about "tightly plotted", and "psychological suspense". It's just not true. The plot itself is about as straightforward as they come, and the whole story has a course of inevitability about it that really negates the possibility of real suspense. Mind you, I really don't think that "psychological suspense" is what the author was going for, so I'm not going to blame him for this. This is more like a meditation on obsession and pain and tragedy than anything else, told in a relaxed and even lighthearted style that seems designed to engage and amuse but not really to set the pulse racing. All that's fine in this case.
it's in fact the really relaxed, low-key tone that works remarkably well in this book. I guessed really early on what sort of thing was going on with Brother William/Peter's mysterious history and why he ended up in a monastery, but Blunt makes him so likable, so charmingly naive, so friendly, that the story's end is still a bit of a shocker. We see him head down this path, falling for a woman who so obviously is so far from right for him, but completely obsessed with his own idea of her. There are two separate currents that go through the mind while reading this, and they are sympathy as well as a kind of admission that, yeah, this man is a freak and he doesn't understand a damn thing and should leave the tortured artist well alone. This kind of sympathy mixed with near contempt is a difficult thing to juggle and Blunt handled it all very well, so that one wonders at the contradictory experience of reading. A colleague I spoke with who read the book said she found it very creepy, and while I totally understand that reaction, my own veered more toward amusement, as I felt Blunt was very well aware of the absurdity of Peter's situation and brought it out in such a way that negates what some I know would term the "ickiness" of the whole situation. While Lauren is perfectly right in her initial assessment of incredulity and fear over this man who abandoned his monkish vows for the vision of a woman he'd met for only a brief time, basically stalked her, moved into an apartment below hers just so he could be near her--we, as readers, can't help but feel that maybe he's really ok and as harmless as he seems. He's the protagonist, after all, the real point of view character, and he's trying so hard to live normally and form relationships with people, sometimes with results that are likely to bring about a chuckle and a smile. Surely he's not really dangerous, is he?
But this isn't really Lauren's story, and I feel that at least in part it should have been. She gets a few short point of view chapters but I felt they were a little perfunctory, and despite the exerpts of poetry and the quote from Plath that starts out the novel, I felt as though she were little more than a cipher for the promiscuous, tormented female artist archetype. It's difficult not to see her as Peter's personal angel of damnation, and while yes, that fits in well enough with the narrative and all, I feel like she should have been more than this, and even that Blunt was striving for this at times, but didn't quite get there. I never quite believed in her as a person the way I came to in Peter.
The inevitable end too, somehow left a taste of displeasure with me. I have no silly suggestions as to how it could have been improved. As I said, it felt inevitable, and I knew very early on there wasn't going to be a happy ending, or redemption, or acceptance. Yet by the time Peter returned to the monastery near the closing chapter, I found myself losing patience with him. I wanted him to move on, get on with a future, maybe in the city, or maybe somewhere else (that wasn't a monastery), and while I realize that just wasn't in his nature, having him simply repeat the action of his past, , made not only the preceding pages but his quiet monastic life seem incredibly pointless. The ultimate reaction from me was something like, "oh, that's it then?" Too bad, really. There's some good stuff here, but in the end I can't really say I was too pleased with it.
First off, the blurb over there is a bit dishonest if you ask me. All that stuff about "tightly plotted", and "psychological suspense". It's just not true. The plot itself is about as straightforward as they come, and the whole story has a course of inevitability about it that really negates the possibility of real suspense. Mind you, I really don't think that "psychological suspense" is what the author was going for, so I'm not going to blame him for this. This is more like a meditation on obsession and pain and tragedy than anything else, told in a relaxed and even lighthearted style that seems designed to engage and amuse but not really to set the pulse racing. All that's fine in this case.
it's in fact the really relaxed, low-key tone that works remarkably well in this book. I guessed really early on what sort of thing was going on with Brother William/Peter's mysterious history and why he ended up in a monastery, but Blunt makes him so likable, so charmingly naive, so friendly, that the story's end is still a bit of a shocker. We see him head down this path, falling for a woman who so obviously is so far from right for him, but completely obsessed with his own idea of her. There are two separate currents that go through the mind while reading this, and they are sympathy as well as a kind of admission that, yeah, this man is a freak and he doesn't understand a damn thing and should leave the tortured artist well alone. This kind of sympathy mixed with near contempt is a difficult thing to juggle and Blunt handled it all very well, so that one wonders at the contradictory experience of reading. A colleague I spoke with who read the book said she found it very creepy, and while I totally understand that reaction, my own veered more toward amusement, as I felt Blunt was very well aware of the absurdity of Peter's situation and brought it out in such a way that negates what some I know would term the "ickiness" of the whole situation. While Lauren is perfectly right in her initial assessment of incredulity and fear over this man who abandoned his monkish vows for the vision of a woman he'd met for only a brief time, basically stalked her, moved into an apartment below hers just so he could be near her--we, as readers, can't help but feel that maybe he's really ok and as harmless as he seems. He's the protagonist, after all, the real point of view character, and he's trying so hard to live normally and form relationships with people, sometimes with results that are likely to bring about a chuckle and a smile. Surely he's not really dangerous, is he?
But this isn't really Lauren's story, and I feel that at least in part it should have been. She gets a few short point of view chapters but I felt they were a little perfunctory, and despite the exerpts of poetry and the quote from Plath that starts out the novel, I felt as though she were little more than a cipher for the promiscuous, tormented female artist archetype. It's difficult not to see her as Peter's personal angel of damnation, and while yes, that fits in well enough with the narrative and all, I feel like she should have been more than this, and even that Blunt was striving for this at times, but didn't quite get there. I never quite believed in her as a person the way I came to in Peter.
The inevitable end too, somehow left a taste of displeasure with me. I have no silly suggestions as to how it could have been improved. As I said, it felt inevitable, and I knew very early on there wasn't going to be a happy ending, or redemption, or acceptance. Yet by the time Peter returned to the monastery near the closing chapter, I found myself losing patience with him. I wanted him to move on, get on with a future, maybe in the city, or maybe somewhere else (that wasn't a monastery), and while I realize that just wasn't in his nature, having him simply repeat the action of his past, , made not only the preceding pages but his quiet monastic life seem incredibly pointless. The ultimate reaction from me was something like, "oh, that's it then?" Too bad, really. There's some good stuff here, but in the end I can't really say I was too pleased with it.
August 31, 2015
2.5 stars.
This is a departure from the author's excellent Algonquin Park detective series. Here we have a novel of deep psychological suspense, which I read with dread. Brother William has been a monk for 10 years. The monastery is in a tranquil country setting of upper New York State. He is considered a kind, gentle person, but he is also naive and uneasy in social settings. This is as expected since he entered the monastery at a young age.
One day he is ordered to show a female author around the monastery library as she needs some of the books for research into a book of fiction she is writing, based on the lives, works and letters of Peter Abelard and Heloise. Brother William faces this task with reluctance as he is uncomfortable around women. By the time she leaves to go back to New York City he has become obsessed with her (Lauren) and thinks he is in love with her. While in the library he noticed a scar on her wrist, indicating a past attempt at suicide. He feels she is sad, even depressed, and she needs his love and devotion to cure her.
He is soon deeply torn between his religious vows of obedience, poverty and chastity and his overwhelming desire to be with the object of his passion, and is hitch hiking to New York City. He rents a tiny room below her apartment. Lauren is friendly at first, but then recognizes him as the monk from the library and regards him as the creepy stalker which he has become. Brother William has now resumed his birth name of Peter and endures Lauren's changeable moods. Sometimes she is hostile or ignores him. Then becomes friendly and later allows him into her bed and teaches him about sex. Then her mood swings alternate again. She tells him that she will never be in love with him and also has sex with others. He takes all this abuse, hoping that his feelings will be returned. She is so very wrong for him, but his passion never waivers. During time she spends in hospital he visits every day, cleans her apartment and looks after her cat, thinking she will be grateful and fall I love with him.
A former boyfriend returns to Lauren. It is indicative of how unlikable and unsympathetic these two main characters become, that the former boyfriend, a criminal drug dealer, seems like the nicest and most likeable person.
Peter is very jealous and stoops to some devious plans to keep Lauren for himself.
You know that the whole thing is probably going to end badly. Not a pleasant read but an insightful, gripping psychological study about how an obsession can lead one to a destructive downhill path.
This is a departure from the author's excellent Algonquin Park detective series. Here we have a novel of deep psychological suspense, which I read with dread. Brother William has been a monk for 10 years. The monastery is in a tranquil country setting of upper New York State. He is considered a kind, gentle person, but he is also naive and uneasy in social settings. This is as expected since he entered the monastery at a young age.
One day he is ordered to show a female author around the monastery library as she needs some of the books for research into a book of fiction she is writing, based on the lives, works and letters of Peter Abelard and Heloise. Brother William faces this task with reluctance as he is uncomfortable around women. By the time she leaves to go back to New York City he has become obsessed with her (Lauren) and thinks he is in love with her. While in the library he noticed a scar on her wrist, indicating a past attempt at suicide. He feels she is sad, even depressed, and she needs his love and devotion to cure her.
He is soon deeply torn between his religious vows of obedience, poverty and chastity and his overwhelming desire to be with the object of his passion, and is hitch hiking to New York City. He rents a tiny room below her apartment. Lauren is friendly at first, but then recognizes him as the monk from the library and regards him as the creepy stalker which he has become. Brother William has now resumed his birth name of Peter and endures Lauren's changeable moods. Sometimes she is hostile or ignores him. Then becomes friendly and later allows him into her bed and teaches him about sex. Then her mood swings alternate again. She tells him that she will never be in love with him and also has sex with others. He takes all this abuse, hoping that his feelings will be returned. She is so very wrong for him, but his passion never waivers. During time she spends in hospital he visits every day, cleans her apartment and looks after her cat, thinking she will be grateful and fall I love with him.
A former boyfriend returns to Lauren. It is indicative of how unlikable and unsympathetic these two main characters become, that the former boyfriend, a criminal drug dealer, seems like the nicest and most likeable person.
Peter is very jealous and stoops to some devious plans to keep Lauren for himself.
You know that the whole thing is probably going to end badly. Not a pleasant read but an insightful, gripping psychological study about how an obsession can lead one to a destructive downhill path.
April 5, 2016
This book was a struggle. I couldn't make myself like or care about either Peter or Lauren; both were too weird and damaged. However, the sinister tone, the sense of moody darkness was sufficient to keep me reading until the end. Blunt is excellent at creating that kind of dread, that sense of evil. I wish he'd return to writing about John Cardinal.
April 26, 2016
I feel like a dirty trick was played on me with this ending.
Very unhappy.
Very unhappy.
December 6, 2018
The Hesitation Cut is my first experience with Canadian writer Giles Blunt, who is perhaps most famous for his crime novels which feature Detective John Cardinal. (I have watched a couple of those novels brought to the small screen and have found them super intense; I can only imagine what the reading experience would be like.)
In this standalone, 30-year-old Brother William is living the cloistered life of a monk in Rochester, upstate New York. He’s been at Our Lady Of Peace for ten years, living a life punctuated by ritual. One of William’s jobs is to work in the monastery’s library and it is there he meets Lauren, a writer who has come to do research on Peter Abelard, the famous philosopher from 12th century France, who had an ill-fated relationship with his student, Heloise.
Brother William is almost immediately smitten with Lauren. When he arrives at the library “it was like coming upon a small animal in the forest.” There is something about Lauren that draws William, like the moon pulls the water (if I can make such a clumsy comparison). He is helpless against its pull and when he notices “a scar across her wrist”, he’s done for. Lauren becomes William’s next calling. He decides she’s in trouble and he can save her.
So, he gives up his life, takes back his name (Peter, surely no coincidence) and heads to New York City. A lot of pieces click into place (his estranged brother has saved his share of the family estate, so suddenly a former monk without worldly possessions has disposable cash), he gets a job, and relatively easily in a city the size of NY, tracks Lauren down. Although I am not sure I bought it, there’s an empty basement studio in the very same building where Lauren lives, and so Peter moves in and befriends her.
The thing about these two characters is that neither of them are even remotely likeable. While Peter pretends to be altruistic, Lauren makes no effort to hide the fact that she is damaged goods; in fact, in some ways, she seems to enjoy the wallowing. To be fair, she tries to warn Peter:
"Peter, I have my work and nothing else. Nothing. I’m not what you think, or need, or want. I’m just a selfish bitch, you see."
Peter almost takes this as a personal challenge. Lauren WILL love him.
Then, along comes Mick, Lauren’s former lover. He’s the proverbial bad boy, but he’s actually one of the most likeable characters in the whole book. His arrival on the scene throws Peter into a tailspin.
The Hesitation Cut was easy to read. I couldn’t put it down. Did I buy all the pieces chinking together? No. Did it matter? Probably not. Blunt has constructed a well-made play, peopled with mostly despicable characters. Whether you care about their fates won’t actually impact your enjoyment of their sad journeys.
In this standalone, 30-year-old Brother William is living the cloistered life of a monk in Rochester, upstate New York. He’s been at Our Lady Of Peace for ten years, living a life punctuated by ritual. One of William’s jobs is to work in the monastery’s library and it is there he meets Lauren, a writer who has come to do research on Peter Abelard, the famous philosopher from 12th century France, who had an ill-fated relationship with his student, Heloise.
Brother William is almost immediately smitten with Lauren. When he arrives at the library “it was like coming upon a small animal in the forest.” There is something about Lauren that draws William, like the moon pulls the water (if I can make such a clumsy comparison). He is helpless against its pull and when he notices “a scar across her wrist”, he’s done for. Lauren becomes William’s next calling. He decides she’s in trouble and he can save her.
So, he gives up his life, takes back his name (Peter, surely no coincidence) and heads to New York City. A lot of pieces click into place (his estranged brother has saved his share of the family estate, so suddenly a former monk without worldly possessions has disposable cash), he gets a job, and relatively easily in a city the size of NY, tracks Lauren down. Although I am not sure I bought it, there’s an empty basement studio in the very same building where Lauren lives, and so Peter moves in and befriends her.
The thing about these two characters is that neither of them are even remotely likeable. While Peter pretends to be altruistic, Lauren makes no effort to hide the fact that she is damaged goods; in fact, in some ways, she seems to enjoy the wallowing. To be fair, she tries to warn Peter:
"Peter, I have my work and nothing else. Nothing. I’m not what you think, or need, or want. I’m just a selfish bitch, you see."
Peter almost takes this as a personal challenge. Lauren WILL love him.
Then, along comes Mick, Lauren’s former lover. He’s the proverbial bad boy, but he’s actually one of the most likeable characters in the whole book. His arrival on the scene throws Peter into a tailspin.
The Hesitation Cut was easy to read. I couldn’t put it down. Did I buy all the pieces chinking together? No. Did it matter? Probably not. Blunt has constructed a well-made play, peopled with mostly despicable characters. Whether you care about their fates won’t actually impact your enjoyment of their sad journeys.
May 15, 2020
I picked this book up at a used book sale months ago. The reason I chose it was that I have been enjoying the tv show "Cardinal" which is based on a series of books by Giles Blunt, so I thought I would check out this book by Giles Blunt even though it is not part of the series. I hope that the Cardinal series are better than this book. It struck me as a really silly story and pretty easy to see pretty much what would happen. No surprises at all - at least not for me. Not a book I would recommend. Hopefully others by this author are better as I would like to give the Cardinal series a try as I am really enjoying the series.
November 19, 2019
Good story with a suprising ending. Good for piepl who love twisted and strange.
February 18, 2024
Definitely nowhere near as good as the John Cardinal series he wrote.
Easy read, but overall just kind of an odd story.
Easy read, but overall just kind of an odd story.
July 5, 2016
Goodreads really needs a half-star rating, because this book deserves 2.5 stars.
First of all, it is neither thrilling nor plotted like a demon, as the back cover claims. It's a quiet, introspective-to-the-point-of-myopia character study that veers off into dark and chilling corners.
The characters are interesting - a monk who experiences a crisis of faith, the suicidal but brilliant writer who brought it on, and the prick of a drug-dealer boyfriend who keeps turning up in her life like a bad penny.
It's a mix that can't help producing tension. And Blunt is good at exploiting it, at pushing just the right buttons. Unfortunately, he never manages to produce any suspense. From about 50 pages in, we know with absolute certainty how it's going to end.
So don't believe the descriptions that say 'no reader will ever see the end coming.' It's not true. Everyone will see the end coming.
Now, all that said, I did finish it without any trouble or investment. It went down easy, left no aftertaste. Which is fine, I guess. But sometimes you want a book to linger on the palate. This emphatically does not.
First of all, it is neither thrilling nor plotted like a demon, as the back cover claims. It's a quiet, introspective-to-the-point-of-myopia character study that veers off into dark and chilling corners.
The characters are interesting - a monk who experiences a crisis of faith, the suicidal but brilliant writer who brought it on, and the prick of a drug-dealer boyfriend who keeps turning up in her life like a bad penny.
It's a mix that can't help producing tension. And Blunt is good at exploiting it, at pushing just the right buttons. Unfortunately, he never manages to produce any suspense. From about 50 pages in, we know with absolute certainty how it's going to end.
So don't believe the descriptions that say 'no reader will ever see the end coming.' It's not true. Everyone will see the end coming.
Now, all that said, I did finish it without any trouble or investment. It went down easy, left no aftertaste. Which is fine, I guess. But sometimes you want a book to linger on the palate. This emphatically does not.
September 10, 2015
Having been a Blunt fan for years, I confess to great disappointment.
Here we have story of an obsessive young man who becomes obsessed with an equally obsessed young woman.
The sexual crudities midway through are graphic and essentially pointless.
There are a few likeable, peripheral characters that pop in and out of the story. None with any lasting impact.
The plot is not complicated and the ending predictable.
This reader is not pleased.
Here we have story of an obsessive young man who becomes obsessed with an equally obsessed young woman.
The sexual crudities midway through are graphic and essentially pointless.
There are a few likeable, peripheral characters that pop in and out of the story. None with any lasting impact.
The plot is not complicated and the ending predictable.
This reader is not pleased.
August 28, 2015
I am a big fan of Giles Blunt's Cardinal crime series, Canada's answer to Nordic Noir. But this book is a 180 degree departure from those kinds of books.
It stays with you. It's a great work. Congratulations, Giles Blunt.
See my full review here - http://livinginthekitchenwithpuppies....
It stays with you. It's a great work. Congratulations, Giles Blunt.
See my full review here - http://livinginthekitchenwithpuppies....
May 9, 2021
Giles Blunt is the Author of the very successful brilliant Cardinal and Delorme police procedural mystery series. This is one off story beautifully written with superb characterisation throughout. A quirky clever story of unexpected love and loss with surprising twists along the way.
Recommended.
Recommended.
January 2, 2017
I do not recommend this book.
October 19, 2017
Awful, implausible, didn't finish.
December 10, 2017
Brother William has found serenity within the monastery and while he hasn’t fully enjoyed all of his jobs, he has found peace and meaning in his life. When an author, Lauren Wolfe, comes to the monastery for research purposes though, his life is thrown upside down. Her sadness and the scar on her wrist pains him and he feels that it is his mission in life to save her. Abandoning the monastery and following her to New York City he embeds himself in the same apartment building and becomes determined to integrate himself into her life. Will Lauren be his ruination? Will he be able to “save” her?
This was an odd book for me and nothing that I was anticipating. Brother William is an awkward character and it is difficult to find common ground with him. He is very naive and child-like. Meanwhile, Lauren is the opposite, worldly, depressing and suicidal. Together in one novel, these characters are difficult to enjoy reading about. The obsessiveness of them is tragic and offers a weird pace in its reading. I don’t know that I would read another book by this author due to my experience with this one. It is definitely not a book for just anyone.
This was an odd book for me and nothing that I was anticipating. Brother William is an awkward character and it is difficult to find common ground with him. He is very naive and child-like. Meanwhile, Lauren is the opposite, worldly, depressing and suicidal. Together in one novel, these characters are difficult to enjoy reading about. The obsessiveness of them is tragic and offers a weird pace in its reading. I don’t know that I would read another book by this author due to my experience with this one. It is definitely not a book for just anyone.
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September 13, 2018it's my principle to give one star to any book containing violence against animals because I don't think they deserve anything better but as this is one of authors I really like and have read their whole opus throughout the years, I will be biased and won't rate at all, think that's fair since this is an unique and extraordinary book.
it is a standalone novel set in NYC and upstate NY but shares the dark and moody atmosphere that follows throughout the rest of the author's book featuring det. John Cardinal and set in Ontario.
the romantic love story which is the main theme is so dark and violent (and doomed from the start!) that you can just brace yourself for the impact, so to say. I am unsure whether I have read anything like this so far because it is really exceptional, the whole (hopelessly damaged) character and story development, predictable yet gripping.
if not for the first mentioned flaw, it would have a 5 star rating for me but for those who don't care, I guess it goes with the main character's dark disposition.
I doubt I will need to read this again, I think it's a book you won't forget so easily once you've read it.
it is a standalone novel set in NYC and upstate NY but shares the dark and moody atmosphere that follows throughout the rest of the author's book featuring det. John Cardinal and set in Ontario.
the romantic love story which is the main theme is so dark and violent (and doomed from the start!) that you can just brace yourself for the impact, so to say. I am unsure whether I have read anything like this so far because it is really exceptional, the whole (hopelessly damaged) character and story development, predictable yet gripping.
if not for the first mentioned flaw, it would have a 5 star rating for me but for those who don't care, I guess it goes with the main character's dark disposition.
I doubt I will need to read this again, I think it's a book you won't forget so easily once you've read it.
April 17, 2021
I picked this up expecting a crime novel. To be clear there is a crime (more than one actually) but that's really not what the book is about. It's about two obsessive (and doomed) relationships. The vast majority of the book is spent dealing with passion, obsession, love and sex, and the difference between them. If you're expecting a cozy crime story, this is not your book.
I made the mental adjustment pretty early, and once I had this was a pretty good read: well written and carefully plotted. Just not sure I would have started it if I'd known what I was in for, because it's a pretty depressing story, and in the time of COVID depressing fiction is the last thing I need.
I made the mental adjustment pretty early, and once I had this was a pretty good read: well written and carefully plotted. Just not sure I would have started it if I'd known what I was in for, because it's a pretty depressing story, and in the time of COVID depressing fiction is the last thing I need.
December 21, 2021
If you're looking for books similar to Blunt's excellent Cardinal series, this isn't for you. No question that Blunt is a talented writer with the ability to turn a phrase, and while the beginning captured my interest, I just couldn't connect with the characters, and the ending was one of those "out of nowhere" types that always seems like a bit of a cheat to me. I wanted to love it. I didn't.
July 12, 2017
I liked it some. Still I couldn't quite like the monk. He was too cold almost un feeling. The idea was great, the love interest was odd, but in a good way. She'd make any one curious enough to follow her. But him...I just couldn't feel for him.
August 4, 2017
Very artful writing or it wouldn't be Giles Blunt. Seems unfinished. Sexually graphic. Very dark & violent. Return to the subject of psychiatrists & suicide, as in dealing with Cardinal's wife. Only touches on the police procedural aspect. Left me feeling ill. Bring back Cardinal & Delorme.
June 20, 2019
I have to say that I did enjoy reading this book, however, I could not find myself becoming attached, or even completely liking any of the characters. Other than that, the storyline was good and kept my interest.
December 3, 2022
I liked this twisty story of obsession. Certainly, in my personal life I have seen people who are extremely devoted to religion and then leave religion, become addicted to other things instead. The same occurs in this story, but with a disastrous effect. I did see where the story was going though.
December 31, 2017
A not-entirely believable look into obsession and self-destructive behaviour with a very predictable plot.
December 20, 2017
2.5 stars. I didn’t like the characters at all.
July 6, 2019
Dark dark dark. Rather predictable.
November 2, 2019
Interesting story with clever twists. Easy read. Lovely little hidden tidbits buried here and there.
August 25, 2021
A fascinating story of obsession……
October 5, 2024
It kind of stayed with me. I get obsession, and boy did he have it bad.
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