Als Kate Benson de recente vakantiefoto's van vrienden bekijkt, krijgt ze de schrik van haar leven: haar man Charlie staat op de foto. Dat is onmogelijk, hij is namelijk overleden. Maar Kate weet zeker dat het haar grote liefde is die op de achtergrond staat. Ze besluit terug te keren naar de plaats waar hij een jaar eerder op mysterieuze wijze verdronk. Of werd hij vermoord? Haar vrienden verklaren haar voor gek, maar Kate ontdekt de schokkende waarheid.
Ruth Newman lives in Cambridge where she works as a Web editor for the University Business School. She won the Long Barn Books first novel competition for her "dark psychological thriller" Twisted Wing.
After three or four chapters I began to get into this novel by Ruth Newman. I guess it was the transition I had to make in the different style of writing after being engrosed in the previous book that I had been reading. However, I picked up a feel of mystery that drew me on. I think in those early chapters of The Company of Shadows I sensed that there would be a twist in the tale. There was. The tension of the story steadily ramps up and leaves one wondering who the protagonist, Kate, can trust. She sees a photograph showing a group of people which includes a man who she swears is the image of her dead husband. She becomes mired in a need to investigate the photograph. As the story proceeds it becomes obvious that all is not as kate has been led to understand relating to her late husband's death and the book does become a page turner. I am not a prude, having heard all of the expletives one can imagine during my years working in engineering factories, but I do wonder whether Ruth Newman needed to use as many of the *!^'* words that she has in this novel. For that reason, and for the occasional inclusion of details that I think were used as word padding that could have been excluded, I have given her three stars. I must add that I will definitely read more of Ruth Newman's Books.
Wanneer je denkt te weten hoe het verhaal afloopt gebeurd er weer iets onverwachts. Soms iets te ver gezocht maar juist daarom van begin tot eind spannend hoe het verhaal zal aflopen...
I really enjoyed this book by Ruth Newman, a new author to me and I think she only has two books out at the moment, I have the other one Twisted Wing from the library to read next.
Kate Grey is a young widown, whose husband Charlie died whilst they were on holiday in Sicily the previous year by drowning - Kate is grieving badly, when she sees a photo her friends took whilst on holiday in Miami the previous year, and there in the background is Charlie! Or is it? This starts Kate on a madcap journey to discover who this person is who looks just like her husband, she goes to Miami, to Sicily, then back to Las Vegas where she first met Charlie.
There were plenty of twists and turns to this, not knowing who Kate should trust, if anyone and even almost til the end the surprises kept coming, though I guessed some I didn't get them all. It was a satisfying ending.
Peccato che l'autrice alla fine abbia dimenticato la frase " E vissero tutti felici e contenti ", almeno avrebbe saputo di avere scritto solo una "Bella " favoletta! Una favola totalmente surreale,inverosimile e assurda! Ma, tra tutte le persone che ringrazia a fine storia e che presumo abbiano letto il libro,nessuno che abbia il coraggio di dire " Hai scritto una storia che non sta ne in cielo e manco in terra " ?? E l'editor che rilegge tutto prima della stampa ,che faceva ? Era ubriaca quando ha dato il suo si ? Misteri dell'editoria!!
"«È lui», ho detto di nuovo, lo sguardo fisso sull'uomo nello sfondo della foto, con quei capelli neri, quegli occhi azzurri, quel sorriso così familiari. «È Charlie.»"
A ME NON PARE TUTTO OK
Rimandare per tanto tempo la lettura di un libro può portare a diverse conseguenze negative: non provare più interesse per la sinossi, ritrovarsi con una storia invecchiata malino, rendersi conto che forse non è più la lettura adatta a noi. Per me "Cattive compagnie" ricade in quest'ultima categoria perché, da quando ho acquistato la mia copia al momento in cui mi sono finalmente decisa a leggerla, ho sviluppato una certa avversione verso le autrici britanniche di suspence, il sottogenere del thriller domestico e gli scrittori stranieri che decidono di ambientare (parte del)le loro narrazioni in Italia per trattare la tematica della criminalità organizzata. E indovinate un po' quale titolo rientra in tutte e tre queste casistiche?
In realtà lo spunto di partenza sembra interessante: una donna inglese, Kate Grey, fatica a superare la morte del marito Charles "Charlie" Benson, avvenuta in circostanze tragiche ma anche poco chiare. Una foto che ritrae casualmente un uomo identico al suo adorato Charlie spinge Kate ad intraprendere un viaggio verso la città di Miami, nell'insensata speranza che il marito possa essere ancora vivo; viaggio nel quale sarà accompagnata da Luke Broussard, da sempre amico di Charlie. Nel primo terzo del volume, la narrazione al presente viene inoltre interrotta da dei flashback che mostrano com'è nata e si è evoluta la relazione tra Kate ed il marito.
Pur non avendo disprezzato del tutto questa lettura, mi trovo davvero in difficoltà nel trovarci dei pregi; e questo perché suddetti pregi sono compensati da difetti paralleli, oppure risultano così blandi da passare quasi inosservati. Diciamo che ho trovato carina la scelta di raccontare una protagonista un po' anticonformista, nonché decisamente spietata nella sua determinazione. Mi è piaciuto anche che Newman abbia investito tempo ed attenzione nella descrizione delle diverse ambientazioni, rendendo la prosa abbastanza curata in queste parti del testo.
Un altro punto a favore (con riserva) è rappresentato dai colpi di scena: alcuni sono resi davvero prevedibili dalla piega che prendono i dialoghi stessi, ma altri riescono in effetti a stupire, rendendo la lettura anche divertente in alcuni punti. Peccato che per stupire i lettori la cara Ruth sia stata costretta a provocare ai suoi personaggi degli attacchi di stupidità fulminante. È il caso dell'immotivata decisione della protagonista di togliersi i guanti in una determinata scena, ma in questa osservazione rientrano tranquillamente anche tutte le azioni compiute dagli antagonisti, nel finale e non solo: davvero non si capisce perché Kate non si faccia due domande sulle incongruenze in ciò che le viene raccontato!
Descrizioni a parte, la prosa ha secondo me ampi margini di miglioramento. A cominciare dall'eccessiva informalità nella narrazione, specie se accostata a delle linee di dialogo a volte fin troppo artificiose e ricercate. Boccio poi in toto la scelta di rendere la protagonista la voce narrante, perché se è vero che seguiamo sempre e solo lei durante la storia, non penso sia sensato da parte sua nascondere di proposito delle informazioni vitali; specie considerato che questo testo dovrebbe essere una sorta di racconto interiore. Un'ulteriore pecca nello stile di Newman è data dall'umorismo, ridondante e poco efficace: non penso sia necessario dedicare una pagina intera ad un'infelice battuta sul russare, neanche fossimo in un cinepanettone.
E concludiamo con qualche lamentela personale, come la discutibile edizione italiana nella quale parecchie frasi vengono tradotte in modo letterale, senza quindi tenere in considerazione giochi di parole o modi di dire inglesi. Mi ha fatto storcere il naso il modo superficiale con cui l'autrice ha parlato delle malattie mentali, delle persone di colore (con un simpatico sillogismo che li associa alla violenza di default) e della criminalità organizzata. Non farete fatica ad immaginare anche quale sia la mia opinione su una protagonista che si dimostra incapace di fare alcunché senza un uomo alto e muscoloso al suo fianco, per poi disdegnare senza possibilità di riscatto tutte le personagge femminili nelle quali incappa.
This book was a complete surprise for me since the very beginning. I was surprised when I was told I had won it in a contest I didn’t remember entering, I was surprised when it arrived at my doorstep just two working days after, I was surprised it came in the most comfortable large-print paperback edition, and finally, once I started reading, I was very surprised I was enjoying it to the point I couldn’t put it down. I didn’t know the author, nor did I had the smallest idea of what the story was about, and despite the genre being very different from what I’m used to, I got completely hooked on page one.
So it all starts with the heroine, Kate Grey, waking up on the day of the first anniversary of her husband’s death. She goes to see his grave and replaces the dead flowers for fresh ones, sits there for a while stroking the headstone and talking at it, and then drags herself up to visit a couple of friends who just came back from vacations and have a bunch of half-good, half-bad photos to show off the places they have been. And as if nothing else could cause her damage and pain in this particular day, in the background of one of those photos Kate sees the clear image of Charlie: her dead husband. With a new purpose in life, she sets her mind into finding out this man that wears her deeply missed husband’s face, throwing the reader into a mad succession of flights between the UK, the USA, and Sicily in such a way that I kept my passport next to me the whole time, just in case.
I loved Kate. She’s this fierce, outspoken english woman with highly developed protective instincts towards those she loves, which combined with her headstrong I’ll-have-my-way-and-nothing-else type of character, matter-of-factly way of handling life or death situations/decisions, and the skill to read micro-expressions like those guys from Lie To Me, one can’t help but admiring her. But she has a soft side too -a soft, generous, unaffected side only meant to be seen by those same people she’ll go to hell and back to protect. And while at first she may come only as the grieving widow who’s probably imagining things and acting crazy, I advise the future readers of this book to set themselves in awe mode, because Kate is a package full of surprises until the very last page. (Can I just add I kept imagining her the very image of Emily Blunt? Thank you.)
Confession time: I’m one of those readers that love to be told about those little details regarding the character’s behavior, like "I picked up my coffee and took a small sip", instead of "I drank my coffee", and this was one of the things I enjoyed the most about the witty voice of this book, how it would always give away peculiarities of this kind that, for me, makes whatever that is going on seem more real. Truth to be told this reading continuously flashed through my mind like a movie.
And what a great ending Ruth! Didn’t see it coming at all. :D
So, I’m recommending this one to everyone who thinks will enjoy a series of head spinning scenes, enthralling and clever writing, engaging mysteries, perilous situations involving the FBI and the Mob, a beautiful love story that kept warming and shattering my heart along the way -and that for some reason I wasn’t expecting at all from a mystery/suspense type of book-, and a plot that will keep you asking these questions over and over: friend or foe? Dead or Joe?
A promising start developes into a convoluted tale involving too many characters and as many twists that it is hard to keep track of the story. Kate Benson sees a man who looks exactly like her dead husband in a photograph taken by friends holidaying in Miami. This happens exactly a year after her husband Charlie drowned in mysterious circumstances in Sicily whilst they were on holiday. Kate is devastated and cannot continue with her life without Charlie - "a metaphysical thread of gold connects them" - she even attempts suicide.She is a incomplete without him. And so she sets off to the US to look for the man who resembles Charlie dragging along Luke - Charlie's best friend. In Miami Kate finds out a few things which would certainly put off any other reasonable person but she perserveres determined to find the truth. Threatened by mysterious looking men who claim to be FBI is no deterrent for our intrepid Kate.A surprising relevation throws more light on Kate's steely resolve (but does not explain her wimping out by attempting suicide!)Twists and turns abound on every page and nobody appears to be who they say they are. Even Luke the best friend seems to be from Dodge. Everything though is explained at the end (if you make it to the end)
Rather interesting thriller where husband is presumably dead and wife after a glimp of jim in a photograph tries to find exactly what happened. Full of questions and twists in the behaviour of actors, we learn that his death was faked (unsurprisingly) by FBI (surprise), that both of them are members of Mafia family, that FBI was corrupt and wanted them to kill another head of Mafia.... Trutfully, it got so twisted towards the end that I couldn't believe my eyes. But the writing was so good that I read it in one day. Next time, less twists and I would love it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I read this book a while ago... 2012 I think? So my memory might not be the best, but from what I DO remember, I really enjoyed this book. I remember reading it on the couch, and finding that hours passed, and I got sore because I barely moved. It was suspenseful, I loved the characters, and I would recommend this book for lovers of Thrillers.
The only thing I didn't like so much was the ending. But It didn't ruin the story as a whole :)
Ontzettend fijn boek om te lezen, en mijn eerste vermoeden over de achtergrond van Charlie werd door een plottwist helemaal veranderd. Toen kon ik niet stoppen met lezen. Het boek was hard op weg naar een 5-sterren review, maar door de hoeveelheid personages en plottwists in het boek werd het in het tweede deel wat onduidelijker. Bepaalde bladzijden heb ik opnieuw gelezen om het toch duidelijker te krijgen. Doordat er in het tweede deel zoveel gebeurde is het een 3-sterren review geworden.
Finalmente ho finito questo strazio di libro. Sarebbe bello di base, se non fosse un Beautfil Thriller. Con cose assurdissime, come gente che è corrotta, poi non lo e, ma alla fine sì. Classico stereotipo di Italiani brutta gente, che pensavo fosse un problema quasi solo Americano, ed invece... Assurda la parte dove Kate e Charlie discutono sul fatto che per lei in Sicilia non ci sono Teatri o alla TV danno solo Chuck Norris doppiato, questa non sa nemmeno dov'è l'Italia.
I was suprised by this book. Did not have any high expectations, but it wasn't what I thought it would be. It was a rollercoaster of occurrences and if you thought you were understanding it, you weren't. It made it easy to read, but personally I thought it got out of hand. The storyline became a bit unbelievable at the end. Personally not my cup of tea. But overall I enjoyed reading it as it was a bit different.
Het was een beetje een merkwaardig boek. Het begon als een zoetige roman, maar het eindigde als een bloedige crimi. Ik bleef wel geboeid, want de setting triggert genoeg (een vrouw ziet haar dode ex op een foto), maar het loopt allemaal wel een beetje uit de hand. Op een gegeven moment zijn er zoveel namen en dwarsverbanden dat je bijna door de bomen het bos niet meer ziet.
Un libro al di fuori della mia comfort zone: pensavo fosse un Thriller e invece si è rilevato più una Spy story; ma tutto sommato non mi è dispiaciuto. Un ritmo sempre più incalzante, colpi di scena talvolta prevedibili ma spesso impensabili. Una lettura leggera, da tempo libero, ma molto piacevole e che sa trasmettere una crescente adrenalina.
I rather enjoyed this. Lots of twists and turns - perhaps rather too many by the end. When I picked it up again after 24 hours, I’d forgotten who we were meant to trust or not! The ending became a bit far-fetched, but it’s a story after all.
De eerste 5 maanden heb ik amper gelezen. Maar daarna heb ik de laatste 250 bladzijdes in iets meer dan een week uitgelezen. Heel erg goed boek, vooral de laatste 100 bladzijden waren spannend en zaten goed in elkaar. Je wist echt niet wie je kon vertrouwen tot het laatste moment.
Fino a metà libro la storia scorreva piacevolmente perché intervallata da continui, ma plausibili, colpi di scena. Da un certo punto in poi la vicenda si capovolge a tal punto da apparire ridicola.
Sorry, but I found this story too far-fetched to be enjoyable. There was also too high a level of violence for my taste. This book was just not for the
Jee dit is een beetje over de top naar mijn idee. Maffiosi, een heel stel corrupte fbi agenten. Ze haalt er veel te veel bij. Tegenvaller na lezing van gaar vorige boek.