Customer Reviews

Blood Acre

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I couldn't agree more with the NY reader. The author's prose is incredibly pretentious, mendacious, self-absorbed and devoid of meaning. This is "it was a dark and stormy night" writing at its best. All form, no substance. Can't understand the good reviews on the back cover.

Before reading this book, it is necessary to drop all your guards and preconceived notions on what is and is not good prose. Yes, this novel starts out pretentiously. However, as the pages quickly turn...and they will, it become apparent that this is not pompous writing; it is writing by a skilled and talented author. Only a man with greatness in his fingertips can type out the consistently colorful and vivid phrases which he does. This novel is a murder mystery that I read cover to back in two sittings. I almost felt guilty reading the rich prose and hanging on to the dark and sexy storyline. I would recommend this only to true lovers of fiction. I read this after finishing Hemingway's "True at First Light" and it was an tasty turnabout from H's more terse (yet amazing) declarative sentences. Like eating fresh french baguette and then switching over to a gateau chocolat.

While it is true that the prose and descriptions in this novel are compelling, the plot lacks a driving force. This book takes you inside a series of events, describes them beautifully, but does not take you on the a journey which reaches a true end or conclusion. I waited for everything to come together, but the novel simply concluded without resolution.

The evidence overwhelming points towards sleazy attorney Nathan Stein as the killer of his sometimes lover Isabel Santos. The only thing keeping the police from arresting Nathan is the high level connections of the prime suspect's father.

A disillusioned Nathan continues to go about his shady deals as if nothing occurred. Ignoring the seemingly non-stop beeping of his beeper, Nathan wearily journeys to Coney Island. However, his mind cannot help wondering what happened to the idealist who cherished music and once even loved. Instead, he is the junior partner in his father's firm as lawyers to the highest echelon of New York City's drug trafficking crowd. Nathan has done a lot of nasty things in his life, but is he a murderer?

BLOOD ACRE is a poignant urban Noir tale that vividly catches a protagonist in mental freefall with no safety net. The story line is brilliant as readers glimpse at the judicial system from a different perspective and morality. The characters add much depth but this novel is obviously a one-man show. Peter Landesman has landed with a tragic Noir that fans of dark mysteries will devour while seeking more works from the author (see THE RAVEN).

Harriet Klausner

I'm forced to agree with the negative reviews on this page. The prose is horribly overwrought (The Sins of the Fathers! Ooga-booga-booga!) and dull. Nathan's downfall is never interesting, never achieves the level of real tragedy because we're never convinced he had the possibility of being a better person; so he played jazz saxophone once upon a time, so what? His character is really unappealing and self-pitying, the womanizing almost a Mel Brooks joke. The character of the murdered half-sister, Isabel, with whom he was involved is inexcusably thin...This book practically herniates itself trying to be Under the Volcano and is not even close. I got a headache from Blood Acre.

On a recent holiday, I made the mistake of packing only one book. A particularly troublesome mistake because it was this book. From the first paragraph, this book read like a high school overachiever's attempt to win over an English teacher. As if his dreaded prose was not enough to stop the reader cold, his poor descriptions of New York City--especially Coney Island--made me doubt his stated city of residence. For the author to name his primary character Nathan and then to refer to Nathan's Famous as "Famous," (something I've never heard in New York), showed he has more ego than talent. Even if this book was in the $1 bin at a garage sale, I'd never recommend it.

I'll keep this short.

Peter Landesman was very precise in describing the cold,dismal,(...) version of New York that Nathan Stein lived in. However, he seamed to take less care in the plot of the story, and the developement of its characters. I still enjoyed this novel in some ways, but would only recommend it to certain groups of people.

It kept my interest from cover to cover, and that's all I asked of it.

Blood Acre combines all the plot momentum of a thriller with the gorgeous prose of a literary masterpiece. I'm not sure how the writer manages to leave me with sympathy for Nathan, his corrupt and doomed narrator, but I remain sympathetic, longing for Nathan's redemption even as I am appalled by his descent. I wonder if the reader from New York City who calls this "bad writing" has had much experience with books that go beyond cheap, boilerplate thrills. Blood Acre isn't for the faint of heart. It isn't something you read in an hour and then forget. It is a book that will haunt you for a long time after you've read it, and the language, the density, the descriptive darkness of the telling is what makes it so memorable.

This should win the Bad Writing Contest. Pretentious, self-conscious -- so bad it's funny.