Customer Reviews

Cave (Quick Reads)

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

 

 

Having read the Labyrinth by Kate Mosse, I was hooked. The Cave is the second novel by Kate I have read. (I am not a fanatical reader by any stretch of the imagination) and I am refreshed after reading such an excellent short story. Gripped from first word to last. Mywife and children are queueing to read both novels. I amd about to start Sepulchre.

Of all the Quick Reads books, this is easily one of the best. Even though due to the opening chapter (a letter from Marie Lazrat written 1328) gives away what could have been a plot twist for the reader, instead of just for the main character, the book is written so well, and your so absorbed in the story that even though you know what is going on, it doesn't matter. If I was the editor, I would have switched that to the end, but this short story has a great right angle ending that enhances the reading experience even more that it doesn't really matter. I've never read one of Kate Mosse's novels but after reading The Cave, I'll definitely check them out.

Basic plot of this short story set in 1928, is a teacher while driving to the South of France to meet up with his buddies who left earlier for a hiking trip, crashes his car while taking a shortcut to make up time, which ends up dangling over a cliff. Unable to move the car on his own he makes his way down the mountain to a small town. It's late in the day and the town seems deserted, there's no hope of getting help to move and fix his car until the next day so Freddie reluctantly stays over night in the town inn. There in a common room he meets a young woman in the early hours of the morning who recounts the tale of her family having to hide out in the areas caves from soldiers. Freddie lost his own brother in the World War ten years earlier so has a lot of sympathy for the woman. When Freddie awakens the next morning he seems to remember something about her asking him to find her family. Since he's going to have a bit of time to kill, Freddie sees no harm in exploring the caves.

The Cave is part of the Quick Reads series of books to increase literacy levels by encouraging those who don't like to read beyond magazines and comic books to try fiction through cheap priced short story length fiction and non fiction. This great book will definitely encourage people to try other books so achieves all the objectives of the Quick Reads experiment. Like the stories found in any various author anthology collection novel, some of these individual Quick Reads short story books are really good, and others not that great.

This little short story was part of a project in 2009 that involved various authors writing...short stories. This is an amazing story. Well written, well though out, and very enjoyable. I am amazed it has escaped a broader audience. I had to obtain a copy from England.
I eagerly await her next full length book due out soon.

I wish she had gone into more depth in this book, it had such a good story line and could have been a great novel.....not enough to this book