Customer Reviews

The Curious Eat Themselves

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

 

 

Investigator Cecil Younger is called into action to solve the brutal killing of Louise Root in The Curious Eat Themselves. Root, a former client of Youngers, suspected corporate cover-ups at a remote mining camp where she was employed. Before Root could bring her evidence of environmental abuses to light, she is physically assulted, then murdered. Younger, along with a colorful cast of characters, vibrant landscape, and detailed plot line plunges headfirst into uncovering the truth.

Author John Straleys prose simply stated is beautiful. His writing is well researched, intelligent, at times intellectual. His characters are three dimensional and pragmatic. Main character Cecil Younger is a recovering alchoholic, has an autistic roommate, and fights depression. Straley does not pretend to make his protaganist a hero who solves the murder and gets the girl in the end. Instead, Younger is given a life full of serious flaws. For the mystery reader who grows tired of having nothing more than a love interest for the protagonist to attain insight into their private lives, you will find the life of Cecil Younger refreshing.

In addition, Straley is a genius at bringing the landscape and people of Alaska alive. Those elements become essential parts to the mystery. Through the rugged nature of Alaskan geography, and the spirit of the Alaskan, Straley brings high drama and a strong storyline to The Curious Eat Themselves. Unquestionably, his mysteries are unique to their setting, and profit from the elements that are native to Alaska.

The Curious Eat Themselves was strong, well-written novel rounding out this book into one absorbing read. Straley is a real writer with a flare for the English language not often seen in modern mysteries. This Alaskan adventure is a book well worth perusing.

About my grading system: I interpret Amazon.coms five-star ranking system as follows: 1 star = far below standards, 2 stars = below standards, 3 stars = meets standards, 4 stars = exceeds standards, 5 stars = far exceeds standards.

What an excellent story! Cecil is a great, believable character, the mystery is puzzling, and the descriptions of Alaska are evocative. Straley's writing is magical and sometimes stopped me cold. His prose is just as fine as James Lee Burke's.

Very good mystery. I am impressed with John Straley's writing!! I was born and raised in SE Ak and the attention to area was very well done!! Keep the books coming!

Book 2 in a fascinating Alaskan detective series. Interesting characters in an Alaskan setting that rings true (I've been there recently) ...

I love all of the Cecil Younger mysteries and only wish that Straley would write more of them more quickly. The characters are so interesting and real, the setting wonderful and rich - you can tell his real life wife is an ornithologist! He gets his birds right. And he gets the people right too.

I read this book for a book group, and will have lots to talk about when we meet. The book felt very choppy, as if he has 8 or 10 great ideas for scenes & storylines, but could not blend them together. This kept me regularly confused, not caring about the characters, and not understanding what the big mystery even was! Maybe if he spread the story out a little longer, and finished some of his thoughts and added some character backgrounds, I would have enjoyed this book more. Better authors with characters in remote locations are Steve Hamilton and James Crumley.

The only thing mysterious about this book was that I finished it. The characters were not likeable, the setting was grim, the crime was obvious. The Alaskan atmosphere was laid on thick.

The writing was overly poetic to no purpose. What was with the quotes from famous poets like Mandelstam? The whole thing was a big mess.

One of several volumes by this author, about the only private eye in Sitka. A woman survived a terrible attack by local workers, only to vanish and perhaps be the victim of the same foul play again. What is the answer to this puzzling case?

You can't fault the gritty setting, but you can do so with the unrelenting airlessness of the plotline. Not many people other than the victim impress the reader as in any way sympathetic. There are also stretches in the middle where the prose is confusing and it's difficult to even tell what's going on. Straley is a good writer, but this is hardly his best.