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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
chilling, mesmerizing,
By A Customer
This review is from: Death from the Woods (Hardcover)
I think some of my fellow reviewers have been too harsh on the book. Without revealing crucial details for potential readers here, let me just say that it's got a brilliant premise. It's extremely fast-paced. It's got a refreshing voice. It reads like nothing I've ever read. So if the denouement is a little forced, we shoud remember that most thrillers are not any better. For sheer imagination, I think this book just can't be beat.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
One of the Best Books of 2000,
By
This review is from: Death from the Woods (Hardcover)
Brigitte Aubert's first book to be translated into English, "Death from the Woods" has received critical acclaim. Among the books many fine points is its protagonist, Elise Andrioli, who has been hailed as a brilliantly original character. Actually, Elise's situation - paralayzed, blind and mute - is similar to the heroine of Patricia Carlon's "The Whispering Wall", who is left paralyzed and mute after a stroke. That said, "Death from the Woods" is a brilliant read and a wonderful study in suspense. We "see" all the action from Elise's point of view and the story unfolds in a highly entertaining mixture of suspense, terror and wonderfully black humor. A self-described "living vegetable", Elise tries to figure out who "Death from the Woods" - a serial killer who's been murdering young boys in her Paris suburb - could be. The cast of suspects includes Virginie, the young girl who first tells Elise that she saw "Death from the Woods" come for the boys, Virginie's father Paul, the local police captain, and virtually every character that Elise comes into contact with. Hampered by her inability to communicate - she can only raise an index finger in response to "yes/no" questions - or move, Elise must find a way around her handicap. Naturally, the book builds to a confrontation between Elise and the killer which is superbly done and full of suspense. Some readers have criticized the book's overly convoluted plot - some have even called it contrived - that requires a great deal of explaining at the end. To some extent, I can understand their frustration as this is a whodunnit with a very complex plot and the unfamiliarity of French names for an American audience may require some backtracking to reacquire a lost thread or two. But at the end of the day, it's all worth it because Elise is a wonderful character who paves over all the little cracks and flaws in the novel. Funny, bitter, courageous and quirky, she is a character that readers can really fall in love with. Aubert is said to be working on a sequel and I for one can hardly wait - I might even have to start brushing up on my French again!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Gem of a Whodunnit,
By CapricornGirl "Jam" (South Africa) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Death from the Woods (Mass Market Paperback)
An extraordinary thriller centring around the heroine, Elise Andrioli, who has been left blind, mute and quadriplegic as a result of an IRA bomb in Northern Ireland.Back home in France, Elise leads a sedentary and solitary life and when a number of murders of boys take place, she is befriended by a little girl, Virginie, who confides that she has witnessed the murders. This sets the scene for an unusual and intriguing whodunnit. Elise, a very different heroine, is fabulously witty and sarcastic in the manner she relates to the reader her thoughts and opinions on the characters she comes into contact with. Its a creepy, spine-chilling, roller-coaster of a book and one which I enjoyed immensely. This book is highly recommended.
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