Customer Reviews

Don't I Know You?: A Novel

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I read this book in one sitting. Afterwards I thought about it for days - the subtle characters are brillantly developed and the story is haunting - the main characters are all flawed in interesting and realistic ways. The fact that it is a mystery is secondary - although I found the mystery intriguing and was surprised by the final twists. I would not, however, recommend the book for someone who is simply looking for a mystery/whodunnit - it is a more "intense" read and definitely more about the characters than the underlying mystery.

This is the best book I've read in a very long while. It lifts the psychological thriller out of the realm of the sensational and plunks it down in the middle of ordinary people with all too ordinary fears and foibles. The story reminds us that it's impossible to fully know another person, since our perception of them is filtered through our own needs and limitations. The things we say, as well as the things we don't, can have equally devastating consequences. One character is haunted by the truthes he never told, while another sabotages an entire lifetime of trust and devotion with four simple words - tragically, when it's too late to do anything to set things right. These are the threads woven throughout the novel,and the resulting tapestry reveals murderer, motive and at least one of the weapons - the deadly power of words. That's more than a fair payoff in a mystery.

This is not an easy book to review without spoilers, but I will try:

SUMMARY, NO SPOILERS:

Part One takes place in 1976 in New York. A young boy named Steven finds the body of his mother Gina in the hallway of his apartment. She has been brutally murdered.

The story continues with a police investigation, and we are introduced to several characters who will reappear in various places and times in this novel.

Part Two takes place a little over a year later, and we are introduced to a woman named Lily Chin, who is engaged to be married. We follow her as she becomes concerned and distrustful of Nickolai, the man she is to marry.

Part Three takes place 10 years after this, when we focus on a 73 year old woman named Louise and her son Michael, who has developmental problems. Louise is the upstairs neighbor from Gina, and she has secrets of her own.

By looking at the title of this book, one would put it in the mystery genre - but it is more than that. And that is a good thing because I'm not sure the book works completely for a "mystery" book. If you read it as such, you will be disappointed.

This book was an absolute page-turner for me, and it gets 5 stars for this reason. Shepard does raise the issue of the problems we all have in really "knowing" the people we love, and I think is the real gist of this novel.

Recommended, especially for those in a reading slump. This will grab you from page one.

The premise of this novel intrigued me, and so did the other reviews of this book. But I have to say, I was NOT impressed. This novel posed more questions than it answered for me. Was Michael Carpanetti a child molester? Why didn't Steven help the police more by telling them all that he knew? Especially since this was his mother's murder investigation?? What happened to Tina Hernandez?? Did Nickolai kill her or have her killed?? Why, or how, does the mentally slow Michael, have trouble understanding most things, but somehow understands the subtlety of his mother's questions about his guilt? And where does he go? And why was Steven lurking around the building 10 years later for days on end?? I usually like some unresolved issues in books, but this was ridiculous. There is nothing really to ponder at the close of this book. This book just went off on a bunch of different tangents, and I was very annoyed with the ending. I read the final page and thought to myself..."all of that reading for this?? Who cares??"

The first thing to know about this book is that it can't be measured by the rules of thrillers or murder mysteries. Also, don't expect heroes or villains--at least don't expect to know which characters are which. Revelations and wrap-up at the end? No. But if you're willing to take a chance on Don't I Know You?: A Novel and can do without all that, there are other rewards.

The story starts with twelve-year-old Steven Engel finding his mother murdered in their Queens apartment. Gina Engel, divorced from Steven's father, had lots of boyfriends and the incumbent, Phil, is a suspect; but nothing comes of the investigation. Steven had a fleeting glimpse of a man leaving the apartment but cannot identify him, and is oddly uncommunicative with the police about events before and after the murder.

In the middle third of the book we find Gina's former neighbor Lily Chin, a teacher engaged to a wealthy man in whose apartment she finds Gina's diary. Was Nikolai involved with Gina? Did he kill her? Lily wonders, but suppresses her fears in the interests of passion and financial comfort.

The final section of the book, twenty years later, tells the story of another former neighbor, Louise, and her strange, damaged middle-aged son Michael. Louise is dying and her concerns are that she will die alone, and that Michael will not be able to take care of himself when she is gone.

The characters from each section move in and out of the three stories as shadowy minor characters. They all have doubts about the people around them, find it impossible to know them, and make their choices about how they deal with the doubt.

Don't I Know You?: A Novel is thoughtfully written, the use of language poetic and moving. On the other hand, the reader becomes a participant in author Karen Shepard's unusual plot: the answers to all the beautifully asked questions remain misty, behind a veil. The epilogue suggests a previously unconsidered truth about Gina Engel's murder, but that truth is never really made clear. Suggestions, hints, guesses, assumptions...Shepard wraps her characters in a cloud of doubt, and she does the same to her readers. If you're a "process" reader more interested in the pleasure you feel while reading a book, this is for you. If you rely on the "product" -- the resolution of the plot elements, the conclusion -- you may (like some other reviewers) be dissatisfied with this book. I'll show my hand with four stars.

Linda Bulger, 2009

I ordered this book after reading some good reviews. I expected suspense but in actuality the book was very slow and tedious. It started out strong but went nowhere. Raised many questions but resolved none of them. Characters simply disappeared without explanation or resolution. This book had more red herrings than a norwegian fishing fleet but the crime has no motive so none of the suspects are really ever suspect. If there was something the author was trying to say, it didn't make it to the book.
A very dull and disappointing read.

This book is very well-written and held my interest to the very end.
However, when I reached the last page, I had no idea what had trans-
pired. I couldn't make hide nor hair of it even after I re-read the
last chapter.

The book begins with a boy coming home to his apartment where he sees
his murdered mother on the floor and the murderer escaping through a
window. The murderer's shoes are distinctive.

The book then goes back and forth between three different characters
in three different periods of time. Each of the character suspects
that someone close to them is the murderer.

That's it. Finished. No resolution. Nada.

This book is awesome! It is short enough to read in one sitting (which I did, if one does not count a short break for dinner), and once you begin it you will also find it difficult to not read through to the end. The three separate stories could stand alone as novellas, but the unexpected ways that the characters lives intersect is one of the things that makes this book so special.

The other aspect of this book that I most enjoyed was the characters. Although the book is short so not much time is spent on detailed descriptions, at the end of each section I felt that I knew each character and understand his or her motivations.

The ending of this book is very special too... it leaves just enough doubt in the readers mind to keep you thinking about the book long after you have closed the cover. Highly recommended!

I needed something to read and only had a few minutes to peruse the library. I picked up this book after reading the inside cover. My expectations weren't very high and I wasnt that excited about reading it as I was for other books. Well, let me say I LOVED THIS BOOK! It was a pretty fast read too, which I sometimes enjoy if Im not in the mood for 5 or 6 pages to express one thought. It was truly a page turner and extremely suspenseful. Too many books claim they are "edge of your seat" but this one delivered. You constantly thought you knew what was coming next only to find out you were wrong. I highly recommend this book. You will enjoy!

based on the chilling murder mystery in the beginning, I really thought this book was going to be great. I'm not usually a huge fan of mysteries, so was looking to enjoy something out of my usual comfort zone. After the first section of the book, where the murder is told from the eyes of the 12-year old son, Steven, he disappears, and the book is suddenly told from Lily's point of view. I kept waiting to find out just how Lily tied into Steven, and the murder of his mother. I waited, and waited, and waited...and then the story switched and was told from the perspective of someone Louise. So then I read on to see how she is connected to Lily, and Steven, and the murder.
This book is a quick read. Had the characters and the whole plot been more developed, this would be a great story. I walked away from this book feeling as if I skimmed and read every other page; I don't feel as if I connected with the entire story. I read it from cover to cover, and I still am missing something. Oh yeah, it's a couple hours of my life.