Customer Reviews

Forcing Amaryllis

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The last time I was so excited about a first-time mystery writer, I was reading Jonathon King's The Blue Edge of Midnight, which went on to win the Edgar Award for best first novel. Forcing Amaryllis by Louise Ure is a powerful novel, with a fascinating protagonist.

Calla Gentry is a trail consultant in Tucson, a woman who only served as a consultant on civil cases because she was afraid to deal with criminal cases. Seven years earlier, Gentry had been a strong woman who worked in advertising. But, that was before her sister's brutal rape at knife point. Calla lost her sister, Amaryllis, when her failed suicide attempt put her in a coma. Calla also lost her own confidence and sense of security. Amaryllis' rape incapacitated Calla so much that their aunt told Calla she needed to take her life back. She told her, "Just like Amy. It's a life of suspended animation."

When Calla's boss forces her to take on a rape/murder case, she is struck by the similarities between that case and her own sister's. Together with two friends and a private investigator, Calla attempts to link other rapes with Amaryllis'. The descriptions of the rapes, although not graphic, are not easy to read. The jury selection process in the book, and the trial itself are fascinating. But, it is the change in Calla's character, as she forces herself to move out of her safe surroundings, that is the most fascinating.

Give Calla a chance. In my opinion, Forcing Amaryllis by Louise Ure deserves to be nominated for this year's Edgar for best first mystery.

in the interest of full disclosure, i know the author. i have been friends and co-workers with louise's husband for more than 30 years... that said, one can hardly wonder why i was one of the very first to order this book from amazon. okay??? now for my thoughts. first, this is a terrific book and exceeded any expectations i had for this first time author. if you look at the books i had ordered and read just in the last 8 weeks you will see i am completely into this crime investigation type of read and have been for years.
this book is just a great read, a compelling story with charactors that become familier in a comfortable manner. the prose sets the enviroment,in a very visual way, of the real southwest, not the retirement southwest. real events, real emotions, and an uncanny sense of pacing are the hallmarks of great writing and this book has them in spades. if i started the book to fullfil obligations, i finished it in short order because i was drawn to the exciting and satisfing concluion. READ THIS BOOK, it gives a fresh taste of a known device. enjoy it, i did and can not wait for louise's next effort.

My wife and I were asked - implored actually, by someone who had read an advance copy to have a look at this novel by first time author Louise Ure. Neither of us has historically had much interest in the suspense or mystery book genre, but we concluded after finishing Forcing Amaryllis that, if this is what constitutes a good thriller you can sign us up for more.
Ms. Ure has crafted her story so cleverly and with such astounding attention to physical detail that it took our breath away. Cormac McCarthy, with his desert trilogy including All the Pretty Horses, The Crossing and Cities on the Plain, may have laid the definitive groundwork for an authentic southwestern voice in literature, but Forcing Amaryllis certainly lends a new tenor to that theme.
The plot traverses the Tucson, Arizona environs with a kind of contemporary examination that only someone who has lived there can bring to the page. In one chapter, the protagonist Calla Gentry has come home to her meager bungalow in the heat of late afternoon. She has set about cooking a typical Mexazona dinner for her friend since high school and as they sit on the back porch sipping wine and discussing the events of the day the reader can literally feel the moisture from the misting nozzles and know what the two smell like when they sweat. It's one of the sweet moments in a complicated fiction of love, violence and death.
Yes, there is murder, rape and torture by someone who may or may not be the man Calla has been called upon to help defend in her capacity as a jury selection analyst. There is also an intense undercurrent of emotional conflict, danger and self-doubt.
Ms. Ure brings a fresh perspective to her narrative on virtually every page and left both of us feeling that the real mystery was how she managed to do it so successfully with her first-ever novel.

In Tucson, Arizona, Jessica Marley, owner of Marley & Partners Trial Consultant informs employee Calla Gentry she will consult on a criminal case since one of their associates did the unfathomed misdeed of giving birth three weeks early. Calla objects as she only does civil matters, but Jessica overrules her. Calla needs this job to pay for the care of her comatose sister Amaryllis, a victim of rape and assault seven years ago; her sibling's attack is why Calla detests criminal cases.

Attorney Kevin McCullough explains to Calla that the state accuses his client wealthy Raymond Cates of sexually assaulting and killing Lydia Chavez; but he has an alibi, a family ranch hand Salsispuedes affirms they were drinking at the time of the attack. Calla thinks the Chavez rape-murder is similar to that of her sibling; when she meets Cates, he wonders if they met before and she notices his cut off finger. She ponders could he have confused her for her sister and the finger fits the little her sibling mentioned before going into a coma. Though there is a conflict of interest, Calla makes inquiries with private investigator Anthony Strike who ishelping her.

FORCING AMARYLLIS is an awesome legal thriller that showcases how the rich can afford a high priced specialized defense team (think of the OJ case) as specialists like Strike, Gentry, and a DNA expert are not cheap; attorneys are not enough. The story line digs deep into what goes on behind the scenes of a defense team while also following Calla's amateur sleuth investigation. Reminiscent of Rankin Fitch's squad in RUNAWAY JURY, FORCING AMARYLLIS is a fabulous look at the cost of American justice that like most things can be bought.

Harriet Klausner

Years earlier, Calla's sister Amaryllis was brutally raped and left for dead. Amaryllis refused to say much about the attack, tried to commit suicide soon after, and has been in a coma ever since. Calla works as a trial consultant for civil cases, but is forced by her unsympathetic boss to work for the law firm representing a man accused of a rape and murder. The new case has enough similarities with her sister's rape to shock Calla out of her torpor and into an investigation of the seven-year old crime against her sister. With the help of a friend in the Arizona police department and a private detective, Calla tracks down other rape victims and begins to build a tenuous theory that may identify the man behind the crimes. This chilling novel won the 2006 Shamus Award for Best First Novel.
[...]

"Forcing Amaryllis" is Louise Ure's first novel and it's a good start. Many people consider this one of the best crime/mystery debuts of 2005. It was recently nominated for a Shamus award for best first novel, and may get nominated for some other awards soon.

I enjoyed this book, but it isn't perfect. The major problem I had was with the plotting. This book is REALLY slow in the middle, and doesn't really pick up until the last 100 pages or so. This book also contains very little suspense generally (until the very end). I also had some minor problems with the main character, who was likable but too angst-ridden for my tastes.

Despite these flaws, this book is very well written overall. I very much enjoyed the descriptions of life in the Southwest, and I thought the trial at the end was very well handled. I therefore look foward to future books from this writer.

I, like some others, have to say up front that I know Louise personally from a writing group. While I never got to hear the ending during my time in the group, she had me hooked immediately. Louise really hits the mark and all the well-derserved accolades contain no hype. No lulls in this read. It's delightfuly scary and wonderfully clever. I visited Tuscon for the first time last January and since reading her book, I feel like I have lived there. This book will be gifted to many appreciative friends.

This is my second book by this exceptional writer, after "Liars Anonymous". And this one is second to none; the best thriller (disguised as a novel) I have read, ever. I read it in one go, could not put it down; the personalities were fascinating, as was the search of the 'heroine' for the truth.

Forcing Amaryllis by Louise Ure steps outside the formulaic mystery with a touching and engaging story about a sister's determination to find justice for her sister, Amaryllis, a rape and attempted murder victim. Calla Gentry is assigned to work as a jury consultant as part of the defense team of an accused rapist and murderer. Calla see eerie similarities to her sister's case, but then must reconcile the differences in Amaryllis's account of her account and the facts of the current case. Amaryllis's comatose state as a result of a suicide attempt make her unavailable to help with the case. Calla's discoveries take her on a path that uncovers a string of victims that haunt her. Calla's search jeopardizes her job, her relationships, her sense of self, and her life. Ure creates a character in Calla who is searching to regain her strength and sense of self. Her struggle will leave the reader wanting to know her better and who will stay with the reader well beyond the final page of the book.

Calla Gentry mourns the loss of her beloved sister, Amaryllis, who has been in a coma for seven years following her brutal rape and subsequent suicide attempt. The unknown horror of Amaryllis' rape has seeped into every aspect of Calla's life, often paralyzing her in her own responses to life and even limits her ability to experience and enjoy living.

Calla, a trial consultant in Tucson, Arizona, will only work on civil cases because she's unable to face the criminals, like the man who raped Amaryllis, who slither through the system with a staggering regularity. When Calla's employer demands that she join the defense team for accused rapist and murderer Raymond Cates, a wealthy local man, the memories of Amaryllis' rape collide with the similarities of her current case. Calla begins a journey for answers and to avenge the forcing of Amaryllis.

Louise Ure, author of Forcing Amaryllis, has written a haunting dessert story of vengeance that is coupled with Calla's personal awakening. The premise that Calla's first-ever criminal trial defendant is her sister's rapist is a bit of a stretch. But if you're in for a good ride and don't mind suspending your belief system occasionally, this book will provide you with enough suspense to keep you going and make you want more. I do hope that this is only the first of a series of Calla Gentry novels. I think Louise Ure will only get better with each novel