Customer Reviews

House of Many Rooms

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

 

 

"Let's say that my character is a house of many rooms," says Michael Florio, the anti-hero of this thriller. Although I had heard raves about this book and knew of the level of suspense in the story, I wasn't prepared to be as engrossed as I was - for the first two-thirds of the book, that is.

In the wealthy and exclusive San Francisco enclave of Pacific Heights, Michael and Barbara Florio's fifteen-year marriage has disintegrated into a vengeful, dysfunctional relationship. When a suspicious fire ends the life of alcoholic, pill popping, child-smacking Barbara, Michael takes his two adopted daughters, golden child Devon and "crazed" pyromaniac Therese, and heads for Urbino, Italy, to hide out, leaving the investigators to wonder who really set the fire, Michael or Therese.

Thirteen years earlier, Rebecca Carey had given up Therese for adoption. Now she is recovering in a modest, but well-run Nepalese hospital after nearly dying in a mountain climbing accident. Upon reading the article relating the death of Barbara Florio, whom she had met during adoption proceedings, she, too, takes off for Urbino, where a long ago conversation indicates to her that Michael might be hiding. Her plan to get a job working for the family, none of whom know who she really is, is successful, and Rebecca finds herself drawn to the sullen, sometimes violent child who once was her own.

While Rebecca slowly begins to gain Therese's trust, much to Michael and Devon's anger, she is appalled by revelations that make her believe that Therese's only chance rests in being separated from Michael and Devon. Unfortunately, Rebecca is also attracted to the dark, dangerous man, and can only wonder what will happen when he finds out she is Therese's biological mother. When the police catch up with the fugitive family, Rebecca takes the opportunity and flees with her daughter to Mexico, where Ryan Foster, Therese's natural father, works in a hospital.

Michael Florio is brilliantly characterized, and it was here that I found both the strength and the biggest problem with the story. Michael is seductive, dangerous, a psychopath to be sure, and Rebecca's surrender to him was only to be expected. In contrast, Ryan Foster is a little too conveniently placed and timed; after thirteen years, he is only too happy to open his arms and heart to both Rebecca and Therese, to do anything for them when he receives the phone that will change his life. I ended the book feeling that Rebecca would never really forget Michael, an unfair ending to Ryan and Therese as well.

Rebecca, on the other hand, was not as well drawn and Therese's opening up to her seemed to happen a little too quickly, considering how many other people had tried to get through to the girl.

While the latter part of The House of Many Rooms didn't shine as bright as the first two-thirds, most of the story was indeed thrilling and suspenseful.

This would make a great Hollywood formula movie. But despite it's predictability and Hollywood ending, it keeps you guessing, as confused as the heroine is over who to trust and who to believe. A great read for a rainy afternoon like today; even while I was second guessing the characters and waiting for the ending I expected, I couldn't put it down!

This book was a mind twister. Very different plot from other thriller's I have read. I have to admit, I felt for Therese, and could not wait to find the outcome for her. It does seem a little unreal how Rebecca came back into Therese's life and virtually took her away from Michael and Devon, in a sense, to easy. The best part of this book is the twisted plot of Michael and Devon. I wish the ending would have went into a little more detail of Therese's new life. Good book overall.

In San Francisco, the high society marriage between Michael and Barbara Florio is breaking up. One of their two adopted children, thirteen year old Therese is a known firebug, who has been quietly accused of setting off some recent fires in the Florio mansion. Barbara dies in the latest blaze. Before the police can arrest Therese as a murderer, Michael takes her and his other daughter Devon to a remote site in Italy.

Dr. Rebecca Carey recognizes the picture of Therese she spots in a magazine. Therese is her natural daughter, who she gave up for adoption years ago when she was struggling to make it. She has always regretted her decision and decides to rescue her baby. She tracks the Florios to Italy where she meets the charismatic Michael and Therese, who seems somewhat retarded due to neglect. Rebecca must decide whether to trust the man who might have killed his spouse and left her daughter in a poor mental state, or abduct her child and flee into the night.

HOUSE OF MANY ROOMS is a captivating suspense filled thriller due to the wonderfully developed characters and their interrelationships. The story line is fast-paced, though slows down unnecessarily at times. Fans of suspense thrillers will want to read Marius Gabriel's latest offering. Though the characterizations are not people redily unerstandable, discoveing what they are all about makes the book even more delightful.

Harriet Klausner

I have read this author's two previous novels and loved them both. I've been waiting a long, long time for this one to come out! House of Many Rooms isn't just a thriller, but a psychologically fascinating study of human relationships. The heroine's situation is one that really intrigued me. It struck as me as so horribly possible. The climax is a real whirlwind, that left me breathless and wanting more. Highly recommended.

Rebecca is recuperating in Nepal after a mountain climbing accident when she learns that Therese, the daughter she gave up for adoption thirteen years ago, is suspected of setting the fire that killed her adoptive mother. She concludes that her best chance of helping Therese is to reappear in her life as a nanny, telling no one her real identity. Rebecca soon realizes that something is not quite right with the entire family. Unfortunately, Marius Gabriel is not at his finest in this book. The first three quarters were excellent, with a fantastic buildup of suspense and intrigue. The ending was a bit of a let-down, and it felt incongruous with respect to the rest of the book.

What a great read. The story between the mother and the daughter was just so wonderfully written. The characters were amazingly real, not one-dimensional, but the bad mixed in with the good, like in real life. The ending was a real nerve-stretcher. Highly recommended reading. Wish there were more books like this and less that are screenplays for Bruce Willis.

House of Many Rooms was definately not the best book ever read. It keeps your attention in some parts and in others you loose interest and want to skim right through (which by the way I did through the last half of the book). It was an "average" book in my opinion. I guess I wanted Rebecca and Michael to mend thing, although his character was not such a "good guy"!

Applauded by all my book buddies. MG builds up psycho-sexual tension. It's not only hot, it makes you think. I'd have given it 5 stars, but it isn't the knockout that his two fuller previous books were: The Mask of Time and The Original Sin. His books are more sophisticated and intelligent than the common run of thrillers these days. Not to scare off thrill seekers! he just respects the intelligence of his readers.

This is the first book I have read by Gabriel and I picked it up because of the great review Kirkus gave it. The beginning really hooked me and kept me reading until the end, even though I grew more and more disappointed as the book went on. The settings are great and the character of Michael Florio was well-drawn (in fact, the best characterization in the book) but I was annoyed by how much Gabriel gave away halfway through the book. It seemed obvious to me where all the "secrets" he reveals were leading, and I was not surprised by the ending. There were too few suspects in Barbara Florio's murder to begin with, so who her killer ends up being is not a shock. Plus I found that I liked the "bad guy" more than Rebecca, who I found annoying and pushy. Throwing in her ex-lover at the end was also a turn-off.