34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the finest suspense writers working today, June 24, 2004
This review is from: Into the Web (Mass Market Paperback)
Roy Slater, an English Professor teaching in a small California college, comes to Kingdom County, West Virginia to care for his dying father. He hasn't been back in twenty five years. The reason he left is not immediately apparent but it has something to do with the death of his brother and some local murders. He also left behind the love of his life, Lila who remains unmarried. Why did he leave? What ended his relationship with Lila? How and why did his brother die? What about these murders? Slowly and inexorably bits and pieces of these puzzles are revealed as the reader is strung along on a suspense high wire.
Tom Cook is back in what is probably his best book since the astounding BREAKHEART HILL and the Edgar Award winning THE CHATHAM SCHOOL AFFAIR. Once again he uses the technique of having the narrator hold the answers and only slowly letting the reader in on the secret. However, INTO THE WEB goes further than that. Roy Slater only knows some of the answers. He must find out others on his own. Therefore the novel evolves into an amateur detective novel about two thirds of the way through. Surprises await at every twist and turn. Nobody in the genre creates more tension in this manner. Characters are, as usual skillfully created and depiction of locale quite vivid. Thomas H. Cook is one of the finest writers of suspense fiction currently working. I urge you to read him today and INTO THE WEB would be an excellent place to start.
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
COMPELLING MYSTERY AND FAMILY SECRETS, August 6, 2004
This review is from: Into the Web (Mass Market Paperback)
Few writers are as good as Cook when it comes to mysteries that involve journeying back to the past and finding hidden skeletons. INTO THE WEB is Cook at his finest in narrative, characterization, with a few surprises thrown in.
Roy Slater returns to his West Virginia home after a twenty year absence. He's come back to take care of his father, who is dying of cancer. The father is an embittered, angry, and impersonal man---one wonders why anyone would come back to nurse him. But to Cook's credit, we find there's more than meets the eye in this relationship.
Years before, Roy's brother Archie hung himself in a jail cell after apparently murdering the parents of the girl he was planning to run away to Nashville with. Roy has his own dark secrets and guilt about that night, and about Archie's subsequent suicide.
Sheriff Warren Porterfield is portrayed almost as a mythological giant, a man who got his way in the county and nobody stood in his way. His son, Lonnie, is now the sheriff and he's a carbon copy of his dad.
In investigating what really happened that night, Roy finds himself facing his long lost love, Lila, who said she never wanted him to come back, and to face his father's quest for vengeance...and more.
Roy and Jessie Slater's characters are painfully well-written, and by the end of the novel, Cook has given us two very different people, and didn't cheat to get that effect.
The truth about that night and subsequent occurrences propel Roy and his father into a deadly finale.
Gripping and quite good.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful - A Winner!, June 24, 2004
This review is from: Into the Web (Mass Market Paperback)
Let me start off by stating that Thomas H. Cook is my favorite author. I've read all his books and loved each and every one. They are haunting, lyrical and intelligently written.
"Into the Web" is no exception...It's a spellbinding psychological mystery with many unexpected twists and turns.
Basically it tells the story of Roy Slater who left his home in Kingdom County after a double murder that rocked the community and his family. Now after 20 years, returning to care for his dying father, he uncovers startling truths about the homicides, his family and the townpeople.
Thomas Cook has a magical way of weaving a story that builds interest from the very first page to a shocking and satisfying conclusion.
Along with his other books, "Into the Web" is a winner!
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