Customer Reviews

The Keys to the Street

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This novel is rather like a symbolic microcosm of a solar system. That is the only way I can find to describe it. All that characters' lives go around in their own orbit, but occasionally they meet, those orbits cross, and each is influenced by this meeting in some way, be it good or bad, and they carry on once more, their paths forever altered slightly, or maybe not so slightly. Because this is Rendell's world, and in Rendell's world those planets don't always just cross, they collide.

The main plot, I suppose, centres on Mary Jago, a young woman living in London. Mary has donated her own bone marrow to save the lie of a stranger. This generous act of kindness lead directly to the break-up of her relationship with the despiseable Alistair, and she moves out, taking up residence in a house on the edge of Regent's Park, looking after it while the owners are on holiday. However, soon, the man whose live she has saved will alter her own life irrevocably for ever.

Inhabiting Regent's Park (which, I suppose, would be the Sun of the earlier analogy) are the dropouts, the street-people, forgotten and ignored by society, until a vicious killer starts targeting them, leaving their bodies impaled upon the railings that border the park. Rendell creates several of these misfits, the most important one, I suppose, being Roman, a man who took to the streets, leaving behind his past and possessions, when his life was shattered upon the deaths of his wife and young children in a horrific accident. He is particularly interesting.

Then there is Bean, a retired butler-turned-dog-walker who roams the park every day exercising his canine clients, who despises the tramps who take refuge there. And then, most sinister of all, there is Hob, a hopeless drug addict living nearby in a rented flat, who is prepared to carry out acts of varying violence in return for very welcome payment...

I've never read a novel quite like this before, and I doubt that I will again. It is flawless in every way. A book so astoundingly good that I have now read it three times (remarkable, considering that I am rarely even prepared to set time by to re-read a book even once). But, then, almost all Rendell's books have this effect upon me. She has a prose style like no other writer today. It is entirely without emotions, pretension, or anything else, and yet it is powerful and gripping. She doesn't fill her books with unnecessary description - but when she does do descriptions, they are like gems thrown in a buskers case - instead creating a palpable sense of atmosphere and soon-to-be-destroyed normality. She has a brilliant sense of place, making London d seem claustrophobic and terrifying, and I am almost sure that If I suddenly found myself in Regent's Park I would quicken my step distinctly through irrational and superfluous fear entirely of Rendell's creating.

The characters she creates are drawn brilliantly, and are absolutely fascinating, every single one of them, so much so that I would gladly carry on reading about them if this book were even more than thrice its length. I want to know everything about them. The way they interact, each story occasionally connecting with one another, is also fascinating, and Rendell manages to examine brilliantly notions about effects and consequences.

"The Keys to the Street" (a title of genius!) is excellent. The whole thing sparkles with darkness, and holds a subtle originality that, along with other aspects, demonstrate clearly why Ruth Rendell is to be treasured.

I don't understand how other reviewers could say the ending was unimaginative or 'pat"--I usually figure mysteries out and was totally shocked by this one, though it made sense in the end. I loved the different characters and was so involved in their stories, parts of which were almost too real and painful to read. Rendell touches on the scarey parts of life--the unpredictable tragedies and betrayals and losses, and how nothing is ever quite what it seems-- yet even in the midst of this pain there is love and goodness and redemption of a sort. There is also wonderful humor and such skilled, evocative writing in spots it almost takes the breath away. Her descriptions of love and passion are among the best I've ever read, as is the way she portrays pain and loss. I thought about this book a long time after I finished reading and was very affected by it. It is not the escapist or realistic reading many mystery lovers want, but it evokes emotion and is so beatifully written and says something mythic (and almost surreal) about people and life. To say Rendell does not understand young characters misses the point. Much of the criticism here seems to be is faulting literature for not being a far lesser thing. Rendell's world is not the real world but a fictional world that tells real truths. Some of the ending plot details bothered me, but the fictional dream of most of it swept me away and compelled me to keep reading.

The novel has a complex plot that moves from character to character. I would suggest that the previous reviewer should re-read the last chapter. There are a number of interwoven plots. There is Mary Jago, escaping from an abusive boyfriend, who thinks she has found a new love; Roman, victim of a tragedy, who has dropped out of life to sleep on the streets; Bean, a 70-year old ex-butler to a man who liked to be beaten, who now works as a dog walker to supplement his small pension; Hob, a druggy who earns a living as an enforcer for drug dealers; Detective Inspector Marnock, who investigates various murders that are committed; an unknown impaler who is killing street people; and an assortment of other characters plus a large number of dogs. Some people like dogs and some people don't, but be careful how you treat them because they have friends who may take revenge in unexpected ways.

The setting is the Regent Park area of London. The gates are closed at night except to residents who have keys, but various other people find their way past the gates. Several people are murdered and their bodies impaled on spiked fences, but that is just one of the plots. There is drug dealing, blackmail, muggings, and there is Mary Jago trying to escape from her ex-boyfriend and find a new life.

The plot takes some surprising twists and turns. Some people get what they deserve, but the abusive ex-boyfriend seems to walk away unscathed (except that he lost his chance with a rich heiress). Perhaps Marnock should have named the killer on the last page instead of making readers figure it out from the clues given, but that means you have to read the book carefully.

This was the first Ruth Rendell book I have read. I enjoyed it greatly and found myself caring about the characters. What really struck me were the unpredictable twists and turns towards the end. Finally a modern mystery where I could enjoy being surprised! I look forward to reading more of Rendell's books.

I should have remembered Rendell's remarkable ability to endow everything and everyone she writes about with a thick layer of creepiness. Although putatively a mystery novelist, it's this creep factor that distinguishes Rendell's writing from the rest of the genre, and ironically it's the creep factor that made this particular novel interesting to me.

Set in Regent's Park and St John's Wood, a staid and very posh neighborhood of London, the plot involves a serial killer (with the habit of impaling his homeless victims on the spikes of the park gates), by a hapless masochistic heroine stalked by abusive ex-boyfriend, and by her new love who is (disasterously) not who or what he says he is.

The contrast between these characters and their genteel surroundings pushes the book beyond the mystery genre and closer to horror. The mystery part (who is the killer/why does he kill/who will he kill next) seems secondary to the author's interest in giving you some shivers and convincing you the world is full of undeclared maniacs. If you like that sort of thing, just remember to keep the lights on and lock the doors before you get started.

I picked up "Keys to the Street" in anticipation of a six-month move to this part of London. Now when I walk through Regent's Park I sometimes fight the urge to look over my shoulder for serial killers and stalkers!

This novel is rather like a symbolic microcosm of a solar system. That is the only way I can find to describe it. All that characters' lives go around in their own orbit, but occasionally they meet, those orbits cross, and each is influenced by this meeting in some way, be it good or bad, and they carry on once more, their paths forever altered slightly, or maybe not so slightly. Because this is Rendell's world, and in Rendell's world those planets don't always just cross, they collide.

The main plot, I suppose, centres on Mary Jago, a young woman living in London. Mary has donated her own bone marrow to save the lie of a stranger. This generous act of kindness lead directly to the break-up of her relationship with the despiseable Alistair, and she moves out, taking up residence in a house on the edge of Regent's Park, looking after it while the owners are on holiday. However, soon, the man whose live she has saved will alter her own life irrevocably for ever.

Inhabiting Regent's Park (which, I suppose, would be the Sun of the earlier analogy) are the dropouts, the street-people, forgotten and ignored by society, until a vicious killer starts targeting them, leaving their bodies impaled upon the railings that border the park. Rendell creates several of these misfits, the most important one, I suppose, being Roman, a man who took to the streets, leaving behind his past and possessions, when his life was shattered upon the deaths of his wife and young children in a horrific accident. He is particularly interesting.

Then there is Bean, a retired butler-turned-dog-walker who roams the park every day exercising his canine clients, who despises the tramps who take refuge there. And then, most sinister of all, there is Hob, a hopeless drug addict living nearby in a rented flat, who is prepared to carry out acts of varying violence in return for very welcome payment...

I've never read a novel quite like this before, and I doubt that I will again. It is flawless in every way. A book so astoundingly good that I have now read it three times (remarkable, considering that I am rarely even prepared to set time by to re-read a book even once). But, then, almost all Rendell's books have this effect upon me. She has a prose style like no other writer today. It is entirely without emotions, pretension, or anything else, and yet it is powerful and gripping. She doesn't fill her books with unnecessary description - but when she does do descriptions, they are like gems thrown in a buskers case - instead creating a palpable sense of atmosphere and soon-to-be-destroyed normality. She has a brilliant sense of place, making London d seem claustrophobic and terrifying, and I am almost sure that If I suddenly found myself in Regent's Park I would quicken my step distinctly through irrational and superfluous fear entirely of Rendell's creating.

The characters she creates are drawn brilliantly, and are absolutely fascinating, every single one of them, so much so that I would gladly carry on reading about them if this book were even more than thrice its length. I want to know everything about them. The way they interact, each story occasionally connecting with one another, is also fascinating, and Rendell manages to examine brilliantly notions about effects and consequences.

"The Keys to the Street" (a title of genius!) is excellent. The whole thing sparkles with darkness, and holds a subtle originality that, along with other aspects, demonstrate clearly why Ruth Rendell is to be treasured.

I'm quickly becoming an avid Ruth Rendell fan and after a slow beginning, gradually got into this book. But, I have to ask: What the heck does the title mean? And who was the killer? Am I dense? How was he able to hoist his victims onto the spikes? These are questions I simply must have the answers to so I can sleep at night... if someone out there can supply them, please do! I do agree with another reviewer that her attention to "geographical minutae" gets a bit laborious at times and I did skip through several paragraphs of tedious description. Perhaps I missed a vital clue as to the identity of the killer? My favorite Rendell novel so far is A Sight for Sore Eyes. Check it out for purely venomous, evil characters! I've never read a better comeuppance in my life.

I think this is one of the best Ruth Rendel books I have ever read,whether she is writing as Ruth Rendel or Barbara Vine,including the latter's novels set in the London Underground or cruise ship visits to Alaska
I always wish I had a copy of London's A to Z street directory when I read it,and I have read it several times.
Not only are the activities of her heroine in the field of bone marrow donations interesting but the life on the streets of her hero amongst the various bums,male and female also reveals a side of London life rarely written about.
The ending which comes as a complete surprise on one's first reading is quite logical if one was smart enough to follow the clues in the text

Keys to the Street is not one of Rendell's better books, and she has so many better books. Diehard fans will like this well enough, but the endless descriptions of London neighborhoods are very dull, and the book takes a long time to get off the ground. Also, there are occasional shortcuts taken, which is something this author seldom does. Her characters are usually very well done, although again, this one didn't blow me away. New readers should start with The Rottweiler, or any of the Barbara Vine books.

Keys To The Street seemed more like a Barbara Vine book than a Ruth Rendell: less emphasis on the crime and its solution and more attention to nuances of character and setting. The heroine's passivity was a hump to get over, and the ending wasn't very imaginative. Nevertheless, Rendell writes clear sentences and in this day and age that's an accomplishment. The main plot device, a bone marrow donor trying to extricate herself from an abusive relationship and becoming involved with the recipient was intriguing.