Customer Reviews

Lake of Darkness

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ruth Rendell is a fabulous British author who has churned out mystery after mystery filled with dark, demented twists. This is another tautly plotted, well crafted mystery with characters that, though seemingly normal, are just a tad off the beaten path.

This book features Martin Urban, a staid and somewhat stuffy young man who would have felt at home in Victorian England. Martin wins a very large sum of money in a football pool with a little help from Tim Sage, an old friend of his. Altruistic and given to some rather god-like pronouncements, Martin wishes to give the money away to the deserving poor, in order to enable them to buy a home. Poor Martin, there are none so blind, as those who will not see.

Beset by subliminal homo-erotic thoughts regarding Tim Sage, he meets a mysterious young woman named Francesca, who is as demure and submissive as a Victorian maiden and captures his heart. Unfortunately, she is bound to another. All, however, is not as Martin thinks that it is.

Enter Finn, the twisted son of Lena, former cleaning lady to Martin's mother. When Finn's path crosses that of Martin's, during one of Martin's fumbling attempts to give some of his winnings away, a very clever dialogue ensues between these two with some unexpected, deadly results.

Fans of Ms. Rendell will not be disappointed by this book. It is filled with the slightly off-beat characters for which she is known, some of whom harbor dark twisted thoughts, while others are entirely socio-pathic. Well-written is spare, clear prose and filled with enough twists and turns to satisfy the most discerning of readers, this is another gem in Ms. Rendell's treasure trove of mysteries.

The woman never ceases to amaze me. I have read so many Rendell/Vine books and just can't stop. So few authors can look into the warped, secret side of someone the world perceives as normal in the acutely fascinating way she does. No skipping words or pages in her books.
'Darkness' ranks as one of the most perfectly crafted mysteries ever written. When all the pieces fit so beautifully--without stretching and reaching, without the reader thinking he's on a fictional ride--so perfectly, it is physically satisfying. The reader feels like one of the gods on Olympus looking down on these characters who stumble inexorably into what is to be their fate.
At the end of this book, I sat back and sighed with satisfaction. Yes, brilliant, Ruth. How do you do it?

Martin Urban wins a tidy sum at the football pools and, since he is not financially destitute, decides to share his good fortune with those less fortunate than himself. Martin, however, will learn that no good deed goes unpunished. One of his benefactors is a fellow named Finn, who, while being the son of a friend of Martin's mother, is also no stranger to receiving strange bundles of cash - for "services rendered". There is also Francesca, who is Martin's love interest, if that's the right word. These three form an eternal triangle, only they don't know it. For you see, once Finn receives Martin's sum, he's not quite sure who he is suppose to kill.

This book is reminiscent of Elmore Leonard in that it is not a mystery per se - not Inspector Wexford - but more of a crime novel, a psychological treatise where the characters dictate the action. While neither Martin, Finn, nor Francesca evokes our sympathy, their interwining does. The plot is woven among these three much like a loom.

The strength of the book is Rendell's emphasis on the psychological make up of her main characters as well as her ability to draw them into relationships without their necessarily being in the same scene. I gave the book 4 stars and not 5 because this could have been a bigger story. However, if you're looking for a mystery, go read Sherlock Holmes. There's more deeper psychological angst here.

I went to my library to check out "A Sight for Sore Eyes" as I was trying to describe it to a friend and wanted to re-read it for some details. Discovered "The Lake of Darkness" on the Ruth Rendell shelf.

What a great book! I could hardly put it down. I loved the ending where the bad guy forgets one very important detail and can't do anything about it. We assume that he will be caught, but don't know for sure.

What I like about this book was that the characters seem to be normal, but they are anything but. It makes one wonder what ones neighbors might really be doing.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a great story.

This was a great book. Again some of Rendells finest work was in her middle period. Great insight into the inner workings of a person, you feel as if you were inside not just their minds but souls. Rendell is so subtle as she shows us the characters flaws, and then lets him/her reveal themselves to us showing us, the readers, what even they, the characters, don't know or accept about themselves until the fatal ending, of cousrse. Terrific novel of psychological suspense, and betrayal figures but it's mostly the betrayal of the self and the lack of self knoweledge that is in this story. Finn and Lena are wonderfully drawn as are Martin and Tim and Francesca and the "deserving" needy Martin wants to be God to. Please read this, it's better than all the top ten bestsellers put together. Rendell puts Grishom to shame in terms of plot character and suspense.

For those interested, this book is available as part of a two book package, ISBN # 0 09 187009 7, which combines the present novel with "The Veiled One" at a bargain price.

This is not a long novel, but it is compelling and hard to put down. There are no major flaws in the novel: it is well balanced, it has good characters, it has a a good plot, and it has mystery. It is what one expects from the author. She delivers a near perfect tale. The book came out in 1980.

There are no extraneous diversions or literary trips made. All the writing is directed around the plot of what happens to an accountant after he wins an English football pool, and a prize of over £100,000.

Highly recommend: 5 stars.

Rendell always writes well, and has intriging plots, but I had forgotten how gloomy and cold her view of human nature is. Everything goes wrong. Everybody dies. You wind wind up at The End and want to read something with at least a spark of human joy in it.

Ruth Rendell is a fabulous British author who has churned out mystery after mystery filled with dark, demented twists. This is another tautly plotted, well crafted mystery with characters that, though seemingly normal, are just a tad off the beaten path.

This book features Martin Urban, a staid and somewhat stuffy young man who would have felt at home in Victorian England. Martin wins a very large sum of money in a football pool with a little help from Tim Sage, an old friend of his. Altruistic and given to some rather god-like pronouncements, Martin wishes to give the money away to the deserving poor, in order to enable them to buy a home. Poor Martin, there are none so blind, as those who will not see.

Beset by subliminal homo-erotic thoughts regarding Tim Sage, he meets a mysterious young woman named Francesca, who is as demure and submissive as a Victorian maiden and captures his heart. Unfortunately, she is bound to another. All, however, is not as Martin thinks that it is.

Enter Finn, the twisted son of Lena, former cleaning lady to Martin's mother. When Finn's path crosses that of Martin's, during one of Martin's fumbling attempts to give some of his winnings away, a very clever dialogue ensues between these two with some unexpected, deadly results.

Fans of Ms. Rendell will not be disappointed by this book. It is filled with the slightly off-beat characters for which she is known, some of whom harbor dark twisted thoughts, while others are entirely socio-pathic. Well-written is spare, clear prose and filled with enough twists and turns to satisfy the most discerning of readers, this is another gem in Ms. Rendell's treasure trove of mysteries.

Like most books by Ruth Rendall, this is a masterly study of the minds deviating from what we would call the normal.

It keeps the reader excitedly hoping for a happy ending --that never comes. Or maybe it does, after all. This goes beyond a common crime novel. Absolutely recommendable.

This novel is an absolute delight and one of Rendell's best stand alone novels. Each character definitely has a screw loose, and without a clue as to what makes the others tick. The plot and the relationships here are too good to reveal in detail. Just get this book, fasten your seat belts, and enjoy the wild ride.