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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not worth it..., June 28, 2006
This review is from: Pursuit: An Inspector Espinosa Mystery (Inspector Espinosa Mysteries) (Hardcover)
I have been a fan of Garcia-Roza for a while and was very impressed with the first three installments in the Espinosa series. This book, which for a while seemed was going to be better than the fourth installment (a disappointment in itself), ended up abruptly. The ending explains nothing and resolves little. I was a very frustrated and angry reader when I turned the last page.
The book is divided into "stories", what should rather have been presented as chapters of the same story. The first one of these is stellar. It builds up the mystery around Jonas/Isidoro and leaves one yearning to get to the end of the book and to discover what is behind this baffling character. His motivations are dark and his actions are confusing. The plot seems to lead the reader closer and closer to what could have been an exciting ending.
What happens in the end, however, I can tell you without offering any spoilers. Nothing is resolved. No questions are answered. The story ends. It almost looks like the author didn't know what to do with it. Read the book if you want, but don't say that you weren't warned. I give it two stars only for the unachieved potential this story had.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating Psycho-thriller, March 9, 2006
This review is from: Pursuit: An Inspector Espinosa Mystery (Inspector Espinosa Mysteries) (Hardcover)
Hospital psychiatrist Dr. Arthur Nesse has a problem. One of his patients, a man variably known as Isidoro and Jonas, has been stalking him. Now, he believes his family is in danger, and he calls on Inspector Espinosa for help. His daughter and the patient are both missing, and Nesse suspects foul play.
When the daughter shows up at home, unharmed, you think that the book is over. But Garcia-Roza's psychological-thriller Pursuit is only just beginning. The plot of this book has more twists and turns than the best roller-coaster - it's designed to keep you guessing frm the beginning.
This book is the fifth in the Inspector Espinosa series, and I was worried that I'd come in too late to really enjoy the book. I'm sure that there were some inside references that I missed, but I didn't feel that I missed anything important in the book by not having read the previous four. In fact, I'm looking for the others in the series now, so that I can learn more about this fascinating detective, Inspector Espinosa.
The book isn't a mystery in the whodunit genre - it is far more a thriller, with psychological overtones that throw a light on the darkest qualities of the human psyche. The book will keep you guessing - and keep you reading - right to the very end. There were times as I read the book when I really felt that I understood the ammount of confusion that Espinosa felt as he tried to deal with this increasingly bizarre case. The only real difficulty that I had with the book was the unatisfying conclusion. I really felt that nothing was resolved, the questions about Isidoro/Jonas really unanswered. This unsatisfying conclusion aside, the book is a fascinating read, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys psychological drama.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A delicious read, January 20, 2006
This review is from: Pursuit: An Inspector Espinosa Mystery (Inspector Espinosa Mysteries) (Hardcover)
The fifth installment in Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza's Inspector Espinosa series finds the chief of Rio de Janeiro's 12th precinct looking into a series of related complaints. A certain Dr. Nesse, a psychiatrist, contacts Espinosa after his daughter disappears, and he and Espinosa have further contact later on when more troubles befall the psychiatrist and his family. Nesse is convinced that he is being persecuted by one of his patients, an enigmatic young man who calls himself Jonah, but substantiating his accusations proves to be difficult.
So much for the plot, as I don't want to give anything away. This is a very smart book. Garcia-Roza tells the story initially from the perspective of the psychiatrist, who believes he is being stalked by Jonah and feels himself unaccountably threatened by it. Readers will feel the threat too: there is something menacing about Jonah's behavior, despite that his actions are ostensibly innocent. But as the story progresses the situation becomes increasingly ambiguous: is Jonah as bad as we're led to believe, or is the psychiatrist a paranoid? As Jonah says at one point in the story regarding his own behavior, "As you can see, the facts are the same, but the meaning is different." Interpretation is everything. The levels of possibility in the novel make for a delicious read.
Pursuit is translated into English from its original Portuguese. I can't speak for the author's style in his native language, but in English the prose is wonderfully straightforward. The clarity of the writing reminds me of the writing style of Patricia Highsmith (the author of, among other books, the five Tom Ripley novels), and Garcia-Roza's writing is similar to Highsmith's also in that he manages to create an atmosphere of tension from his descriptions of everyday activities. This one's definitely worth the read, and it would make an excellent selection for discussion groups. Familiarity with previous books in the series is not necessary.
Debra Hamel -- author of Trying Neaira: The True Story of a Courtesan's Scandalous Life in ancient Greece (Yale University Press, 2003)
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