Customer Reviews

Down The Rabbit Hole (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition) (Echo Falls Mysteries (Prebound))

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I resisted reading DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE as long as I could, even though Peter Abrahams is my favorite suspense writer, probably because, well, the jacket said the book was written for kids, and i'm no kid and I don't even like much children's literature. But once I actually started in on the life of Ingrid Levin-Hill it reminded me not so much of Veronica Mars, as others have stated (as though Abrahams was copying the TV formula! As though he hadn't thought of this series eons before Kristen Bell ever made her appearance on the scene!)--it reminded me actually of an extension, and a natural one at that, of Abrahams' masterpiece THE TUTOR, in which pretty much the same family dynamics were played out, and in which a madly clever young girl played Sherlock Holmes and saved her whole family from ruin.

Besides, Veronica Mars is perky-cute while Ingrid is anything but. She's the kind of girl who shrugs off her own looks, and the boys tend to overlook in favor of the cheerleader or sexpot types. However, in her own way she's attractive, and by the end of chapter two or three the reader falls in love a little too. She's spunky, and some of us have a high tolerance for spunk. One gets the feeling she's terribly alone, and that Echo Falls is too small a town for her. The only man she meets who's anywhere on her level is her director in the community production of ALICE IN WONDERLAND, the eccentric, erudite hometown genius Vincent Dunn, and like another reviewer mentioned, you don't have to be an Einstein to figure out who's the evil genius behind the crime wave baffling the Echo Falls cop squad. I wonder why Abrahams made the guilty culprit so easy to identify? Maybe he didn't trust his readership enough to throw another boomerang at them, but a little of the old "least likely suspect" thing would have added another star, if possible, to my rave review for DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE. I've just ordered the sequel, BEHIND THE CURTAIN, quivering with the delicate feeling one always has when anticipating the followup to a book one ate up like pixy stix.

I wonder if all the books in this series will begin with a preposition like 'down' and 'behind.' Hope so, for why spoil a good thing. If only the little girl, Heather Matarazzo, who played in "Welcome to the Dollhouse" hadn't grown up and got all mature, for she would have been a natural to try to play the incomparable Ingrid Levin-Hill in a series of big screen movies directed perhaps by Robert Rodriguez, in 3-D, but if wishes were horses, then I'd have a new Peter Abrahams novel every month and the poor man would never have a single day of rest.

I just loved the book Down The Rabbit Hole! It really fit into a childrens mystery. I couldn't put it down for a second because there was so much suspense! Every page i read i just wanted to keep reading so i could find out what happened next. I really recommend this to anyone who loves mysteries and suspense!

In Echo Falls, thirteen -year-old Ingrid Levin-Hill idolizes Sherlock Holmes for his ability to see the obvious, which mostly people miss, but is proud of being named as Alice in a local production of Wonderland.

However, Ingrid has a new role as life imitates art when someone murders "Cracked-Up Katie" just after the unfortunate victim was visited by the teen sleuth as she rushed from her orthodontist to soccer practice. When the newspaper report the murder, Ingrid worries that the cops will pin the rap on her since she left her soccer cleats at the crime scene. She decides to sneak into the house to reclaim her sneakers. Meanwhile, the police chief wants to interrogate Ingrid on her soccer cleats even as she is beginning to like her adversary's son. Still Ingrid realizes she has to be better than Holmes if she is to get the top cop and a killer off her back.

Sort of like of Harriet the Spy meets Sherlock Holmes; DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE is a terrific young adult amateur sleuth tale. The story line is fast-paced and loaded with action and plenty of twists as Ingrid tries to solve the case out of fear of lock up. The support cast either enhances her sleuthing, her personality, or her hometown. Though her older much bigger brother got away with sibling violence sending the wrong message to the youthful audience, readers of all ages will appreciate Ingrid Levin Hill, teen detective.

Harriet Klausner

If you pick up this book make sure you have time to finish it in one sitting because you won't be able to put it down.
Like Harry Potter, this is an all-ages work. Abrahams is an amazing talent whose work thrills me every time and now he's writing for a younger audience which means more people can appreciate his books. If I can't convince you, read the jacket comments from Stephen King. Reviews like that aren't just handed out . . . read the book!

After the enormous praise Stephen King heaped upon this book, I decided to pick it up and see what all the fuss was about.

The novel starts off quite well, with a quick pace and an interesting protagonist. The prose is written in a form of contemporary shorthand that mimics the fragmented (and often, grammatically incorrect) thoughts of a young teen, and this works well, to a point. Those looking for pretty prose should look elsewhere.

Things quickly go sour, though. The murder plot, after its terrific setup, is left to drag for hundreds of pages with nary an interesting spike in the story until very nearly the end. Instead we get plenty of needless, pointless side characters and convoluted "clues" that really don't help us solve this mystery. The book spins its wheels page after page after page, leaving you to wonder just why you picked this thing up in the first place. But you keep reading because the writing is frills-free, making it easy to get through a page in about 30 seconds.

Then we get the fast, dirty conclusion where the killer is revealed, and...it is exactly who you thought it would be the entire time. Why? Because there aren't any other suspects in the book. The moment this character enters the page, you know he (or she) is up to no good by the shiftiness with which Abrahams imbues him. In sharper mystery stories, the author will create a character such as this as a red herring, an obvious villain who in the end doesn't turn out to be the antagonist after all. But not in Down the Rabbit Hole. Nope, there really is only one suspect given to us, and he (or she!) is it. Just lazy.

I finished the novel extremely irritated and literally dropped the book on the ground, so disgusted was I at the utter lack of thought that went into it. It's a joke. It's lazy. Don't drink the water.

This book was recommended by my librarian, and I recommended it to all my book club fellows. This is a really detailed book. The plot is really unique, and Mr. Abrahams really writes the book step by step. Some parts might be confusing, but this is one of the greatest mysteries I've ever read (Besides the Da Vinci Code) I just thought Peter kind of jammed the ending, since the part where the mystery unfolds is only about 30 pages. The rest is really about her play, herlife, and covering her story about the Red Puma shoes. Beside thos negatives, this is a really great book.

This book is about a young girl named Ingrid, who is an average, everyday girl that you would normally see. One day, while she was going to a soccer practice, she finds herself in the part of town that she's never been in before. She ended up running into a lady outside of her house that she knew little about. The lady invited her into her house while she called a cab for her. After she leaves, she finds out herself that she was now a suspect to a murder. After getting so close to figuring out who killed that lady, she finds herself on the totally wrong track. When she really gets close, she finds herself in a large amount of trouble.
A few things that I disliked about this book, was how it jumped around to different subjects right after another. There were very few things that I disliked about this book. The thing that I liked most about this book, was how they made it so that there were many parts that just left you hanging, just wondering what was going to happen next. I thought that it had so much detail to every part.
Even though this book has a girl as the main character, I would recommend this book to any person to read this book. For people who like reading mystery books or even murder books would like this one, since it is a murder and a mystery book combined. I think that's what it makes it very interesting.

Longtime resident Katherine Eve Kovac was murdered Thursday according to Police Chief Strade. Her body was found by a neighbor at around 8 o'clock in the evening. The neighbor had supposedly come by to complain about Ms. Kovac's cat. Upon finding the body the neighbor called the police immediately. If you have saw or spoken to Miss Kovac within the past few days please contact police at once.
The headline story was about Cracked-Up Katie, or so the children of Echo Falls called the strange woman. She had lived in the Flats, the run down part of town, for years; a heavy smoker and druggy. Ingrid would have never expected to talk to or even meet the strange woman, yet somehow their lives had gotten tangled up when Ingrid had gotten lost on her way to soccer practice.

Ingrid Levin-Hill is a normal eighth grader with her own share of passions and problems. While being swamped by homework, soccer, and the lead role in the town play Alice in Wonderland, Ingrid would have never expected to have to solve the murder or Cracked-Up Katie. Unfortunately for Ingrid, on the fateful day when she decided to get lost on her way to soccer, she had left her red soccer pumas, flashing her name, in Cracked-Up Katie's house. Now she has to recover them and bring them home before the police come to question her, or worse take her for custody.

In this mystery story, Down the Rabbit Hole, it's up to Ingrid to save her shoes (and her identity), find Cracked-Up Katie's murderer, and put the case to rest. Dredging up information about Kate Kovac, she finds things she never would have expected. Katie had once been a brilliant actress and drama star, sharing Ingrid's passion, and heiress to a large fortune. Ingrid has no clue who would do such a crime, and the new soft spoken, acting genius, named Mr. Dunn, never would have crossed the girl detective's radar.

Things in Echo Falls seem to be heating up though as Mr. Dunn takes over the play, handing Ingrid's role to another girl as if trying to get her out of the way. Her parents think that she is acting strangely and try to keep her safe. Suspicion is high, but Ingrid won't let it rest until the mystery is solved. She knows that the people in jail don't belong there; they are entirely innocent.

Peter Abrahams packs the tale with suspense, leaving great chapter cliff-hangers, and does an excellent job of foreshadowing. I really enjoyed reading this story; I seemed to just gobble it up. It is a definite page turner, exactly the way a mystery should be. If readers enjoyed this book, I would recommend the sequel Behind the Curtain, another work of mystery magic by Peter Abrahams.

Ingrid Levin-Hill. As you can see already an interesting name. What do you expect from the book? this book is satisfying in every way possible.Overall I would rate this book an 8 on a scale from one to ten. (ten being the best). It is full of drama and unpredictable events that you don't expect. It is 375 pages long and every single page is worth it. I have proof, I read the book twice! The writer, Peter Abrahams, has such control on this book., he describes the characters with such detail and imagination. You just want to keep reading and turning pages until you're all done. It's astonishing. As for my favorite part, I don't have one. It's hard to choose and wouldn't be fair to all the other fantastic parts in this book.. So every page is my favorite part in its own special little way.
This book has its many twists and turns and keeps you on the edge of your pillow. I strongly recommend this book for any age. Even the book's cover makes you wonder. Although Peter jammed the conclusion into 30 short pages every aspect of this book is still worth it. As you can imagine, there's never a dull moment in this book. Balancing the main role in "Alice's adventures in Wonderland", trying to catch Joey Strade's attention, and constantly putting pieces of the never ending puzzle of who killed Katherine Kovac together. Ingrid can handle it all, the question is, "Can you?"

Down the Rabbit Hole, written by Peter Abrahams, is a thrilling book that will keep you on the edge of your seat, make your palms sweat, and keep your mind racing until the end, like you were in the mystery, too. In the first book of the action-packed mystery adventures, Ingrid Levin-Hill happens to stumble in Katie Kovac's house and suddenly, Katie is murdered! Ingrid has to solve the mystery before it's too late (and the police start to get the wrong impression). I love how there are many suspects and you have to stay in a guessing game to figure out who did it. It keeps you guessing so you have to read more. Some suspects of the case were the man that left his shoes at Katie's house, his helper, and the person who ended up being the murderer. Also, Abrahams really puts in some dramatic irony that makes the book suspenseful and exhilarating and makes you feel like you're in the mystery. For example: Towards the end of the book, the readers know that who the murderer is, but Ingrid doesn't, so when she meets him unexpectedly, she is really flabbergasted, giving the book the real "mystery feeling". At the moment you start reading this thrilling story, you won't be able to put it down until the end!