Customer Reviews

The Tutor

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Like Stephen King, Peter Abrahams has the literary skill and imagination to tap into our worst nightmares and bring them chillingly to life. His special forte seems to lie in exploring the nature of obsession: the monster that lurks beneath a mask of normalcy until circumstances suddenly combine to put its prey within reach. Julian Sawyer, THE TUTOR, is a man obsessed with a meglomaniacal desire to create a living novel out of the raw material of ordinary people's lives...to first learn their secrets and then exploit them at his will in order to destroy them. The Gardner family is his chosen target. Scott and Linda are doing their best to achieve today's upper-middle class dream of 'having it all', but their sand-castle world is a sadly dysfunctional one. Scott, desperately competing with his more effectual brother, has never been able to achieve the quick-fix financial success that he craves; Linda is career-driven to the point where she has become oblivious to what's going on with her children, and both teen-age Brandon and his precocious eleven-year-old sister Ruby are in trouble. That trouble becomes grim reality for his shocked parents when Brandon's SAT results are far below their expectations, although only Ruby...escaping parental pressures to become what she is not into a dream world with her idol, Sherlock Holmes...realizes the full extent of his rebellious, anti-social behaviors. In desperation, Linda calls a tutoring service, and Julian Sawyer enters their lives. In the tradition of "Kind Lady" and "Night Must Fall", he slowly gains their confidence and trust which, in turn, also exposes their fears and weaknesses. When circumstances combine to place Julian in charge, the stage is set for an increasingly horrific series of life-threatening confrontations that beggar description.

THE TUTOR walks an extraordinary stylistic tightrope between spine-tingling suspense and dark horror...a tour de force combination of taut plotting and brilliant characterization that captured and held me spellbound. Peter Abrahams careful attention to the 'whys' of their behaviors made me not only understand the Gardners as fallible human beings, but care deeply about them, especially young Ruby who is probably one of the most enchanting fictional children that I've encountered in my recent reading. His talent makes the bizarre seem believable, and I found it impossible not to accept the complete plausibility of his nightmarish premise. This is not an easy novel to read, but it is one that the reader will not readily forget...a totally gripping literary experience and a benchmark for the genre.

This is my first Peter Abrahams book, so don't know how it compares to his others. But it's definitely a page-turner and has decent characters, most of whom are not supposed to be the least bit lovable. Yes, there is swearing, but the author knows how to make a reader use a dictionary occasionally as well. A nice combination of light humor mixed with the dark character of the tutor-from-...! A nice change from detective/crime/lawyer novels when you're not busy reading Tolstoy.

Meet the Gardners, a typical American family: father Scott works in the family business, resents his older brother, and longs to find a quick path to wealth; mother Linda is harried, trying to juggle work and family life while pinning her dreams of a better future on her kids; teenage son Brandon is rebellious, experimenting with drugs and alcohol; pre-teen daughter Ruby is precocious, escaping through Sherlock Holmes novels; and mystery child Adam just may be the cause of the entire family's discontent. When Justin attains a "low" (75th percentile) score on his SATs, this event is the catalyst that sets the family in search of a solution, a solution which arrives in the form of Julian Sawyer, personal tutor.

At first, Julian seems to be a Godsend--he connects with Brandon, bails out Ruby, solves Linda's work crisis, and even gives Scott some priceless tips on his tennis game. But are things really what they seem? Although the story is told from the perspectives of all five main characters in turn, author Peter Abrahams focuses mainly on the points of view of Ruby, an amateur sleuth who begins to suspect that something is not quite right, and Julian, who offers the reader glimpses into his true nature. The tension between this unlikely pair builds throughout the story, and Abrahams does an excellent job of drawing the reader in. One small complaint I had is that Julian's expertise in virtually every subject with which he is confronted is a bit contrived. On the other hand, that's kind of the point: this is no ordinary villain, but rather your worst nightmare--the devil who masquerades as your savior.

Overall, I found this book entertaining and engrossing. I definitely enjoy Abraham's writing style, and I will continue reading his works.

Linda and Scott Gardner have hired an instructer from a tutoring service, Julian Sawyer, to privately tutor their son, Brandon, and help him improve his SAT scores. Brandon is all set to dislike Julian right from the get-go but never gets the chance. Hey, this guy is cool! Linda and Scott fall for the tutor's charm next, relying on him for car rides, business and financial advice, and tennis tips. Brandon's little sister, Ruby, age eleven, an outgoing little Sherlock fan, shares Brandon's feelings as well. But she's also brighter than her brother (or parents) and soon deduces that Julian is not everything he appears. While the rest of her family is cuddled in Julian's palm like a sparrow in the hand of the neighborhood bully, Ruby is sniffing along for clues in a manner even Sherlock Holmes couldn't knock.

THE TUTOR starts out strong. The pace is fast, the details interesting, the characters memorable. The middle isn't so bad either. But the ending bombs inexcusably -- perhaps because as the story progresses it becomes more and more out of this world. Peter Abrahams has created here a portfolio of surreal characters, more caricatures than flesh and blood people. Each one represents a certain weakness which Julian exploits to the hilt, although Julian himself has weaknesses, as every good villain must. There's a blurb on this book's jacket from Stephen King praising the author, and while Abrahams's style may briefly remind you of King's in the way it comes across as not quite on the level, Abrahams doesn't hold a candle to King's way with words. THE TUTOR is reasonably well written and contains some excellent descriptions, but most books are reasonably well written. Little here stands out.

Horror fans, be warned. You may not be horrified (unless snakes deeply upset you). But THE TUTOR is a stylishly crafted if skewed nailbiter tale, and as such should have a case with suspense fans.

I've long been a fan of Peter Abrahams work, no pun intended. I got hooked when The Perfect Murder came out, and worked my way back and forward through many of his stories. He writes the kind of intelligent, creepy thriller that I really enjoy.

As much as I liked all his books, I particularly enjoyed THE TUTOR. The characters were believeable and fresh, particularly the heroine, Ruby. Abrahams style is thoughtful --and, again, intelligent. That said, the pace just won't let you go. I found myself up until 1:00 AM last night, and I've got lots of work to do today!

Wonderful job, Peter!

Have you ever hired help who become part of your lives and then they never leave. Remember the painter Eldin from Murphy Brown or more recently the general contractor from the delightful book Step - Ball Change who comes to renovate a screened porch and becomes a member of the family? Or perhaps, most famous, is the hired servant who becomes the master in Harold Pinter's play The Servant. Now author Peter Abrahams, in his most recent book, The Tutor, introduces us to Julian Sawyer the mild mannered tutor. But is Julian really a helpful tutor or an evil person, stay tuned to find out.

Linda and Scott Gardner are living the American dream. Or so they'd like to think. In a typical suburban tree lined community, they work hard at their jobs and hard at raising their two children. They are busy people, adjusting schedules to allow for their children's tennis lessons, soccer games, car pools to events and music classes. And all they while they feel extreme competition and tension from their neighbors and families children as compared to their son and daughter. Because as many people think, the seeds of suceeding begin very early on. Ruby, the Gardners 11 year old daughter, is precocious and wise beyond her years. Although seemingly well adjusted she harbors some rather odd ideas about life and senses that something is not right in her home. But Ruby isn't the Gardners focus at this time. It is their high school aged son whose less than sterling grades concern them more and more. And with each report card it seems that Brandon is headed for less than an prestigious college. Even talking to their son about his future has done little to motivate him and they are increasingly worried that the only school he will be able to attend is the local community college. Not that there's anything wrong with a community college but after all the time effort and money they've puit into their son's life it's not what they had in mind. Then Scott learns that his brother's son, a star athlete, received almost a perfect score on the SAT'S and will surely be a top applicant at one of the most prestigious colleges in the country. Suddenly the Gardner's visions of their son's present and future failures loom in front of them and consider the hiring of a tutor the possible answer to their problem. The seacrh is on and using an educational consultant finds one Julian Sawyer hired as the answer to their prayers. Unfortunately, though hiring Julian Sawyer is not hiring your typical tutor and over the weeks, while he presumably works with Brandon, Julian has his own agenda in mind. As Julian works on his own plans, he becomes an important confidant of the family. He begins to suggest changes and strategies to the Gardners and at first all seems well and Brandon's grades improve, Ruby is doing better at winning in tennis, Linda clinches a difficult deal and Scott takes a big chance concerning his business which Julian assures him will work out just fine. Somehow, though, as the pages turn we as readers know something is quite rotten and you just have to read this book to find out what happens next.

While this was an exciting plot at first, it was far more predictable than other books by Abrahams. I kept waiting for that twist which I associate with Abrahams's titles, but unfortunately it never came. The end most of all fizzled and I even found myself a bit bored. Bottom line - The Tutor is a fast, ok read but if you want to see Peter Abraham at his best, read The Fury of Rachel Monette, Tongues of Fire or Revolution #9, some of his best books in my opinion.

This is the first book by Abrahams I read and I enjoyed it. It's very difficult to put down and the characters truly come alive, if not always in an appealing way. The daughter is a terrific creation that made me question how carefully I looked at the world: her attendance to nuances and close attention to reconciling apparent discrepancies in her surroundings is at once inspiring, intriguing and a genuinely realistic view of an eleven-year-old's psyche. The way Abrahams ties in her interest in Sherlock Holmes is also very successful. I also thought the portrait of the parents' class anxiety was pitch-perfect.

My only reservation was the ending which didn't jibe with the Tutor's general approach. Needless Hollywoodized violence, in short. That's the only minus in this impressive novel.

I highly recommend it.

Peter Abrahams must be a scary,scary man. "Crying Wolf" was a brilliant, intense suspense thriller in a class of its own. Now he's given us "The Tutor", outdoing himself by far, notching up the intensity to the n-th degree, creating a page-turner to beat all page-turners!

The Gardners are a typical upper middle class family, striving to be better. Husband and father Scott Gardner is jealous of his brother, who seems to have everything Scott doesn't. Scott pushes his family to excel and succeed...but is hampered by the memory of his dead son, Adam. Brandon Gardner, Scott's next-oldest son and still living, must survive with the pressure of Adam's ghost hovering over his world all the time. Scott is certain that Adam would've grown up to become the perfect uber-son, had he not succumbed to leukemia at a relatively young age. And now Brandon is beginning to show signs of failure.
Enter Julian Sawyer, an opportunistic man hired as tutor to Brandon Gardner. Think Norman Bates here. The tutor is a skillful sociopath with evil intent on his mind.
Throw into the mix a precocious young daughter who idolizes Sherlock Holmes, and you have a brilliant thriller that makes ones pulse pound to the very end.

Abrahams has written an intelligent, wonderful novel in "The Tutor". Well-portrayed characters, and a believable plot make this a must-read book!

Abrahams rarely lets me down. The Tutor is intense and the antagonist
sociopath, Julian, was written brilliantly. So was little Ruby. Great
story and great pacing made for a very enjoyable weekend read.

Yes, there is quite a bit of cursing/swearing in this book (not unlike
a lot of titles in this genre), but unlike some readers, this didn't
bother me at all. It made sense for this character.

If for anything, read this to see how to build a strong character that will carry you through an entire novel. Speaking of, Ruby, of course. The Julian character could have been written with a little more evil in him. Abrahams manages to keep you turning the pages though. The story really picks up when it becomes a battle of brains, Ruby vs. Julian. There were parts where the father had confrontational problems with his brother, many pages of them playing tennis could have been deleted; I don't see how those were essential to the story. Other than that, this was a good, suspensful read. Not Dean Koontz territory, but you'll put this back on the shelf to read again one rainy day.