Treasure Box (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author) "Quentin Fears never told his parents the last thing his sister Lizzy said to him before they pulled the plug on her and let her..." (more)
Key Phrases: treasure box, Chief Bolt, Uncle Paul, Quentin Fears (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When naive computer-nerd and millionaire Quentin Fears meets the woman of his dreams at a posh Washington, D.C., party and then marries her, he thinks his life is complete. But in this low-key horror novel, appearances can't be trusted and people aren't always in control of their actions. Although Madeleine seems quite sophisticated, there are deficits in her memory and her background is vague. She claims a large, well-to-do family but invites no relatives to the wedding. When Quentin finally meets his in-laws at their palatial Upstate New York mansion, they strike him as eccentric, almost as cartoons of real people. The domineering grandmother, whom Madeleine hates, sits in a trance, eyes closed, refusing to speak. There are hints of past child abuse?and of the possibility that a young boy may have been murdered. Why do so many of Madeleine's relatives have names identical to those buried in the family cemetery? And why doesn't Madeleine leave any footprints in the snow? Although the story moves toward a powerful climax, its primary pleasures are more subtle: strong character development and complex motivations, a mystery to solve, the discovery of wheels within wheels. It's rare that Card, renowned for his science fiction (see the review of his Children of the Mind, below), switches genres. But when he does, here as in his Lost Boys (1992), there's little lost and a rare pleasure gained. $50,000 ad/promo; author tour; U.K., translation, first serial and dramatic rights: Barbara Bova.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

At age 11, Quentin Fears is devastated by his older sister Lizzy's death. Subsequently, he grows up to be a lonely man, obsessed with memories of Lizzy. He becomes extremely wealthy, yet everything he does centers around Lizzy. He even picks a wife who reminds him of her. Madeleine, the woman with whom he falls in love and marries in a matter of weeks, turns out to be an apparition invented by an evil witch. Once the story turns to Quentin's wife and her family, the plot degenerates into the script of a B-movie, with wild explanations for the comings and goings of ghosts and the mysterious treasure box that Madeleine wants her new husband to open. Card, the author of many highly acclaimed works (e.g., Children of the Mind, Tor, 1996) is more handy with quick and witty dialog than story content. There is not enough humor here it to be funny and not enough horror or fantasy for it to be either. Recommended only for large collections.?Shirley Gibson Coleman, Ann Arbor Dist. Lib, Mich.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: HarperTorch; later printing edition (January 25, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006109398X
• ISBN-13: 978-0061093982
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (63 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #467,462 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing compared to his more intellectual works, June 15, 2000

By	Ellen Denham (Indianapolis, IN USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Since I love Orson Scott Card's other work I probably am more critical of this than I would be from another writer. I found this book a mild disappointment, though it is still an engaging and fun read.

If you like his Alvin series, Ender, and so forth, this reads a bit more like, well, Stephen King. The characters are believable but the supernatural elements pushed the plausibility meter a little, and this from someone who loves his fantasy and science fiction oriented work and never had any trouble with his explanations in these books. I can't say much more about that without giving away the one big plot twist, but I found what happened with the character Madeline a little too convenient and not set up very well -- like a bad mystery where once you find out 'whodunit', you do recall a few previous clues, but still just don't buy it.

That may sound overly critical, but Card is one of my favorite writers so I hold him to a high standard. He can do (and does) much better. If you haven't read this one yet and are a fan of his other books, I would recommend one of his newer books, Enchantment, which is an amazing read.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An Entertaining Read, November 10, 1999

By	Fosky Bob "human" (Vacaville, CA USA) - See all my reviews

You know you'll never go wrong with a Card book. They're all entertaining. The first 20-30 pages of this book are enchanting. I couldn't put it down. It was entertaining the rest of the way, but not at the same level.

The climax of the book is rushed, Card compresses it into 20 pages leaving the reader a little shell-shocked. Tension and mystery build..and then it's all over. Not a great book, but a decent read.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars What a disappointment ! ! ! The badest book of OSC ., August 23, 1998

By A Customer

First of all excuse if my english isn't very good but I'm french. I've red all books of OSC translated in french and I love all of them. "Ender's game", "Red prophet" are wonderful books and then ... I've bought "Treasure box" and what a disappointement !! The characters of this book are uninteresting, the story has no originality, it is a horror book like every each other. Compared to Orson Scott Card's short story "Eumenides in the fourth floor lavaroty" ... I don't have enough english words to say all the bad opinion I have of this book.