CATHARSIS by NOORILHUDA.PRESS RELEASE BLURB:
PAGES: 270
GENRE: psychological thriller, mystery and suspense
SUB-GENRE: women sleuths, amateur sleuths, child abuse, paedophilia, women's fiction, serial killer
SYNOPSIS: Ten year old Daniel has been missing for more than a week. His family and the police have all but lost hope of finding him alive. Then a strange old man enters the precinct at the 99th Avenue and declares he knows where the boy is - and who he's with. The lead detective on the case, Aurora Fox, is sceptical. Is the haemophiliac puppet master, Maxwell Caine, part of the puzzle or the solution - and why does he look so dolled up?
Dark tale of a tough as nails detective, a curious old man and a persistent district attorney - all trying to catch a paedophile ..... a serial killer.
Fear is relative.
What would you do to be free?
BOOK LINKS: ISBN/EAN 10: 1514709759/EAN 13: 978-1514709757
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1514709759
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Catharsis-Noorilhuda/dp/1514709759
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/catharsis-noor-il-hunda/1122247087
PUBLISHER: Self.
SOURCE: Received for review from the author.
FIRST SENTENCE {Tuesday}: "He's right over there, waiting at your desk."
MEMORABLE MOMENT {Page 48}: Off came the hair extensions, the spores on his hands, the gel splashed to give appearance of wrinkles and the lenses that made his eyes look grey. He removed the lifts in the shoes and eased into slippers.
MY THOUGHTS: A difficult review for me to write as, unfortunately a copy riddled with numerous errors, my enjoyment could not be other than marred. However, having emailed the author with my concerns and been reassured that these were in the process of being dealt with, I have agreed to proceed with my reflections on Catharsis. So, errors aside ....
A promising plot and characters. A police procedural of sorts. A damaged cop with an elderly haemophiliac as her (sort of) side-kick, both with secrets, neither of whom as they might at first seem. A young boy from a somewhat dysfunctional family, missing, the victim of a paedophile ring - be warned there are elements of child abuse that though not frequent or gratuitous are pretty graphic at times.
Whilst Catharsis had the potential to be a really good thriller, the slow realisation of the past of the main characters tantalising, sadly it was let down by several implausible aspects. My main problem being a protagonist who try as I might I simply couldn't believe in which is a shame as, her aggression toned down a little, Detective Aurora Fox could have been a great character.
Despite all of the technical issues and that the plot/characters were not altogether believable there was something about this author's work that intrigued me. Could it be that crime isn't the right genre for her? Excited to read another novel of hers, The Governess, which is set in in early nineteenth century England. Might it be that she is better suited to historical fiction?
13 comments:
Hmm, how curious. I can't wait to see what you think of the other work. You may be right, submit the wrong genre. Happy reading!
Wow - I don't think I could ever read a book like this one. Hopefully, however, the next one will be better! :)
This does, indeed, sound a bit strange... especially when you mention the author also has written a historical fiction novel. I'll be interested to know how that one compares to this.
The premise certainly sounded good. Too bad it didn't seem to live up to expectations.
this book packs a lot of heavy subjects, I am glad you were able to put aside the errors. I am guessing this was self published
I swayed back and forward as I read your review - would I read it, would I not ...... still thinking about it!!
Hm... it should be close to the final copy before being read by reviewers. Early errors can be annoying and the direction of the whole story can change through editing. At lest she sounds like she has some good potential!
Oh man, I cant do psychological thrillers.. I freaking lose sleep if its good! haha.. - www.domesticgeekgirl.com
It seems you have mixed feelings about this one, Tracy. The themes in this book are heavy, and best balanced with some humor, I think.
Thanks for your honest thoughts. That's great the author is working on ironing out the errors, but it sounds like you had some other issues with this one too!
Though plausibility is not something that I look forward to in everything that I read, when it comes to this type of crime book I find that things need to be realistic. Thus, the implausibility that you mention might become an obstacle for me.
The characters do sound interesting however.
Great breakdown and you do have me curious about it.
Hopefully the historical novel will suit your taste better, Tracy. It's interesting that even though you didn't enjoy this book, the author's writing still made you curious enough to try her other one!
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