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Devil In The Hole (2013)

by Charles Salzberg(Favorite Author)

4.01 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

1432826964 (ISBN13: 9781432826963)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Five Star

review 1: As a book consumed one chapter at a time before going to sleep, I enjoyed this quite a bit. The novel takes the form of multiple eye-witness narratives that are like the one-sided recording of a police interview. Characters pop in and out of the frame, sharing the pieces of the story that touch their own lives. As a "crime novel," I'm not sure it lives up to its claim as such. Yes, it is a novel written about a crime, but its narrative arc feels far more true-life than crime novel. As there is no mystery to who the criminal is, there are diminishing returns to the detective's spiraling search for the murderer. In that sense, it is a very morose, realistic tale. The wandering murderer cut off from himself. The driven detective who misses the mark over and over, the trail of... more confused and wounded witnesses who will likely never come to terms with their role in the murderer's life. It's not a re-reader, for sure, but it was certainly worth one read.
review 2: DEVIL IN THE HOLE by Charles SalzbergPublished by Five Star Publication Date: August 7, 2013ISBN-10: 1432826964ISBN-13: 978-1432826963Pages: 252Review Copy from: AuthorEdition: HCMy Rating: 4Synopsis:In the ballroom of a sparsely furnished Connecticut mansion, police find a shocking sight: four bodies lined up next to each other, three teenagers and a middle-aged woman, each lying on a blanket, each shot once in the head. In an upstairs bedroom: an elderly woman and the family dog, both of them shot as well. The only person missing is the husband, father, son, and prime suspect, John Hartman, who's got a three-week jump on the police.Through the eyes of almost two dozen characters, including the neighbor who reports the crime, Hartman's mistress, a dogged state investigator, the family minister, and some of the characters Hartman meets on his escape route, we piece together not only what happened and how these shocking murders affect the community, but how John Hartman evades capture, where he's headed, and maybe even why he committed this gruesome crime in the first place. Based on the notorious John List murders and already compared to works by Norman Mailer and Russell Banks, Devil in the Hole is gripping, literate, and haunting.My Thoughts and Opinion:This book was riveting and intriguing right from the start. As the synopsis states, it is based on a horrific true crime murder that went cold for many years. The chapters are short and each one is narrated by a different person as their "take" on the murder.At first I thought that the amount of more than 20 characters would make this read confusing but after a few chapters I knew that wouldn't be the case. I was so engrossed in the story that it truly felt that each cast member was talking directly to me with their opinion of this story. So compelling that I had to keep reminding myself that these characters were fictional. So captivating, that by the middle of the book, I had to research the actual murder.I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which had me turning the pages, to see what the next voice would reveal. A highly recommended read!!! less

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