review 1: Gripping and original literary thriller. Daughter of a reclusive horror film director turns up dead of an apparent suicide, and journalist who was previously discredited for his work investigating the director decides to investigate the death. A long book but a good one, very atmospheric and great characterizations. Marisha Pessl now officially one of my favorites as I loved her first book as well. 4.5 stars. review 2: This book was fantastic. I don't normally read mystery/thriller novels, but this was too good to put down. I was a little reluctant to read it at first, because 'Special Topics' was a challenging read. This book was written in a more straightforward style, but still gave me so much to think about even after finishing the book. I found myself ... morewriting little quotes from the book on notes of paper to reflect on later. less
