A crazy villain is cartoonish and cheap. Just look at the stuff they say: You don't have to choose this life. You could be something more. Most books abide by the same moral code, alright? I'm not mad at that. Prodigy or Champion , I don't remember which, has a similar scene where June is rebuking Thomas for being a dick and then compares him to Day, who suffered under pretty similar conditions, but "chose to walk in the light.
The writing is as nuanced as a crayon drawing, by the way But when you combine the good-and-right moral code with everything that's going on, it reinforces its lack of depth. So when Aladdin spits out a line like that, making sure there's an "angrily" there in case I'm too stupid to understand he's pissed, it's laughable.
We get a bit of grey morality with Rasoul, but that's it. The revolution goes off without a hitch and everyone who isn't Jafar lives happily ever after. The characters never struggled. It just felt like they were going through the motions. I never felt fear for them. Didn't see it coming and I give credit where it's due. Everything else is blech. Just watch the Disney movie. It has catchy tunes and Robin Williams. View all 20 comments. Jul 31, Faye, la Patata rated it did not like it Shelves: What a disappointment this book turned out to be. You know, when I requested for this book, I did it because I was really, really expecting a Disney movie retelling wait, is that even allowed?
Isn't there supposed to be some copyright thingy about modifying a well-known commercial masterpiece into something else? Can some lawyer clarify this for me, please?! You see, there is something that books can do better than movies - one of them is charact What a disappointment this book turned out to be. You see, there is something that books can do better than movies - one of them is characterization.
With a book, you can get into the deepest psyche of the characters and really get to know them in a more personal and intimate level; we'll be able to know more why they feel a certain why or how their feelings or other external factors weigh in their actions and decisions.
If you're into that sort of thing, then this would be right up your alley. This book asked the question, "What if it was Jafar who got the lamp and the genie and the wishes? Like seriously, we don't even really get to know Jafar's story, or why he wished the things he wished, or why he was the way he was. What the bloody heck?! We already know what Aladdin would have done if he got the lamp; since it's going to be Jafar this time, why not give him more of the spotlight?
Why do we have to have a rehash of this romance between Aladdin and Jasmine, which we have already witnessed in the fricking original movie, which we all have watched a million times already?! I just don't get it - here's the chance to get to know Jafar and all the spotlight is on Aladdin and Jasmine. What we get then was a boring-ass antagonist who was evil because he was evil. And when it was the time to give us a reason why he was doing the things he did, it wasn't from his perspective or anything, it was from the main characters themselves, talking amongst themselves why they thought he did what he did.
He wants everyone, including me, to love him. Are you guys Dr. I just found it incredibly lazy. It didn't show us this development or these info, it simply told us just like that. And not from the POV of the antagonist, to boot! Even then, let us do say that it was never intended to show a more complex side of Jafar. It was all meant to be for Aladdin and Jasmine and how they went their way to start a rebellion to take back the Sultanate of Agrabah.
I'd still say it was disappointing as hell because like I previously mentioned, there was absolutely zero character development. I know he kinda does the same in the movie, but I kind of expected more from this book, that it would at least try to give us a more meaningful and fulfilling romance.
Sure, it had ample action, but without the emotional connection to the characters, how would I ever feel the tension and the urgency? Not to mention, the twists were so, so uninspiring that it felt anti-climactic. All in all, it was a disappointing book. As Emily May stated in her review, it feels like a fanfic, and I have to agree with her.
You're better off with watching the movie instead, at least it has songs. View all 22 comments.
Feb 09, Steph Sinclair marked it as to-read Shelves: Apr 04, Rose rated it it was ok Shelves: Man, I want to read this so badly that it's not even funny. I know, lemme answer this one. I know this one! I'm raising my wing and getti Pre-read: I'm raising my wing and getting wing cramps over here!
Iago, you sound just a teensy bit too happy over there I'm just thinking that if Jafar had gotten the lamp before Mr. Is that too much to ask? Aladdin, Jasmine, Genie, and Abu: You guys kill my fun every single time. Whadd'ya mean, 2 stars?! I expected explosions, blood, creepiness, take over the world kinda action! Iago, calm down - 2 stars is not the end of the world, it just means that it wasn't It had some good things Besides, Iago, why would you even defend this book if you weren't even in the story most of the time? You were only there to show Jafar's manic moods anyway.
Uh, kids, spoiler warning much? Right, uh - I guess we'll have to talk about this later. See you guys in a little while. It had some cool moments and ideas, but they weren't organized enough to carry the story forward. Full review to come. I'm going ahead and writing it because as much as I anticipated and was excited by the idea and promise of this title, the actual story I read left me feeling more neutral than anything else.
There were some awesome ideas here and potential aims for the characters and conflict, but the delivery As you can probably tell by my pre-review comments, I really enjoy the Disney's Aladdin franchise - the movies, the characters, the TV series, the people who were a part of it, etc. The last time I watched the original movie was about a year ago - it brings back fond memories.
So when I heard about Disney releasing a YA series with a series of "twisted" tales based on beloved Disney movies and stories, I was pretty much like "Bring it!!! But the experience of reading "A Whole New World" wasn't really that new at all, unfortunately. You already know the story if you've watched the Disney movie, and I'd venture a guess the purpose of this series is not to introduce the story but appeal to people who already know the story of Aladdin or the other twisted tales to follow. I'll commend Braswell - at least - for the prologue because that was an all too brief eye into Aladdin's life as a boy if you know the story of Howard Ashman and the writing of the song "Proud of Your Boy" for the original movie - you'll know that there were plans to go into Aladdin's boyhood, but they had to take it out for the sake of the story.
And it often got many of the details from the movie wrong if it were actually being included for the sake of consistency i. Jasmine getting half an apple in the story, versus in the movie getting a whole one from Aladdin during their first meeting in his hiding place. So what was the purpose of the retracing? When the story actually gets to the part of the premise that's advertised for the book, that's where the potential of the story took off, but at a cost. There were some dark moments, and I think the only original character from the movie that Braswell got right on the money was Jafar.
Iago was barely a character which - with as much personality as Iago has, that was kind of a waste , Aladdin, Jasmine and Genie had moments where they resembled their original characters, but their newer incarnations were much harder to follow because of a severe lack of development. And that's what made the following story feel so I loved the overarching concept and aim but the execution of the writing of the story and the dynamic between the characters felt either forced or lacking for the promise of the potential story.
Even the character deaths felt empty in places which I think some people are going to be surprised by how quick they happen and to whom it happens. In the end, a read that I was aptly excited and enthused about ended up not being able to carry the imaginative promises it purported to have. That's not to say I won't follow this series though, because I think it has a ton of potential to work with. I just hope that the journey's more dynamic and immersive in future stories than this one was. View all 9 comments. Mar 27, Darth J marked it as no-longer-interested Shelves: View all 8 comments.
May 01, Ashley rated it did not like it Shelves: I get that this was an Aladdin retelling, but couldn't there have been some more variance? But it didn't get any better Zero passion, zero development, zero everything. They just existed and that's it. They were not fleshed out at all. He seemed so hollow and not scary: There was no depth, no intensity, no epicness.
Or at least insta-crushy. It's like that in Aladdin, I know, but for some reason it feels totally okay in the movie. But in a book, I expect more. With more pages and more room for development, I want to see a better, slower, more thought out romance. I was curious to see how the story would turn out, but to be honest, I just wasn't enjoying it at all. I was dragging my feet and finally got tired of it.
View all 10 comments. This is the first instalment in a series of Disney retellings, penned by Liz Braswell. A Whole New World is the story of what would have happened to Aladdin if he were not the one to lay his hands on the magical lamp and acquire the power of the genie. This, true to its design, had a true Disney feel to it.
I'm not sure if I could really appreciate the comical cheesiness, that Disney does so well, in the written format, however. I grew accustomed to this style of penmans Actual rating 2. I grew accustomed to this style of penmanship and liked how authentic to the Disney movie this still remained, despite the clear narrative differences, but am not sure if it was wholly to my tastes.
The jovial tone made for a fun reading experience but one bereft of any deeper emotion, for me, as I found I could not feel much empathy or tension. I really appreciated the ending of this, however, and the last 70 or so pages were my favourite of the whole book. The intensity I found lacking in earlier segments was finally included and the ending was the one I was hoping for. I still can not say I was super invested as many tense scenes were infused with jovial comments or sarcasm, which did not gel with the alternative emotions the characters should have been experiencing, but this did conclude on a more positive note, for me.
View all 3 comments. May 02, Sh3lly grumpybookgrrrl marked it as wish-list Shelves: Going through my tbr shelf and trying to weed some stuff out. This has a 3. Apparently, it's a pretty literal re-telling of the Disney cartoon for at least the first part of the book.
Seeing as how Aladdin is one I haven't seen all that much, I'll still try this one out. Guess I won't be reading this anytime soon. Maybe if it ever gets to my library one day. View all 17 comments. My actual rating is 3. Because of how much I enjoyed reading it. Is it a masterpiece of literature? But do you know what it is? Because it has an insane amount of bad ratings and reviews. Most of the other reviews seem to feel like this about the book: It's certainly not going to appeal to everyone.
However, it is incredibly rare that I am on the side of liking something that everyone else seems to hate My actual rating is 3. However, it is incredibly rare that I am on the side of liking something that everyone else seems to hate. I'm usually on the other side of this fence. I'm usually the one hating the books everyone loves and feeling bad about it.
Not to mention the fact that this is the kind of book that I should dislike. It's not something I expected to like, certainly not as much as I do, and yet here we are. Because the first part of the book is basically the entire first part of the Disney movie, nearly word for word, and that seems to have been part of the issue for some people but, for me personally, I actually loved that. It gave me a feeling of comfort and put a big cheesy grin on my face.
I liked that it gave it the feeling of 'hey, I know this story' to then be contrasted with the 'whole new world' not even sorry once the 'sliding doors' type moment occurs and takes the rest of the story in a different direction. When the story changed, I was genuinely gripped. I wanted to see how things turned out, wanted to find out what would happen and it was such an enjoyable 'magic carpet' ride no, I will not stop.
My favourite street rat was still being his charming, cheeky, witty self and my badass princess who won't take anyone's crap and stands up for what she believes in was still stomping all over the patriarchy, kicking ass and taking names. The other familiar characters were all there and there were new characters who I really enjoyed. I loved the development of the dictatorship and I liked how poverty was explored through Jasmine having her eyes opened to it and the fact that we spent more of the story with the street rats rather than among the royals.
The progression of Jafar and how he ruled was interesting. Seeing the way he gained trust and tricked people into thinking he was on their side only to then take everything away I mean, who does that remind you of? Because overall, it just all worked for me and I really liked it. Aug 24, Selene rated it it was ok. I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I can't wait to start this book and hope that I enjoy it after all those low reviews!
The first book in A Twisted Tale trilogy is a dark rendition of Aladdin. This story is about Jafar who steals a genie lamp. He uses his first two wishes to become sultan of Agrabah and the most powerful sorcerer in the world. The citizens of Agr I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The citizens of Agrabah live in fear of Jafar's final wish. Aladdin and Jasmine team together in a fight for freedom to unite the people of Agrabah in a rebellion which leads to a civil war Why are we rehashing Jasmine and Aladdin?! Why not take this opportunity to get a better look at Jafar's character rather than retell me a love story I already know. The tag line for this book was: If Disney didn't own the rights to this book it would be pure plagiarism. I don't know if I noticed this mostly because I rewatched the Aladdin movie in preparation for reading this book.
This was a really dull read with no depth or intensity which is unfortunate because the author had an opportunity to create something really wonderful. As some people have already pointed out this book felt like copyright and fanfiction, which just isn't my thing. I highly doubt I will continue with this series. This is nothing like the recreation of the Disney Classic I had in mind. Feb 09, Stephanie Bookfever rated it did not like it Shelves: I didn't like A Whole New World at all. I'll even go so far as to say that it's one of the worst books I have read this year so far.
It really pains me to say so but this book was really a disappointment. A huge part of this book was just like the movie. Maybe that isn't so bad but I was just so bored by it. Once the author started twisting the story it was less predictable but equally boring to me. The thing I disliked the most was the writing. It wasn't good at all. It was way too colorless and lacked some kind of depth. The characters were colorless as well. Especially Aladdin and Jasmine. The conversations between them didn't feel natural and I felt myself not wanting to read about them at all.
At this point I was more interested in reading about Jafar, to be honest. At least there was a little bit of excitement with him because he's so evil. Really, I didn't enjoy reading about any of the characters. I guess it's a good concept, reimagining classic Disney stories but it could've been written better, I think, and without making the characters so flat and uninteresting.
So yeah, this book wasn't the right one for me, per se. I do hope others will enjoy it more than I did but I wouldn't recommend it. Apr 17, Frankie Lovely marked it as dnf. Feb 09, Mel Daily Prophecy marked it as to-read Shelves: Half of my interest is just jumping on the bandwagon. The other half is because of the series title. This is the book 10YO Hannah has been begging for. View all 5 comments. Feb 09, Alyssa rated it it was ok Shelves: September 1, Rating: This could have gone a lot better. If you've seen the movie Aladdin , then you're set. This book isn't necessary at all, if you've watched the movie.
- ReWire?
- Blowjob in the Bathroom (Erics Awakening Book 1).
- See a Problem?;
- Hes Gone Away.
- Journey of a Lifetime.
And even if you haven't watched the movie This wasn't a good story, and it wasn't a good book based off the movie. Whatever it was, it wasn't great. Aladdin is a Street Rat, born and raised in the streets of Agrabah. One day, the princess decides to take a stroll in the market. Aladdin rescues her from getting her hands cut off. She tells him that she is running away from home, because her father is going to force her to marry someone. Then Aladdin is whisked away to Jafar, who has him get the lamp from the cave in the desert, by trickery.
Aladdin survives, Jafar gets the lamp, and makes two wishes - to be the sultan, and to be the most powerful sorcerer in the world. Together, Aladdin and Jasmine must rally the Street Rats and people of Agrabah in order to defeat Jafar and take back the city. I did actually finish this book, which is a plus. I'm not in the habit of DNF-ing, but still. This book wasn't so awful that even I couldn't finish it. It's really similar to the movie, which I guess could be a good thing or a bad thing. I'm looking at it as a bad thing, but hey, another reader out there might be delighted that there is a new publication of Aladdin in book form, with a slightly different spin, too!
What I Did Not Like: The writing style was VERY trivial - juvenile, as a friend of mine said. Too many modern phrases or attempts at modern phrases for my taste. This is supposed to be a fantasy novel, with magic and sultans and sorcerers and genies. Nowhere is this supposed to have even a hint of modern-day contemporary world-building or aspects or anything.
And back to the writing in general - poor, at best. I couldn't take the writing seriously, because it seemed choppy and almost conversational, but not a good kind of conversational. Like a conversational with someone that isn't telling the story well. It was like the author was trying too hard for this book to be fun and light and cute This book is so similar to the movie, I might as well have just popped the movie in and watched. But this book was way worse - the movie is amazing and cannot be touched, but this book doesn't come anywhere close to the movie.
And separate the book from the movie - this book would still be painful, with the choppy, childish writing style, the poorly development characters, the sloppy romance. I'll get to that in a minute. I didn't feel like Jasmine or Aladdin grew very much, as characters. Jasmine, maybe, because she stopped being spoiled for about ten minutes so she could save the world.
The thing is, Braswell does a lot of telling, and not showing. The same goes with Aladdin's character development. I'm struggling to understand this. This book is supposed to be a Young Adult book, right? It seemed so poorly constructed, maybe for young kids, ages seven to ten or something. Logically, it doesn't make sense. The romance is so sloppy! So much insta-love going on!
From the start, it's attraction at first sight, which is FINE. But the relationship does not develop at all. Braswell does a lot of telling us about the relationship, but not showing. I don't know how Aladdin and Jasmine grew to trust each other or even like each other. Not good enough for me. Cookie cutter perfect ending! I don't think I could reccommend it to anyone. Jun 29, Captain Curmudgeon rated it did not like it Shelves: Serial murder business based on O. Didn't like the characterization of William Sydney Porter, which seems to have been fictional. Hope his heirs sue the author and win.
Sep 20, Sunny rated it did not like it. I really couldn't finish it. Loved the idea, not the execution. Temos crimes violentos reais, perpetuados contra empregadas negras em Austin no ano de e em que o criminoso nunca foi encontrado. Jul 09, Garrett Ruiz rated it really liked it. A well written historical fiction tale that weaves real-life intrigue with colorful characters!
And as promised, delivers a solid twist at the end. Some parts felt oddly and perhaps unnecessarily sexualized. Jul 09, Vivvi rated it liked it. Really interesting historical info about Austin and interpretation the murders-- could have been pages shorter. Historical fiction mashup of O. Henry and unsolved serial killings Who knew that O. Henry was actually a sometime bank-clerk and self-educated doodler from Austin, Texas named William Sydney Porter, who was accused of embezzling form his employer and fled to Honduras to avoid trial, leaving behind a young daughter and a dying wife?
I sure didn't before picking up Saylor's historical fiction, which links Porter to another set of little-known historical facts--a series of unsolved mur Review title: I sure didn't before picking up Saylor's historical fiction, which links Porter to another set of little-known historical facts--a series of unsolved murders Porter dubbed the unknown assailants "the Servant Girl Annihilators" in Austin that predated the Ripper killings in London, wrre similarly bold and bloody, and remain just as unsolved even though mostly forgotten.
The link and the eventually revealed protaganists are fictional, of course, although Saylor claims plausible given the evidence--and who can argue unless they've seen the research he amassed he does provide a brief afterword with some source information. One key piece of historical data Saylor cites is that after returning to the US to be with his wife as she passed away to face his trial and conviction for embezzling, Porter steadfastly insisted on his innocence but refused to explain it or provide evidence. Saylor supposes that revealing that knowledge would unravel other mysteries in Porter's life that would have wrecked his assumed life as a popular writer of short stories with twisted endings.
But Saylor's mystery, while interesting enough to pass the time, really isn't deep enough to justify the secret, so this story is ultimately just OK and no better. Who knew that O. I sure didn't before picking up Saylor's historical fiction, which links Porter to another set of little-known historical facts--a series of unsolved murders Porter dubbed the unknown assailants "the Servant Girl Annihilators" in Austin that predated the Ripper killings in London, were similarly bold and bloody, and remain just as unsolved even though mostly forgotten.
The link and the eventually revealed protagonists are fictional, of course, although Saylor claims plausible given the evidence--and who can argue unless they've seen the research he amassed he does provide a brief afterword with some source information. Originally published on my blog here in February William Porter, better known as writer O. Henry, had a secret past which only came to light with his early death at the height of his fame. As a young man, he lived in the city of Austin, Texas, at a time when the state was moving away from its earlier Wild West lawlessness.
There, he had embezzled money from the bank where he worked, and had run away to the Honduras, a country with which the US had no extradition treaty and which became the Originally published on my blog here in February There, he had embezzled money from the bank where he worked, and had run away to the Honduras, a country with which the US had no extradition treaty and which became the basis of Anchuria in Cabbages and Kings.
When he was informed that his wife was dying from consumption, he returned, and after her death served a prison term. Even after he became successful, it is thought that he was the victim of a blackmailer, though it is not quite clear whether this was connected to his jail sentence he was certainly afraid that revelation of his past would destroy his popularity or whether some other secret was involved. What Saylor has done is connect Porter's early life with a serial killing in Austin in the s, while he was there, a sequence of horrific murders to rival Jack the Ripper's more famous Whitechapel killings at about the same time.
Austin's police force used an investigation method which basically consisted of finding some black man with a connection to the victim, and asserting his guilt, something which even at the time began to cause something of a scandal. The obvious parallels with cases like that of Rodney King show that American law enforcement has not, however, advanced as much as might be hoped.
And the UK is hardly perfect, with the Guildford Four and Birmingham Six only relatively recently being officially exonerated. Many of the characters in Saylor's novel are real people; several of the ideas, including his solution to the mystery and, I suspect though he doesn't actually say, the mechanism of Porter's connection to it are fictional.
Saylor's earlier Roman novels show that he is an expert in blending fact and fiction, a necessary quality in any successful historical novelist. Moving out of his familiar background while still remaining successful was quite a steep challenge the work involved in research alone is not negligible , and so Saylor has shown considerable versatility.
Honour the Dead is a long novel, much longer than most of the Gordianus series, and it doesn't consistently hold the reader's interest. The case itself is fascinating, if repellent, and Saylor's conclusion feels satisfying once it is reached, but I never had any desire to read more than two or three chapters at a sitting. Good, but not Saylor's best. ISBN - When I picked up a copy of this book, it was with the hope of selling it for a reasonable price. Usually, I curse the insert bad word s who ruin book prices by selling for a penny. In this case, I thank them! Unable to sell it, I thought I'd read it and am glad I did.
Will Porter was living in Texas when one of America's earliest serial killers started killing. At first, the murders were of blacks, and the city seemed to care little about the loss of life.
- Ich tanze so lange ich kann: Der Mut, sich einer unheilbaren Krankheit zu stellen (German Edition).
- A Whole New World (A Twisted Tale #1) by Liz Braswell.
- Macrame design, with instructions.
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- A Twist at the End by Steven Saylor.
Porter's interest is ISBN - When I picked up a copy of this book, it was with the hope of selling it for a reasonable price. Porter's interest is at least in part because he is close friends with Dave Shoemaker, who covers the story for the papers. When the killings eventually take two white women in one night - including Porter's one love - the manhunt becomes more serious.
At the same time, the author tells the story of O. Henry - the name under which Will Porter writes, years later, in New York.
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He is being blackmailed, although who and why are not revealed; he is being hounded by editors that he's promised articles to, and he hasn't got them written. When he is approached by a man who claims to be a friend of a friend, when the man claims that their mutual friend has the answer to who the Servant Girl Annihilator was Henry to go back to Texas for the answer. While I'm glad I read this book, it's not because it's a great book. It's a good book, with an interesting fictional story that twines together two true stories.
That twining together simply muddies up the line between fiction and reality and I think it did a disservice to both stories. Still, the book is well-written, manages to present some possible answers to unanswered questions and gives Porter a nice, clean reason for his embezzlement which isn't a newly suggested reason, it's just more fleshed-out.
I can't help but wonder how the descendants of Grooms Lee, a buffoon in both history and historical fiction, and Eula Phillips, painted a whore here at least, feel about the book.
A Whole New World
I found myself annoyed that Saylor had Elisabet Ney speaking like Yoda, but that's a small thing. I'd read something else from Saylor, if it was either fiction or non-fiction, but there's something in his style with historical fiction that I won't be seeking out again any time soon. At first, I couldn't really get into this book and just kept reading it because I am stubborn.
But in the end, I did like it. This book just had more melancholy than usual for Saylor's books, so it wasn't completely a "fun" read. If you enjoy trying to figure out a mystery before the solution is revealed at the end, this book may not be for you. It is fairly obv At first, I couldn't really get into this book and just kept reading it because I am stubborn.
It is fairly obvious at the outset who is beyond the gruesome killings, but the why and how is not so obvious and becomes the big reveal. However, Saylor is very good at taking historical figures and events and weaving them into an interesting story, so on that basis alone, I would recommend this book and his other mysteries. Aug 20, Kimberlee rated it liked it Shelves: This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I loved the history presented in this book, and overall, I enjoyed the plot.
What I did not enjoy was the surprising revelation regarding one of the main characters. This is a character who initially was presented to us in third person, but after a certain point, we heard no more of her except through other characters. Suddenly the reader receives a wealth of information regarding things she's been doing and it was jarring not to have known this. I'm sure the author intended this to be a surpris I loved the history presented in this book, and overall, I enjoyed the plot.
I'm sure the author intended this to be a surprise, a 'reveal' moment, but for me it was disillusioning and I spent those chapters sure that the information had to be lies because it seemed so out of character, completely incredulous and out of context based on what we HAD read of her, and the fact that we'd read nothing of her for so long. Only realised it was based upon a real set of historical murders and characters in the Author's Note at the end.
Explains why it was more gruesome than Saylor's usual. Disturbing, somewhat sickening, with its roots in the role and rights of women and coloured in the late 19th century. Bit heavy going though. And I can't say I liked anyone, except maybe the sculptress, and Howard. If we were to only see Eula Phillips from Will Porter's point of view, her actions, or at least, what we later saw her Only realised it was based upon a real set of historical murders and characters in the Author's Note at the end.
If we were to only see Eula Phillips from Will Porter's point of view, her actions, or at least, what we later saw her actions to be, would be more believeable. Except we don't, we see inside her own head early on, so it was only the murderer's statement that he saw her arrive home that convinced me that any of it was true. Plus, you can see Saylor's murderer a mile off.
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Sep 16, Denise rated it really liked it Shelves: A different kind of book from Steven Saylor. He writes about a series of murders that occurred in Austin, Texas, in These gruesome murders happened three years before the Jack the Ripper murders in England. The savagery inflicted on the victims appalled the towns people with its bloodiness. The murderer s were never apprehended and as time passed the events slowly passed from public conscious A different kind of book from Steven Saylor. The murderer s were never apprehended and as time passed the events slowly passed from public consciousness.
But the author has brought back the details of the case and woven his own imagination into a possible conclusion. The story begins slowly and then accelerates the closer a reader gets to the conclusion. A very good murder mystery! Jul 31, Byron rated it really liked it. I've never considered myself a fan of the mystery genre. Books, movies, TV shows, never much cared for them. I hunted down a copy of "A Twist at the End" because it's one of the very few books written about or around the "servant girl annihilator" murders. Victorian era serial killers are a secret passion of mine.
Anyway, right off the top I was taken in by Saylor's style and rapturous storytelling. Lots of characters and many parallel and overlapping sub-plots aren't enough to slow this book do I've never considered myself a fan of the mystery genre. Lots of characters and many parallel and overlapping sub-plots aren't enough to slow this book down and the reader steamrolls into the climactic courtroom scene salivating for more. I found it a little too Hollywood-esque, especially after all the painstakingly researched period thrills. Dec 18, Georgia rated it liked it. Interesting historical fiction novel about early Austin in the s during the serial murder spree by the unsub dubbed the Servant Girl Annihilator.