Sunday, March 29, 2009

Hungry Ghosts

Dunlap, Susan. Hungry Ghosts.

Darcy Lott is a stunt double who has returned to her native San Francisco, somewhat reluctantly and after a long absence, to serve as assistant to her Zen teacher in his new Zendo. Right before a dangerous stunt, Darcy thinks she sees her brother Mike, who disappeared years ago.

I found this mystery interesting enough to continue reading although I found myself nitpicking all the way through. The plot lines seemed far-fetched and convoluted, and some elements that were introduced weren't wrapped up satisfactorily. None of the characters came through for me, and the conclusion was predictable and anticlimactic.


Fiction. Mystery. 2008. 264 pages.

7 comments:

  1. If a book like this is written well, I can usually suspend my disbelief, but there are times when I can't do it for whatever reason. It sounds like that may have been the case for you with this one.

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  2. Darn it all anyway! Hope your next selection will be more satisfying.

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  3. LF - I'm good at suspending disbelief, but only if I'm right there with the characters. This one just didn't work for me.

    booklogged - Oh, yes. I'm having good luck so far this year. I've got a couple more to review that I really enjoyed. :)

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  4. That's disappointing. It can be hard to finf a good mystery.

    Have you tried In The Woods or The Likeness by Tana French. She's really good. I read In the Woods and am looking forward to getting the time to read The Likeness. Great characterizations and really literary mysteries.

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  5. Nicole - Oh, yes, I've read both and loved them both. I liked The Likeness even better than In the Woods and eagerly await French's next installment!

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  6. I hate it when a book leaves so much to be desired that your internal editor won't shush.

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  7. bookfool - Exactly! That internal editor that keeps making snarky comments...

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