Breakheart Hill
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A fantastic read. Drama is created in a stunning fashion throughout with the reader is kept in suspense; not knowing quite what happened in the past. The ending was sublime with an unexpected twist in the tail. This is the first book that I have read by this author but it won't be the last.
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Thomas H. Cook - Breakheart Hill
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Since reading Red Leaves, I've devoured all Cook's books readily available in the UK (basically, those three published by Quercus), and have found each one to live up to the promise of that first one I tried. So far, neither (The Murmur of Stones or Breakheart Hill) betters Red Leaves for it's beauty and shattering power, but this one comes the closest. Cook writes so sensitively, with such strange and entrancing imagery, that it's hard not to be enraptured. He can occasionally be melodramatic, but that's fine for a crime novel. The way he tells his stories - which is similar to how Kazuo Ishiguro narrates his novels - through the prism of chopping-and-changing unreliable memory, ensures the reader is always on their toes, and is always waiting for something to be revealed. The sucess of his books does seem to rely on the conclusion (all that suspenseful build-up needs something big at the end to satisfy the reader), and, in The Murmur of Stones it wasn't so strong, but with this book the conclusion is almost as strong and brilliant as Red Leaves, making this another excellent crime novel. Highly recommended.
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More than just a 'Crime' novel.
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Anyone familiar with Thomas H Cook's work will tell you that this is one of, if not the best book he has written. As with all Cook's novels, he manages to combine a brilliantly crafted thriller with a devastating critique on a facet of American life; in this case the small town South.In telling the story through Ben Wade's reminiscence of a teenage crush that went tragically wrong, Cook manages to highlight the ambiguities and denial of the American South during a time of great social change; namely in the form of the 'Negro' question. At first one gets the impression that the town of Choctaw is destined to be unaffected by the changes all around them. But the arrival of Kelly, a dark, sensitive and beautiful young girl, unleashes powerful emotions among her fellow school friends, but especially Ben. Their response to these emotions ultimately ends in tragedy. This story will stay with you for a long long time!
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Read this book!
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This is one of my all-time favorite books, and I have read it several times. Beautifully written, exceptional characterization and plotting, with a surprise ending that might break your heart.
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A beautiful book superbly and sensitively written
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My first experience of a Thomas H Cook novel which left me very impressed. Cook captures superbly the impact of a dark and traumatic event on a small southern US town. He deals beautifully with the complex emotions associated with not only first love, but also middle and old age. The atmosphere generated by his writing transported me to Choctaw and allowed me to feel what the inhabitants themselves may have been feeling when confronted with, and dealing with in their varying ways, the horror of the attack on Kelli Troy. The suspense left me wanting to devour information that would allow me to solve the riddle of "who done it" well before the surprise ending arrived. Excellent !
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