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A Traitor to Memory

A Traitor to Memory

List Price: $25.95
Your Price: $25.95
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Frustrating
Review: This is the first Elizabeth George book that I found frustrating, irritating and distracting. There were a few too many flashbacks, especially Gideon, and by the end of the book I could not tell whether I was reading in the present or in the past. Maybe this effect was intended by the author, but it spoiled the book for me. I didn't care about the endless sessions between Gideon and his psychiatrist or about his journal entries. I buy Elizabeth George to read about Lynley and Havers, Deborah and St. James, and the suspense of how the latest murder will be unraveled. I've actually written in the past about how well I thought George managed to bring all the different threads of her story together at the end to create closure, but I don't think she succeeded this time

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of Elizabeth George's best !
Review: This is a wonderful book! The characters are interesting and very well developed, and I became so engrossed in the story, that I found myself unable to put the book down until I had finished it. The old cast of characters is back: Lynley, Havers, Nkata, Lady Helen, Deborah and Simon, but they are secondary to the plot, and that was just fine. It was nice to reconnect with them, but I was glad that the author didn't let them get in the way of a really terrific story. The fact that the book is very long didn't bother me as it has some other readers. I found every word worth reading.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: after the wait...
Review: since reading IN PURSUIT... in 1999, i anticipated greater focus on havers in this book! while webberley and nkata are wonderful characters, nobody holds a candle to barbara havers with her fabulous fashion sense and ability to smack lynley with reality. i hope the next book develops her character even further.

ms george's writing is as richly textured and reliably enjoyable as ever. however, gideon davies was deathly dull as a narrator and character. i kept hoping he would sprain a finger thereby triggering a rush of memory with the pain and taking us readers more quickly to the resolution.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A New Direction
Review: Traitor to Memory is easily the most challenging read of Ms. George's recent work. Her traditional narrative is accompanied by the parallel narrative of one of the main character's diary. As usual, she doesn't succomb to the desire for an easy answer, but ending is rather bleak, and ultimately not terribly satisfying as a mystery. Still, the author again rises above the genre in her characters, and makes this a worthwhile read for her fans. It's definitely not for the first-time reader of Ms. George's work, though.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: I Suddenly Realized....
Review: I was on page 500-something and not much had happened! That's either a recommendation or not, I guess, because I was obviously still interested. I did start wondering why about then.

This latest is not my favorite Elizabeth George book, but sure kept me reading. It's difficult to imagine a weirder cast of characters...and more unanswered questions. I thought the journal writing technique was effective. One of the most interesting things in the book was the way Gideon's attitude changed over time...and then didn't. I thought the ending was pretty weak and Libby's action out of character. I really couldn't see her doing that.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Very disappointed in Elizabeth George's latest book
Review: When I began reading "A Traitor to Memory" I was so disgusted with the sexual descriptions I could not believe this was Elizabeth George. I put the book down, but later thought I would stick with it to see if it improved any. I did finish reading the long book, ploughing through Gideon's boring one-sided sessions with Dr.Rose, only to be rewarded with the stupid ending.

There was too much from Gideon, his sex-crazed friend Libby, and his father Richard and not enough from Inspector Lynley and Barbara Havers.

I hope that George will go back to her roots with Lynley and Havers, and skip all that sex. We didn't need it before, and we don't need it now.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good - but it could have been better
Review: This novel of Elizabeth George differs from her other novels in several ways. The Lynley and Havers team doesn't play such a significant role in the book. It is rather based on a lot of monologues by Gideon Davies, a famous violinist.

Gideons memory - or lack of it - is indeed the key to the mystery presented in the book: A 20 year drowning-accident of his younger sister, a german au pair girl, the protective love from his father and estrangement from his mother.

The book is thorough but prolonged. 662 pages to solve the mystery which turns out to be rather simple. The many monologues makes the story heavy without a certain amount of action. I've rated the book 4 stars. It has the genuine qualities that all novels of Elizabeth George have and it is a good book indeed. However, Elizabeth George is much better in "Deception of his mind" and "In presence of the enemy".

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Not Elizabeth's Greatest Book
Review: I'm a big fan of Elizabeth George's, and waited a long time for this book to come out.

I was very disappointed in this book. It was too long, and the storyline dragged on very slowly and wasn't up to her usual standards.

I waded through the entire book, only to be extremely disappointed by a bad, bad ending.

I hope Elizabeth's next one is better.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Very Long. Very good
Review: Having been a fan of Elizabeth George from the first, I find nothing in A Traitor to Memory to alter my view one iota. Her plot lines have always been circuitous and richly dense as have been her characters. I am reminded of Susan Howatch at the top of her form (Penmarric).
A Traitor to Memory stands as a tragic family saga as well as a murder mystery and it stands tall. I was enveloped in the book for a solid 3 day spell.
If you dont like "long" books..then by all means this is not the one for you. By all criteria I use to judge a work of fiction , I give it 5 stars.Length is not on my list.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Bad editing.
Review: I join the ranks of reviewers who are ardent George fans, but were disappointed by this book. While the story line may not be up to the high level we normally expect from Elizabeth George, the main problem is the editing. One example - the timeshifted tracks of Gideon's diary and the rest of the story is definitely confusing, but our confusion is exacerbated when the dates don't add up. We are told that Katja was released 12 weeks before Eugenie died on Nov 19. Yet she was apparently at the fateful concert on 13th July.
Did the people at Bantam read the book at all?


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