Rating: 
Summary: well done
Review: A good psychological thriller that also is a deft analysis of a dysfunctional family. Had me guessing right up to the end.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Film Script
Review: After reading "Raveling" I think it would make a brilliant psychological thriller film.I began to read the book feeling confused, but as it "unraveled" it became more and more engrossing.. Brilliant stuff!
Rating:
Summary: Great Film Script
Review: After reading "Raveling" I think it would make a brilliant psychological thriller film. I began to read the book feeling confused, but as it "unraveled" it became more and more engrossing.. Brilliant stuff!
Rating:
Summary: Weird and crazy and wonderful . . .
Review: Although not written in chapters, this book is very easy to get into and it keeps your interest throughout the whole thing. It's the craziest book I've ever read, but it's so good! Pilot, the narrator, is very frank about everything, which makes you like him so much. I especially love his flashbacks that involve Fiona. They're hilarious! The descriptions are some of the best I've ever read. I hope the author has written more books like this because I definitely want to read them!
Rating:
Summary: An Award-Deserving Debut
Review: As a mystery writer with my first novel in its initial release, I make numerous bookstore appearances promoting my book. At one of my early bookstore appearances, a noted bookseller drew my attention to Peter Moore Smith's RAVELING. The bookseller was correct. RAVELING is a extraordinary work. It deals with a disintegrating family. Pilot is the schizophrenic son. Pilot's older brother, Eric, is a prominent neurosurgeon. Twenty years earlier, Fiona, the little sister, disappeared. The novel deals with the relationship between the past and the present as well as Pilot's constantly fluctuating boundary between illusion and reality. It addresses cruelty and abuse and the complex relationships within the Airie family. RAVELING is truly a masterpiece, deserving of the recgonition it has received.
Rating: 
Summary: Raveling
Review: As a writer, I found many flaws in this book. The writer uses a poor simile on page 1 (blue-purple vein and trickling wine) and then uses it several times in the novel. When the mother is introduced we get the same description-the cancer and the vein. He gives characters odd behaviors (such as Kathrine always chewing the scabs on her fingers and knuckles--why does she have them?) but never explains why the characters do these things. He uses a cheap tactic to get around the limitations of first person POV and thinks the reader won't mind, and won't find it annoying and confusing. The plot is very compelling (like watching a train wreck) but that is the only good thing about the book. There are a few moments in the book that are well written, and show great talent, but the entire book reads like a promising first draft, and not a polished novel.
Rating:
Summary: Twist and Twist Again
Review: Don't assume for a moment that you know where this story is headed. As soon as you are convinced of one 'truth', you will be cleverly turned around and upside down to face another 'truth'. Incredibly entertaining!!
Rating:
Summary: Raveling keeps you raveling.
Review: For a first time novel, Smith's plot is very engrossing. You can't help but get caught up in your feelings about the characters even when the narrative is clumsy. If you don't mind reading between the lines, and filling in for yourself what is missing, then this is a great read. Although it like an extended high school creative writing essay - it still is a book you can't put down.
Rating:
Summary: THE UNRAVELING
Review: Have to give Mr. Smith an A+ for coming up with a very unique way to deal with a narrative; the POV from a psychotic-schizophrenic's mind is quite unusual, to say the least. Only when this POV shifts to other people near the end of the book does this device seem so contrived. All of a sudden, we're shifting between Pilot and Eric's point of view, and if that weren't confusing enough, we even get little Fiona's point of view. If Smith is trying to suggest that Pilot has all of these thoughts in his head, it's a weak way out, and it almost negates the complexity of his work.
From the onset, I pretty much knew what to expect by the end. Pilot was such a "put upon" youth, even by his older brother, Eric, that to think he was truly insane wouldn't have worked iin Smith's plot. With that aside, it's just a matter of finding out exactly what happened to little Fiona.
We never really get to understand what's behind Katherine's seemingly compulsive behavior of biting her fingernails until they bleed; the section with Pilot, his father and father's mistress, Patricia, seems forced, and what happens when they are on the deserted island, also seems way out of nowhere.
Given all these flaws,though, the book does have some genuinely good thrills and Pilot's mental illness is handled well.
RECOMMENDED, BUT DON'T PUT YOUR EXPECTATIONS TOO HIGH.
Rating:
Summary: THE UNRAVELING
Review: Have to give Mr. Smith an A+ for coming up with a very unique way to deal with a narrative; the POV from a psychotic-schizophrenic's mind is quite unusual, to say the least. Only when this POV shifts to other people near the end of the book does this device seem so contrived. All of a sudden, we're shifting between Pilot and Eric's point of view, and if that weren't confusing enough, we even get little Fiona's point of view. If Smith is trying to suggest that Pilot has all of these thoughts in his head, it's a weak way out, and it almost negates the complexity of his work.
From the onset, I pretty much knew what to expect by the end. Pilot was such a "put upon" youth, even by his older brother, Eric, that to think he was truly insane wouldn't have worked iin Smith's plot. With that aside, it's just a matter of finding out exactly what happened to little Fiona.
We never really get to understand what's behind Katherine's seemingly compulsive behavior of biting her fingernails until they bleed; the section with Pilot, his father and father's mistress, Patricia, seems forced, and what happens when they are on the deserted island, also seems way out of nowhere.
Given all these flaws,though, the book does have some genuinely good thrills and Pilot's mental illness is handled well.
RECOMMENDED, BUT DON'T PUT YOUR EXPECTATIONS TOO HIGH.
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