The Tutor

Rating:
Summary: The Tutor
Review: I think I shall rave about this book for a little while--at least long enough to assuage the guilt over not simply giving it a five-star nod. I mean, how do you actually rate a novel that is a traditional thriller, but dares to remain understated, dares to avoid glitz, most of the way through? Ultimately, I think the author could have worked in a few more scenes of real mayhem and yet not degenerated to shlock, but since he didn't--since The Tutor is restrained, creeping terror without splatter til the late-going--I'm left trying to say it like this: for restrained, creeping terror in a domestic setting, I award the full five starrinos, but for not finding a way to work in a bit more splatter, I deduct one star, leaving a sort of phantom or ghost star.

Which means it's still well worth reading. Fans of Ramsey Campbell's Nazareth Hill should stop here, to meet another plucky adolescent girl who may be the only one clever enough to notice danger as it slowly infects her home (of course any brave child remotely resembling the heroine in Nazareth Hill, and finding herself in similar--but not supernatural--dire straits, is likely to win me over big-time). Fans of Stephen King's Misery should probably meet The Tutor; Peter Abrahams seems to have King's ability to create characters and situations presented in a style that compels you to read on and on and on until the book is suddenly finished (and they both do psychopaths very well, thank you). Fans of...well, heck, either Conan Doyle's "The Speckled Band", or Alan Scholefield's forgotten novel Venom (also a forgotten film!), should read The Tutor, if snakes don't actually make you shiver too much, that is. And most of all, fans of something like A Judgement In Stone, by Ruth Rendell, should read this, because Rendell had already proved that you don't need violence in every chapter of a thriller to generate palpable chills.

Iago fans are also invited, to come appreciate Abraham's terrible, tutoring, two-faced villain. Columbo fans...hey, drop in also, to watch eleven-year-old Ruby start to collect the clues that say her family has invited evil into their home. Now that I've invited everyone, I'll stop. But read this book, thriller fans!

Rating:
Summary: Only slightly sinister
Review: Linda and Scott Gardner have hired an instructer from a tutoring service, Julian Sawyer, to privately tutor their son, Brandon, and help him improve his SAT scores. Brandon is all set to dislike Julian right from the get-go but never gets the chance. Hey, this guy is cool! Linda and Scott fall for the tutor's charm next, relying on him for car rides, business and financial advice, and tennis tips. Brandon's little sister, Ruby, age eleven, an outgoing little Sherlock fan, shares Brandon's feelings as well. But she's also brighter than her brother (or parents) and soon deduces that Julian is not everything he appears. While the rest of her family is cuddled in Julian's palm like a sparrow in the hand of the neighborhood bully, Ruby is sniffing along for clues in a manner even Sherlock Holmes couldn't knock.

THE TUTOR starts out strong. The pace is fast, the details interesting, the characters memorable. The middle isn't so bad either. But the ending bombs inexcusably -- perhaps because as the story progresses it becomes more and more out of this world. Peter Abrahams has created here a portfolio of surreal characters, more caricatures than flesh and blood people. Each one represents a certain weakness which Julian exploits to the hilt, although Julian himself has weaknesses, as every good villain must. There's a blurb on this book's jacket from Stephen King praising the author, and while Abrahams's style may briefly remind you of King's in the way it comes across as not quite on the level, Abrahams doesn't hold a candle to King's way with words. THE TUTOR is reasonably well written and contains some excellent descriptions, but most books are reasonably well written. Little here stands out.

Horror fans, be warned. You may not be horrified (unless snakes deeply upset you). But THE TUTOR is a stylishly crafted if skewed nailbiter tale, and as such should have a case with suspense fans.

Rating:
Summary: Unlikeable Characters and a Bewildering Ending
Review: The Tutor is a suspenseful and scary book that was quite entertaining. Unfortunately I must admit that instead of feeling satisfied by it I can't help but be disappointed that a great plot was not developed and fleshed out with nicer characters and a more cohesive sequence of events.

In my view the characters were unlikeable, except for the charming 11-year-old Ruby. This girl basically looks after herself in every way; she cooks her own meals, locks the house up after her, travels alone on her bicycle, etc. This is completely unbelievable and makes her parents look neglectful. They regularly returned home at seven or eight in the evening without checking to make sure she'd got home from school all right or anything! Then there's Brandon, the teenage jerk who needs a tutor because he failed his SAT. To be honest I thought that Brandon was an awful parody of a teenager - he drank, smoked, did crack, skipped school, flunked his exams, had meaningless sex, listened to rap, swore constantly. After all this are we really supposed to sympathize with him? A lot of the families bad behaviour could be justified by the death of the eldest son Adam years ago, and although of course this is a terrible event, I just did not buy that the family could become so dysfunctional just because he had died.

The best bit about the story was Julian - the villain. I liked the parts of the story about him, as he was truly vile and unfeeling. The parts of the book from Ruby's point of view were great as well and very funny in places. It was these moments that kept me reading on avidly despite my vague dislike for Linda, Scott and Brandon.

Overall The Tutor kept me in suspense but I have no inclination to read it again (as I do with books that I like) and it leaves me with more questions than answers. My advice is read The Perfect Crime also by Peter Abrahams, which I think is a much better thriller with a great plot.

JoAnne