Crocodile Bird

Rating:
Summary: Mersmerizing. Captivating. The best!
Review: Along with Tree of Hands, this is my favorite work by Ruth Rendell. She is such a gifted novelist and talented writer. The first time through this book, I was totally captivated by the artistry of her presentation and the intriguing-ness of the plot. I can't believe that one professional reviewer found it slow. I was totally gripped as the story progeressed and totally unsure about what would happen. I feared the worst and thought the whole thing had been set up brilliantly. Everything about this was great in my opinion: the mystery, the characterizations, the captivating setting. I've reread it just to see the artistry. There's much here of the passion of physical love and how parents can hurt their children and the resilience of a gifted human spirit. I loved it.

Rating:
Summary: Dull and implausible
Review: Am I the only one who finds most of Rendell's books dull, silly and implausible? This one was particularly bad. The central idea was laboured and highly unlikely and rammed home to the reader by countless reiterations of the same theme. Dickens, indeed! I've rarely come across such unbelievable characters or such poor dialogue. And how anyone can compare Rendell's writng to that of P.D. James amazes me. Baroness James couldn't write this badly if she tried.