The Deceiver

Rating:
Summary: They were the Harknesses
Review: THE DECEIVER is a family saga. Beginning at the end of the nineteenth century, it follows one extended family on through the next hundred or so years through a series of loosely connected vignettes. (You may want to draw up a family tree when you start, to help keep track of relations.) The title refers to a character that occasionally appears to offer advice or suggestions to certain family members at relevant times. Sometimes it is a stranger on the street, sometimes a friend or associate.

But with the exception of a tragic event that occurs at the story's end, this entity's words seem to have little or no effect. Episodes go by without any intervention at all. One wonders whether his/her presence was even necessary.

As always, Melanie Tem's keen understanding of psychology and human interrelations shines. There just isn't a substantial plot beneath it.

The other thing worth mentioning is that this book is not horror. There is one hallucinatory segment that would place it in the genre, but it seems incongruous. It is otherwise a straight family history; why it is labeled a horror novel, and a "terrifying" one at that, is something I don't understand. Lazy marketing, I suppose. In any case, those looking for such a thing will likely be disappointed, while those who do normally enjoy reading these kinds of stories will probably miss out on it entirely.

Rating:
Summary: They were the Harknesses
Review: THE DECEIVER is a family saga. Beginning at the end of the nineteenth century, it follows one extended family on through the next hundred or so years through a series of loosely connected vignettes. (You may want to draw up a family tree when you start, to help keep track of relations.) The title refers to a character that occasionally appears to offer advice or suggestions to certain family members at relevant times. Sometimes it is a stranger on the street, sometimes a friend or associate.

But with the exception of a tragic event that occurs at the story's end, this entity's words seem to have little or no effect. Episodes go by without any intervention at all. One wonders whether his/her presence was even necessary.

As always, Melanie Tem's keen understanding of psychology and human interrelations shines. There just isn't a substantial plot beneath it.

The other thing worth mentioning is that this book is not horror. There is one hallucinatory segment that would place it in the genre, but it seems incongruous. It is otherwise a straight family history; why it is labeled a horror novel, and a "terrifying" one at that, is something I don't understand. Lazy marketing, I suppose. In any case, those looking for such a thing will likely be disappointed, while those who do normally enjoy reading these kinds of stories will probably miss out on it entirely.