Rating: 
Summary: Outstanding
Review: Well, I'm one of those people. I knew the ending to "The Sixth Sense" less than a few minutes in. So any novel that can absolutely blow me away with a suprise deserves credit.And it's all so much better when everything that leads up to that suprise is a wonderfully written as this. The characters are drawn with subtlety and depth - especially Felsen. I still am not completely sure what we are to make of him. The setting really communicates what makes Portugal unique, without making it seem quaint and odd. The only real drawback for me was a certain violence to his sexual imagery that went throughout the entire book. While sexual sadism is a definite theme, I think that it permeated scenes where it wasn't intended to.
Rating: 
Summary: wonderful profile of a people
Review: This book is a wonderful surprise. Robert Wilson describes Portugal from World War Two 'till these days with a superb knowledge of its historic facts and, above all, its people. I believe few Portuguese could describe themselves in such a crude and admiring way. Thanks Mr. Wilson for such a compellent and brilliant book
Rating:
Summary: An experience to be savored
Review: Some books are to be gulped in a single sitting, others should be savored. This book is of the latter category. I stumbled upon this novel by accident was completely surprised for it is a category I don't usually read. It was very much like discovering a new friend who invites you to sit by firelight and share a brandy while he has a remarkable story to tell. The layers of plot, both past and present, are woven with such depth and description I simply did not want to put it down. Mr. Wilson is that rare writer who gives a reader fresh images and new connections between history (and mystery) and does so with page-turning speed. This is a writer to watch and I truly hope his next work is coming along soon!
Rating:
Summary: Best mystery of 2000, by far
Review: So far, I've read 107 assorted and sundry thrillers, mysteries, court-room dramas, and the like this year. (Come to think of it, this will probably *be* the last for the year!) Anyway, this tome easily eclipses all the various comers by a fair margin. This is a stupendously complex and vast tale, weaving (among many, many others) elements of Nazi Germany, WW II-era and currrent Portugal, avarice, corruption, sexual intrigue, and wolfram (who knew?), covering 50-plus years in the telling. The prose is rich and dense, rife with metaphor and allegory. A window is opened onto contemporary Lisbon and environs that even the most celebrated travel writer would be envious of. Similarly, an exceedingly keen eye is focused on certain elements of Portugal's role in WW II that may have heretofore escaped most readers The psychological characterization of the numerous players is knife-sharp, their sometimes very alarming actions fully (ultimately) explicated. These are fabulously rich characters, worthy equals to any of those by Dickens. The handling of dialogue is simply breath-taking. I cannot disagree more strongly with the naysayers below. This is a book to be savored and treasured. Mr. Wilson has done a great service in advancing the level of craftsmanship in this genre. I look forward with eager anticipation to future work by this author.
Rating: 
Summary: A 450 page shaggy dog story (though well written)
Review: I realize this book received many international awards, and most of the customer reviews were positive. Having said that, this book was way too much weight for a strained, incredulous plot. A book covering a 60 year period always suggests something of historical importance to me. Unfortunately this was not the case here. The time frame scaffolding and the historical events depicted just doesn't help the slender plot. You know the two stories are coming together sometime, but the way they do seems so offhand and, really, unrelated to whatever theme the author is trying to work out. The denouement comes out of left field and is very unsatisfying. Too much work to get through this slow, heavy, so called thriller.
Rating:
Summary: to discover lisboa
Review: it's a good book. but, first, it's a good chance to find the ambiance of lisboa, the portuguese capital, my town. my advice: read the book and came to visit lisboa. and then read the book again.
Rating:
Summary: Works as history, mystery, straight fiction
Review: I found this to be truly outstanding in every way. The murder plot was complicated, with many legitimate suspects and storylines converging on the victim. The other main story, beginning in 1941 and slowly accelerating toward the time of the murder, is interesting in its own right, and involves a lot of history - SS "financing" activities during and after WWII, and the history of Portugal pre- and post-Salazar. The convergence of the two stories is very well done; I kept thinking how controlled and synchronized the pacing was. We are shown how each of the main characters is affected by history's imprint upon their lives, the creeping backstory eventually overtaking and in a sense consuming the main plot. This is the richest, best fictional work I have read in at least a year.
Rating: 
Summary: Rich Carpet has a Sordid Side
Review: The reader of Small Death in Lisbon is most rewarded by Wilson's lush metaphors, deft verbs and illuminating adjectives. The language of the book is quite simply beautiful. At the end of the day, however, the plot is too complex to be entirely satisfying and its characters leave an unpleasant aftertaste. Wilson writes vividly about Klaus Felsen, a German merchant who is dragooned into SS service in WWII Germany and sent on a mission to Portugal that anticipates a Nazi defeat. Running concurrently with Felsen's wartime activities, though 50 years apart, is the investigation of the murder of a young girl conducted by Ze Coehlo, a Portuguese police detective. The events are ultimately connected, more or less cleverly, but the journey is figuratively and literally tortured. Sexual appetite and perversity are integral parts of this tale and for many readers this will prove distasteful. Wilson's characters are also more opaque than the rich tapestry of the writing. The principal bad guy, Klaus Felsen, is well-defined, but Ze Coelho, the natural hero of the piece, falls short of gaining the reader's sympathy and support.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome must read!
Review: Read the advance copy and couldn't put it down. Best book I read last summer.
Rating:
Summary: Diminished Capacity
Review: Robert Wilson has written a compelling mystery. The action begins slowly at first with lots of character development and then both time and activity condense. Although the reader knows from the beginning that the two time periods being presented must ultimately arrive at a single moment, the characters and action prohibit that thought from overriding the story line. Quite the contrary, in fact, as Wilson uses the technique to drive the readers' need to know. That is the strength of this book. But contrast Wilson's strength regarding his use of time and events to create atmosphere, with his weakness developing his character's sexual behavior. All of his actors are sexually one-dimensional creating disbelief that in a story with as many characters as this, that all of them would treat sex without depth of meaning. It is not clear from the readers' perspective whether or not the omission was intentional in an effort to add grayness to cascading events, or simply Wilson's lack of imagination. What is clear is that skipping those parts said something.
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