Rating: 
Summary: A mystery of the mind
Review: A professor of philosophy at Pearce College, Evan Birch is driving home from the grocery store one evening, his ten-year-old twin sons in the back of the car, when a state trooper pulls him over, handcuffs him, and tells him he's under arrest for suspicion of kidnapping. A local high school student, 16-year-old Joyce Bonner, is missing. Evan and his car were seen at the park where she disappeared on the day she disappeared. And that's not all. Evan is allowed to return home after questioning, but the incriminating evidence only grows. Although he knows he's innocent, he seems unable to convince anyone. The police turn up Joyce's lipstick in his car. His wife, Ellen, questions their boys in secret. One of the boys sneaks to the park to search for his own clues. Every action, every word, every thought is analyzed, turned upside down and inside out, until it's lost in the gray area between truth and lies. Despite (or perhaps because of) Evan's many philosophical asides, THE SPINNING MAN is fast paced and easy to understand, while still being far deeper than your average mystery. There is tension on many levels -- between Evan and Ellen, Evan and his children, Evan and the detectives, Evan and his students, Evan and himself -- and every facet of each encounter is examined minutely, yet never tediously. Rather, the psychological and philosophical aspects in this novel become the mystery itself, a mystery entirely bloodless and yet so absorbing that I consumed this book in a single evening and never once got lost, never once had to reread a paragraph, never once suspended belief. Often psychological mysteries seem to peter out at the end, but this novel's last chapter is a perfect conclusion to a story that I'm still pondering several days later. Although not a typical mystery in the sense that the crime is the central element, THE SPINNING MAN is a perfect psychological mystery that I could not recommend more highly.
Rating:
Summary: A real page turner...
Review: A real page turner, I couldn't put it down. Harrar weaves an intricate web in "The Spinning Man" that is both fascinating and unnerving. Beware Professor Birch - he's one mighty strange and mysterious character, from beginning to end!
Rating:
Summary: an original philosophical/psychological page-turner
Review: As a professor of philosophy, I fully expected this book to be implausible in its philosophical aspects. What a pleasant surprise, therefore, to find that the author shows not only philosophical sophistication but also the ability to make his academic setting realistic and even funny at times. The continual analysis by his protagonist Evan Birch of the other characters' language and thoughts is both clever and integral to Birch's personality. For all its erudition, this book is never boring, difficult, or pedantic -- on the contrary, it is gripping, dramatic, and at times explosive. This is a brilliant work that stands head and shoulders above the normal "crime" novel, and in many ways it reminds me of Robert Clark's superb Mr. White's Confession, which won the Edgar Award for best first mystery. If there's any justice, this book will be a winner too. Don't miss it.
Rating:
Summary: Clear Your Calendar
Review: Don't plan to read this book in your spare moments, because once you start, you'll won't be able to stop. So fill your coffee cup, strap on a fresh Depends, and enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Smart and thrilling
Review: Early on in this terrific new novel, protagonist Evan Birch relates a joke in which, after divine intervention seems to spare two men from execution, the third - a philosopher - can't stop himself from pointing out that he thinks he "sees the problem" with the malfunctioning guillotine. Similarly, when Evan is accused of an awful crime, his every response to the mounting pile of circumstantial coincidences seems to raise doubt about his innocence. A philosophy professor, he can't seem to answer a seemingly straightforwad question without splitting hairs, dissecting his interrogator's language, straining for absolute accuracy in his every reply. This he does out of a committment to the "truth" in all its complexity and mystery. Or is that the reason? This is the kind of thrilling, intelligent book that erases the line between literary and popular fiction. Entertaining, provocative and suspensful, it is satisfying on many levels, and doesn't take a misstep from beginning to end.
Rating: 
Summary: A waste of an evening
Review: For the life of me, I can't understand where these good reviews are coming from. For a thriller, the pace was unbelievably slow, the characters were two-dimensional, the interaction between the husband and wife didn't ring true, and it was filled with "idiot moments" -- as in, "Jeez, only an idiot would do that." The memory loss and the incident on the bridge were never tied to the plot, the ending was predictable, and his constant over-thinking was just plain annoying. I kept reading, hoping it would get better, but I should have followed my impulse to stop after 50 pages of going nowhere.
Rating:
Summary: Though-provoking and intelligent
Review: George Harrar has written an intelligent and thought-provoking thriller/mystery. A college philosophy professor is questioned in the disappearence of a local high school girl. He has the "perfect family" with twin sons and an adoring wife. You think at first-there is no way that he could be involved. As the story progresses you find yourself asking the same questions that his family and the people on his college campus are asking. "Could he be involved?" It is much better written than a lot of the current "pulp fiction" novels that are out there. This book makes you think. The characters are multi-dimensional and very well thought out-always entertaining. George Harrar has written an original and brillant book. It has all the elements of a fantastic story-intelligence, suspense and interesting characters. This is sophisticated writing that is very entertaining as well. It gave me several hours of enjoyment. I am still pondering the story several days later. Mr. Harrar is an author to watch!
Rating:
Summary: Though-provoking and intelligent
Review: George Harrar has written an intelligent and thought-provoking thriller/mystery. A college philosophy professor is questioned in the disappearence of a local high school girl. He has the "perfect family" with twin sons and an adoring wife. You think at first-there is no way that he could be involved. As the story progresses you find yourself asking the same questions that his family and the people on his college campus are asking. "Could he be involved?" It is much better written than a lot of the current "pulp fiction" novels that are out there. This book makes you think. The characters are multi-dimensional and very well thought out-always entertaining. George Harrar has written an original and brillant book. It has all the elements of a fantastic story-intelligence, suspense and interesting characters. This is sophisticated writing that is very entertaining as well. It gave me several hours of enjoyment. I am still pondering the story several days later. Mr. Harrar is an author to watch!
Rating: 
Summary: Unlikable characters, uninteresting story
Review: I am a big fan of psychological thrillers, and this book got good reviews from other readers, so I picked it up. Unfortunately, this book just didn't pay off. The main character, an unlikable philosophy professor, is constantly making observations on unbelievably mundane topics (such as his wife's one slightly crooked tooth), and this is apparently supposed to be introspection. What seem to be interesting psychological episodes (memory loss, sudden fear of heights) just occur at random and then aren't connected back in with the story. The best part, although still somewhat unexplored, is the parallel between the philosophy professor and his hero, Wittgenstein. If this were developed more, and if the reader were allowed into any of the characters' minds in any meaningful way, I may have been drawn into the story. The only reason I give this two stars instead of one is because I assumed the main character did kill the girl, while other reviewers seem to think he was wrongly accused. However, this is not enough for me to recommend this book to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Unlikable characters, uninteresting story
Review: I am a big fan of psychological thrillers, and this book got good reviews from other readers, so I picked it up. Unfortunately, this book just didn't pay off. The main character, an unlikable philosophy professor, is constantly making observations on unbelievably mundane topics (such as his wife's one slightly crooked tooth), and this is apparently supposed to be introspection. What seem to be interesting psychological episodes (memory loss, sudden fear of heights) just occur at random and then aren't connected back in with the story. The best part, although still somewhat unexplored, is the parallel between the philosophy professor and his hero, Wittgenstein. If this were developed more, and if the reader were allowed into any of the characters' minds in any meaningful way, I may have been drawn into the story. The only reason I give this two stars instead of one is because I assumed the main character did kill the girl, while other reviewers seem to think he was wrongly accused. However, this is not enough for me to recommend this book to anyone.
|
