Rating: 
Summary: Baby, its cold outside
Review: ... let me emphasize that this spine- (and whole body) chilling book takes place in the *fictional* town of Algonquin Bay, Ontario, CA. I suspect, though, that like Ed McBain's Isola and others, the name is a fictionalized nomer for a real place: North Bay, eh? I further suspect that the villains herein are fictional spawn of Canada's gruesome twosome Bernardo/ Homolka.Giles Blount's first novel is a "captive"ating tale of the evil some men (and women) do. And the US reader learns something of Canadian Law Enforcement along the way. Are they referring to Notre Dame football? The Apocalypse? No. The "Horsemen" to which they refer, in a non-deferential tone, are the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Rating: 
Summary: Riveting!
Review: According to the brief bio in the back of this book, author Blunt has written scripts for such notable shows as Law & Order. It is clear that he brings a lot to the table: a fine sense of narrative timing, strong skill at characterization, and a crisp writing style. These gifts all come into play in Forty Words For Sorrow. From the outset, the wretched cold is as integral to the plot as the characters. Blunt succeeds in evoking the climate both of a mythical northern Ontario town and of the local police force, where personalities clash and collide and, ultimately, pull together to solve the mystery of who has murdered a number of missing kids. There are finely wraught characterizations with not a stock character in sight. The issue of mental illness is addressed with sensitivity and insight. And at the point where the narrative focus shifts from who the villain might be to the interior rationale(s) behind the crimes, the momentum moves into high gear and stays there. The tension is spread across several lines: detective Cardinal's anxiety over his secrets and personal sorrows; the heightened fears and sorrows of those related to the victims; and the ongoing investigation of Cardinal's past by his new partner, Lise Delorme, who is torn by conflicting emotions and relentless ambition. This is a can't-put-down book, lean and taut. I'll be eagerly waiting for the next in the series.
Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Icy Morality Play
Review: Algonquin Bay in northern Ontario is not just bitterly arctic---it spends the long winter snowbound and the cold is a living force that invades like a sledge hammer. Could-be, dirty cop John Cardinal has spent a fruitless, expensive five months trying to locate missing 13-year old Katy Pine. His credibility is suspect with his superiors. When Cardinal finds the missing girl brutally murdered in a mineshaft near an isolated lake, he is given the dubious honor of leading the investigation of this clueless, highly publicized crime. He is assigned a partner who may or may not be investigating his background. The killings increase in number along with the frustrations of the police force. The pace picks up a bizarre momentum when the killer is brought into the narrative. His machinations always are two jumps ahead of the authorities, and he seems hopelessly invincible. This tale is for the steely of heart, for the violence is graphic and horrific. Yet there are light moments as when the police are questioning a well-known burglar and asking him about his known associates. Burglar says in tones of disgust "If I wanted to MEET people, I'd be a mugger." One of Cardinal's fellow detectives is a constant complainer, and his rants about everything from the Mounties to his ex-wife are brilliant, ferocious and unending. "Forty Words For Sorrow" has an "it's not over till it's over" gambit that enchants me every time. The suspense becomes well nigh unbearable, and entirely unpredictable. I'd nominate this book for best title of the year and certainly one of the very good reads.
Rating:
Summary: Cold Stuff!
Review: An excellent police procedural that takes place in one of the most overlooked locales in the genre. Here in the states, we're quite familiar with the top British and American mystery writers, but Australian and Canadian authors tend to be ignored unless they have American or British publishers. Consequently, it's not often that icy, small town Canada is used as a fictional backdrop. Blunt's descriptions are so well done that the climate itself plays a role as an obstacle in the investigations. In addition to the nice character work that the author has accomplished, the ending ties up all of the loose edges quite neatly, thus setting the stage for the next book in the series.
Rating:
Summary: Cold Stuff!
Review: An excellent police procedural that takes place in one of the most overlooked locales in the genre. Here in the states, we're quite familiar with the top British and American mystery writers, but Australian and Canadian authors tend to be ignored unless they have American or British publishers. Consequently, it's not often that icy, small town Canada is used as a fictional backdrop. Blunt's descriptions are so well done that the climate itself plays a role as an obstacle in the investigations. In addition to the nice character work that the author has accomplished, the ending ties up all of the loose edges quite neatly, thus setting the stage for the next book in the series.
Rating:
Summary: A Superb Debut
Review: As an owner of over 500 crime novels and coming from a police perspective, I felt I had to add my praise for Giles Blunt's gripping debut. Filled with engaging characters this novel ranks amongst my top ten. Mr Blunt has been able to pen an incredible novel which grips from the first chapter. For all crime novel fans please read.... you will not be disappointed!!!!
Rating:
Summary: good overall writing
Review: Blunt writes well & keeps the reader enthralled through out. The scenes of violence are gruesome & not for the light-hearted. There are few surprises & the plot can be somewhat formulaic. Though he fleshed out the protagonist, Cardinal, quite nicely, he could have paid more attention to developing the other characters.
Rating:
Summary: Something different for a change
Review: By some ironic twist of fate, the last two "mystery" novels I have read were based in Canada. This one and Lost Girls by Andrew Pyper. Of the two "Forty Words" was by far the better. For readers tired of the "series" novels where the detctives are cardboard cutouts that Dashiell Hammett used almost a century ago, this book is for you. The characters are all well developed and real (some real frightening). The book avoids the vices of most mystery books (the sexy feamle who may or may not be trusted, the deep dark secret that would change evertything, etc.) Some reviews have suggested that the book is too sadistic, but the sadism only makes the book seem more realistic.
Rating:
Summary: Stunning debut by an original new voice in mystery writing
Review: First off, let me say that this book does not follow the typical formula for a mystery and is far more character-oriented than action oriented, at least at the beginning. And then there's the fact that the reader is introduced to the killers fairly early on, taking any mystery out of who they are. This one has been called a "thinking person's thriller" and the description fits.
But none of this takes anything away from this wonder of a book, winner of Britain's Silver Dagger Award for Fiction - and deservably so. Author Giles Blunt brings each character to life with an expert hand.Blunt has the rare ability to make readers care about his characters, flaws and all, so much so that I deliberately read the last chapters slowly, not wanting the book to end.
And what people inhabit this book! There's the basically good but lonely cop who may or may not have a dark secret in his past, the fellow detective who is covertly investigating him, the pair of skewed killers who prey on hapless adolescents with a veneer of friendliness which masks their ruthless desires and tortures.
I confess that I didn't open this one with high expectations, having read far too many works by first-time authors that just didn't hold my interest, had serious flaws or were lacking in depth, solid characters, a believable story line. So it was an delightful surprise to have my expectations overturned. I look forward to reading more books by Blunt.
Rating:
Summary: Law and Order, print form
Review: Giles Blunt, Forty Words for Sorrow (Berkeley, 2001) Giles Blunt first came to the attention of critics everywhere as a staff writer for Law and Order, one of the strongest television series in history. And when reading Blunt's first novel, the reader who is a Law and Order fan is likely to know, even without knowing Blunt's allegiance to the show, that there are similarities. Needless to say, for the Law and Order fan, this means you've pretty much got a free pass on this one; you're going to love it. John Cardinal is a cop with his career in the toilet and a clinically depressed wife. His usual partner is tied up in court on another case, so Cardinal is assigned another one, Lise Delorme, who's just come to homicide from Special Bureau (Americans, think "internal affairs"). Cardinal, who some folks in the branch suspect of being crooked, immediately suspects she's been paired with him in order to investigate him. But he's got too much on his plate to spend much time worrying about that; first, his wife goes into the hospital with a particularly nasty bout of depression. Second, a body is found in a mineshaft, believed to be that of Katie Pine, a missing girl whom Cardinal always suspected of being murdered; his obsession with her case got him demoted from homicide in the first place. Who can worry about whether you're being investigated by your partner or not? Perhaps the most intriguing thing about Forty Words for Sorrow is the tension between Cardinal and Delorme, and trying to decide whether a romance is getting underway. The two of them are very deftly handled, and while they seesaw back and forth between being nice to one another and loathing one another, there's never a sense that anything is being exaggerated for the reader; the perils of having a new partner, and one of the opposite sex. That said, the best-written scenes in the book are those between Cardinal and his wife in the hospital. Cardinal is hopelessly adrift, completely unsure of how to handle himself around her as she struggles in the mire of her depression. Both characters are painted spot-on in these scenes, and they alone are enough to warrant the purchase price of the book. What's missing from the above two paragraphs is the mystery itself. And, ultimately, the mystery takes a back seat to the characters. This is not a bad thing, as long as the characters can sustain the novel (and they certainly do here). But the end result is that the mystery becomes somewhat predictable, especially for regular watchers of (you knew I'd get round to it sooner or later) Law and Order. The twists and turns in the plot will be easily recognizable to the show's rabid cult following. Again, not that this is a bad thing; in fact, regular Law and Order viewers have come to expect this, and will feel right at home. (Non-regular viewers, or those who have never seen the show, may not find anything here predictable at all.) A good, solid work, Forty Words for Sorrow, a promising debut from a promising writer. John Cardinal is coming back soon in Blunt's second novel, and if the first one is anything to go on, it will be just as well worth reading. *** ½
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