The Yeare's Midnight: A Psychological Thriller

Rating:
Summary: The Madman Who Loved John Donne
Review: I was hooked on "The Yeare's Midnight" before I had read a word. The idea that a contemporary thriller would share top billing with metaphysical poet and Dean of St. Paul's, John Donne (1572-1631) is a haughty premise I could not resist.

Mr. O'Connor delivered and then some. This highly original story provides seemingly ordinary characters with traits that send them into an orbit that can only be called bizarre. Our chief detective, John Underwood, is overworked, underpaid, and his marriage is disintegrating. Sound familiar? Not quite. John becomes so overwhelmed with his wife's leave-taking, he disintegrates before our eyes. While detecting, he becomes carried away by fantasies of revenge and mayhem. For one, I become highly nervous when serial killers are running about, and our protagonist has a complete mental and physical breakdown. When John is taken out of the picture, we are left to the mercies of his second in command Det. Sgt. Alison Dexter, an ambitious lady who has worked hard to come up in the ranks. Again, a familiar character in crime fiction except DS Dexter is so ambitious, she plots and connives against all who might take a shred of credit from her. Her assistants despise her in spite of her cleverness and bravery.

The strange killer who removes the left eye of his victims also leaves scraps of poetry written in blood at the scene of the crime. The killer clearly means this poetry to serve as a clue to his motive. He notifies a medieval expert at nearby Cambridge in case the obscurity is too much for the local police. Enter a rather annoying gorgeous lady who is a Donne expert. Many people (self included) enjoy Donne's poetry because it brawny, frank and robust. This is the man who gave us such lines as:

"Busy old fool, unruly Sun
Why dost thou thus,
Through windows, and through curtains call on
us?"

and "For God sake hold your tongue, and let me love."

In the author's hands, the "conceits" and kernels of Donne's love poems are so convoluted and ephemeral, I was lost. I had to have the professor who I didn't like very well lead me by the hand to all the clever conclusions.

However, the pace is good and the trip worthwhile if a little abrupt at the conclusion. I look forward to more books by the clever Mr. O'Connor.

Rating:
Summary: The Madman Who Loved John Donne
Review: I was hooked on "The Yeare's Midnight" before I had read a word. The idea that a contemporary thriller would share top billing with metaphysical poet and Dean of St. Paul's, John Donne (1572-1631) is a haughty premise I could not resist.

Mr. O'Connor delivered and then some. This highly original story provides seemingly ordinary characters with traits that send them into an orbit that can only be called bizarre. Our chief detective, John Underwood, is overworked, underpaid, and his marriage is disintegrating. Sound familiar? Not quite. John becomes so overwhelmed with his wife's leave-taking, he disintegrates before our eyes. While detecting, he becomes carried away by fantasies of revenge and mayhem. For one, I become highly nervous when serial killers are running about, and our protagonist has a complete mental and physical breakdown. When John is taken out of the picture, we are left to the mercies of his second in command Det. Sgt. Alison Dexter, an ambitious lady who has worked hard to come up in the ranks. Again, a familiar character in crime fiction except DS Dexter is so ambitious, she plots and connives against all who might take a shred of credit from her. Her assistants despise her in spite of her cleverness and bravery.

The strange killer who removes the left eye of his victims also leaves scraps of poetry written in blood at the scene of the crime. The killer clearly means this poetry to serve as a clue to his motive. He notifies a medieval expert at nearby Cambridge in case the obscurity is too much for the local police. Enter a rather annoying gorgeous lady who is a Donne expert. Many people (self included) enjoy Donne's poetry because it brawny, frank and robust. This is the man who gave us such lines as:

"Busy old fool, unruly Sun
Why dost thou thus,
Through windows, and through curtains call on
us?"

and "For God sake hold your tongue, and let me love."

In the author's hands, the "conceits" and kernels of Donne's love poems are so convoluted and ephemeral, I was lost. I had to have the professor who I didn't like very well lead me by the hand to all the clever conclusions.

However, the pace is good and the trip worthwhile if a little abrupt at the conclusion. I look forward to more books by the clever Mr. O'Connor.

Rating:
Summary: Poetic Justice
Review: In his debut novel, Ed O'Connor has managed to deliver a psychological thriller that stands out from similar books of it's genre. It's uniqueness comes from the poetry of sixteenth century poet John Donne.

Cowan Frayne is a killer with an unhealthy obsession with the works of John Donne. He murders and sets up his murder scenes based on the poet's works and on the poet's life. The poetry holds the key as to his motive as well as giving clues to the next target. Also hidden in his complex messages to the police are clues as to his final goal. But figuring out which poem to look at and the meaning behind it is not nearly as easy as it sounds.

Heading the investigation is Inspector John Underwood who appears to be very intuitive and a capable leader. However, as seems to be the case with many protagonists, his marriage is crumbling and he is distracted as a result. This distraction soon turns into obsession, leaving his sergeant, Alison Dexter to take charge. Dexter, while a good detective, is mostly concerned with furthering her own career and makes many of her decisions on this basis, also hampering the investigation somewhat.

This book appears to be the first of a series and I'm sure we'll be in for further character development further down the track.

With the killer working at breakneck speed (pardon the pun), and the local police department in somewhat of an uproar, there's rarely a dull moment for the reader. The poetry aspect was a fascinating inclusion that was (fortunately) translated for those less literary readers (me). It's the first of what I hope will be many books from Ed O'Connor. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Creepy and Beautiful
Review: Not my usual genre (serial murders are too creepy for me), but I had heard promising things of this new author and thought I'd give it a chance. It was absolutely worth the read. I found O'Connor's writing style to be very original, and quite poetic itself with some really beautiful (and eery) imagery in places.

Rating:
Summary: Creepy and Beautiful
Review: Not my usual genre (serial murders are too creepy for me), but I had heard promising things of this new author and thought I'd give it a chance. It was absolutely worth the read. I found O'Connor's writing style to be very original, and quite poetic itself with some really beautiful (and eery) imagery in places.

Rating:
Summary: An intellectual serial killer novel- a superb debut
Review: Several quite fascinating plots make up this remarkable debut by British author, Ed O'Connor. The first concerns a serial killer who has an obsession with the poet John Donne. He uses his poetry as the basis for murder. For some reason, he removes the left eye of his victims and keeps it while leaving a quote from Donne's poetry in blood on the wall. It is up to the local police including Inspector John Underwood to solve the crime before the killer strikes again. Aiding in their investigation is Donne scholar, Heather Stussman who is contacted, not only by the police, but, the killer as well.
Inspector Underwood, however, must deal with his own private hell. His wife of eighteen years is having an affair and it appears his marriage is near the end. His personal life is interfering with his professional life to the extent that he is placing his wife's lover on his list of possible suspects as the killer.
Ed O'Connor displays a remarkable ability, in his first novel, of balancing strong sympathetic characters with a plot that truly makes the reader want to turn the next page. It is not only a gruesome serial killer novel but an intellectual one, as well. Consider it a combination of Thomas Harris (who writes the quintessential serial killer novel with the Hannibal Lecter books) , Ian Rankin (with his depth of characters and balancing several plots) and Reginald Hill (with the academic logic in the killings). There are few weaknesses in this work. Perhaps, it is a bit too gruesome. Perhaps it is a bit too long. However, the whole justifies the means. This is a strong recommendation. Warning: not for the faint of heart.