DIVA

Rating:
Summary: GREAT DESCRIPTION OF MUSIC; OUTSTANDING READ.
Review: Both Diva and Nancy are among my favorite books. They are short and have fantasic elements of fun.

Rating:
Summary: GREAT DESCRIPTION OF MUSIC; OUTSTANDING READ.
Review: Both Diva and Nancy are among my favorite books. They are short and have fantasic elements of fun.

Rating:
Summary: French pop fiction crime novel
Review: DIVA is a novel I read in about 3 hours; it's a fast, fun read... there's no mystery as to why it was adapted for the screen.

The plot: young Jules is a motorcycle messenger in Paris, and an enthusiastic fan of classical music and opera; he's also a groupie of divas. One diva in particular is Cynthia Hawkins, an American opera singer who has never made a recording. Jules secretly records one Cynthia Hawkins concert, and shares the tape with his teenaged friend Alba, who shares the tape with her (adult) companion Serge.

Serge is a career criminal. In his mid 30's, he shares his life with Alba, a precocious teenage beauty whom he has "liberated" from parental control. Serge has an idea to make a great deal of money from the Cynthia Hawkins tape. Meanwhile, Nadia is a 27 year old who works for Saporta. Saporta controls the largest narcotics and prostitution ring in Paris. Nadia records harmful evidence against Saporta on a cassette tape. Nadia's cassette is erroneously dropped into Jules' satchel (on his motorbike).

Soon, Jules is being chased by the cops, as well as gangsters, though he has no idea why. Saporta mobilizes his entire crime organization to retrieve the tape from Jules. Locating Jules in Paris is not easy. There are cops and gangsters combing paris for Jules and the tape of Nadia's accusations. There is also a furious underground bidding war for Jules' tape of Cynthia Hawkins' concert. All this is taking place at a brisk pace, and makes for a fun if unbelievable novel. This novel has a lot of flashy style; it reminds me a bit of the American crime writer Raymond Chandler.

DIVA is not a gritty, realistic crime novel. It's all flash and style, excitement and cartoonish characters. I enjoyed DIVA, but I don't know if I'll read any more of Delacorta's novels.

Perhaps. This books was so short and sweet, reading it was like eating candy. I don't expect I'll remember much about the plot of this book tomorrow, or even in one week. It's a lot like the crime novels you might find in an airport bookstore... a few hours of harmless entertainment...

ken32

Rating:
Summary: A pop treasure
Review: This book is a riveting pop treasure that will leave you wanting more. A quick and furious read with enough twists and turns, and lovable characters like Alba rushing you through the story, to have you search out the next in the series as soon as you put this down!

Rating:
Summary: A pop treasure
Review: This book is a riveting pop treasure that will leave you wanting more. A quick and furious read with enough twists and turns, and lovable characters like Alba rushing you through the story, to have you search out the next in the series as soon as you put this down!