House of Many Rooms

Rating:
Summary: great fiction, suspense
Review: "Let's say that my character is a house of many rooms," says Michael Florio, the anti-hero of this thriller. Although I had heard raves about this book and knew of the level of suspense in the story, I wasn't prepared to be as engrossed as I was - for the first two-thirds of the book, that is.

In the wealthy and exclusive San Francisco enclave of Pacific Heights, Michael and Barbara Florio's fifteen-year marriage has disintegrated into a vengeful, dysfunctional relationship. When a suspicious fire ends the life of alcoholic, pill popping, child-smacking Barbara, Michael takes his two adopted daughters, golden child Devon and "crazed" pyromaniac Therese, and heads for Urbino, Italy, to hide out, leaving the investigators to wonder who really set the fire, Michael or Therese.

Thirteen years earlier, Rebecca Carey had given up Therese for adoption. Now she is recovering in a modest, but well-run Nepalese hospital after nearly dying in a mountain climbing accident. Upon reading the article relating the death of Barbara Florio, whom she had met during adoption proceedings, she, too, takes off for Urbino, where a long ago conversation indicates to her that Michael might be hiding. Her plan to get a job working for the family, none of whom know who she really is, is successful, and Rebecca finds herself drawn to the sullen, sometimes violent child who once was her own.

While Rebecca slowly begins to gain Therese's trust, much to Michael and Devon's anger, she is appalled by revelations that make her believe that Therese's only chance rests in being separated from Michael and Devon. Unfortunately, Rebecca is also attracted to the dark, dangerous man, and can only wonder what will happen when he finds out she is Therese's biological mother. When the police catch up with the fugitive family, Rebecca takes the opportunity and flees with her daughter to Mexico, where Ryan Foster, Therese's natural father, works in a hospital.

Michael Florio is brilliantly characterized, and it was here that I found both the strength and the biggest problem with the story. Michael is seductive, dangerous, a psychopath to be sure, and Rebecca's surrender to him was only to be expected. In contrast, Ryan Foster is a little too conveniently placed and timed; after thirteen years, he is only too happy to open his arms and heart to both Rebecca and Therese, to do anything for them when he receives the phone that will change his life. I ended the book feeling that Rebecca would never really forget Michael, an unfair ending to Ryan and Therese as well.

Rebecca, on the other hand, was not as well drawn and Therese's opening up to her seemed to happen a little too quickly, considering how many other people had tried to get through to the girl.

While the latter part of The House of Many Rooms didn't shine as bright as the first two-thirds, most of the story was indeed thrilling and suspenseful.

Rating:
Summary: SEX AND FEAR: THIS BOOK IS GREAT!
Review: Applauded by all my book buddies. MG builds up psycho-sexual tension. It's not only hot, it makes you think. I'd have given it 5 stars, but it isn't the knockout that his two fuller previous books were: The Mask of Time and The Original Sin. His books are more sophisticated and intelligent than the common run of thrillers these days. Not to scare off thrill seekers! he just respects the intelligence of his readers.

Rating:
Summary: Average Book
Review: House of Many Rooms was definately not the best book ever read. It keeps your attention in some parts and in others you loose interest and want to skim right through (which by the way I did through the last half of the book). It was an "average" book in my opinion. I guess I wanted Rebecca and Michael to mend thing, although his character was not such a "good guy"!

Rating:
Summary: Mind Twister
Review: This book was a mind twister. Very different plot from other thriller's I have read. I have to admit, I felt for Therese, and could not wait to find the outcome for her. It does seem a little unreal how Rebecca came back into Therese's life and virtually took her away from Michael and Devon, in a sense, to easy. The best part of this book is the twisted plot of Michael and Devon. I wish the ending would have went into a little more detail of Therese's new life. Good book overall.

Rating:
Summary: Mind Twister
Review: This book was a mind twister. Very different plot from other thriller's I have read. I have to admit, I felt for Therese, and could not wait to find the outcome for her. It does seem a little unreal how Rebecca came back into Therese's life and virtually took her away from Michael and Devon, in a sense, to easy. The best part of this book is the twisted plot of Michael and Devon. I wish the ending would have went into a little more detail of Therese's new life. Good book overall.

Rating:
Summary: A terrific read.
Review: This is the first book I have read by Gabriel and I picked it up because of the great review Kirkus gave it. The beginning really hooked me and kept me reading until the end, even though I grew more and more disappointed as the book went on. The settings are great and the character of Michael Florio was well-drawn (in fact, the best characterization in the book) but I was annoyed by how much Gabriel gave away halfway through the book. It seemed obvious to me where all the "secrets" he reveals were leading, and I was not surprised by the ending. There were too few suspects in Barbara Florio's murder to begin with, so who her killer ends up being is not a shock. Plus I found that I liked the "bad guy" more than Rebecca, who I found annoying and pushy. Throwing in her ex-lover at the end was also a turn-off.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing!!
Review: This is the second book I have read by MG, and after The Original Sin, this was kinda disappointing!! It began with such promise, with an interesting plot and even more interesting characters, had all the ingredients to make it a bomb of a book but the ending ruined everything for me.

First off, by the second part of the book I knew who the culprit was... a no brainer there, seriously!!

Michael Florio, I felt was the ultimate anti-hero with the dark side that perhaps was not entirely palatable, but I would opt him anyday over goody-two-shoes Ryan, who suddenly plops into the end of the story and without much effort comes out as a the golden boy. Whereas the buildup over Michael's character was so intense and fierce but the end, I felt was unjustified and almost cruel in nature. He was suberbly characterised as the loving over-protective father but to justify his psychosis, he is literally cast as a psychopath.

Rebecca on the other hand, was almost... almost brilliant. Not as good as Micheal, but a very close second. Her character would have fared better in my eyes if things had not just oh! so conviniently happened to her... almost effortlessly gaining the trust of Therese, a suspected firebug and a problem child that she gave up so long ago, and O.K. it was expected that Michael would fall for her, but the escape from the airport, the passage to Mexico and finally Ryan accepting them no questions asked... a lil too pat!

Therese's character again was believable, complete with flaky flaws, but Devon's character was never really explored. She comes off as sickly sweet in the begining and deteriorates abruptly.

All an all a good read! The book is fast-paced, absorbing and MG writes brilliantly and I love his characters. But as with the Original sin, I was looking for a more satisfying end, that showed in a bit more detail the lives of the remaining characters, and would have been excellent, in my opinion, if it had turned out the other way round!!

Rating:
Summary: It kept me turning pages
Review: This would make a great Hollywood formula movie. But despite it's predictability and Hollywood ending, it keeps you guessing, as confused as the heroine is over who to trust and who to believe. A great read for a rainy afternoon like today; even while I was second guessing the characters and waiting for the ending I expected, I couldn't put it down!