Under the Burdock Weed

Rating:
Summary: A gripping, fun summer read
Review: People say that all the great stories have been told and that even all the great twists on the great stories have been told. Well, Under the Burdock Weed is a great story. It's great not in the biblical sense, nor in a way that will change your life forever. It's great in that this is such a different kind of story -- one with a dense portrayal of characters and events that, for reasons I don't understand, never make their way into books. In that respect, Under the Burdock Weed is fresh and, if I have the right word, satisfying.

That is, nothing is quite predictable. Not everyone will say they're sorry. Not everyone survives to the end, mentally or physically. Some characters, we assume, will have to deal with the events in their own way. You might not like some characters, but you can't help sympathizing with them. And we can still have a happy ending, despite the opening of wounds (that needed to be opened).

You'll likely figure out the mystery midway through, but that's perfect. By this point, it turns into a "Chronicle of a Death Foretold," where you know what will happen but you need to know how it will happen.

I also found it interesting how the author, Lee Carl, gives even the most fleeting of characters rich descriptions. They are so rich, in fact, that you feel that they might be coming back later in the book. They don't. That's just the way this guy writes. Even plants have character.

What else... There's a certain timeless quality about the story, too. What year did it take place in? There are cars, people working in PR, and a pre-1970s innocence floating about. Are we in the 1960s or 2000s? I think the lack of a specific time element, which had to be deliberate, provides a new sense of reality that these events can happen at any place at any time. (I am noticing the same thing in The White Squirrel, Lee Carl's first book, which I'm now reading.)

Finally, there are also some unbeatable lines in Under the Burdock Weed, such as "My father left we when I was your age... Your father has come into your life. I'd rather have it your way." That sealed the story for me.

- Christopher Wanjek

Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully different yet wonderfully familiar
Review: People say that all the great stories have been told and that even all the great twists on the great stories have been told. Well, Under the Burdock Weed is a great story. It's great not in the biblical sense, nor in a way that will change your life forever. It's great in that this is such a different kind of story -- one with a dense portrayal of characters and events that, for reasons I don't understand, never make their way into books. In that respect, Under the Burdock Weed is fresh and, if I have the right word, satisfying.

That is, nothing is quite predictable. Not everyone will say they're sorry. Not everyone survives to the end, mentally or physically. Some characters, we assume, will have to deal with the events in their own way. You might not like some characters, but you can't help sympathizing with them. And we can still have a happy ending, despite the opening of wounds (that needed to be opened).

You'll likely figure out the mystery midway through, but that's perfect. By this point, it turns into a "Chronicle of a Death Foretold," where you know what will happen but you need to know how it will happen.

I also found it interesting how the author, Lee Carl, gives even the most fleeting of characters rich descriptions. They are so rich, in fact, that you feel that they might be coming back later in the book. They don't. That's just the way this guy writes. Even plants have character.

What else... There's a certain timeless quality about the story, too. What year did it take place in? There are cars, people working in PR, and a pre-1970s innocence floating about. Are we in the 1960s or 2000s? I think the lack of a specific time element, which had to be deliberate, provides a new sense of reality that these events can happen at any place at any time. (I am noticing the same thing in The White Squirrel, Lee Carl's first book, which I'm now reading.)

Finally, there are also some unbeatable lines in Under the Burdock Weed, such as "My father left we when I was your age... Your father has come into your life. I'd rather have it your way." That sealed the story for me.

- Christopher Wanjek

Rating:
Summary: Not So Lonely Recluse
Review: Rob Putnam had seen his Aunt Marjorie Worth only twice. The second time was when they took her away to a nursing home. But, despite this lack of contact, Aunt Marjorie gave to Rob her Tudor style house hidden from the street and neighbors by a shroud of trees.
Behind the doors of that century old house, Marjorie led a reclusive life, but as Rob was soon to discover, not quite as solitary as one might think.
Rob's first clue that there was more going on in the house than one might expect was his finding of the skull of a human infant. He found the skull when he ripped out a giant burdock weed in his aunt's secluded garden.
With the finding of the skull, Lee Carl set Rob Putnam and Jackie his bride-to-be on a search for an explanation.
Lee Carl, takes Rob and Jackie through an aggressive investigation checking newspaper files, hospital and public records and interviewing countless people to ultimately find the surprising truth. Rob's techniques and pursuit of the facts reflect Carl's early days as a newspaper reporter.
Carl brings to the novel a fresh style that carries readers non-stop, page after page

Rating:
Summary: A gripping, fun summer read
Review: Want a quick, surprising and thrilling summer read? Than the Burdock Weed is for you. It's a fascinating tale of a family's deconstruction and reconstruction with colorful characters and plot twists galore.