Cleveland.com review: A DEMON SUMMER

10/19/2014

I am overwhelmed and grateful for this review in The Plain Dealer by Laura DeMarco: "A Demon Summer" makes the case that [Malliet] may be the best mystery author writing in English at the moment (along with Tana French).

Considering French's gift for gorgeous language, I am immensely flattered by this. Thank you, Cleveland.com! Full review on The Plain Dealer website.

3 Comments

esackman link

1/3/2015 06:16:42 am

24 Reasons G. M. Malliet's "A Demon Summer" is a better read than Tana French's "The Secret Place." And 1 reason it is not.

01. The female characters are better written

02. More variety of characters.

03. More differentiation of characters.

04. The male characters are better written.

05. Less stereotyping of characters.

06. The blame is both greater and lesser, when a female character has a male problem.

07. The female characters blame themselves more and the males less. Thus . . .

08. The female power is mightier, as they know they have the power to initiate change. They do not have to rely on a male for change. And so is the liberation.

09. It is clearer who is the villain and who is the victim.

10. The villainy and its danger is broader.

11. The blot on the innocent is wider, involving those who are innocent, but caught up in the plot.

12. The provocation is higher and vaster to do in the villain.

13. The victims' woes are more troubling. Thus . . .

14. The loss of the villain is a smaller loss.

15. The Malliet characters who have no children or no children--yet, love them with more love, then the French characters who do have children.

16. Truer. We oft love more what we do not have, then what we have.

17. The denouement is brighter. Thus . . .

18. It may be a trope to gather all together in one room, but it is used cleverer here.

19. The characters' morality is higher. There are no ifs, ands, or buts, there is only wrong. Thus . . .

20. Those who admit wrong, admit wrong not only to the others gathered together, but more importantly admit the wrong to themselves.

21. The writer's admission is higher thru the characters. This is a sad, sad tale made sadder by the ending. Thus . . .

22. The readers' emotions here are broader and bigger and deeper.

23. No unborn child was used as a major character in the making of this book. Interesting that the youngest major character is 18 or the age of majority in most mysteries.

24. And the book is shorter by 70 pages.

Not 01. The more interesting and most sympathetic and my favorite character in both books is the mostly mischaracterized Christopher (Chris) Harper in French's "The Secret Place." And it is Christopher Harper IV,

Whose son will be Christopher (Chris) Harper V. Whose mother will be Selena Wynne. Not because she wanted to entrap IV in a "shotgun wedding," but as a Tarot reader of better than average ability to foresee the future, she saw him as a "Dead Man Walking." And she wanted the best reminder of him possible. Like son. Like father. And someone to continue on the Harper name and line. Thus . . .

To read or not to read the next. That is the question. ONLY read French's next dependent upon the subject. DEFINITELY read Malliet's next, but what is she to do, when she has gone thru all the seasons with her last one.

G.M. Malliet

1/3/2015 06:30:24 am

This is so flattering. I have to say I am a huge fan of Tana French's writing. She is brilliant, gifted. So I'll accept all comparisons and thank you!

esackman link

1/5/2015 11:57:35 am

Well, you might want to be flattered some more, because after I posted those reasons as to why your book "Demon Summer" is better than Tana French's "The Secret Place," I thought of 3 more reasons your book is the better read.

And the 25th reason.
A character with a good sense of morality, even if they lose it for a moment, is far more interesting, than a character with no sense of morality or a bad sense of morality.

And the 26th reason.
Adults are far superior to children as villains, as a child has not been stepped in villainy long enough to make a credible villain--normally.

And the 27th reason.
It comes nearer to the fact of non-heterosexuality, and thus is truer to life.

More reasons as I think of them.

And Christopher (Chris) Harper IV deserves a better story.

Cleveland.com review: A DEMON SUMMER

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