*gähn*.....: Nach Wochen habe ich es nun endlich geschafft, mich durch diese Buch zu "quälen" und ich möchte fast behaupten, es war das schlechteste, das ich je gelesen habe.
Ich habe mir extra die Mühe gemacht, es wirklich bis zum Schluss durchzulesen, obwohl ich schon nach den ersten 100 Seiten kapitulieren wollte, aber es ist einfach nur deprimierend, damit Zeit verschwendet zu haben.
Es ist, vor allem gegen Ende, unheimlich verwirrend, Spannung steigt auf den ganzen 400 Seiten kaum auf und ich frage mich wirklich, was die Presse dazu veranlasst hat, diesem Buch doch solch gute Rezensionen zu verleihen...

Es tut mir wirklich leid, aber "Das Echo" (wobei ich nicht einmal den Titel richtig zutreffend finde) gähnt vor Langeweile...

Minette Walters takes on the Oedipus question with this book. I found it a haunting story that I couldn't seem to put down once I began. I love the characters in this story! I loved the plot, and I loved the idea. Ms. Walters combines the past and present-day in a truly compelling way. This is one of those books that stays with you long after you close the covers. The book examines betrayal and murder so closely that it's almost uncomfortable because Ms. Walter puts her readers right there in the middle of the action. Ms. Walters examines closely the lives of people who live on the streets, and points out the various personalities and the power struggles that occur within that environment. She then juxtapositions that with the lives of the elite when she has a derelict homeless man die in the garage of a wealthy society woman. And why did Billy Blake's story consume the lives of so many peeople as they try to determine who he was and why he let himself starve to death in this garage? You have to read to find out, and to unravel the many convolutions in his story. ( )

This was interesting but so convoluted that it was hard to keep straight at times. Mixed in with the regular story telling were bits of news articles, book excerpts and faxes that filled in most of the backstory. In the end, Billy was really another man who had suddenly disappeared and was feared dead. His connection to Amanda’s husband was only the fact that they were both mysteriously gone. How exactly, he ended up as a homeless schizophrenic isn’t really clear. He chose Amanda’s garage to die in because he saw her murder James and put his body in the river. He felt that he could take on her sin and pay her price. In the end, it’s insinuated that his wife committed suicide because she found out that he killed her first husband. Her first husband had raped her when she was 13 and got her pregnant. For some twisted reason, she later married the guy and when she was killed she took up with Paul. Paul was much younger than her and was her son. But I don’t think he knew that he was her son. That would explain why he went nuts if he had.

Opening Sentence: "...It was the smell that Mrs Powell noticed first..."

I am a huge Walters fan - but this is the first one of hers that I have read that didn't light any fires for me.

Billy Blake - a homeless person - is found dead in Amanda Powell's garage next to a freezer full of food. She pays for his funeral and a reporter, Michael Deacon, is assigned to find out why she paid for the funeral, and who the dead man was.

in this book the past and the present, family problems, betrayal, incest and murder are all interconnected subplots. They all start off as separate, seemingly unconnected threads - but gradually Minette Walters pulls the threads and the different stories gradually pull together to one result. I wish I could say it was a happy ending with all the i's dotted and t's crossed but they are not. The ending is very unusual - the word ambiguous comes to mind.

The characters just didn't become real for me - I couldn't find myself particularly caring for any of them.

Still one dud is not a bad percentage - and am looking out for her next release with baited breath. ( )

http://www.book-blog.com/2008/10/walt... ( )