I found it really hard to get into this book, and in the end, the solution to the mystery didn't really tie up all the loose ends. Three Musketeers is heavily referenced, so I would recommend reading that first. ( )

I'm not quite sure what to make of this. On one it was readable and intriguing. On the other was girl who was dumped into the middle of the plot and never really explained. And the coincidental overlap of two intrigues, one merely harmful, the other fatal, didn't quite jibe. And what was all the babbling about encoded latin phrases at the end? Was there really any point to it? It was hard to feel much simpathy for the protagonist, given the disparaging descriptions. Reading this did make me interested in reading the Three Musketeers. ( )

The Club Dumas is an interesting mystery revolving around Lucas Corso's attempt to authenticate a couple of manuscripts. One is a chapter of "The Three Musketeers" apparently handwritten by Alexandre Dumas. The other is a copy, perhaps "the" copy of "The Book of the Nine Doors to the Kingdom of Darkness," rumored to be co-authored by none other than, um...Satan.

Perez-Reverte does a commendable job in at least one aspect; the character of Corso is one of the best I've come across. Being a rare book finder and authenticator is no job for a saint. He bends rules when necessary, but avoids dirtying his hands with some of the more unsavory aspects of job. In fact he's rather cowardly, only willing to attack those weaker or unsuspecting. Nonetheless I found myself pulling for him right away, even if it was just to see how far he might get before the inevitable smackdown. Corso drives the book and makes it bearable to read.

The plot however starts to lag toward the end. Some have accused the Dumas plot line of being anti-climatic; but maybe that's the point the author was trying to make. However, The Nine Doors plot fell apart. I was expecting a lot more from that particular thread and it just seemed to stop without any resolution.

Read it and enjoy Corso's exploits, but don't bank on a lot of bang at the end. ( )

http://thebookwormslibrary.com/?p=296... ( )

The story is one that should interest all lovers of books, those who would lose their souls for books, or sign them away in exchange for the final tantalizing tome, and the self-deceptions of the greedy and gullible reader. (OK, so I have also seen the film adaptation starring Jonny Depp and the captivating Emmanuelle Seigner, but more on this connection later...)The narration to me seems deceptively but intriguingly indifferent, as though the novel is fine cigar being deliciously smoked but without a care in the world on the part of the imbiber (narrator) for the falling ash. The ambivalence shown towards the main character, Corso, is held taut throughout the piece; it slackens only where Corso mourns the loss of a former lover (Perez-Reverte is quite brilliant at capturing true male sensitivities here) but the reader is never quite sure of Corso, and this is one of the chief elements of appeal for me in the volume.The book's peripheral characters are much more interestingly portrayed than they are in the film version - Gruber, Baroness Ungern, even Irene Adler herself, nevertheless, I personally feel that the book and the film do form something of a useful symbiosis in comparison to other attempts to transpose literary works to the big screen, and I thoroughly recommend that anyone who reads this does watch The Ninth Gate (in any case, Roman Polanski does a fare finer job on this than Agustín Díaz Yanes manages for Alatriste).I re-read The Dumas Club on a very regular basis. It's like going back to a cellar full of a fine vintage - renewed expectation is founded on known excellence. ( )