"After I killed the red haired man I took myself out for an oyster dinner." Who doesn't love a book that begins this way? (Although I will admit, I think I may have misquoted a bit.) I love, love, love this book. I wanted to devour it. I would pick it up, and become so absorbed I would read until the light faded. My husband had to turn on lamps as he walked through the room, so I wouldn't go blind. Nearing the end of the text, I made myself stop and slow the pace. I didn't want it to end. This book really touched me. I can't quite explain it, but when I was finished reading, I felt like the book was still with me. I couldn't find a new book for quite some time. ( )

I don't know. I just don't know. In someways this was my kind of book, in some ways it wasn't.

It's a thick Victorian set mystery. The book is read as a confession, of course told in the first person. So in that way I had to view it a bit differently. Some people will complain that it's long and most of it is drawn out just by the narrator talking about things and not actually doing it. Well, if you read it as a confession, if you read it as though this is from an actual person sitting down with a pen and paper and unburdening himself of his crimes and passions, then who are we to say that it's drawn out? It's how someone lived and thought.

The reader knows the truth from the beginning, but it's interesting to see how the narrator finally finds the truth. And it's interesting to read inside his mind while he commit such crimes and talked to certain people, and so on.

I can't say I was completely satisfied with the ending. I admit, I was thinking it would go a different way. Either my way or the way the author wrote it, is still not a happy ending.

I can't say too much without giving things away, but I really don't know what kind of person to recommend this to. I'd say it's worth a try to anyone. You may be surprised. ( )

An enjoyable read ( )

A thriller that explores what occurs in the mind of someone who has been deceived and betrayed by love. The main character Edward tells us about his quest to get revenge from a Phoebus Daunt. The book captured my attention at the beginning but I felt that it was drawn out at some points. The ending was a little too predictable. ( )