The Book of Mirrors

The Book of Mirrors is a complex but intriguing slow boil of a noir thriller by E. O. Chirovici. Richard Flynn, a journalist and failed novelist sends the first part of his manuscript to literary agent Peter Katz. By the time Katz gets around to reading the manuscript about Flynn’s time at Princeton and the unsolved murder of a famous professor, Flynn himself has passed away. Convinced there is a book worth publishing there, Katz hires a journalist, John Keller, to either track down the missing manuscript or solve the crime and finish the story. Keller in turn enlists the help of the original detective on the case, Roy Freeman.

The Book of Mirrors is as much about the fallibility of memory as it is about the solving of the crime. show more Flynn’s recollection of events as recounted in the manuscript differ jarringly from his roommate and fellow student, Laura Baines. Other witnesses have still different accounts. How much of this is due to faulty memories versus lying? One of the witnesses suffers from a specific form of amnesia and Detective Freeman is in the early stages of Alzheimers.

The story is broken up into four parts, each narrated from a different perspective. The murder itself is quite interesting and leads to questions about what the professor was working on what if any role his work played in his death. The perspectives and recollections are so jarringly different at times that you can’t tell which is more frightening; that someone is lying or that people truthfully remember things in such vastly different ways.

The story never builds a true sense of urgency as it moves along at a steady pace. The crime and the investigation, however are very intriguing, almost mesmerizing as it pulls you along to a satisfying conclusion.

The audio version is narrated by Jonathan Todd Ross, George Newbern, Corey Brill and Pete Simonelli. Each narrates a different section of the book. All four do a great job with the narration. Their pace and intonation match the tension in the book. A book like this is heavily dependent on atmosphere, and all four do a great job of conveying the pervasive sense of foreboding and uncertainty. E.O. Chirovici is not a native English speaker, and it shows at times with certain expressions (served on a silver plate rather than platter). This can be slightly jarring, but not enough to take you out of the story.

The Book of Mirrors is a steady-paced, noirish mystery that will hold your attention from beginning to end. Recommended read (and listen).

I was fortunate to be provided a copy of this audiobook by the publisher. show less

The Book of Mirrors is a beautifully written story within a story within a story unlike any I've come across before. The stories are elegantly blended with each other and the author did a fantastic job of ensuring the writing style/tone shifted with each narrator which is something that is usually overlooked by authors trying to pull off a story such as this one. That alone made me love this story and gave me a strong appreciation for E.O. Chirovici

This is not your average quick and dirty whodunit novel. This is more of a lovely piece of literature that happens to be mind bending, with a 25 year old unsolved murder case and the rush to piece together the real story behind it all giving it a psychological mystery air. But make no show more mistakes, it is definitely a literary story that is very much worth your time, as long as you understand what kind of book you're picking up (or have no expectations such as I hadn't when I picked it up)

Don't let a few negative reviews keep you from picking this up. No book is for everyone but you may regret not at least finding out for yourself the delights hidden among the pages of The Book of Mirrors. show less

A literary agent receives the first few chapters of a book claiming to have the solution to a 27-year-old murder but the author dies before completing the manuscript. Peter Katz is asked to look into whether the author's claims are true. As various people are interviewed about the murder of Joseph Weider different stories are told but whose memories and stories are the truth?

Twisty enough to give one doubts as to whether the solution is correct or whether it is another case of a false memory of the events.

Literary agent Peter Katz is intrigued by a partial book submission he has just received. The submission, entitled The Book of Mirrors, tells the story of the author's time as an English student at Princeton during the late 1980's. The author, Richard Flynn, documents his relationship with the protégée of the famous Professor Joseph Wieder. But just before Christmas, Weider was murdered in his home and the case was never solved. Twenty-five years have passed since then and Peter Katz suspects that Richard Flynn is either going to confess to the murder or reveal who it was that did it. But the manuscript ends abruptly and Richard Flynn is in the hospital, dying, and the remaining pages are nowhere to be found.

I'm giving this a show more generous three stars. I liked so many things - a book within a book, memories, the stories we choose to tell others and the ones we keep hidden, the unsolved murder of a popular professor. But all of these things didn't come together as well as I hoped they would. It started off good, but it became boring fairly early on. I was patiently waiting for that extra oomph where something would happen and the story would take off. But nothing ever really did happen. The characters were okay and the ending was just okay. show less

Literary agent Peter Katz is intrigued by a partial book submission he has just received. The submission, entitled The Book of Mirrors, tells the story of the author's time as an English student at Princeton during the late 1980's. The author, Richard Flynn, documents his relationship with the protégée of the famous Professor Joseph Wieder. But just before Christmas, Weider was murdered in his home and the case was never solved. Twenty-five years have passed since then and Peter Katz suspects that Richard Flynn is either going to confess to the murder or reveal who it was that did it. But the manuscript ends abruptly and Richard Flynn is in the hospital, dying, and the remaining pages are nowhere to be found.

I'm giving this a show more generous three stars. I liked so many things - a book within a book, memories, the stories we choose to tell others and the ones we keep hidden, the unsolved murder of a popular professor. But all of these things didn't come together as well as I hoped they would. It started off good, but it became boring fairly early on. I was patiently waiting for that extra oomph where something would happen and the story would take off. But nothing ever really did happen. The characters were okay and the ending was just okay. show less

The Book of Mirrors is Romanian author Chirovici’s first novel in English and it’s simply “Wow!”. A classic and elegant murder mystery, this is a novel which hinges on memory, and how unreliable it can be.

Literary agent Peter Katz receives a partial manuscript from one Richard Flynn, alleging to reveal the truth about the unsolved murder of renowned psychologist Dr Joseph Wieder, 27 years ago.

Now Flynn is dead, the rest of his manuscript is lost, but Katz is so consumed with the puzzle he is determined to find the truth. Contradictory testimony and alternating points of view just add to the fun of this unputdownable read.

I was intrigued by the premise of The Book of Mirrors and true to form it started off quite well but unfortunately it failed to hold my interest. It's unheard of that I would ever give up on a book but I almost gave up reading The Book of Mirrors. I persevered but didn't find it very rewarding so I can only come to the conclusion that this book just wasn't for me.

I liked the idea of an unsolved murder and an unpublished manuscript that may hold clues to what really happened that night in Professor Weider's house - a jealous rage, a work-related disagreement or a burglary gone wrong? The story is told from three different perspectives but each story only adds a little extra snippet to the story we already heard in the first part of the show more book. I actually think the third voice of the retired detective would have proven to be the most interesting, however, I had lost the will to live at this stage.

The writing is of a very high standard but it felt too caught up in the little details and it failed to draw me into the story. I didn't empathise with any of the characters and I found the pace very slow and tedious. The Book of Mirrors didn't make an impression on me at all and sadly I found it instantly forgettable.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion. show less